Sources of Solace and Strength, Insight, and Inspiration
Aa No Bhadraha, Krutvo Yantu Viswataha
May noble thoughts come to us from all directions; Rik Veda I: 89:1 Hindu Faith tradition
Readings for meditation before the Intense Case Review experience at Work and inspirational prayers.
- A.
From: “Prayers and Declarations for a meaningful Life”Julia Cameron,
Jeremy P. Tarcher - Penguin Books. New York
Prayers to the Great Creator
Blood of Life flows Through Me
From: “Prayers and Declarations for a meaningful Life” Julia Cameron,
“If you look deeply into the palm of your hand, you will see your parents and all generations of your ancestors. All of them are alive in this moment. Each is present in your body. You are the continuation of each of these people.”
Thich Nhat Hanh
The Blood of Life flows through me.
We are not alone. We are privileged to carry in our blood and bone the Wisdom of those who have gone before us.
We carry their lives, even in the face of their deaths. In each of us there survive the lives of those who gave us life. In our children there survive the lives of those who gave us life. In our children and in our brain children., our own lives go forward.
Faced with the loss of a human love, I turn to Divine love within me which can accept that loss and carry forward the beloved whom I feel to beyond reach.
God is in me and I am in God. All that ever was, still is.
We are a divine energy, a divine life.
In our Dying, we live again.
In our Living, we die again.
There is no loss, which isn’t a gain carried forward.
In my moments of greatest sorrow, I am touched by the Joy of having loved.
In my times of greatest loss, I am still loved.
Love is not lost through loss. It is found more fully.
I cherish the love my loss has helped me find.
- B
St. Francis of Assisi: Pax et Bonum Anne Harrison | Friday, March 29, 2013 - 16:54
The wind swept over the square outside the Upper Basilica, filling the sky with grey clouds. St Francis sat astride his horse with bowed head. This statue captures the moment when, in 1204, the saint heard the voice of God telling him to leave the war and return home. The grass shivered and swayed; the rain was not far away.
Pax et bonum (Peace and the Good, the motto of St Francis), it is everywhere. Despite the hour, many people knelt before the tomb: nuns, monks, priests, schoolchildren, tourists. It is possible to walk around the tomb whilst others venerate, and there are plenty of pews offering places for solitude
Prayer of St. Francis
Lord make me an instrument of your peace
Where there is hatred let me sow love
Where there is injury, pardon
Where there is doubt, faith
Where there is despair, hope
Where there is darkness, light
And where there is sadness, joy
O divine master grant that I may
not so much seek to be consoled as to console
to be understood as to understand
To be loved as to love
For it is in giving that we receive
St. Francis and St. Clare of Assisi greeted the people of the thirteenth century with the expression “Pace e bene!” or “Peace and all good!” So much was expressed by this little phrase: May you have the fullness of well-being, may you be secure and happy; may you not want; may your dignity be respected; may the goodness in your inmost being flourish; may the world in which we live know this deep peace. It was a blessing, a hope, and a way of acknowledging the sacredness of those whom they encountered.
- C.
MGH-Spiritual-Care-Department-COVID-19-Resources-1.pdf
The Spiritual Practice of Self-Compassion
Connect with your spiritual self.
Be still and know that you are more than this current crisis or fear or unsettledness.
Your spirit is eternal in this moment.
Having connected to your spiritual self, practice of self-compassion. Say to yourself:
“I am suffering right now; all human beings suffer and deserve kindness; may I be kind to myself.” “Combining these words with placing your hand on your heart can spur the sense that you are connected with self and others.”
This practice may help to switch from fight-or-flight into relax-and-respond.
From this more centered place, ask yourself:
What gesture of kindness can I do now, for the world?
For those in need See what comes to you.
We have no idea the far-reaching impact of our large or small gestures, even the simple act of bringing ourselves into a state of loving-kindness has ripple effects we may not see.
All we know is that our peaceful, positive state is a contribution to the world around us. We can make choices from hope, not fear.
I.D
This is a prayer from a Card distributed during the funeral in 2013 for one of my key Prof in HMS when I was in Residency in Psychiatry. He was a Jesuit Priest before he was a Psychiatrist. It was happy coincidence because I was educated in India by Jesuits in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India Ned Cassem Obituary (1935 - 2015) - West Hartford, CT - Hartford Courant (legacy.com). He was an insightful, caring, and compassionate clinician and a skillful and committed teacher. He helped to improve our capacity to think through our relationship with our patients and colleagues by introducing us to the philosophy of Martin Buber: Ich und Du [I and Thou] I have introduced this prayer at the outset out of my high regard for my teacher. One of Sanskrit Scriptures of the Hindu Faith Tradition- Taittiriya Upanishad includes Shishya Anushasanam. This can be regarded as a commencement address after the completion of the studies in the forest academies in ancient India. It contains injunctions on personal integrity and a code of conduct. One key set of Injunctions that I am adhering to is this: “Be thou who regards your mother, your father, your teacher, and your guest as God.”
The inspiring verse printed on the Card is John 8:12. “ I am light of the World, he who follows Me will not walk in darkness, but will have the Light of Life
- A
Great Hymns:
[In a previous post my Essay, “ Mahatma Gandhi- 150th Birth Anniversary1, I included Mahatma Gandhi’s favorite hymns and Bhajans. He was especially fond of these Christian Hymns Abide with me and Lead Kindly light.. included here]
- 1
Agnus Dei - Gregorian Chant
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis. Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis. Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, dona nobis pacem.[These luminous words are incorporated in the text of Gloria- Antonin Dvorak’s Mass in D Major- Op 86. Item I D below.
Maggie Wahls I year ago.
- 2.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kv7tD0aWfc4
Pieta Signore
Published on Mar 31, 2011
+ Luciano Pavarotti [Magnificent]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xk12LNzvCf4 Luciano Pavarotti
HAVE MERCY, LORD Have mercy, Lord, on me in my remorse!
Lord, have mercy if my prayer rises to you: do not chastise me in your severity.
Less harshly, always mercifully, look down on me, on me.
Never let me be condemned to hell in the eternal fire by your severity.
Almighty God never let me be condemned to the eternal fire by your severity.
Have mercy, Lord, Lord, have mercy on me in my remorse!
If my prayer rises to you look down on me, Lord. Have mercy, Lord, on me in my remorse!
Lord, have mercy if my prayer rises to you: do not chastise me in your severity. Less harshly, always mercifully, look down on me, on me. Never let me be condemned to hell in the eternal fire by your severity. Almighty God never let me be condemned to the eternal fire by your severity, by your severity.
Other fabulous renditions:
+ Tomine Mikkeline Exquisite full of feeling.13-year-old Norwegian Girl
+ Olga Pyatigorskaya: Magisterial
+ Alex Sanfilippo: Beautiful
+ Angela Gheorghiu: Magisterial
+ Irina Arkhipova : Mezzo Soprano- Soaring grand voice.
+ Inna Andriyash-Mis'ko; Mature splendid rendition
+ Andrea Bocelli- Live From Basilica Di Santa Maria Sopra Minerva, Italy / 1999 Lighter voice, pleasing rendition. He used chorus that nobody else did This provided substitute magisterium.
- 3.
https://www.classicfm.com/composers/schubert/ave-maria-schubert-lyrics/
Ave Maria
By Franz Schubert
Ave Maria
Gratia plena
Maria, gratia plena
Maria, gratia plena
Ave, ave dominus
Dominus tecum
Benedicta tu in mulieribus
Et benedictus
Et benedictus fructus ventris
Ventris tuae, Jesus.
Ave Maria
Ave Maria
Mater Dei
Ora pro nobis peccatoribus
Ora pro nobis
Ora, ora pro nobis peccatoribus
Nunc et in hora mortis
Et in hora mortis nostrae
Et in hora mortis nostrae
Et in hora mortis nostrae
Ave Maria
English translation:
Hail Mary, full of grace,
Mary, full of grace,
Mary, full of grace,
Hail, Hail, the Lord.
The Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou among women, and blessed,
Blessed is the fruit of thy womb,
Thy womb, Jesus.
Hail Mary!
Hail Mary, Mother of God,
Pray for us sinners,
Pray, pray for us;
Pray, pray for us sinners,
Now and at the hour of our death,
The hour of our death / The hour of our death,
The hour of our death / Hail Mary.
Andrea Bocelli, Maria Callas and Celine Dion have all recorded beautiful versions, as has the inimitable Luciano Pavarotti: [This is total evocative in a fabulous form ]
- 4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPZK0gOQeWc
Gloria: The Gloria from Antonin Dvorak's Mass in D Major, performed in the 'Looking East' concert on November 18, 2012, by the Tucson Masterworks Chorale in Grace St Paul's Episcopal Church