Jesu, Quadragenariae
VESPERS II
Jesus! You taught and sanctified
Observance of this Lenten tide;
Be pleased our fast to consecrate,
And by it mend our broken state.
Now unto Paradise once more,
By penitence our souls restore;
Without the gates our souls were thrust
Where thorns and toil turned pride to dust.
Be with your Church in saving pow’r,
In this her death and rising hour;
When for the sins of bygone days,
With Word-pierced heart she weeps and prays.
For all our grievous past offence,
Your gracious pardon, Lord, dispense;
Henceforth, O gentle Guardian, shield
From sin each sense by mercy sealed.
So cleansed and chastened in your eyes,
By this our gladsome sacrifice,
May we for Pascha’s joys prepare,
Who now a joyful sorrow share.
Infuse us, Father, with your Breath,
The Crucified’s last Gift in death;
That in that Spirit we may raise
New paschal hymns of living praise. Amen.
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Dear Fr. Marc, BLESS US!
When I was a child at home in Maine, my cousins and I use to play a game in the snow. We would attempt to walk from my backyard to the woods behind my house and see who could keep the straightest line in the snow. It was a distance of 70-80 yards…a long walk for small children. My one cousin, Donna, who was the smallest and youngest always won. So one day, I asked her: “How come you always win this game?” And she replied: “It’s easy Gregg…while all of you are watching your foot prints in the snow…I pick out a tree in the distance and keep my eyes on it…and so I win because I always have the straightest line.”
I was reflecting on this today…as I (we) prepare for Lent. If we keep our eyes on Christ and His Most Holy Mother…rather than on our ‘feet in the snows of sin and failure’ (God knows how we love to look at our own prints!) perhaps we might also make a ‘straighter’ line through our Christian life…and reach OUR goal (salvation) and win by His grace?
Just a perhaps silly little thought from a old sinner!
Actually, Fr. Gregory, it isn’t silly at all! The wisdom of children once again. Thanks for posting it.