sacred gesture
As this winter day begins, O God, I realize that while I have risen from sleep, I must also be awakened in my heart. Your son Jesus has called me to live each day awake, for I know not the hour or the day when you will knock at my door to call me home.
Open the eyes of my heart, stir the seat of my soul and awaken it to the mystery of your presence in every corner of this day. Send forth your Spirit, and ignite the embers of my heart that it may come alive with compassion, devotion and zeal.
As I enter into silence, I proclaim the mystery of my faith, that you dwell perpetually within my heart.
period of silent prayer or meditation
O Loving God, prevent me from judging this time of prayer. Remind me that only you read hearts, that regardless of how poorly I have prayed, how many were the distractions or wanderings of my mind, that you take delight in my desire to be with you in stillness.
As the numerous duties of this winter day call to me, I take time to put into words my affection and devotion for you, as I now pray.
a psalm, spiritual reading or personal prayer
I pause before I begin my day to be mindful now of the needs of all who struggle for peace and justice, of all who refuse to return violence for violence and for those who labor to lift the burdens of all who suffer in mind or body. I remember in particular the needs of:_______.
The clock calls me, my Beloved: my day is about to begin. May this time of prayer be the design of my day; may everything I do be done in, with and through you.
Blessed and beautiful are you, my God.
May your light be my sun this winter day.
sacred gesture
sacred gesture
O Gracious God, the season of winter wraps much of this part of our planet with long dark nights. Our daystar, the sun, seems to have turned its face away, as we feel the cold of winter upon us. The warmth of this winter must come from within. So stoke with your Spirit the dying embers of my heart, that my meditation may be afire with love. Send your Spirit to guide me down the passageway to the innermost temple of my heart where you dwell in luminous splendor, as I now enter into the prayer of silence.
period of silent prayer or meditation
As the sounds of the winter wind rattle about, I join my prayer to the sacred wind of heaven, the Holy Spirit, so that it may become one with the aspirations of all those who love and adore you this night. I join this my winter night prayer to the prayers of my brothers and sisters on the other side of our planet who rejoice in the warm glories of summer. From north and south, east and west, may the wind of heaven sweep up all acts of devotion into a single song of love, as I now pray.
a psalm, spiritual reading or personal prayer
I pray this night for those who are sick and dying, for those yoked by heavy debts or poverty, for those in the midst of divorce and separation and for all who face this night in great need. I lift up to you the special intentions of those I love, especially the needs of:_______.
My trust is buoyed by the touch of your presence. I now prepare, without fear or dread, to close my eyes in sleep. Grant me the grace to also close my eyes at the moment of my death with the same peacefulness and confidence.
O Guardian of galaxies,
Mother of the cosmos and
Father of stars beyond counting,
may I sleep in you tonight.
sacred gesture
