A Prayer

Grant I thee pray such heat into mine heart,
That to this love of thine may be equal;
 God grant me from Sathanas service to astart,
With whom me rueth so long to have be thrall;
Grant me good Lord and creator of all,
The flame to quench of all sinful desire,
And in thy love set all mine heart afire.

That when the journey of this deadly life
My silly ghost hath finished, and thence
Departed must without his fleshly wife;
Alone into his lord’s high presence,
He may thee find: O well of indulgence,
In thy lordship not as a lord: but rather
As a very tender, loving father.

--Sir Thomas More (1478-1535), from "A Prayer of Picus Mirandula Unto God," 1510

Icon of St. Thomas More by Theophilia Darn