Four hundred years ago, God inspired St. Francis De Sales
to write a prayer for those of us who bear crosses.
"The
everlasting God has, in his wisdom, forseen from eternity the cross that He
now presents to you as a gift
from His inmost heart.
This cross He now sends you He has considered with His all-knowing eyes, understood with His loving mind, tested with His wise justice, warmed with His loving arms, and weighed with His own hands, to see that it be not one inch too large and not one ounce too heavy for you. He has blessed it with His holy name, anointed it with His grace, perfumed it with His consolation, taken one last glance at you and your courage, and then sent it to you from Heaven, a special greeting from God to you, an alms of the all-merciful love of God."
Music: "What Wonderous Love" (Celtic hymn)
Music contibuted by David Schwartz
Dennis Benarz, Chicagoland USA 2008