HEAVENWINDOW
PRAYERS FOR CONTEMPLATION
PART TWO
ARUBOTH HASHAMAIM = WINDOWS OF HEAVEN
Catharina's Boat House Mass
Isaiah 6.3
{Holy, Holy, Holy is Jehovah of Hosts, Is Full All the Earth of His Glory
Baruch ata adonai, eloheinu melech ha'olam, she'hechiyanu v'kiymanu v'higianu, lazman hazeh.
Blessed are you, Lord our God, King of the Universe, who has given us life, sustained us, and brought us to this time.
Elisabeth of the Trinity, translated, Michel Perrin in Thailand
{O my God, adorable Trinity, help me to forget myself totally so that I can abide in you, without any movement, in peace, as if my soul were already in eternity; let nothing trouble my peace or take me away from you,
O Immutable, but let each minute carry me further into the depth of your Mystery! Pacify my soul, make it your heaven, your beloved home and the place of your rest; let me never leave you alone in it, but let me be wholly here, all awakened in my faith, all adoring, all surrendered to your creative energy.
St. Richard of Chichester's Prayer
{Thanks be to you, my Lord, Jesus Christ,
for all the benefits you
have given me,
For all the pains and
insults which you bore for me.
O most merciful Redeemer,
Friend and Brother,
May I know you more clearly,
Love you more dearly
And follow you more nearly.
Ti ringrazio, mio Signore,
Gesù Cristo,
per tutti i benefici che mi
hai concesso,
Per tutte le pene e gli
insulti che tu hai sopportato per me.
Oh Redentore
misericordiosissimo, amico e fratello,
Possa io conoscerti più
chiaramente, amarti più caramente,
E seguirti più intimamente.
{ Who sings, prays twice. Augustine
LAUDATE EVM IN PSALTERIO ET CVTHARA
{The arms you bear are five wounds. Ah, then, my daughters, this must be our device also if we are to inherit the kingdom of God . . . . .
{God is the infinite intellectual sphere with as many circumferences as centres and whose centre is everywhere and circumference nowhere. He is entire in his least part.
{I give you the end of a golden string:
Only wind it into a ball
It will lead you in at
Heaven's gate
Built in Jerusalem's wall.
Do a te un filo
d'oro
Soltanto fai di questo
una palla.
Conducerai alla porta
dei Cieli
Messo nel muro di
Gerusalemme.
Jerusalem, The Gate Called
Golden to the Temple
{The Father uttered one Word; that Word is His Son: and he utters Him for ever in everlasting silence, and in silence the soul has to hear it.
Instructions for Novices
{It is a time in which we come to realise that our bridal wreath must be his crown of thorns; and the portrait he sends to comfort us in our longing for the direct sight of his beautiful face, is a Crucifix.
{Rabbis say, If you have learnt much Torah, ascribe no merit to yourself. You were created for this.
LAVDATE EVM IN TIMPANO
{Humility treads upon asps and cockatrices and tramples underfoot lions and dragons, that is sin, despair, the devil and the flesh.
Instructions for Novices
{Two great gifts which our Lord left to his Church are the Psalter and the Lord's Prayer . The only gift which is greater than these is the gift of himself.
{The divine Word in the pregnant Virgin
comes your way if you give
her lodging.
{Therefore do not fret about trivialities; you were not made for trivial things, and the glory of the world is only a travesty of truth, only a heresy of happiness.
{There is a Jewish saying, that God worked for six days making the world, and he was able to rest on the seventh because on the sixth day he had made something to forgive: he couldn't rest till he had made something that needed his forgiveness.
Moses' Song, Deuteronomy 32.2-3
{May my teaching drop as the rain, my speech distil as
the dew,
As the gentle rain upon the
tender grass,
and as the showers upon the
herb.
For I will proclaim the name
of the Lord.
Ascribe greatness to our
God.
{What a man loves, a man is. If he loves a stone, he is a stone. If he loves a man, he is a man. If he loves God - now I dare say no more: if I were to say that then he is God, you might stone me.
Hans Memling, 'St John
Writing Revelation', St John's Hospital, Bruges.
Reproduced by permission,
Memlingmuseum, Stedelijke Musea, Brugge, Belgium
{Unless the whole world and all of time becomes small in you, you will not see God
Ephraim the Syrian, Hymn to
the Nativity XII
{The babe that I carry carries me,' said Mary, 'and he has lowered his wings, and taken and placed me between his pinions, and mounted into the air; and a promise has been given me that height and depth shall be my sons'
This is from Donatello's
Cantoria, also in the Museum of the Opera del Duomo
{In the house of the Lord God of Israel, may Michael, the protector of God, be at my right hand; and Gabriel, the power of God, at my left; before me Uriel, the light of God; behind me Raphael, the healing of God; and above my head, Shechinah El, the presence of God.
Child's Prayer before Sleep, Norfolk
Matthew, Mark, Luke and John,
Bless the bed that I lie on
Four corners to my bed,
Five angels there lie spread;
Two
at my head,
Two
at my feet,
One
at my heart, my soul to keep.
Psalm 118.17
{I shall not die, but live . and declare the works of the Lord
{Poverty is good and contains within itself all the good things of the world. It is a great domain - I mean that he who cares nothing for the good things of the world has dominion over them all.
Latin American Grace
{O God, to those who have hunger, give bread
and to us who have bread,
give the hunger for justice.
{Blessed are you, O Lord our God, King of the Universe, who sanctifies us by your Commandments and command us to light the Sabbath candles.
St Sergius of Radonez
Outside Settignano, amongst olive groves is a small monastery, founded by Don Divo Barsotti. Its young monks and nuns walk to Mass, like grey sculpted columns. On the chapel's outer wall, so that passers-by may read, are these words:
{Nessun uomo, nessuna creatura,
nulla nel cielo e sopra la
terra
ti adora più:
nessuno ti conosca o ti
ammiri,
nessuno ti serva, ti ami,
illuminato dallo spirito,
battezato nel fuoco,
chiunque tu sia:
laico, vergine, sacerdote,
tu sei trono di Dio,
sei la dimora, sei lo
strumento,
sei la luce della divinita
. . . .
All the immensity, the
unity which transcends all, is the Holy Spirit. The gift which
comes from the abyss and penetrates all and of itself is one
and indivisible, fills all things, and transforms all into one
light.
No one, no creature, nothing
of the sky or above the earth could adore you more, no one
could know or admire you more, no one could serve you or love
you more, illuminated by the Spirit, baptised in flame,
whoever you are.
Lay person, nun or priest, you are the throne of
God, you are his dwelling, you are the instrument, you are the
light of God . . . .
Sergius of Radonez is Julian of Norwich's Russian contemporary. Nothing has survived of Saint Sergius' writings. This poem came in a dream to don Divo Barsotti, C.F.D . - and is influenced by Blessed Julian.
{Let nothing disturb you,
Nothing afright you,
God never changes.
Patience gains all things,
Who has God wants for
nothing,
God alone is enough.
With profound thanks to Sister Elizabeth A. West, L.C.M, Australia, who has a particular love for Fiesole - and who prefers being called 'Liz'.
Another version has just come:
{Let nothing trouble you, Let nothing affright you, All things are passing, God alone is unchanging, Who possesses God, Wants for nothing, God alone suffices.
And Godfriend Catharina Lindgren sends us this by e-mail, which has done lovely things in the transmission to the Swedish and Spanish texts:
{Inget får skaka dig, Nada te turbe, inget förskräcka. nada te espante, Allting skall klarna, todo se pasa. Gud är densamme. Dios no se muda, Vänta och vaka, la paciencia allt skall du vinna. todo lo alcanza; Den som har Gud kan quien a Dios tiene ingenting sakna. nada se falta: Gud ensam räcker. Sólo Dios basta.
JESU
WHO OUGHT TO BE PRAISED/GESU’ CHE DEVE ESSERE LODATO
| It were as easy
for Jesu Era così facile per Gesù To renew the withered tree Rinnovare l’albero secco As to wither the new Quanto rinsecchire il nuovo Were it His will so to do. Se è Lui a volerlo Jesu! Jesu! Jesu ! Jesu! meet it were to praise Him. E’ degno di lode There is no plant
in the ground |
There is no life in the sea, Non c’é alcuna forma di vita nel mare There is no creature in the river, Non c’é alcuna creatura nel fiume There is naught in the firmament, Non c’é nulla nel firmamento But proclaims His goodness. Che non proclami la Sua bontà Jesu! Jesu! Jesu! Jesu! meet it were to praise Him. There is no bird
on the wing, |
THE PRACTICE OF THE PRESENCE OF GOD, /LA PRATICA DELLA PRESENZA DI DIO, BROTHER LAWRENCE,/ FRA LORENZO, O.CARM.
The first time I saw Brother Lawrence was upon the 3rd of August, 1666. He told me that GOD had done him a singular favour, in his conversion at the age of eighteen.Trad. ADIncontrai Fra Lorenzo la prima volta il 3 agosto 1666. Egli mi disse che Dio gli aveva concesso una grazia particolare, la sua conversione a diciotto anni d’età.
That in the winter, seeing a tree stripped of its leaves, and considering that within a little time, the leaves would be renewed, and after that the flowers and fruit appear, he received a high view of the Providence and Power of GOD, which has never since been effaced from his soul. That this view had perfectly set him loose from the world, and kindled in him such a love for GOD, that he could not tell whether it had increased in above forty years that he had lived since.
Vedendo in inverno un albero spoglio, e riflettendo che in breve tempo le foglie sarebbero germogliate di nuovo e i fiori e i frutti sarebbero comparsi ancora, egli percepì fortemente la Provvidenza e la Potenza di Dio, che dall’ora in poi mai abbandonò la sua anima. Mi disse che questa visione lo liberò completamente dal mondo, e accese in lui un tale amore per Dio, che non saprebbe dire se tale amore fosse divenuto più grande nei successivi quarant’anni della sua vita.
Julian of Norwich
{Pray entirely inwardly , though you feel nothing, though you see nothing; yes, even though you think you cannot for dryness and barreness, in sickness and feebleness. Then is your prayer fully pleasing to me, though you think it only saves you a little. And so is all your living prayer in my sight.
Julian of Norwich
{For this is our Lord's will, that our prayer and our trust be both alike large. For if we trust not as much as we pray, we do not fully honour our Lord in our prayer, and also we tarry and pain ourselves. And the cause, as I believe, is that we know not truly that our Lord is ground himself from whom our prayer springs. And also that we know not that it is given us by his grace, of his great and tender love.
Julian of Norwich
{And after this I saw God in a point . That is to say in my understanding. By which sight I saw that he is all things.
St Birgitta of Sweden
{Amor meus crucifixus est
St Birgitta of Sweden, Her Daily Prayer,
{Thou true and living Son of God, and Son of the Virgin, who of Thy own free will didst allow Thy hands and feet to be pierced, and didst suffer so great bitterness for the health of my soul, grant, O most sweet Jesus Christ, to enter into my heart, and there to be consumed with burning love. I beseech Thee, O most adorable Redeemer, for the sake of the nails and the spear which were withdrawn from Thy dead body, and from Thy so sorely wounded heart, to withdraw from my heart the desire of all that things that offend Thee. Amen.
St Ignatius Loyola
{Receive Lord, my entire liberty, my understanding, my
memory, my will.
From Thee I have received
all things, to Thee I return all things.
Give me but Thy grace and
Thy love. I ask nothing else of Thee.
God for thi goodnes geue vnto/ me thy selfe: for thou art I nough/ to me. & I may no thyng aske/ that is lesse. that may be fulle wur=/shyppe to thee. And yf I aske eny//thyng that is lesse. euer me wantith. but only in th e I haue alle. And thes/ wordis. god of thy goodnes it are/ fulle louesum to the soule. and ful/ nygh touchyng th e wylle of our/ lorde. ffor his goodnes comprehen= Westminster Cathedral Manuscript, Julian of Norwich, Showing of Love
{God, of your goodness, give me yourself. For you are enough for me. And I may ask nothing that is less, that may be of honour to you. And if I ask anything that is less, I am always in want. For only in you I have all.
{ And these words, 'God, of your goodness', are greatly beloved by the soul, and very near to the will of our Lord.
David's Prayer When Dying, 1 Chronicles 29.10-17
{Blessed are you, O Lord, . . . forever and ever. Yours, O Lord, are the greatness, the power, the glory, the victory, and the majesty; for all that is in the heavens and on the earth is yours; yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as head above all. . . . And now, our God, we give thanks to you and praise your glorious name. . . . For all things come from you, and of your own have we given you.
Fioretta Mazzei 's Prayer of Thanksgiving when Dying, Florence, 1998
GRAZIE
'{Grazie' e` la parola piu` completa e piu` totale che fin dalla nascita l'uomo possa rivolgere al suo Creatore per tutti quelli che lo circondano.
Su questo 'grazie' si puo` vagare all'infinito pero` io tengo ora a ricondurlo ai miei 'grazie' dall'infanzia a questi 75 anni costellati solo di grazie.
Un 'grazie' contiene anche affetto, riconoscenza ed e` quello che volevo consegnare ad ognuno di voi, a cominciare dai piu` piccini, dai piu` dimenticati, dai tanti che non si sono nemmeno accorti che mi facevano dire 'grazie' e di cui e` piena tutta la mia vita.
Un grazie anche a tutti i miei familiari e alle ricchezze morali che me hanno consegnato, pero` lo ripeto, e devo dire di averlo sentito per tutta la mia vita, che questo 'grazie' e` soprattuto legato ai tantissimi che ho visto, conosciuto e amato senza storia e senza perche`. A questi e a tutti spero di dire per ciascuno un 'grazie' potente dalle braccia della Madonna, dei miei angeli custodi e di tutti quelli con cui staro` con gioia per sempre in Paradiso.
Fioretta
dettata il 2 ottobre 1998, festa degli Angeli Custodi
'{Grazie, Thanks. Thanks is the most complete and most total word that ever since one's birth one can give to one's Creator for all that surrounds one. Upon this "Thanks" I could go on discoursing to infinity because of all my "Thanks", which from infancy to these seventy-five years are star-studded only with thanks. A "Thanks" contains all affection, recognition and is what I would have wished to have given to each one of you, to begin with the littlest, those most often forgotten, those most unsure even that I would have said "Thanks" and of whom all my life is full. "Thanks" also to all my companions and all the moral value that they have given me, but I repeat, and ought to say it so as to have it be heard for my whole life, that this "Thanks" is above all for the so very many whom I saw, knew and loved who are outside of history, beyond meaning. To these and to all I hope to be able to say for each one a potent "Thanks" from the arms of Our Lady, of my guardian angels and of all with whom I shall be in joy for ever in Paradise.'
Dictated, Feast of the Guardian Angels, 2 October 1998
Joseph Chiwatenha's Prayer in Canada amongst Jesuits
{O God, at last I start to understand you.
You made the earth which we
live in. You made
the sky
which we see above us. You
made us,
we who are called people.
Now you let me start to know
who you really are.
I know how to make a canoe,
and how to enjoy
it I know
how to build a cabin and how to
live in
it. But you... you made us, and you
live in
us.
The things we make last for
a few seasons. We
only use
the canoes we create for a short
time. We
only live in the houses we build
for a few
years. But your love for us will
endure so
long that we cannot count the
time. You
will comfort us forever.
As long as we live, how can
anyone not
acknowledge you? You are the one who
protects
us.
The time we feel your
presence the most is
when we
face death You are the one with
the power
to keep our souls alive, because
only you
know how to love us in the
deepest
part of ourselves.
Not even a mother or father
can love a human
being the
way you do. Your love for us is
so strong
that it makes evil spirits lose
their
power.
Now I begin to see that the
reason you made us
is
because you want to share your love.
Nothing attracts you as much
as your
people.
Thank you for letting me
understand you
You love
us so deeply that all I can do in return
is offer
myself to you I claim you as my
elder and
chief There is no one else.
Ask me for anything you want
Just let me
always
hold you in my heart. I always
want to
feel you watching and protecting
me.
I offer you my family. If
any evil strikes them
when I am
away, I know you will take
care of
them Your love is more than I can
ever give
them
Thank you ... from my heart.
I see the loving way you
lead us along the path
of life.
You want what is best for us.
If we have poverty, let us
feel your love in it.
If we get rich, do not let
comfort make us forget
that we
need you Never let us turn into
selfish
people. Never let us think we are
better
than others who have less.
You love us equally, rich
and poor. We are
people,
your people, and you love us as
we are.
It fills me with joy to know
you. I can feel the
presence
of your love.
Thank you for letting me
give you myself just
as I am
The more I thank you, the
more I find I can give
myself to
you
Help me let go of the things
I used to place my
faith in.
All I ask is to be yours.
It would have been enough to
give us ~ and
the gifts
of the earth Thank you for them
But you've given us much
more. In you,
we live
forever.
I can hardly imagine what
heaven is like, but it
is enough
for me to know your love and to
believe
in you with all my heart.
You have promised to let us
be free spirits in
you, and
because I know you love us,
your
promise gives me hope.
Help us to welcome suffering
fit means we will
know our
need of you more deeply. In our
suffering, help us give ourselves to you
We don't have to be afraid
to die, because
death is
the new birth that lets us live
fully in
you
Life is a journey, and with
you as
our companion and our
destination, it will end with great joy.
Lord, I am not afraid of
death anymore. I will
rejoice
when I know the time has come for
me to
die.
I do not even want to mourn
the passing of my
relatives. All I need to remember is you
are
bringing them to be with you in
paradise.
You want to take them away so
they can
have perfect happiness.
Amen
LAVDATE EVM IN CIMBALIS IUBILANTIONIS; O MNIS SPIRITVS LAVDET D OMINVM
'LAVDATE DOMINU M IN SANCTIS EIVS; LAVDATE EV M IN FIRMAMENTO V IRTVTIS EIVS; L AVDATE EVM SECVNDVM MVLTITVDINEM MAGNITVDINIS EIVS
LAVDATE EVM IN SONO TVBAE; LAUDATE EVM IN PSALTERIO ET CVTHARA: LAVDATE EVM IN TIMPANO
ET CHORO; LAVDATE EV M IN CORDIS ET ORGANO; LAVDATE EVM IN CIMBALIS BENE SONANTIBUS: L AVDATE
EVM IN CIMBALIS IUBILA NTIONIS; OMNIS
SP IRITVS LAVDET DOMINVM'.
Dreaming Prayer
Creator Spirit,
you created all things, seen
and unseen,
listen to our silent prayer
as we stand here before you.
Our weary eyes look
back over distant horizons, back to those days where our
people walked.
The footprints of our
ancestors are imprinted on the earth, and their images are
real to us.
We see our grandfathers,
standing tall and strong, warriors of long ago.
We see our grandmothers,
strong and hard working women.
We hear them singing, we see
them dancing, and our spirits move within us.
They told of emus fighting,
and the kangaroos picking up the scent of our hunters
…………
The images fade away as we
feel the hurt of our people.
We can hear the cries of our
grandmothers as they cry for their children.
Loving Creator, you can see
us as we stand here and feel this hurt.
Let us walk with you, loving
Creator, towards the dawning of a proud and new nation.
We thank you for our sacred
being.
Reconciliation Prayer
Holy Father, God of Love
You are the Creator of this
land and of all good things.
We acknowledge the pain and
shame of our history
and the suffering of our
peoples,
and we ask your forgiveness.
We thank you for the
survival of indigenous cultures.
Our hope is in you because
you gave your Son Jesus
to reconcile the world to
you.
We pray for your strength
and grace to forgive,
accept and love one another,
as you love us and forgive
and accept us
in the sacrifice of your
Son.
Give us the courage to
accept the realities of our history
so that we may build a
better future for our nation.
Teach us to respect all
cultures.
Teach us to care for our
land and waters.
Help us to share justly the
resources of this land.
Help us to bring about
spiritual and social change
to improve the quality of
life for all groups in our communities,
especially the
disadvantaged.
Help young people to find
true dignity and self esteem by your Spirit.
May your power and love be
the foundations
on which we build our
families, our communities and our nation,
through Jesus Christ our
Lord.
Prepared by Wontulp-Bi-Buya, Indigenous Theology Working Group, 13th March 1997, Brisbane
Wontulp-Bi-Buya is the Queensland branch of Nungalinya College, Darwin, and provides leadership training for Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders. The Anglican, Catholic, Lutheran and Uniting Churches support Wontulp-Bi-Buya in Queensland. A group of Aboriginal Christian leaders from the partner Churches of Wontulp-Bi-Buya form the Indigenous Theology Working Group. They meet periodically for discussion and draw on their life experiences, traditional spirituality, Biblical reflection and Christian spirituality, to give expression in indigenous theology for the everyday life of their people. http://www.acc.asn.au/Liturgy.html#twelve
Isaiah 30.15
{In returning and rest shall you be saved;
in quietness and in
confidence shall be your strength.
St Birgitta's Prayer
{Pray for me, apostles and evangelists, and all those who were enclosed in the house at Pentecost when you received the Holy Spirit, for what you felt then, when you received courage to speak, and to serve Him did not spare your bodies from all pain and trouble. Help me, that by your prayer the same Spirit is worthy to visit my heart and come alight in it and never cease and be quenched. Then I would receive words and deeds to do and speak according to His blessed will.
St Birgitta structured her Order of the Most Holy Saviour upon Mary as Head of the Church at Pentecost.
St Birgitta's Prayer Written for a Friend
{OLord, my God, my Creator, my Redeemer! I, an unworthy sinner, beseech Thee, by Thy great and merciful miracle, whereby Thou dost change the Bread into Thy true Body and the Wine with the water into Thy Blood, and to everlasting health-giving refreshment; bend my will entirely according to Thy will, so that in thought, word and deed I may always do what is pleasing to Thee.
Julian of Norwich
and in this he shewed me a lytil/ thyng the quantite of a hasyl/ nott. lyeng in the pawme of/ my hand as it had semed. and it was as rownde as eny ball. Westminster Cathedral Manuscript, Julian of Norwich, Showing of Love
{And so in this sight I saw that he is all that is good as to my understanding. And in this he showed me a little thing the size of a hazel nut lying in the palm of my hand it seemed. And it was round as any ball. I looked on it with my understanding and I thought what may this be. And it was answered generally thus, 'It is all that is made.'
{I marveled how it might last, for I thought it might suddenly have fallen to nought for littleness . And I was answered in my understanding, 'It lasts and ever shall. For God loves it, and so has everything its beginning by the love of God.'
{A hazel nut in the hand looks much like a hand-forged nail-head. There is a tale that gypsies tell to exonerate themselves of their stealing, that they even stole the nails from the Cross , and relieved His pain. Take that nail into your hand. Free His hands from our nails, so that he can Create us again, and unravel our 'noughting' of His Creation, ourselves. We can be oned to his creating, his healing, hands. }
Counterclockwise: white
ochre for spiritual protection from Australia, blessed olive
leaves from Montebeni, one small wild English hazel nut, one
large Australian hazel nut, clapper stick carved from oak, one
of two, made by Annette Zerberis in Melbourne, Australia, of
two women working at the mill, for reconciliation.
Wisdom 11.22-24
{For the whole world before you is like a speck that
tips the scales,
and like a drop of morning
dew that falls on the ground.
But you are merciful to all,
for you can do all things,
and you overlook people's
sins, so that they may repent.
For you love all things that
exist,
and detest none of the
things that you have made,
for you would not have made
anything if you hated it.
The heavens shall declare the glory of God
Luke 15.24
{And he said unto him, 'Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine. It was meet that we should make merry and be glad, for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found.'
Amen . Amen. Amen.
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