Prayer to John the Baptist

After composing the prayer to St Joseph, in the style of Mary's Angelic Salutation, pulling Biblical language as much as possible, I turned to St John the Baptist. Here is my modest attempt:

Hail John the Baptist, in the spirit and power of Elijah [Lk 1:17], the hand of the Lord is with you [Lk 1:66].
Greatest of those born of woman [Mt 11:11], you are the friend of the bridegroom [Jn 3:29], Jesus.
Voice crying out in the wilderness [Mt 3:3, etc], pray for us that we Repent and make straight His paths [Mt 3:2 & 3], now and at the hour of our death.

Comments

Introducing The Good Reverend Pudgemuffin

My favorite gentleman in the blogosphere is currently the Good Reverend Pudgemuffin at Are You There God? It's me, Atheist. He is a wonderful and impassioned seeker of Truth with regards to the existence of God, and from his blog's title, you can guess what side of the fence he falls. He is a fellow Ashevillain, and I highly regard his thinking and enjoy his irreverent skepticism which is humorous and critical without being snarkily polemical. Inspired, I wrote a lengthy reply to one of his entries, and he in turn devoted a whole entry in response to my response . Not to be outdone, I composed a response to the response's response, which I planned to keep hidden within his comments, but it far exceeded (more than double) the character limits. So thus ....

Exploring Tolkien's Theology: The Battle for Middle-earth by Fleming Rutledge

Thematically, Fleming Rutledge's The Battle for Middle-earth: Tolkien's Divine Design in The Lord of the Rings (Eerdmans Publishing, 2004) makes an excellent companion piece to Stratford Caldecott's The Power of the Ring (Crossroad Publishing, 2005) which I read earlier this year and inspired the formation of The Servants of the Secret Fire. Both books unveil Christian themes in J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings —Caldecott also explores Tolkien's other writings—what makes Rutledge's work unique from other Christian explorations of Tolkien is that Rutledge follows the narrative as it is written of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings to follow a deeper narrative, beneath the surface of the text, of the hidden battle between The Powers of Evil, Sin and Death, and God in the interior spirit and will of the characters. Rutledge has done more to make real the supernatural drama of LotR , and frankly the Christian life, than I've previously encounte...

Prayers for Students

When I'm not homeschooling the kids, being a stay-at-home Dad and Handy Husband, I teach Theology at a local Catholic High School. As G.K. Chesterton said: “You say grace before meals. All right. But I say grace before the concert and the opera, and grace before the play and pantomime, and grace before I open a book, and grace before sketching, painting, swimming, fencing, boxing, walking, playing, dancing and grace before I dip the pen in the ink.” So here are some ways to say Grace before tests/exams/assignments and ask the blessing and aid of Divine Wisdom before you "dip the pen in the ink" and put the pen to the test ... or cursor to the document, as you will. Come Holy Spirit Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful. And kindle in them the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created. And you will renew the face of the earth. Lord, by the light of the Holy Spirit you have taught the hearts of your faithful. In the same Spirit help ...

Our Lady of Ashes

Search This Blog