© 2011 French-speaking Association of Readers of the Urantia Book
Prayer before bed
Lord, sign your name with the cross on my house;
Cover with your hand the roof that shelters me,
Protect with your right the bed where I rest;
Keep intact the breath with which you have blessed my body,
Give me sweet rest during this night.
And that at dawn, fully awake,
Established in you in a new jubilation, I can bring up to you
The voice of my prayer united with the scent of faith.
Gregory of Narek (944-1010)
Keep me all day
O strong God, from the first ray of day,
As soon as I wake up, come to me,
Abide with me, govern my thoughts, my words and my actions.
Be the guardian of my whole body, of all my senses.
Be the keeper of my hands:
May they be pure and rise up towards you.
Be the guardian of my feet,
Let them not go here and there in idleness.
All day long,
In work or prayer,
Be the guardian of my lips.
John Gualbert (1073)
How I love your will
O my Lord and my Master, make me love your will and desire your glory, seek your interests in everything.
Jesus, my Lord, make me courageous to do your work, strengthen me against overwhelm, make me indifferent to purely visible results!
Give me, O Christ Jesus, the light of your Holy Spirit to understand the price of the Cross. Place it on my shoulders, Lord, but at the same time give me the grace to carry it with you.
Dom John-Cuthbert Hedley (1837-1915)
My joy in you alone
Lord Jesus,
Be at the center of my life and my heart!
Like a sun always bright and warm,
Please enlighten me and warm me more and more;
Make me flourish in all virtue and be fruitful in all good.
Lord Jesus,
That I place my joy in you alone,
That I only seek to imitate you in all things,
To be, through you and with you,
Pleasing to the Father.
A Carthusian monk