The Cry of the Deer (Patrick of Ireland)

also known as The Rune of St. Patrick

I arise today:
in vast might,
invocation of the Trinity;
belief in a threeness;
confession of oneness;
meeting in the Creator.
I arise today:
in the mightof Christ’s birth and his baptism;
in the mightof his crucifixion and burial;
in the mightof his resurrection and ascension;
in the mightof his descent to the judgment of doom.

I arise today:
in the might of cherubim;
in obedience of angels;
in ministrations of archangels;
in hope of resurrection...
in prayers of patriarchs;
in predictions of prophets;
in preachings of apostles;
in faith of confessors;
in innocence of holy virgins.

I arise today:
in the might of heaven;
splendor of the sun;
whiteness of snow;
irresistibleness of fire;
swiftness of lightning;
speed of wind;
absoluteness of the deep;
rock’s durability.

I arise today:
in the might of God for my piloting;
power of God for my stability;
wisdom of God for my guidance;
eye of God for my foresight;
ear of God for my hearing;
word of God for my word;
hand of God for my guard;
path of God for my prevention;
shield of God for my protection;
host of God for my salvation;
against any demon’s snare;
against all vice’s lure;
against concupiscence;
against ill-wishes far and near.

I invoke all these forces:
between me and every savage force
that may come upon me, body or soul;
against incantations of false prophets;
against black lairs of paganism;
against false laws of heresy;
against idolatry, spells of women, and druids;
against all knowledge that should not be known.

Christ for my guard today:
against poison, against burning;
against drowning, against wounding;
that there may come to me merit:
Christ with me, Christ before me;
Christ behind me, Christ in me;
Christ under me, Christ over me;
Christ to right of me, Christ to left of me;
Christ in lying down, in sitting, in rising up;
Christ in all who may think of me!
Christ in the mouth of all who may speak to me!
Christ in the eye that may look on me!
Christ in the ear that may hear me!

I arise today:
in vast might, invocation of the Trinity
believing in a threeness;
confessing a oneness;
meeting in the Creator;
From the Lord is salvation; in the Lord is safety;
Be thy right way, Lord, ever with us!

Translated by Oliver St. John Gogarty, revised by Dick Whitty



Peace Forever,
Firacub.

Giving - from the Heart (Dag Hammarskjoeld)

The “great” commitment is so much easier than the ordinary, everyday one - and can all too easily shut our hearts to the latter. A willingness to make the ultimate sacrifice can be associated with, and even produce, a great hardness of heart. You thought you were indifferent to praise for achievements which you would not yourself have counted to your credit, or that, if you should be tempted to feel flattered, you would always remember that the praise far exceeded what the events justified. You thought yourself indifferent - until you felt your jealousy flare up at his naive attempts to “make himself important,” and your self-conceit stood exposed. Concerning the hardness of the heart - and its littleness - let me read with open eyes the book my days are writing, and learn.



Peace Forever,
Firacub.

Unless You Become a Child (Johann Christoph Arnold)

Children meant everything to Jesus. When his disciples quarreled as to who was the greatest, he put a child in their midst and said, “Unless you become like one of these little ones you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven.” And Isaiah, speaking of that same kingdom, said, “The lion and the lamb shall lie down peacefully together, and a little child shall lead them.”



Peace Forever,
Firacub.

However Hidden (Annemarie Wächter)

What I am looking for is a life lived in the spirit of the kingdom of God. And that kingdom is not a vague, faraway ideal; it must be lived and fulfilled now, today... There will never be social justice as long as we merely give up a small part of our possessions and keep the greater share for ourselves. Doesn’t every person have the right to such a life? Is there not in every one a longing for light, for God, however hidden?

Obviously it will demand a struggle against one’s selfish human nature; against the comforts of self-satisfied tranquility. Such a life requires the readiness for sacrifice, privation, and even martyrdom. Christ died on a cross, and his death did not relieve us of the necessity of going the same way. It was an example for us to follow.

I am so tired of today's sweetly gushing Christianity; of false enthusiasm and empty phrases! But I am also thankful to have found a knowledge of the burden and bitterness of Christ’s way. It is a way of conviction and faith and therefore of action, and that is what makes all the difference.



Peace Forever,
Firacub.

What Christ Asks (Soren Kierkegaard)

If you have any knowledge at all of human nature, you know that those who only admire the truth will, when danger appears, become traitors. The admirer is infatuated with the false security of greatness; but if there is any inconvenience or trouble, he pulls back. Admiring the truth, instead of following it, is just as dubious a fire as the fire of erotic love, which at the turn of the hand can be changed into exactly the opposite, to hate, jealousy, and revenge. Christ, however, never asked for admirers, worshippers, or adherents. He consistently spoke of "followers" and "disciples."



Peace Forever,
Firacub.

Keeping Watch (Philip Berrigan)

“May he not come suddenly and find you sleeping. What I say to you, I say to all: Watch!” - Mark 13:36

As I ponder this passage from Mark, my thoughts return to the winter of 1943, to a nineteen-year-old draftee at Camp Gordon, now Fort Gordon, Georgia. The old Springfield rifle is heavy, the Georgia winters are damp and cold and dark and - Lord, Gawd! - I've gotta walk guard for four hours. And do I ever watch! I watch for the officer of the guard. If he hears a weak challenge ("Halt! Who goes there?") or finds me forgetful of the password (Geronimo) or hiding or smoking, it's weekend KP for a month. The minutes and hours drag agonizingly by. I'm cold to the bone. Do I ever watch for six in the morning and the dawn!



Peace Forever,
Firacub.

An Awful Thing (Fleming Rutledge)

During Holy Week several years ago, a woman I’ll call Jane participated in our church’s dramatized version of the Easter story. It was her first time, and as a member of the congregation, representing the crowd, she was supposed to shout, "Let him be crucified!" But after the service she told me, with considerable energy, "I just couldn't do it! I just couldn't say such an awful thing."



Peace Forever,
Firacub.

Fruitfulness (Henri J. M. Nouwen)

We are called to be fruitful - not successful, not productive, not accomplished. Success comes from strength, stress, and human effort. Fruitfulness comes from vulnerability and the admission of our own weakness.



Peace Forever,
Firacub.

The Test of Suffering (Thomas Merton)

Merely accepted, suffering does nothing for our souls except, perhaps, to harden them. Endurance alone is no consecration. True asceticism is not a mere cult of fortitude. We can deny ourselves rigorously for the wrong reason and end up by pleasing ourselves mightily with our self-denial... Suffering is valuable only as a test of faith. What if our faith fails the test? Is it good to suffer, then? What if we enter into suffering with a strong faith in suffering, and then discover that suffering destroys us?



Peace Forever,
Firacub.

Firebrand and Public Danger (Dorothy Sayers)

I believe it to be a great mistake to present Christianity as something charming and popular with no offense in it....We cannot blink at the fact that gentle Jesus meek and mild was so stiff in his opinions and so inflammatory in his language that he was thrown out of church, stoned, hunted from place to place, and finally gibbeted as a firebrand and a public danger. Whatever his peace was, it was not the peace of an amiable indifference.



Peace Forever,
Firacub.

Which Cross (Sadhu Sundar Singh)

If we do not bear the cross of the Master, we will have to bear the cross of the world, with all its earthly goods. Which cross have you taken up? Pause and consider.



Peace Forever,
Firacub.

Knowledge Is Not Enough (J. Heinrich Arnold)

Every believer knows that Christ went the way of the cross for our sakes. But it is not enough just to know this. He suffered in vain unless we are willing to die for him as he died for us. If we call ourselves his followers, we must be willing to take the same path he took.

We know, too, that Christ comforts and heals, saves and forgives. But we must not forget that he judges too. If we truly love him, we will love everything in him; not only his compassion and mercy, but his sharpness too. For it is his sharpness that prunes and purifies. His love is not the soft love of human emotion, but a burning fire that cleanses and sears. It is a love that demands self-sacrifice.



Peace Forever,
Firacub.

Confidently (Rainer Maria Rilke)

Being means: not numbering and counting, but ripening like a tree, which doesn’t force its sap, and stands confidently in the storms of spring, not afraid that afterward summer may not come. It does come. But it comes only to those who are patient, who are there as if eternity lay before them, so unconcernedly silent and vast. I learn it every day of my life, learn it with pain I am grateful for: patience is everything!



Peace Forever,
Firacub.

Putting on Christ (Andrew of Crete)

It is ourselves that we must spread under Christ's feet, not coats or lifeless branches or shoots of trees, matter which wastes away and delights the eye only for a few brief hours. But we have clothed ourselves with Christ's grace, with the whole Christ - "for as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ" - so let us spread ourselves like coats under his feet.



Peace Forever,
Firacub.

No Comfort but God (William Willimon)

The sermons of John, the first proponent of baptism, could
never have been titled (as was a recent radio series I heard),
"Be Good to Yourself." This prophetic voice from the
wilderness appeared preaching repentance for the
forgiveness of sins. Not surprisingly, his words strike
abrasively against the easy certainties of today's religious
Establishment. John will let us take no comfort in our rites,
traditions, or ancestry. According to him, everyone must
submit to be made over. Everybody must descend into the
waters, even - especially - the religiously secure and the
morally sophisticated. He reminds us that God is able to raise
up children even from stones if the Chosen fail to turn and
repent.



Peace Forever,
Firacub.

A New Future (C. F. Blumhardt)

The sign of the coming kingdom will be the true man, the true
woman - not the Christian, Muslim, or Buddhist. Religious
people can say what they like, but this will not hinder the
burgeoning movement of people and nations toward a
humanity that strives for higher goals. And though these goals
may seem weak and incomplete, God will still protect and
preserve them for a new future.



Peace Forever,
Firacub.

Be Yourself (François Fénelon)

There are many people who are sincere without being simple:
they are ever afraid of being seen for what they are not; they
are always musing over their words and thoughts and thinking
about what they have done, in fear of having done or said too
much. These people are sincere, but they are not simple: they
are not at ease with others, and other people are not at ease
with them. There is nothing easy about them, nothing free,
spontaneous or natural. People who are imperfect, less
regular, less masters of themselves, are more lovable. This is
how people find them, and it is the same with God.



Peace Forever,
Firacub.