Meme

Jane of the French Oasis has tagged me for a meme. I'm not a great meme fan, and so won't tag anyone else, but I feel I owe Jane a courtesy because from all accounts she's such a nice person, and also Mac (the meme's originator) for recommending me a very good camera.

I am forbidden to include sacramental or (presumably official) liturgical prayers. This is regrettable, because beyond any doubt, the mainstay of my life is the Mass and the Office. I should have cited the traditional versions of both, with the Roman Canon and the Te Deum as my favourite elements of each.

So, my favourite non-liturgical, non-sacramental prayers:

1) The Rosary.

2) The prayer of St Richard of Chichester.
Thanks be to thee, my Lord Jesus Christ,
For all the benefits thou hast won for me,
For all the pains and insults thou hast borne for me.
O my dearest Redeemer, friend and brother,
May I know thee more clearly,
Love thee more dearly,
and follow thee more nearly. Amen.
(I know there are variants on this: this is the one I like).

3) A prayer that I found once, trawling around, and put in a book that I edited. It comes from the Vernon Manuscript.

Jesus Christ, my Leman sweet
That diedest on the bitter tree,
With all my might I thee beseech
For thy deep woundès two and three,
That as firmly may thy love
Into mine heart fixèd be
As was the spear into thine Heart
When thou sufferedst death for me.
My Jesu sweet, who died on Rood,
For the love of me,
And boughtest me with thy Blood,
Have then mercy upon me;
And should me hinder any thing
From my love of thee,
Should it be dear, it shall be loathed;
So take it away from me. Amen.

Both 2 & 3 I often say as a thanksgiving after Communion. I like them because they say more about God than about my own demands.