Contents
Cover
About the Book
Title Page
Dedication
Acknowledgements
Introduction
In Wonder
They Receive Each Day As An Invitation – John O’Donohue
In Gratitude
Growing in Prayer – A member of the Poor Clare Sisters
In Surrender
Prayer – Sr Mary Magdalen, Carmelite Sister
In Trust
Prayer is the Most Human and Personal Thing We Do – Sr Bernardine Meskell, Poor Clare Sister
In Praise
In Love
Letter to Sister Stan – Sr Marie Fahy, Cistercian Sister
For Serenity
The Contemplative Life – Anne Marie Maguire
For Protection
For Faith
What does prayer mean to me? – Sr Regina McHugh, Poor Clare Sisters
Celtic Christianity – Brother Richard Hendrick OFM Cap
For Peace
Contemplative Prayer – Sr Aneta, Redemptoristin
For Blessings
To Pray is to Love – Jean Vanier
Contributors’ Biographies
About the Author
Also by Sister Stan
Copyright
Gardening the Soul
Now is the Time
Seasons of the Day
Stillness Through My Prayers
Moments of Stillness
The Road Home (autobiography)
Day by Day
Seasons of Hope
For more information on Sister Stan and her books,
see her website at www.srstan.ie
TRANSWORLD IRELAND PUBLISHERS
28 Lower Leeson Street, Dublin 2, Ireland
www.transworldireland.ie
Transworld Ireland is part of the Penguin Random House group of companies whose addresses can be found at global.penguinrandomhouse.com
First published in the UK and Ireland in 2015 by Transworld Ireland
an imprint of Transworld Publishers
Copyright © Sister Stanislaus Kennedy 2015
Essay: ‘They Receive Each Day As An Invitation’,
first published in Benedictus, © John O’Donohue 2007
Essay: ‘Prayer’ © Sr Mary Magdalen 2015
Essay: ‘Prayer is the Most Human and Personal Thing We Do’ © Sr Bernardine Meskell 2015
Essay: ‘Letter to Sister Stan’ © Sr Marie Fahy 2015
Essay: ‘The Contemplative Life’ © Anne Marie Maguire 2015
Essay: ‘What Does Prayer Mean To Me?’ © Sr Regina McHugh 2015
Essay: ‘Celtic Christianity’ © Br Richard Hendrick 2015
Essay: ‘Contemplative Prayer’ © Sr Aneta Mileca 2015
Essay: ‘To Pray is to Love’ © Jean Vanier 2015
Sister Stanislaus Kennedy has asserted her right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.
Every effort has been made to obtain the necessary permissions with reference to copyright material, both illustrative and quoted. We apologize for any omissions in this respect and will be pleased to make the appropriate acknowledgements in any future edition.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Version 1.0 Epub ISBN 9781473540309
ISBN 9781848272279
This ebook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorized distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.
1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2
This book is dedicated to all of
those seeking truth.
Prayer is raising and opening
the mind and heart to God,
with or without words.
With profound gratefulness and thanks to Brenda Kimber of Transworld for her support, interest and dedication, to Johanne Farrelly for typing various versions of the book, to the contributors, Sr Aneta, Sr Marie Fahy, Br Richard Hendrick OFM Cap, Sr Mary Magdalen, Anne Marie Maguire, Sr Regina McHugh, Sr Bernadine Meskell, John O’Donohue and Jean Vanier for their inspiring essays and to the countless people who have made it possible to conceive to write and to produce this book and to put it into your hands, and to you the reader for your interest.
Dear God help me to spread your beauty
everywhere I go today.
Flood my soul with your Spirit and light.
Fill my whole being so utterly that all my life may
only be a radiance of you.
Shine through me and be so much a part of me,
That every soul I meet may see your presence in me.
Let them look at me and find no longer me but you.
Stay with me and then I will begin to shine
as you shine
So to be a light for others.
Let me preach you without preaching;
Teach you without teaching, not by words
but by example;
By the catching influence of who I am and what I do;
And by the obvious fullness of the love my heart
holds for you.
Cardinal Newman
THIS IS A sacred treasury, a spiritual notebook which is special to me, and which has touched and inspired me at different times over the years.
All of these prayers have come to me from many different people, traditions, cultures, faiths and religions. They came to me through different versions of the Bible and prayer books, as well as other books and individuals. Some are well known, others less so.
Prayer is opening up the mind and heart to God. Over the years at different times these prayers have opened my heart and mind and my whole being to my God and given expression to my heart’s yearning for his presence.
Meister Eckhart tells us, ‘the nearest thing to God is silence’. These prayers have led me into the silence and the stillness of my innermost being. As you read or dip into this book I encourage you to stay with it and allow it to move you into that place of quiet stillness where you can be fully present with yourself and your God.
I am sharing these prayers with you because I believe they have the capacity to move you as they moved me.
I hope too they may inspire you to make your own sacred treasury and to share them with others.
Meister Eckhart said if the only prayer you ever said was thank you, it is enough. If this little book fills you with gratitude, it is enough.
Sister Stan, 2015
To see a World in a Grain of Sand,
And a Heaven in a Wild Flower,
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand,
And Eternity in an hour.
William Blake
I believe a leaf of grass is no less than
the journey-work of the stars
WALT WHITMAN
What lies behind us and what lies
before us are tiny matters compared
to what lies within us
RALPH WALDO EMERSON
Every blade of grass has its angel that bends over it
And whispers, ‘Grow, grow’
The Talmud
Earth’s crammed with heaven,
And every common bush afire with God;
But only he who sees, takes off his shoes,
The rest sit round it and pluck blackberries
Elizabeth Barrett Browning
A man should hear a little music, read a little
poetry, and see a fine picture every day of
his life, in order that worldly cares may not
obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God
has implanted in the human soul.
JOHANN WOLFGANG VON GOETHE
The world stands out on either side
No wider than the heart is wide;
Above the world is stretched the sky,
No higher than the soul is high.
Edna St Vincent Millay
Each of us needs to withdraw from the cares
which will not withdraw from us. We need
hours of aimless wandering, or spates of
time sitting on park benches, observing the
mysterious world of ants and the canopy
of tree tops. May each of us have this
opportunity in our life.
MAYA ANGELOU, from WOULDN’T TAKE NOTHING
FOR MY JOURNEY NOW
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond
measure. It is our light, not our darkness that
most frightens us. We were born to make
manifest the glory of God that is within us.
It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone and
as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously
give others permission to do the same. As we
are liberated from our own fear, our presence
automatically liberates others.
MARIANNE WILLIAMSON
I did not know that the sun, the moon,
the evening star, were the words with which he
spoke to me, so I never heard their song,
their cry, their cosmic silence.
TONY DE MELLO
We can be sure that, if we consider every
choice carefully, and seek divine guidance,
our decisions will please God.
ST MORGAN
O God, you are my God, for you I long,
for you my soul is thirsting.
My body pines for you
like a dry, weary land without water.
So I gaze on you in the sanctuary
to see your strength and your glory.
For your love is better than life,
my lips will speak your praise.
So I will bless you all my life,
in your name I will lift up my hands.
My soul shall be filled as with a banquet,
my mouth shall praise you with joy.
On my bed I remember you.
On you I muse through the night.
For you have been my help;
in the shadow of your wings I rejoice.
My soul clings to you;
your right hand holds me fast
Psalm 62/63: 2–9
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was
with God, and the Word was God. He was with God
in the beginning. Through him all things came to
be; not one thing had its being but through him.
All that came to be had life in him and that life was
the light of men. A light that shines in the dark, a
light that darkness could not overpower.
John 1: 1–5
In truth no one is totally evil or totally good;
every person at every moment is capable of
choosing good or choosing evil.
ST MORGAN
I am one of the countless particles of dust that
dance in the rays of the universal sun.
TONY DE MELLO
Yahweh you examine me and know me
You know if I am standing or sitting
You read my thoughts from afar
Whether I walk or lie down, you are watching
You know every detail of my conduct.
The word is not even on my tongue
Yahweh, before you know all about it;
Close behind me and close in front
You fence me round
shielding me with your hand
Such knowledge is beyond my understanding,
a height to which my mind cannot attain
Where could I go to escape your spirit?
Where could I flee from your presence?
If I climb to the heavens, you are there,
there too if I lie in the depths
If I flew to the point of sunrise
or westward across the sea
your hand would still be guiding me
your right hand holding me
If I asked darkness to cover me
and light to become night around me
that darkness would not be dark to you
night would be as light as day
Psalm 139: 1–12
Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth
find reserves of strength that will endure as
long as life lasts. There is something infinitely
healing in the repeated refrains of nature – the
assurance that dawn comes after night,
and spring after winter.
RACHEL CARSON, SILENT SPRING
What would the world be, once bereft
Of wet and of wildness? Let them be left,
O let them be left, wildness and wet;
Long live the weeds and the wilderness yet.
Gerard Manley Hopkins, ‘Inversnaid’
It is a wholesome and necessary thing for
us to turn again to the earth and in the
contemplation of her beauties to know of the
sense of wonder and humility
RACHEL CARSON, THE SENSE OF WONDER
Last night as I was sleeping.
I dreamt – marvelous error! –
that I had a beehive
here inside my heart. And the golden bees
were making white combs
and sweet honey
from my old failures.
Antonio Machado
The world is charged with the grandeur of God.
It will flame out, like shining from shook foil;
It gathers to a greatness, like the ooze of oil
Crushed. Why do men then now not reck his rod?
Generations have trod, have trod, have trod;
And all is seared with trade; bleared, smeared with toil;
And wears man’s smudge and shares
man’s smell: the soil
Is bare now, nor can foot feel, being shod.
And for all this, nature is never spent;
There lives the dearest freshness deep down things;
And though the last lights off the black West went
Oh, morning, at the brown brink eastward, springs—
Because the Holy Ghost over the bent
World broods with warm breast and
with ah! bright wings.
Gerard Manley Hopkins, ‘God’s Grandeur’
In the beginning was God,
Today is God,
Tomorrow will be God.
Who can make an image of God?
He has no body.
He is the word which comes out of your mouth.
That word!
It is no more,
It is past, and still it lives!
So is God.
A Pygmy prayer
We can make our minds so like still water that
beings gather about us that they may see, it
may be, their own images, and so live for a
moment with a clearer, perhaps even with
a fiercer life because of our quiet.
WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS, THE CELTIC TWILIGHT
All this hurrying soon will be over
Only when we tarry do we touch the holy
Rainer Marie Rilke
God of the Universe
You speak to us in all creation
But you call us most surely in the depths of our hearts
Help us to listen to your voice today
Gentling our work, our recreation
and our relationships with others
in ways that let us hear you
Sr Stan
ONE NIGHT RECENTLY, I visited our family farm. A calf had just been born. It had just slumped to earth in a wet, steaming mass. At midnight, I went out to look at the cow again; by this time she had licked her new calf dry and he had sucked his first milk. Everything was mild and gentle, illuminated by the moon’s mint light. What a beautiful night it was to arrive on earth. Even if this newborn were a genius, it could never possibly imagine the surprise of the world that was waiting when the dawn would break in a miracle of colour illuminating the personality of mountains, river and sky.
The liturgy of dawn signals the wonder of the arriving day. The magic of darkness breaking through into colour and light is such a promise of invitation and possibility. No wonder we always associate hope and urgency of new beginning with the dawn. Each day is the field of brightness where the invitation of our life unfolds. A new day is an intricate and subtle matrix; written into its mystery are the happenings sent to awaken and challenge us.