Shrove Tuesday March 1

March 1st, 2022
by Paul Lang

A Pilgrim Prayer
The Annotated Version

Lead me, Lord, (1)
gently (2), pervasively, irresistibly, increasingly,
so that I walk my pilgrim way steadily,
and find the place of my resurrection. (3)

Lead me, Lord,
so that I neither dally nor disobey,
nor turn aside, nor stand still, nor stumble, nor turn back in loyalty
to old gods who will not bless me. (4)

Lead me, Lord,
as a felt Presence,
as a constant companion, (5)
as a counselor in perplexity, (6)
as my first, fast, last friend. (7)

Lead me, Lord,
by the restlessness of spiritual longing (8)
by the hope of finding my true home, (9)
by the yearning of a hungry heart.

Lead me, Lord,
by grace to gratitude,
by gratitude to generosity of spirit,
by generosity to mercy,
that I may cultivate a compassionate heart.

Lead me, Lord,
through your loving embrace,
so that I do not forget or fall away,
but remain steadfast and loyal,
joyful and true on my journey with you.
Amen.

1 - You find this phrase only in (but throughout)the Book of Psalms. — Psalms 5:8; 25:5; 27:11; 31:3; 43:3; 61:2; 119:35; 139:10; 139:24; 143:10
2 - Matt. 11:29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
3 - “[This] understanding of journeying is in itself so rich and so significant. It is peregrinatio, seeking quest, adventure, wandering, exile — it is ultimately a journey . . . to find the place of my resurrection, the resurrected self, the self that I might hope to be, to become the true self in Christ.” The Celtic Way of Prayer p. ix-x by Ester de Waal
4 - I’m thinking here of the many times in the flight from Egypt when the people of God longed to return to enslavement over the risky and uncertain life of following God in the wilderness.
5 - Matthew 28:20b “And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” AND John 14:16 “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever.”
6 - I borrow this phrase from the liturgy of the Marriage rite in which we pray that God make the spouses a counselor in perplexity for one another. John 14:26 But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you.
7 - I, of course, have borrowed here the famous final phrase of the poem of Gerard Manley Hopkins, The Lantern Out of Doors the last stanza of which reads,
“Christ minds: Christ’s interest, what to avow or amend
There, éyes them, heart wánts, care haúnts, foot fóllows kínd,
Their ránsom, théir rescue, ánd first, fást, last friénd.”
8 - I am thinking here of Augustine’s well-known prayer: “God, you have made us such that our hearts remain restless until we find our rest in you.”
9 - This phrase was inspired by a comment written by my mother in her journal on a page in which she was describing her own spiritual awakening: “I was always in church, but never spiritually at home. My spiritual home was in my own solitude and in communion. I know a lot about God but I do not know the Lord.” 1999