St. Brendan's Prayer: On Setting Out

Shall I abandon, 

O King of mysteries, 

the soft comforts of home? 

Shall I turn my back on my native land, 

and turn my face towards the sea?

Shall I put myself wholly at your mercy, 

without silver, 

without a horse, 

without fame, 

without honour? 

Shall I throw myself wholly upon You, 

without sword and shield, 

without food and drink, 

without a bed to lie on? 

Shall I say farewell to my beautiful land, 

placing myself under Your yoke?

Shall I pour out my heart to You, 

confessing my manifold sins and begging forgiveness, 

tears streaming down my cheeks? 

Shall I leave the prints of my knees 

on the sandy beach, 

a record of my final prayer in my native land?

Shall I then suffer every kind of wound 

that the sea can inflict? 

Shall I take my tiny boat 

across the wide sparkling ocean? 

O King of the Glorious Heaven, 

shall I go of my own choice upon the sea?

O Christ, will You help me on the wild waves?

--St. Brendan of Clonfert (the Navigator) (484-577 CE), Irish patron saint of Kerry and Clonfert, founder of a monastery in the Aran Islands, monastic and sailor, one of the "Twelve Apostles of Ireland" who is renowned for his sea journey with 16 other monks to find the Isle of the Blessed, aka the Garden of Eden