This last week has been put my reluctant body through the wringer. My fibromyalgia and rheumatoid arthritis pain are worse than usual, and I have been draggin myself through my tasks, highly anticipating crawling into bed until dinner is ready. I like to be up when my dear husband comes home, to greet him and ask him about his day, but my pain and exhaustion are such that I can't right now.So I thought of prayer as I leafed through my quotation book this afternoon and almost immediately located a wonderful quotation by John Vianney on private vs. communal/liturgical prayer. I hope you enjoy it and that it feeds your soul the way it has done mine this afternoon:
"Private prayer is like straw scattered here and there: If you set it on fire, it makes a lot of little flames. But gather these straws into a bundle and light them, and you get a mighty fire, rising like a column into the sky; public prayer is like that."
-- St. John Vianney (1786-1859)
I'm planning to sink into His Word and pray it through the Divine Hours and the Book of Common Prayer this week for sustenance, hoping that feeding my soul will strengthen my body and enable me to accomplish all that I must do this week.
2 comments:
May I pray for you, with you? It will be like two torches shining over a great distance, and the arc of light, of sympathy, between them shall make a beautiful sight :-) I pray for you to have bone-peace and softness of breath. I pray for you to have courage, relief, love for yourself, and trust. I pray for your happiness and wish you many blessings.
Yes, let us pray for one another from opposite ends of the world -- for strength of mind and body, of resolve to keep on despite all barriers, to pick up pen and express the gifts we possess because of our body's frailties ... yes.
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