A Year Goes By Like Nothing, 2023 Edition
Saturday 9: This Could Be the Start of Something

St. Brendan’s Prayer

IMG_5775Shall I abandon, O King of Mysteries, the soft comforts of home?

Shall I turn my back on my native land, and turn my face towards the sea?

Shall I put myself wholly at your mercy,

    without silver, without a horse, 

    without fame, without honor?

Shall I throw myself wholly upon You,

    without sword and shield,

    without food and drink,

    without a bed to lie on?

Shall I say farewell to my beautiful land, placing myself under Your yoke?

Shall I pour out my heart to You, confessing my manifold sins and begging forgiveness, tears streaming down my cheeks?

Shall I leave the prints of my knees on the sandy beach, a record of my final prayer in my native land?

Shall I then suffer every kind of wound that the sea can inflict?

Shall I take my tiny boat across the wide sparkling ocean?

O King of the Glorious Heaven, shall I go of my own choice upon the sea?

O Christ, will You help me on the wild waves?

 

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