Giving Thanks As thou takest thy seat at table,
pray. As thou liftest the loaf, offer thanks to the Giver. When thou sustainest
thy bodily weakness with wine, remember Him Who supplies thee with this gift,
to make thy heart glad and to comfort thy infirmity. Has thy need for taking
food passed away? Let not the thought of thy Benefactor pass away too. As thou
art putting on thy tunic, thank the Giver of it. As thou wrappest thy cloak
about thee, feel yet greater love to God, Who alike in summer and in winter has
given us coverings convenient for us, at once to preserve our life, and to
cover what is unseemly. Is the day done? Give thanks to Him Who has given us
the sun for our daily work, and has provided for us a fire to light up the
night, and to serve the rest of the needs of life. Let night give the other
occasion of prayer.
When thou lookest up to heaven and gazest at the beauty of
the stars, pray to the Lord of the visible world; pray to God the
Arch-artificer of the universe, Who in wisdom hath made them all. When thou
seest all nature sunk in sleep, then again worship Him Who gives us even
against our wills release from the continuous strain of toil, and by a short
refreshment restores us once again to the vigour of our strength. Let not night
herself be all, as it were, the special and peculiar property of sleep. Let not
half thy life be useless through the senselessness of slumber. Divide the time
of night between sleep and prayer. Nay, let thy slumbers be themselves
experiences in piety; for it is only natural that our sleeping dreams should be
for the most part echoes of the anxieties of the day. As have been our conduct
and pursuits, so will inevitably be our dreams. Thus wilt thought pray without
ceasing; if thought prayest not only in words, but unitest thyself to God
through all the course of life and so thy life be made one ceaseless and
uninterrupted prayer.”
+ St. Basil the Great, from Homily V. In
martyrem Julittam, quoted in the Prolegomena in Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers
Series II Volume 8
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