I like to in the summer months go for a slow walk after Compline. I guess it takes about 40 minutes or so. It is beautiful time of the day and it helps me to let go of the stress of the day before I go to bed. I have written a number of times on my use of beads when I pray. I find them helpful in getting me to focus, or to simply be in the Lord’s presence. One prayer I like is the ‘Chaplet of Mercy’ which was presented to the world through Sr. Faustina. It is a simple prayer and for those who are not called to pray this way, this devotion would be monotonous and mind numbing. For me it is the opposite. It is a prayer for all of mankind asking the Father to have mercy on all. The two main prayers go like this: On the Our Father bead is said.
“Eternal Father, I offer to you, the most precious body and blood, soul and divinity of your beloved son Our Lord Jesus Christ, in atonement for our sins and for the whole world”
Then on the ten beads that follow this simple prayer is said:
“For the sake of his sorrowful passion have mercy on us and on the whole world.”
It is prayer that if said from the heart connects us to all of mankind, both past, present and future. It is a sharing in God’s moment, being present to all of his children, as well as I believe all of creation, which also groans in expectation of the coming of God’s kingdom.
It is prayer of longing for all of mankind to attain that for which they were created for. For those we love as well as for those we struggle to love and to forgive. In this prayer we ask the Father to bring us deeper into the passion of his Son and in that to grow in compassion and empathy for all. For it is only by allowing the life of God to take more and more possession of our hearts that we learn to allow God love to take over and to shine forth. For without grace and healing, this kind of love is impossible. We love those who love us, our families and those like us. Even then it is a struggle…to go beyond this kind of loving, is God’s gift to the open heart…for the reward of loving is to love more.
Sometimes when I am saying the Chaplet, I can’t seem to connect. My mind drifts, or I seem closed off. It is then I believe that I begin to pray the prayer of longing of a thirsty soul desiring the living water. Yet at the same time, I know that all prayer, that which seems fruitful and those times when it seems like dust are all the same in God’s eyes, for he sees the heart.
In pain and in sorrow, in consolation and in restlessness, prayer can be expressed in different ways. The prayer of longing often comes when we seem lost in the desert with no path or consolation. It is then that our love deepens for we then seek the Lord for his-self alone…which is in itself a grace. All we need do is respond, or attempt to.
In all times, we are embraced in the arms of our everlasting Father, and in that we seek to connect with all and to bring all with us into the Kingdom of God.
Br. Mark Dohle, OCSO
Holy Spirit Monastery
