Prayer of St Brendan to Launch Lent 2012

 



Help me to journey beyond the familiar
and into the unknown.
Give me the faith to leave old ways
and break fresh ground with You.

Christ of the mysteries, I trust You
to be stronger than each storm within me.
I will trust in the darkness and know
that my times, even now, are in Your hand.
Tune my spirit to the music of heaven,
and somehow, make my obedience count for You.

St Brendan image from here

A Celtic prayer as we prepare to embark on the journey of Lent 

The Prayer of St. Brendan

If you would like to read more of voyaging with St Brendan through Lent this blog is well worth a visit . 

The extract below describes one of my all time favourite soul places : the Dingle Peninsula on the South West coast of Ireland, where I spent some memorable holidays.. Read more here and check out this beautiful poem called  Riders of The Waves by the blog's author, Msgr. Eric R. Barr, a Roman Catholic priest of the Diocese of Rockford, Illinois

 Brandon Creek image from here

"At Brandon Creek, on Ireland's Dingle Peninsula, where the water empties into the Atlantic Ocean, there is a little shrine.  At first glance, it looks odd--a little bronze boat with a man in it, pushing out to sea. 

 The holy place is a memorial to St. Brendan, one of the four great holy saints of Ireland.  Most famous for his voyage to the uttermost West, where he surely landed in America sometime in the sixth century A. D., St. Brendan seems the most youthful, adventurous, enthusiastic--and yet the most haunted--of the four saints--and that's saying a lot since the others, Patrick, Brigid, and Columba, are no slackers in these areas either.  

He was a joyous man who was conscious of his own sinfulness and need of Christ.  His journey over the waves, however, is primarily a spiritual one, towards God, towards Christ the Light, surrounded by the Holy Spirit.  Catholics sometimes don't know how to hold a balance between acknowledging sinfulness and joyously trusting in God.  St. Brendan does this perfectly.  He's a good saint for Lent."




No comments: