Prayers(Christian)
“Blood of Christ,
inebriate me with your love,
that I may be absorbed
in your interests and your will.
Absorbed so as to be
unmindful of my ills
and petty cares.
Unmindful of weariness and pain,
heartache, and disappointment.
Heedless of the lash of cruel words,
and patient under wrongs.”
Unknown
“Have mercy on me, O God,
according to Thy steadfast love;
according to Thy abundant mercy
blot out my transgressions.
Wash me thoroughly from my
iniquity and cleanse me from my sin!”
Psalm 51:1-2
“Go courageously to do whatever
you are called to do.
If you have any fears, say to your soul:
‘The Lord will provide for us.’
If your weakness troubles you,
cast yourselves on God, and trust in Him.
The Apostles were mostly unlearned fishermen,
but God gave them learning enough
for the work they had to do.
Trust in Him, depend on His Providence;
fear nothing.”
St. Francis de Sales
“Lord,
help me tonight to be still and silent
in mind, body and spirit,
so that I might take to heart
the words you have spoken
to us through the prophet Jeremiah:
‘I have loved you
with an everlasting love.’
Amen.”
Unknown
“Look at His adorable Face.
Look at His glazed and sunken eyes.
Look at His wounds.
Look Jesus in the Face.
There you will see how He loves us.”
Therese of Lisieux
“Aufer a me, Domine, cor lapideum,
aufer cor coagulatum,
aufer cor incircumcisum;
da mihi cor novum, cor carneum,
cor mundum!
Tu cordis mundator
et mundi cordis amator,
posside cor meum et inhabita,
continens et implens,
superior summo meo et interior intimo meo!
Tu forma pulchritudinis
et signaculum sanctitatis,
signa cor meum in imagine tua:
signa cor meum sub misericordia tua,
Deus cordis mei,
et pars mea Deus in ?ternum.
Amen.”
Translation:
“O Lord, take away my heart of stone,
my hardened heart,
my uncircumcised heart
and grant to me a new heart,
a heart of flesh,
a clean heart!
O Thou who purifieth the heart
and loveth the clean heart,
posses my heart and dwell in it,
containing it and filling it,
higher than my highest
and more intimate than my most intimate thoughts.
Thou who art the image of all beauty
and the seal of all holiness,
seal my heart in Thine image
and seal my heart in Thy mercy,
O God of my heart
and the God of my portion in eternity.
Amen.”
Unknown
“Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst
for righteousness,
for they will be filled.
Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called the sons of God.
Blesses are those who are persecuted
because of their righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
Matthew 5:3-10
“For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love, and of self-discipline.”
II Timothy 1:7
“Love is patient. Love is kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. Love does not demand it’s own way. Love is not irritable; it keeps no record of when it has been wronged. It is never glad about in justice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always faithful, and endures through every circumstance.”
1 Corinthians 13:4-7
“I have showed you all things, how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.”
Acts 20:35
“Whatsoever things are true,… honest, … just, … pure, … of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.”
Philippians 4:8
“Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.”
Psalm 37:5,6 NIV
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth… But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven… For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
Matthew 6:19-21 NIV
Prayers(Other Religions)
“The musicality of being holds both unending joy and infinite sorrow,
It is the delicate touch of longing for the infinite,
It is the tears of pain in the eyes of the worshiper,
It is the sacrifice, at last rewarded with a crown of roses or thorns,
It holds the mystery of all beings, who strive without knowledge.
The infinite cycles of meaningless pain,
The cares and woes of a thousand lives,
Can one look at them and listen without pity?
I touch them, I call them unto me,
Those of little faith and of great,
Those who cry forever and those that laugh hysterically,
The poor, the maimed, the lacking, the unhappy,
The many parts each person must play.
I call them unto me and I say:
Take all, take all, take everything and more,
Your unhappiness is unbounded,
Take from me and be at peace.
They scream, they cry, their tears are unending,
The many forms of misery which all beings
Are heir to haunt me in the night.
There are beings of joy, of wonder, of enjoyment,
There are sensual heavens and pleasure-filled paradises,
Yet where may those who suffer and grieve go,
Those for whom the illusion of separateness is the truest reality?
Ropes and coils of evil deceptions, locks and bars and endless loneliness,
Before joy comes sorrow, before knowledge pain,
Before the thrill of enlightenment am I,
Who aid the wounded, I share their grief,
I hold them in my arms, I shed my tears,
That they may realize they are not alone,
In the vast depths of the infinite universe,
There is one who cares…”
Avalokiteshvara
The Bodhisattva of Compassion
“When the reward of merit is still far away,
When the after-effects of the sins are still felt.
One cannot possibly see before one’s eyes,
The Lord, The Buddha, how ever great his might.
The minds of the Buddhas, the Lords do not vary
In their fixed intention to save all beings.
For all they feel love and compassion abundant,
But those to be saved must be ripened in merit,
Their wisdom be keen, their virtues established.
These are the conditions salvation requires,
They must be present for freedom to burst through.”
The Mahayana Position
“I undertake to observe the rule
to abstain from taking life;
to abstain from taking what is not given;
to abstain from sensuous misconduct;
to abstain from false speech;
to abstain from intoxicants as tending to cloud the mind.”
The Five Precepts
“The iron itself createth the rust,
Which slowly is bound to consume it.
The evil-doer by his own deeds
Is led to a life full of suffering.”
Chapter on Karma, Verse 19
“Any energy you send out will come back three-fold.”
The Three-Fold Law
“An it harm none, do as ye will.”
The Wiccan Rede
Random
“We can only change the world by changing men.” – Charles Wells
“Without knowing the force of words, it is impossible to know men.” – Confucious
“A woman’s guess is much more accurate than a man’s certainty.” – Rudyard Kipling
“Being a woman is a terribly difficult task since it consists principally in dealing with men.” – Joseph Conrad
“Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will.” – Mahatma Gandhi
“Without a rich heart wealth is an ugly beggar.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
“The next World War will be fought with stones.” – Albert Einstein
“Nothing good ever comes from violence.” – Martin Luther
“Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.” – Thomas Jefferson
“The greatest conquerer is he who overcomes the enemy without a blow.” – Chinese Proverb
“I conceive that the great part of the miseries of mankind are brought upon them by false estimates they have made of the value of things.” – Benjamin Franklin
“What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly; it is dearness only that gives everything its value.” – Thomas Paine
“Understanding is a two-way street.” – Eleanor Roosevelt
“The world is a book, and those who do not travel, read only a page.” – St. Augustine
“The world is a comedy to those who think, a tragedy to those who feel.” – Horace Walpole
“You cannot teach a man anything; you can only help him find it within himself.” – Galileo
“A woman of honor should not expect of others things she would not do herself.” – Marquerite De Valois
“Try not to become a man of success, but rather try to become a man of value.” – Albert Einstein
“There are only two forces in the world, the sword and the spirit. In the long run the sword will always be conquered by the spirit.” – Napoleon Bonaparte
“Earth has no sorrow that heaven cannot heal.” – Thomas Moore
“Skepticism is the chastity of the intellect.” – George Santayana
“Only the sinner has the right to preach.” – Christopher Morley
“It is necessary to the happiness of a man that he be mentally faithful to himself.” – Thomas Paine
“A ship in harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for.” – John Shedd
“Responsibility is the price of greatness.” – Winston Churchill
“All religions must be tolerated, for every man must get to heaven in his own way.” – Frederick the Great
“Science without religion is lame; religion without science is blind.” – Albert Einstein
“Rebellion against tyrants is obedience to God.” – Benjamin Franklin
“The good and the wise lead quiet lives.” – Euripides
“Judge a man by his questions rather than his answers.” – Voltaire
“It is the quality of our work which will please God and not the quantity.” – Mahatma Gandhi
“The best of all the preachers are the men who live their creeds.” – Edgar Guest
“Avoid popularity if you would have peace.” – Abraham Lincoln
“Poetry comes nearer to vital truth than history.” – Plato
“Personality is to a man what perfume is to a flower.” – Charles Schwab
“Courage is the form of every virtue at the testing point, which means, at the point of highest reality. A chastity of honesty or mercy which yields to danger will be chaste or honest or merciful only on conditions.” – C.S. Lewis
“A friendly study of the world’s religions is a sacred duty.” – Mahatma Gandhi
“Beauty is truth, truth beauty’ – that is all ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.” – John Keats
“Everything has its beauty, but not everyone sees it.” – Confucius
“To laugh often and much: To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children, to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others, to leave the world a bit better whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you lived. This is to have succeeded.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
“We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts we make the world.” – Buddha
“Friends are an aid to the young, to guard them from error; to the elderly, to attend to their wants and to supplement their failing power of action; to those in the prime of life, to assist them to noble deeds.” – Aristotle
“Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.” – Mahatma Gandhi
“We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience.” – Teilhard de Chardin
“Let us not look back in anger or forward in fear, but around in awareness.” – James Thurber
“To repeat what others have said, requires education, to challenge it, requires brains.” – Mary Pettibone Poole
“Science and art belong to the whole world, and before them vanish the barriers of nationality.” – Goethe
“Small opportunities are often the beginning of great enterprises.” – Demosthenes
“If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself, but to your estimate of it; and this you have the power to revoke at any moment.” – Marcus Aurelius
“You really can change the world if you care enough.” – Marian Wright Edelman
“And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our fear, our presence automatically liberates others.” – Marianne Williamson
“Peace is not the absence of war; it is a virtue; a state of mind; a disposition for benevolence; confidence; and justice.” – Spinoza
“This is my simple religion. There is no need for temples; no need for complicated philosophy. Our own brain, our own heart is our temple; the philosophy is kindness.” – The Dalai Lama
“If we could see the miracle of a single flower clearly, our whole life would change.” – Buddha
“When you meet someone better than yourself, turn your thoughts to becoming his equal. When you meet someone not as good as you are, look within and examine your own self.” – Confucius
“To forget how to dig the earth and to tend the soil is to forget ourselves.” – Mahatma Gandhi
“Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts.” – Rachel Carson
“In spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart. I simply can’t build up my hopes on a foundation consisting of confusion, misery and death.” – Anne Frank
From The Philokalia
Just as he who looks at the sun cannot but fill his eyes with light, so he who always gazes intently into his heart cannot fail to be illumined.
(“Philokalia (Vol. 1)”, p. 180, text 108)
… in those who are advanced in spiritual knowledge, grace brings an inefable joy to their body through the perceptive faculty of the intellect…
(“Philokalia (Vol. 1)”, p. 281, text 79)
All men are made in God’s image; but to be in His likeness is granted only to those who through great love have brought their own freedom into subjection to God. For only when we do not belong to ourselves do we become like Him who through love has reconciled us to Himself. No one achieves this unless he persuades his soul not to be distracted by the false glitter of this life.
(“Philokalia (Vol. 1)”, p. 253, text 4)
Censure from men afflicts the heart; but if patiently accepted it generates purity.
(“Philokalia (Vol. 1)”, p. 113, text 49)
When the intellect forgets the purpose of true devotion, then external works of virtue bring no profit.
(“Philokalia (Vol. 1)”, text 51, p. 129)
… We should know, moreover, that a person energized by God to such love rises, at that moment, even above faith, since by reason of his great love he now senses consciously in his heart the One whom he previously honoured by faith…
(“Philokalia (Vol. 1)”, text 91, p. 290)
The Holy Spirit, out of compassion for our weakness, comes to us even when we are impure. And if only He finds our intellect truly praying to Him, He enters it and puts to flight the whole array of thoughts and ideas circling within it, and He arouses it to a longing for spiritual prayer.
(“Philokalia (Vol. 1)”, p. 63, text 63)
He who loves God is always communing with Him as his Father, repulsing every impassioned thought.
(“Philokalia (Vol. 1)”, p. 62, text 55)
He who does something good and expects a reward is serving not God but his own will.
(“Philokalia (Vol. 1)”, p. 130, text 57)
Self-control and strenuous effort curb desire; stillness and intense longing for God wither it.
(“Philokalia (Vol. 2)”, p. 314)
He who dwells continually within his own heart is detached from the attractions of this world, for he lives in the Spirit and cannot know the desires of the flesh.
(“Philokalia (Vol. 1)”, p. 270)
