General Chat

Love that Celtic Blessing thank you.

Emma :-)

How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
Were I to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand—
when I awake, I am still with you.

Psalm 139:17-18

New International Version (NIV)

A Celtic blessing and Psalm......... a joyful support for today.

Thank you Cynthia and John.

There is a link,kandj. This psalm 139 has 24 verses.

And it is meditated and prayed over. Psalm 139 ties the 12 portions (morning and evening of every day but Sunday) together. Each day corresponds to a theme valued by the Iona Community. The structure of each day is the same, but the prayers and focus are different.

Each day starts with a time of quiet meditation, thanksgiving, the Lord's Prayer, and a reading.

Yes I see the connection John, thank you.

Psalm 139 verses 17-18 (New Living Translation)........ slightly different.

17 How precious are your thoughts about me, O God.
They cannot be numbered!

18 I cannot even count them
they outnumber the grains of sand!
and when I wake up,
you are still with me!!

Surely thou wilt slay the wicked, O God; depart from me therefore, ye bloody men.

For they speak against thee wickedly, and thine enemies take thy name in vain.

Psalm 139 vs 19-20. The wicked here mentioned by King David are those who do not mention God in any fearful manner, those that call to God but not in any reverent way, those who are careless about their eternal souls.

Good morning friends. I see that some interesting discussions were going on well into the night! :-)




As the Christian faith embraces different denominations - according to culture or preference - I thought it would be good to look at prayers from some of the traditions other than Anglican and Methodist.

The prayer for today is one of the most famous prayers used by our brothers and sisters of the Roman Catholic church: it is the foundation to the Rosary, and is based on two passages from St. Luke's gospel.



The Hail Mary Prayer

Hail Mary, full of grace,
The Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou among women,
And blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God,
Pray for us sinners,
Now and at the hour of our death.
Amen.


With those words echoing in my mind, I wish you all a very good day Cx :-)

Thank you for that prayer about St Mary this morning, Cynthia.

Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate thee? and am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee?
I hate them with perfect hatred; I count them mine enemies

(Psalm 139 verses 21-22)

I am finding these verses (which traditionally are reflected on during a Celtic week of prayer) to be exceptionally difficult. They seem to fly in the face of what Jesus taught - love thine enemies, or God won't love you basically.

I think it is an example of how much more advanced Christian worship became after Jesus. Jesus made finding the entrance to heaven that much easier than it was in the days of his ancestor King David. But very much more is expected of us today, particularly as regards agape (that selfless love that demands and expects nothing in return). :-)

Thank you Cynthia and John.

Emma :-)

Cynthia, I have family and friends who are of the Catholic faith and I join in special Masses and so the Hail Mary words are very familiar to me.

I have just read through the Luke gospel words appropriate to this Catholic prayer.
Luke ch1 v 28-35 and
Luke ch1 v 42-48.

An interesting posting today as always, as is John's sharing the words of Psalm 139.

Thank you both.

I always knew that Walsingham was a great place of pilgrimage. But had not realised the importance of nearby Penrhys in the Rhondda until today.

There is a modern white statue at the side of the road in this little village that stands between the two Rhondda valleys at a height of about 1,000 feet with the hills either side up to 1400 feet. The original statue was destroyed in the times of Henry VIII and I quote:

"It is said that Bishop Latimer threw the Penrhys statue out of the west window of St. Paul's. The Walsingham and Ipswich statues were as a matter of fact burnt by Cromwell at Chelsea, though the image of a Welsh saint had been burnt a few months earlier at Smithfield.

About 60 of us made our way up to Penrhys this morning for a 5 hour pilgrimage. We held a service in the modern chapel of Llanfair (St Mary) in the village, went down to the well which is covered by a small chapel-like stone building and then sat round in an open air amphitheatre and had readings and prayers. We sang hymns, our voices thin in the mountain air. We looked down into the Rhondda Fawr valley 600 feet below.

As we came up from the amphitheatre at the end of our pilgrimage, there was another smaller group of about 15 praying and reading scriptures close to the modern statue. A truly inspiring day for me - the first time in my life I have been involved in anything quite like that. :-) :-)

Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my thoughts.

And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

Psalm 139 verses 23-24)

What a way to finish the week. With the words of King David, the 28 x gt grandfather of our Lord Jesus Christ :-)

Good morning everyone and what interesting posts......thank you. :-)



I am not very familiar with the rites of the Orthodox church, but I know that they have inherited a very rich tradition of prayer. Here are two examples:


"He who is able to pray correctly, even if he is the poorest of all people, is essentially the richest. And he who does not have proper prayer, is the poorest of all, even if he sits on a royal throne."
St John Chrysostom


Grant unto me, my Lord,
that with peace in mind
I may face all that this new day is to bring.

Grant unto me grace to
surrender myself completely to Thy holy will.
Instruct and prepare me in all things for every hour of this day.

Whatsoever tidings I may receive during the day,
do Thou teach me to accept them calmly,
in the firm conviction that all eventualities fulfill Thy holy will.

Govern Thou my thoughts
and feelings in all I do and say.
When things unforeseen occur, let me not forget that all cometh down from Thee.


Teach me to behave sincerely
and reasonable toward every member of my family
and all other human beings, that I may not cause confusion and sorrow to anyone.

Bestow upon me, my Lord,
strength to endure the fatigue of the day
and to bear my share in all its passing events.

Guide Thou my will and teach me to pray,
to believe, to hope, to suffer, to forgive, and to love. Amen.



I will soon be off to church - another baptism this morning and a friendly retired vicar to take the service for us. It's never easy to find clergy who are free to help out and the retired folk are very, very valuable to us.

Have a good day....... :-)

We are having a variety of prayers from just about every Christian tradition. Thankyou Cynthia and all of you. Wonderful. What amazes me is that we all pray in a very similar way, and have done for very many centuries.

Hope service and baptism went well this morning, Cynthia.

We had an excellent service today. Only a local preacher but he was really on top of his text - which was the well-known but difficult passage about Jesus telling the rich young ruler to lay aside all his wordly wealth and follow him. Of course, the rich man hesitated. Wouldn't we?

The Old Testament reading was from Job, and he reminded us that Job was about the wealthiest man in the world and he was forced by God to lose everything. His wife died, all his children died. He lost every possession. Yet he finished up having a wonderful life on earth and in heaven and is still remembered thousands of years later.

If I get really disheartened, I love to read passages from the Book of Job. Then my problems are as nothing :-) :-)

Cynthia, St John Chrysostom words all new to me. We often have older clergy who fill in locally when needed. I don't think clergy ever really retire, and where would we be without them?

John, your pilgrimage sounds wonderful and how blessed you are to have Penrhys so near to your home. I have visited the Roman Catholic and Anglican chapels in Walsingham on a pilgrimage many years ago. I also have visited Ladyewell Shrine and have special spiritual memories of fellowship at all three pilgrimages.......bliss!!

The book of Job never fails to remind me to count my blessings.

Good morning all.... :-)


kandj, I sometimes wonder where the church would be without the retired clergy who are willing to step in and help. I have known a few clergy who, once they retire, wish to remain 'out of sight' as it were but, by far, the majority are more than happy to assist.

It may be something to do with the fact that they were 'called to serve' and they are happy to continue serving as part of their vocation.


A thought for today:



Each Life Affects Another

We may not always realize
That every thing we do,
Affects not only our lives
But touches others, too!

For a little bit of thoughtfulness
That shows someone you care,
Creates a ray of sunshine
For both of you to share.

Yes, every time you offer
Someone a helping hand ...
Every time you show a friend
You care and understand ...

Every time you have
A kind and gentle word to give ...
You help someone find beauty
In this precious life we live.

For happiness brings happiness
And loving ways bring love;
And Giving is the treasure
That contentment is made of.

~ Amanda Bradley ~



Cx :-)

Meant to say........yesterday went well - all things considered. The retired vicar took the baptism service in a slightly different way to what we are used to but it was fine.

Things are slightly higgledy-piggledy as everyone comes to terms with the fact that there is 'leader at the helm' but we will get into the swing of things hopefully.

I have been asked to keep our late beloved vicar's 'wit' going.........arrrgghhhh.......sometimes I feel totally ....witless!!!! :-D

You so do yourself down, Cynthia. You are very funny. Not quite as witty as late Vicar, but at least you can claim to be a half-wit, as I am often called :-) ;-)

And that thought for this morning is very uplifting.

Back on more familiar ground with first two verses of Psalm 139:

"O Lord, thou hast searched me.

Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off "

Quite sobering words. God knows everything about each of us, even our innermost thoughts. Most of us know virtually nothing about God, and even the most devoted saint only knows a very little.

Your thought for today Cynthia has lifted me. <3

Thank you.

Emma :-)

You see me, whether I am working or resting;
you know all my actions.

Even before I speak,
you already know what I will say.

Verses 3 and 4 of Psalm 139 (Good News Bible).

For evening meditation in Celtic devotions on Day One (Monday to Saturday)