Feast of St. Ambrose of Milan, Bishop (340-397)

On the day of his consecration as Bishop, December 7th 

From the daily readings of For All the Saints: A Prayer Book For and By the Church, Volume I (p. 23):

"The patriarchs also live, for God could not be called the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, except the dead were living; for He is not the God of the dead but of the living.  And we, too, shall live if we be willing to copy the deeds and habits of our predecessors.  We marvel at the rewards of the patriarchs—let us copy their faithfulness; we tell of their grace—let us follow their obedience; let us not, enticed by material appetite, fall into the snares of the world...The patriarchs exchanged their homeland for another soil—let us exchange earth for heaven; they changed in earthly habitation—let us change in spirit.  To them Wisdom showed the heavens illuminated with stars [Genesis 15:5]; let that same Wisdom enlighten the eyes of our heart."     St. Ambrose, On Belief in the Resurrection

Mary, Ark of the Covenant- Advent Vespers Homily

12/5/12-Year C

2 Samuel 6:1-15 Luke 1:35-45, 56 

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.  

Before there was a movie from the 1990’s to reference to the Church has always known that, There IS Something About Mary.  She has always held a unique role within the Church’s life of prayer and devotion to God and she has been from some of the very earliest writings that we have from the early church.  In the year 250 AD we get the first Hymn written concerning Mary called Beneath Thy Protection.  It sings, “Beneath thy mercy, we take refuge, O Virgin Theotokos (lit. God-bearer): disdain not our supplications in our distress, but deliver us from perils, O only pure and blessed one.”  Our hymn tonight, Ye Watchers and Ye Holy Ones, too borrows from the Church’s veneration of Mary in its second stanza.  “O higher than the cherubim, More glorious than the seraphim...Thou bearer of the eternal word, Most gracious, magnify the lord.”  It is a paraphrase of the Orthodox Theotokion or hymn to Mary which is sang and every Divine Liturgy in the East.  And of course our Dr. Luther too held high esteem for Mary hear again his words from 1531, “She is the highest woman and the noblest gem in Christianity after Christ...She is nobility, wisdom, and holiness personified.  We can never honor her enough.”  

And the Church throughout the ages as agreed with the good Dr, though in our time she seems to have taken a very very minimal place within Lutheranism.  Left in the 19^th and 20^th century battles between those darn Roman Catholics and all their Mary nonsense and look how purely Christian we Lutheran’s are because we don’t talk about her at all!  I know some of you may have witnessed some of that in your life time.  In fact there is a little comedic book based on such Catholic-Lutheran (scandinavian Lutheran of the MinnesOta type) engagements entitled, “They glorified Mary...We Glorified Rice.”  And I think American Lutheranism’s insistence at distancing ourselves from our Roman Catholic cousins has left us these decades later deficient of any understanding of who Mary is and how unique she is in salvation history.  Part of it is we have forgotten our history and the other part is we’ve forgotten our Bible.  And given the title that you all have seen from the bulletin tonight, you know where we’re headed Mary is the Ark of Covenant or rather the Ark of the New Covenant.  

As I’ve often said one cannot comprehend the New Testament without a knowledge of the Old and vice versa.  They both inform and illumine one another and bringing a full picture of the divine work of God chiefly in His Son, Jesus Christ.  Thus every page of scriptures echos, points to, or reveals the glory of Christ, both Old and New Testaments.  Holy Scripture is at the end of the day, as is our faith, all about Jesus.  And in the Old Testament we see all types and foreshadowings of the coming Son.  There is Joshua, He will save his people, Jesus namesake, who led Israel into the Promised Land.  There is the Bronze serpent lifted on a pole that will save all who look upon it in Numbers, foreshadowing the Cross.  There is the seed of Eve who will crush the serpent’s head in Genesis, a promise of Jesus’ defeat over the Evil One.  

These types or typologies fill the scriptures and indeed we heard another one tonight in our two readings.  The first was from 2 Samuel and the return of the Ark to Jerusalem.  We know the power of the Ark from Indian Jones, when it killed all of the evil Nazis, right?  Now fiction may be fiction, but its not far from the true reality of the true Ark.  We heard of Uzzah who in an attempt to keep the Ark from falling to the ground placed his hand upon it to steady it and was smote because of it.  Even one trying to do a seemingly good thing perished because he dared to touch the holy throne of God.  As you may remember the Ark was not just a box, it was throne upon which God resided among Israel.  It was from the mercy seat on the spread out wings of the cherub that God came down and spoke with Moses in the Tabernacle.  The Ark was the most holy dwelling place of God with man.  In fact the same work used to talk God overshadowing the Ark with his presence is the same word that St. Luke uses to speak of Mary, “the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy.”  Israel carried the Ark with them into every battle, bringing them victory.  It was carried around the walls of Jericho making the walls come a tumblin’ down.  And in the building of the Temple it was placed into the Holy of Holies that only the Chief Priest was allowed to enter and only once a year to make sacrifice for all the sins of Israel.  It was feared and held in awe by all of Israel.      

So how does this get us to Mary?  Well though the lessons are not printed for us tonight, go back home later and compare our two passages tonight.  The entry of the Ark into Jerusalem and Mary’s visitation to Elizabeth.  They are strikingly similar in their outline.  Mary and David both “arise and go on their journeys.”  Both Mary and the Ark are greeted by a eerily similar questions.  David asks, “How can the ark of the Lord come to me?”  Elizabeth asks, “Why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me?”  Both Mary and the Ark are greeted with great joy.  David gets the band together and Elizabeth and her unborn son John leap for Joy at her presence.   Both Mary and the Ark are a blessing to those whom they visit.  “The Ark of the Lord Blessed Obed-edom and all his household.”  Elizabeth is filled with the Holy Spirit.  The Ark remains with Obed-edom for three months, the same length of time Mary remains with Elizabeth.  

St. Luke’s knowledge of the Old Testament abounds as it helps form and shape his Gospel.  He uses the pattern from 2 Samuel to help frame his narration of the Visitation.  He is getting us to make these connections that he is drawing, if we’re willing to search for them.  By his time the Ark of the Old Covenant had long been lost to history and battle after the Babylonian Conquest of 586 BC, but now God has raised up a new Ark.  A new throne by which God will dwell again upon the earth, no longer a golden adorned box for His mystical presence in a cloud, but rather a flesh and blood womb from the Blessed Virgin.  Where the Old Ark contained Tablets of the Law/Ten Commandments, Aaron’s Priestly Rod, and a bowl full of Manna; the New Ark contains: the One who fulfill’s the Law; The Great High Priest after the Order of Melchizedek; and the Bread of Everlasting Life.  By this new Ark God’s presence would abide forever, through this Ark He would prove Himself to be Immanuel!   

In this Mary is singularly unique, that she was chosen to bear the presence and be overshadowed by the most High in all His power and glory.  In all humility and devotion to God she becomes what Israel had once lost.  She becomes the dwelling place of God with Man until His birth.  The early church made this connection as did St. Luke and therefore exalted her in reverence and dignity, just as ancient Israel did of the Ark of Old.  If they treated a box with such reverence, how ought we treat the Mother of our deliverance?  She now, through her faith, becomes the bearer and deliverer of our salvation.  For this she can never be honored enough.  For this Luther calls her the most noble gem in all Christianity.  Her yes to God, is also her yes to her fellow brothers and sisters, us.  In our life of faith, then we too Lutherans, can give thanks and praise to God for Mary.  And do so completely faithfully and in all good Lutheran rightness to echo the words of the Archangel and her cousin Elizabeth, “Hail Mary, full of Grace, the Lord is with thee.  Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.”    

Amen.

Advent 1 Homily: Luke 21:25-36

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.  

Armageddon.  2012.  The Day after Tomorrow.  Terminator….All of the them.  The Day the Earth Stood Still.  I could continue, but I think you have quickly deduced where I’m going.  Hollywood has been perpetually occupied and enamored with stories about the end of the world.  There have been various movies of various stripes from various genres depicting the fate of our planet and its ultimate demise.  Whether it be an asteroid, man made machines rising up and overthrowing man, or those darn Mayan’s whose calendar ran out of dates, the idea of the end of the world makes a good basis or starting point for a blockbuster movie.  And in each of those films the point is always two fold—#1 the world will end and #2 WE MUST STOP IT!!!! 

For every arch-nemesis of the world there is the protagonist, the hero the John Conner (no relation, right Becky?), Harry Stamper, Jackson Curtis, or some version of Keanu Reaves. They each, hearing the pleas and cries from the world, begin a mission each lasting about 100-120 minutes to redeem and rescue humanity from itself or from nature.  We even see in most if not all of these stories the basic Christ-motif as Bruce Willis looses his life on an asteroid, dying just in time for the sake of the world.  But the hero may be a “Christ” figure in a literary sense, he or she is usually far from the authentic Christ and His response to the end of the world scenario.  

We now find ourselves in Luke’s Gospel, and will for most of the Church’s year.  The setting is Jerusalem.  The date is not quite for certain, but it is the final week of our Lord’s ministry in His 33^rd year of life.  The palms have been waved, the chants cried, “Hosannah in the Highest!  Blessed is He Who comes in the name of the Lord!”  And now He is imparting his final divine wisdom to his beloved apostolic band.  The subject has turned from the upcoming and foretelling of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem to a rather important topic, the coming or rather the return of the Son of Man.  In other words Jesus speaks about that famous Hollywood topic, the end of the world.  But there is a drastic change in both content and plot from the movie adaptations to the coming reality put forward by our Lord.  

There is a saying, “truth is stranger than fiction, because fiction at least has to make sense.”  If the end is coming, stop it.  That seems to make logical sense.  Rush forward Bruce!  SAVE THE DAY!  But that is not the truth of Christ’s witness and the Christian vision for that time.  In fact Jesus puts forward for us a rather simple and plotless response to such a time.  “Straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing hear.”  There is no anxiety or fear in the falling of the world, but rather a dramatic pause and the only thing that truly needs to be done is to look up.  Now that would be a rather boring movie, but it is a powerful response of faith to the true even that is happening.  It is not the end of the world you see, my brothers and sisters, it is the in breaking of the New One.  The New Heaven, the New Earth, ushered in by our Lord’s return, bringing the New Jerusalem.  

  Nothing needs be done, for in the glory of Christ’s return everything has already been done.  The Church doesn’t wish to stop Armageddon or the End of the World, we actually pray for it to come.  Amen.  Come Lord Jesus.  This is the Advent of our God and in this season of advent we prepare, we keep watch, we stay awake, and we wait for our Lord’s return.  Lifting heads to the sky, looking up for our redemption drawing nigh as the world crumbles around us.  

There is no doubt that that great and glorious Day is drawing closer, in fact we are closer to it today than we were yesterday.  Though it still remains elusive and out of our comprehension as to when, we see the signs of this fallen world growing darker every day.  There is much in the world over which we too might faint with fear and foreboding.  War, plague, pestilence, and death surrounds us each and every day.  From the terrorist’s threat to the doctor’s diagnosis, death and darkness lurks around every corner and every moment of time.  As millions struggle to find work, struggle to provide for their family, there seems to be no hope of recovery on the horizon.  We are trapped in a time of bleak economics with even bleaker resources to straighten our fiscal cliff.  So what are we to do in this time of growing darkness?  Jesus tells us at the last, when the world ends, to raise our heads.  So what do we do now?  It’s simple…we practice.  Indeed all of the Church's life, her worship, prayer, and participation in the life of the Trinity is done as preparation for that great and final Day.

Jesus' command to his disciples, echoes the refrain of David in the Psalms, “I lift up my eyes to the hills.  From where does my help come?  My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.”  In the time of Advent, in the generation of the Church we spend out time lifting our eyes upward, beholding our redemption which draws ever nearer to us.  As the candles are lit, we straighten up and stand.  As the Gospel is read, we stand again lifting up our eyes opening our ears to the hearing of the precious Word of God as it comes to give us life and redemption.  And as Bread and Wine are lifted up above the altar, suspended between heaven and earth, reminiscent of the holy cross, our heads and eyes are once more lifted up to behold our Lord.  His body broken, his blood shed.  Behold here is the Lamb of God.  Here is our salvation and our redemption.  For Christ does not wait until the end of time to come to us, but He comes now through holy Word and holy Sacrament.  Bringing about the end of this world, the end of the old adam in us, crushing sin and defeat the power of death in us, and raising us to new life in His kingdom today.  Here and now at this time and in this sacred place the Son of Man draws near to us with the holy angels and with His saints.  

For this reason we have absolutely no reason to groan and be fearful as the world is fearful.  Drinking itself into oblivion and weighed down by the cares of this life, because this life is not the end all be all.  It is transitory.  It is meant and destined for renewal since the fall and it will come when Christ returns in glory and power.  Light will banish darkness.  Life will obliterate death.  And the powers of this world will be vanquished, by the rule of the Son of God.  Therefore we watch with great joy and hope, standing up and praying with the whole church and all of creation...  

Amen.  Come, Lord Jesus.

Psalm 119:1

Alleluia. Blessed are the blameless in the way,

Who walk in the law of the Lord.

Most of the Church's understanding of the Old Testament and in particular the Psalms derives from a Christological reading of them. Reading through the Old Testament with my Orthodox Study Bible, I see it is filled with study notes about the God-man who would enter the world much later. For the Church (outside of modernity's historical-critical imposition upon the sacred scriptures) Christ is found on every page of the Old Testament, especially the Psalms.

Indeed for most of the Church, Christ is found to be the true author of the Psalms. Chris is the true psalmist. As many of the early Church Father's note regarding Ps. 1:1 "Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly...", that "man" is Jesus Christ. He is the blessed man whose will is the "law of the Lord." (1:2).

There again we see the blessed one/s are blameless "who walk in the law of the Lord." Christ again rings out as the Blessed Blameless one, for He is th sonly one who blamelessly walks in the law of the Lord. To this I add my own hearty, "Alleluia." It is not me who is blameless in the law, but the spotless Lamb of God. In Jesus is found the pure obedient Son of God and law-keeper. He fulfills the law completely, submitting to it at every turn of His life. O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will. (Mt 26:39).

Christ is the Blessed one for in keeping all of the Law in pure fidelity to His Father, He is truly blameless. For such a High Priest was fitting for us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens. (Heb. 7:26). And this blessed blamelessness is proven true, right, and rewarded by God in the Resurrection of the servant Son who drank the cup of the Father's will. It is His vindication from the charges of not walking in the law of the Lord leveled by the chief priests, scribes, pharisees, elders, etc. Life from death is the reward of the blameless. Resurrected eternal life.

So what of us? We are the blamed, the ones condemned under the law. We are fallen to the point of being unable to walk in the law of the Lord. It is outside of our reach and beyond our comprehension. Therefore how can we walk? Who will teach us? How do we attain to this blessed blamelessness? How do we attain the reward which follows, resurrection to life? It is, I think, found in the word, "Alleluia." Praise the Lord. This word can only be uttered first from the heart transformed by the grace of faith given by God in Baptism. It is this heart which speaks faith sustained by the Word and the Sacrament.

Because of Christ we are given a share of His blessed blamelessness through faith empowered by the Holy Spirit through the Sacraments. Therefore we were buried with Him by baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life." (Rom 6:4). Again the apostle writes, "I have been crucified with Christ, it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me; and the life which I now life in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and set me free." (Gal 2:20).

To live in faith is to live in Christ and He in you. And what is Christ doing in you? He is doing that which He did from the beginning, that which He has always done; walking in the way of the Lord and now getting and transforming me to do the same. To walk in the law of the Lord is to share the life of Christ and to be shaped by His life.

In as much as we live by faith in Him we are always, for it cannot be separated, walking in the law of the Lord. There we are blessed in this life as He conforms us to Himself by the Holy Spirit and the means of grace. Because He is at work in us, we journey with Him in His walk from obedience to death, and to life everlasting.

Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. Alleluia.

The Feast of St. John Chrysostom- Sept 13

The Paschal Sermon of St. John Chrysostom

If anyone is devout and a lover of God, let them enjoy this beautiful and radiant festival.

If anyone is a grateful servant, let them, rejoicing, enter into the joy of his Lord.

If anyone has wearied themselves in fasting, let them now receive recompense.

If anyone has labored from the first hour, let them today receive the just reward.

If anyone has come at the third hour, with thanksgiving let them feast.

If anyone has arrived at the sixth hour, let them have no misgivings; for they shall suffer no loss.

If anyone has delayed until the ninth hour, let them draw near without hesitation.

If anyone has arrived even at the eleventh hour, let them not fear on account of tardiness.

For the Master is gracious and receives the last even as the first; He gives rest to him that comes at the eleventh hour, just as to him who has labored from the first.

He has mercy upon the last and cares for the first; to the one He gives, and to the other He is gracious.

He both honors the work and praises the intention.

Enter all of you, therefore, into the joy of our Lord, and, whether first or last, receive your reward.

O rich and poor, one with another, dance for joy!

O you ascetics and you negligent, celebrate the day!

You that have fasted and you that have disregarded the fast, rejoice today!

The table is rich-laden: feast royally, all of you!

The calf is fatted: let no one go forth hungry!

Let all partake of the feast of faith. Let all receive the riches of goodness.

Let no one lament their poverty, for the universal kingdom has been revealed.

Let no one mourn their transgressions, for pardon has dawned from the grave.

Let no one fear death, for the Saviour's death has set us free.

He that was taken by death has annihilated it!

He descended into Hades and took Hades captive!

He embittered it when it tasted His flesh! And anticipating this, Isaiah exclaimed: "Hades was embittered when it encountered Thee in the lower regions".

It was embittered, for it was abolished!

It was embittered, for it was mocked!

It was embittered, for it was purged!

It was embittered, for it was despoiled!

It was embittered, for it was bound in chains!

It took a body and came upon God!

It took earth and encountered Ηeaven!

It took what it saw, but crumbled before what can not seen!

O death, where is thy sting?

O Hades, where is thy victory?

Christ is risen, and you are overthrown!

Christ is risen, and the demons are fallen!

Christ is risen, and the angels rejoice!

Christ is risen, and life reigns!

Christ is risen, and not one dead remains in a tomb!

For Christ, being raised from the dead, has become the first-fruits of them that have slept.

To Him be glory and might unto the ages of ages.

Amen.

Prayer of the Feast

Father, the strength of all who trust in you, you made John Chrysostom renowned for his eloquence and heroic in his sufferings. May we learn from his teaching and gain courage from his patient endurance. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen. (Liturgy of the Hours)

13th Sunday After Pentecost- Sermon

Lectionary 24/13^th Sunday After Pentecost- Sermon

9/11/11- Year A

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Evil. Dastardly. Sinister. Conniving. Ruthless. Wicked. The darkness of revenge and jealous of anger and hate, prompted those 10 men to commit an unspeakable and unthinkable act. They plotted together, waiting for just the right moment of attack. To surprise their well known victim with assault and treachery of the cruelest sort. Thought it was already 40 years after his brother’s crimes against him, surely the pain and tragedy was still close to Joseph’s heart. The beat him. They threw him into a hole, to be left to rot and die. If the oldest Reuben hadn’t piped up, he would have died in that hole. Instead they sold him to slave runners on their way to Egypt. He was bitterly torn away from his father and his mother, at the hands of his own flesh and blood. A no doubt terror-full, terror-filled experience for the youngest, the 17 year old Joseph.

Now was the moment of revenge. Now was the moment to strike. Now was the opportunity to inflict his wrath upon his brothers. Having buried his father, any last promises of safety he had given to his father were now expired. He was the number two man in all of Egypt and none could stand in the way of his revenge. Even his brothers know this, that’s why they come to him pleading with some made up story. “Your father gave this command before he died…” No he didn’t. There is no record of this in all of the 23 chapters that Joseph’s tale is recounted in. His father likely didn’t tell his brothers that. But they come in their fear, finding any way any way, even the memory of their now departed father to coax a little bit of mercy out of Joseph. They do it so they don’t meet the just and rightful wrath of their brother.

And kneeling there at the feet of Joseph there is no doubt in my mind that both Joseph and his brothers there minds drift back to the event that sparked it all. The dream. Just to refresh our memories...Genesis 37:6-8, “Joseph said to them, “Hear this dream that I have dreamed: Behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and behold, my sheaf arose and stood upright. And behold, your sheaves gathered around it and bowed down to my sheaf.” His brothers said to him, “Are you indeed to reign over us? Or are you indeed to rule over us?” So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words.” The forty year old dream. The forty year old terror. Together at a head.

Seeing them again at that moment the Holy Scriptures record the pain of the experience in a simple way, “Joseph wept. (2x).” Even though his brothers rightly deserved wrath, his hand could not strike. Revenge was not to be, because Joseph knew and saw in his own life the truth that he told his brothers, “you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good.” A wisdom that only 40 years of living could comprehend. Though the darkness surrounded Joseph, out of it God brought life, life to the Egyptians, life to his father and mother during the famine, and now a life of peace and forgiveness to his brothers.

I think it is by no small miracle that today, on the 10 year anniversary of 9/11 that we are confronted with this text from Genesis, Joseph forgiving his brothers. His words strike a two-note chord which should be the focus of our reflection on the past decade. The first: “As for you, you (Al Qaeda) you meant evil against us, but God meant it for good.” What good has God brought forth from such devastating tragedy? Are we better people today than we were on 9/10? Has our focus been brought back to the fundamentals of life, God and Family? How has God touched your life since then? How has he revealed himself to you? Healed you? Comforted you? And sustained you since that Tuesday morning? And the Second: Are we at peace enough with souls that we can forgive, (not forget, not excuse, not deal out just punishment) but forgive, be at peace, and show the mercy of God, because God has shown us his mercy.

And if any of you are getting nervous, there are no right answers to these questions. They are meant to help us reflect on the present reality of past tragedy. Some of them cannot be answered, not now. It’s much too soon only a life time worth of seeing God active can answer them. Perhaps, like Joseph...in 40 years.

But it is this my brothers and sisters in Christ why you and I continue week in and week out to come to this house of our Lord and hear his word and to receive His gifts given in the holy sacraments. It is to help us see all that God has done for us in spite of our wicked intents or the wicked intents of others. To hold in our hands the very forgiveness of our sins in the body and blood of the man who died upon the cross to save us all. To as the psalmist declares, “Taste and See that the Lord is good, indeed!” Knowing that, “Blessed is the Man who takes refuge in Him.” (Ps. 34:8). Here our God and Lord reveals to us His mercy, here He shows us that even from evil He will bring good, for our good. He is active and alive and showers you and I with his mercy.

It is this very fact that excites us about Rally Day and beginning the new year of Christian Education. For in our classrooms and studies God shows us His work for us in the Holy Scriptures and the faith encounters of fellow brothers and sisters. Here our youth learn to trust in God and to know and love His Son, who is the strength of the weak and the mighty Lord of all. God is with you in this year’s adventures and here you will come to trust in Him and be loved by Him. Therefore let us all recommit ourselves to being grounded in Christ and the cross, embraced by His suffering so that when anything befall us we may not waiver, in faith or in strength. So that we may stand in the righteousness of God, knowing and trusting in all that He has done for us and if we are called upon to give life to others; to give mercy and forgiveness to others, just like our forefather Joseph.

Amen.

A New Look and a New Start

It has been a long while since I've blogged or even thought about blogging. Most of my interest in the adventure was spurred on by the inner turmoil of the ELCA. Though it continues for me, most of it has passed. There is a new church body (NALC) filled with old church friends and in the ELCA...well The Lutheran has announced the future as "Full Speed Ahead." This is the new reality within American Lutheranism and where this takes us no one yet knows.

I cannot help but wonder if now more than ever if we, meaning I, need to continue to reflect upon the Sacred Cross. It is my hopes that through this blog that will be accomplished. The cross will be the focus of my future posts and the man who hung upon that cursed tree.

Soul of Christ, sanctify me;

Body of Christ, save me;

Blood of Christ, refresh me;

Water from the side of Christ, wash me;

Passion of Christ, strengthen me;

O good Jesus, hear me;

Within Thy wounds hide me;

Suffer me not to be separated from Thee;

From the malicious enemy defend me;

In the hour of my death call me,

And bid me come to Thee

That with Thy saints I may praise Thee

For all eternity. Amen.

~Anima Christi