Blessing

May the peace of the Lord Christ go with you,
wherever He may send you.
May He guide you through the wilderness,
protect you through the storm.
May He bring you home rejoicing
at the wonders He has shown you.
May He bring you home rejoicing
once again into our doors.

+In the name of the Father,
and of the Son,
and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.

-- The Northumbria Community, from Celtic Daily Prayer Book One: The Journey Begins, p. 18

The Real Work

It may be that when we no longer know what to do,
we have come to our real work,
and that when we no longer know which way to go
we have come to our real journey.
The mind that is not baffled is not employed.
The impeded stream is the one that sings.

--Wendell Berry (1934- ), from the essay "Poetry and Marriage" in Standing By Words (1983)

The Journey

One day you finally knew
what you had to do, and began,
though the voices around you
kept shouting
their bad advice –
though the whole house
began to tremble
and you felt the old tug
at your ankles.
‘Mend my life!’
each voice cried.
But you didn’t stop.
You knew what you had to do,
though the wind pried
with its stiff fingers
at the very foundations –
though their melancholy
was terrible.
It was already late
enough, and a wild night,
and the road full of fallen
branches and stones.
But little by little,
as you left their voices behind,
the stars began to burn
through the sheets of clouds,
and there was a new voice,
which you slowly recognized as your own,
that kept you company
as you strode deeper and deeper
into the world,
determined to do
the only thing you could do –
determined to save
the only life you could save.

--Mary Oliver (1935- ), from Dream Work (1994)

Lines Written In The Days of Growing Darkness

Every year we have been
witness to it: how the world descends
into a rich mash, in order that

it may resume.
And therefore
who would cry out

to the petals on the ground
to stay, knowing, as we must,
how the vivacity of what was is married

to the vitality of what will be?
I don’t say
it’s easy, but what else will do 

if the love one claims to have for the world
be true?
So let us go on

through the sun be swinging east,
and the ponds be cold and black,
and the sweets of the year be doomed.

--Mary Oliver (1935- ), From A Thousand Mornings, 2013

Benediction

The blessing of the Lord rest and remain on all his people,
in every land and of every tongue.
The Lord meet in mercy all who seek him.
The Lord comfort all who suffer and mourn.
The Lord hasten his coming,
and give us and all his people peace by all means.
Amen.

-- Handley Carr Glyn Moule, found at https://acollectionofprayers.wordpress.com/2016/09/10/a-blessing-5/

Last Night

Last night
I begged the Wise One to tell me
the secret of the world.
Gently, gently he whispered,
"Be quiet,
the secret cannot be spoken,
it is wrapped in silence."

--Jalal ad'Din Rumi (1207-1273), translated by Maryam Mafi and Azita Malima Kolin, from Whispers of the Beloved

The Splendor of Eternal Light

May the Lord Jesus Christ,
who is the splendor of eternal Light,
remove from your hearts the darkness of night.
Amen.

May he drive far from you
the snares of the crafty enemy,
and always give you
his angel of light to guard you.
Amen.

That you may rise to your morning praises,
kept safe in him,
in whom is all the fullness of your salvation.
Amen.

--from the Mozarabic Psalter, 8th century, found at

Doxology

To the Holy Spirit who sanctifies us,
with the Father who made and created us,
and the + Son who redeemed us,
be given all honor and glory,
now and forever.

--Thomas Cranmer, 1489-1556
SaveSave

Sarum Blessing

May the Lord direct our hearts,
this day and for ever,
in the love of God
and in the patient waiting for Christ.
The Lord bless us
and preserve us from all evil
and bring us to everlasting life;
through Jesus + Christ our Lord.
Amen.

Modified from the Sarum Rite of the 11th century; located at https://acollectionofprayers.wordpress.com/tag/blessings-and-benedictions/page/3/

Invocation at Eucharist

Heart of Jesus, think of me.
Eyes of Jesus, look on me.
Face of Jesus, comfort me.
Hands of Jesus, bless me.
Feet of Jesus, guide me.
Arms of Jesus, hold me.
Body of Jesus, feed me.
Blood of Jesus, wash me.
Jesus, make me thus your own.
Here and in the world to come.

Amen.

-- from St. Augustine's Prayer Book