The Irish Catholic Hermit

A ll the dead will rise at the sound of the trumpet and praise the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, the Resurrector of their bodies. O Father who formed Adam out of the dust. O Son who by Your cross saved the race of Adam from destruction, resurrect me and appoint me to be at Your right hand, so that I may praise Your name. I worship You, O Christ our Saviour. Y ou are the resurrector and saviour of all the deceased who were baptized in Your name and confessed Your cross and death. B lessed be Christ who has promised life and resurrection to the offspring of Adam in the day of His coming. W e also will rise and praise Him with all the saints who have been pleasing to Him. Glory to You. B y Your resurrection You granted the human race the hope of life and resurrection. W e offer You praise, because You are the resurrector of all flesh. Y ou mortals, glorify and praise Him who through His death did away with the authority of death and promised the mortal race life and resurrection.

  O Sun of righteousness by which the righteous have beheld their own selves and become a mirror for their generations, open up within me the gate to awareness of You; grant me a joyful mind, one which sails above the rocks of error, until I may reach that serene abode, as did our Fathers of old who pleased You with their discerning lives.  S anctify me by Your Mysteries, illumine my mind with knowledge of You, make Your hope to shine out in my heart, hold me worthy to supplicate for it, O God my Father and Lord of my life; illumine Your lamp within me, place in me what belongs to You so that I may forget what belongs to myself.  C ast upon me the constraint of wonder at You, so that the constraint of nature may be overpowered by it.   S tir up within me the vision of Your Mysteries so that I may become aware of what was placed in me at holy baptism.  Y ou have placed within me a Guide: may He show me Your glory at all times.  Y ou made me to be light and salt for the world: may I not

  O sinner, at long last, take heed to your salvation. I solate yourself, and gather your thoughts and tell yourself, "How much time have you wasted nourishing the passions of your flesh and imagination, and what gain has it afforded you? W hat have you achieved by this? W oe to me, my soul, what a state we have attained, what chaos. S ee everyone near me is ornamented with virtues and sincerely fears God, but I only walk in the dark. I n the early morning I repent of my actions, yet shortly thereafter I do even worse misdeeds. T he Lord has granted me strength and good health and woe I take this for granted and bring upon me the wrath of my Maker. O my soul, why are you so apathetic? W hy are you so reckless? F or you cannot remain here forever. W hen the end comes, the Lord will dispatch His angels to retrieve you and you will have to leave this world whether you want to or not. S o then, O man, in the end confess your great distress, and cease contradictin

A prayer of our holy father St. Isaac the Syrian L ord Jesus Christ, my God: Thou didst weep for Lazarus and shed tears of sorrow and compassion for him. Accept my bitter tears also. H eal my passions through the suffering of Thine holy Passion. Heal the wounds of my soul through the wounds which Thou didst suffer. C leanse my blood with Thine holy blood and unite my body with the fragrance of Thy life-giving body. May the gall which Thou wast given to drink by Thine enemies sweeten my soul from the bitterness that the devil has given me to taste. M ay Thy most-holy body that was stretched upon the Cross elevate my mind, which has been lowered unto the earth by the demons. M ay Thy most-holy head, which Thou didst bow upon the Cross raise my head, which has been humiliated by the opposing demonic powers. M ay Thy most-holy hands which were nailed to the Cross by the transgressors raise me to Thee from the depth of destruction, just as Thy most-holy mouth hast promised. M ay Thy face w

O how uncaring I am.  H ow rude, how worldly my soul has become.  O corrupt heart, O lips full of gall, O throat which is an open sepulcher.  O soul, why do you forget that your end inescapably draws near?  W hy do you not ready yourself for this voyage?  W hy do you, with no pity for yourself, go after destruction?  W hy do you bring everlasting torment on yourself?  O soul, what are you doing, that you live as a senseless creature?  W oe to me, who have chosen darkness rather than light.  H ow I would rather have that pleasure today, but which tomorrow vanishes, rather than everlasting and unspeakable bliss.  W oe to me who consents to be robed in a dark and dismal cloak instead of a garment radiant as the sun.  H ow I would rather the wretched abodes of Hell instead of the kingdom of heaven.  W oe to me, a sinner. I willingly and knowingly throw myself into complete destruction.  O my soul, at last come to a sound mind.  B e afraid of God and courageously travel on the road of H

  Before and After Reading Spiritual Texts Before reading: In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, One God. Amen. Illumine my heart, O Master who lovest mankind, with the pure light of Thy divine knowledge. Open Thou the eyes of my mind to the understanding of Thy Gospel teachings. Implant also in me a love for Thy blessed commandments. Grant me the grace to overcome all my carnal desires, so that I may enter more completely into a spiritual manner of living, both thinking and doing such things as are well pleasing to Thee; For Thou art the illumination of our souls and bodies, O Christ our God, and unto Thee do we ascribe glory, together with Thine all-holy, good and life-creating Spirit; now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen. O Lord Jesus Christ, open Thou the eyes of my heart, that I may hear Thy word and understand and do Thy will, for I am a sojourner upon the earth. Hide not Thy commandments from me, but open mine eyes, that I may perceive the wonder

  The Meaning of the Prayer “O Lord and Master of my life.” This short phrase confesses that we depend utterly on Jesus Christ our God. We acknowledge again what we acknowledged at baptism, that our first allegiance is to God, that God has given us life, that we must live in accordance with God’s will, and that it is for God to call us from this earthly life. In these few words we turn away from all idolatry, we reject everything, which might take the place of God. “Give me not the spirit of slothfulness” or in plain English, laziness! Life, especially the Christian life, is an effort. That does not mean at all that we should never “enjoy life”; Christ promised to give us joy. But real joy has nothing in common with laziness. Laziness steals our time and gives us no joy at all; one only discovers that one has done nothing, neither what one should have done nor what one might have done. Exercise is a good cure for laziness; Lent is a spiritual exercise, to cure us of spiritual laziness