Beautified

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Prayer, Sanctification

“O blessed Lord, I beseech Thee to pour down upon me such grace as may not only cleanse this life of mine, but beautify it a little, if it be Thy will,–before I go hence and am no more seen.  Grant that I may love Thee with all my heart and soul and mind and strength, and my neighbor as myself–and that I may persevere unto the end; through Jesus Christ–Amen.”

-James Skinner, quoted in Great Souls at Prayer, 125

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Star and Guide

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Holy Spirit

“O holy Spirit, Love of God, infuse Thy grace, and descend plentifully into my heart; enlighten the dark corners of this neglected dwelling, and scatter there Thy cheerful beams; dwell in that soul that longs to be Thy temple; water that barren soil, over-run with weeds and briars, and lost for want of cultivating, and make it fruitful with Thy dew from heaven.  Oh come, Thou refreshment of them that languish and faint.  Come, Thou Star and Guide of them that sail in the tempestuous sea of the world; Thou only Haven of the tossed and shipwrecked.  Come, Thou Glory and Crown of the living, and only Safeguard of the dying.  Come, Holy Spirit, in much mercy, and make me fit to receive Thee–Amen.

-Augustine of Hippo, quoted in Great Souls at Prayer, 61

“Martyrs’ Song”

 

“Death is short, and life is long;

Satan is strong, but Christ more strong

At His Word, Who hath led us hither,

The Red Sea must part hither and thither

At His Word, Who goes before us too,

Jordan must cleave to let us through.”

–Christina Rossetti[1]

 

[1] Christina Rossetti, “Martyrs’ Song”, The Works of Christina Rossetti, Cumberland House, Hertfordshire: Wordsworth Editions Ltd, 1995, p.268.

The Crowning Mercy

“Almighty God, Giver of all good, who hast given, above all Thy gifts, the crowning mercy that we are called in Christ Jesus to know and love and serve Thee, we would bring Thee thanks and praises for the Divine Light which reveals the heart of grace in Thy leading of souls and peoples.  Help us to rise to a fit gratitude for the overrunning blessings which Thou givest ever, even to the darkest lot and live,–the temporal felicities, the Divine comforts, the eternal hopes.  That all things are of Thy mercy, by Thy mercy, and in Thy mercy, we thank Thee.  Make us to sing Thy songs in the light, and in the night to touch Thy hand and be at peace.  Grant, we pray, with all other blessings, Thy best gifts, thankful and trustful hearts, that Thou mayest be our Lord and King for evermore–Amen.”

-Henry W. Foote, quoted in Great Souls at Prayer, 358.

Sufficient Praise

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Prayer, Worship

“O most merciful God, whose mercies are as high as the heavens, great and many as the moments of eternity; fill my soul, I beseech Thee, with great thoughts of Thy unspeakable blessings, that my thankfulness may be as great as my needs of mercy are.  Let Thy loving-kindness endure for ever and ever upon me; and, because I cannot praise Thee according to Thy excellence, take my soul, in due time, into the land of everlasting praises, that I may spend a whole eternity in ascribing to Thy Name praise, and honor, and dominion.  Grant this for Jesus Christ’s sake–Amen.”

-Jeremy Taylor, quoted in Great Souls at Prayer, 326.

Walking in the Light

“Grant, we beseech Thee, Almighty God, that as we are bathed in the new light of Thy everlasting truth, so our clear sight of Thee in heart and mind may become sincere obedience to Thee in word and deed–Amen.”

-Rowland Williams, quote in Great Souls at Prayer, 248

Above All

“Grant me, O most loving Lord, to rest in Thee above all creatures, above all health and beauty, above all glory and honor, above all power and dignity, above all knowledge and subtilty, above all riches and art, above all fame and praise, above all sweetness and comfort, above all hope and promise, above all gifts and favors that Thou canst give and impart to us, above all jubilee that the mind of man can receive and feel; finally, above angels and archangels, and above all the heavenly host, above all things visible and invisible, and above all that Thou art not, O my God.  It is too small and unsatisfying, whatsoever Thou bestowest on me apart from Thee, or revealest to me, or promisest, whilst Thou art not seen, and not fully obtained.  For surely my heart cannot truly rest, nor be entirely contented, unless it rest in Thee–Amen.”  (Thomas a Kempis, quoted in Great Souls at Prayer, 14)

Not a Moment, Not Any

“Grant, Lord, that I may not, for one moment, admit willingly into my soul any thought contrary to Thy love–Amen.”

-E.B. Pusey, quoted in Great Souls at Prayer, 155.

Drawing Near

“Almighty and most merciful God, in whom we live, and move, and have our being; Lord of all life; Source of all light, guiding and governing all things of Thy lovingkindness and power!  Hear our thanksgivings unto Thee for all the joy that Thou puttest into mortal life; but chiefly for the joy that comes of sin forgiven, weakness strengthened, victory promised, life eternal looked for.  To every one of us grant that, being fully conscious of having erred and strayed from Thy ways, we may be equally conscious of our need to go back again to the Good Shepherd.  Let there be no doubt with any one of us that Thou dost forgive, even to the uttermost, all those who draw nigh in penitence to Thee; that so, those of us who are sinful, and sad because sinful, and sorrowful in sinning, may have this day the joy of the Lord–Amen.”

-George Dawson, quoted in Great Souls at Prayer, 117.

Westcott Turns the Tables!

“It has been said that this mode of procedure is ‘unscientific.’  The charge is vague, but as far as I understand it, I feel unable to admit it.  It is certainly ‘unscientific’ to conduct an inquiry under the guidance of suppressed assumptions, as, for example, that miracles are impossible, or that the irreconcilableness of some of the phenomena of the Life of the Risen Lord with the phenomena of our present life proves that the view given of the Risen Life is legendary.”

-B.F. Westcott, The Revelation of the Risen Lord, Sixth Edition, London: Macmillian & Co., 1898, p.xi.

Westcott, looking smug because he just zinged materialists.