The following is the prayer service used at the provincial offices in St. Louis this morning, August 22, on the Memorial of the Queenship of Mary.

An excerpted reading from Lamentations 2&3:

“My eyes are worn out with weeping, my inmost being is in ferment, my heart plummets at the destruction of my young people, as the children and the babies grow faint in the streets of the city.

 “To what can I compare or liken you, daughter of Jerusalem? Who can rescue and comfort you, young daughter of Zion? For huge as the sea is your ruin: who can heal you?"

All: “Yahweh, I called on your name from the deep pit. You heard my voice, do not close your ear to my prayer, my cry. You are near when I call to you. You said, ‘Do not be afraid!’ Lord, you defended my cause, you redeemed my life.”

Wise words to ponder and then words of prayer:

“I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality . . . I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word.”  Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.

“Racism is still with us. But it is up to us to prepare our children for what they have to meet, and, hopefully, we shall overcome.”  Rosa Parks

“We continually set before us the successful rich man as more typical of what America means than the student or the philanthropist or the unselfish man of small income and simple tastes.”  W.E.B. Dubois

“Let us examine our attitude toward peace itself. Too many of us think it is impossible. Too many think it unreal. But that is a dangerous, defeatist belief. It leads to the conclusion that war is inevitable—that mankind is doomed—that we are gripped by forces we cannot control. We need not accept that view. Our problems are manmade—therefore, they can be solved by man [sic].  And man can be as big as he wants. No problem of human destiny is beyond human beings. Man’s reason and spirit have often solved the seemingly unsolvable—and we believe they can do it again.”   John F. Kennedy

Closing Prayer (all)

Let the earth and the water, the air and the fruits of my country be sweet, my God.Let the homes and marts, the forests and fields of my country be full, my God.Let the promises and hopes, the deeds and words of my country be true, my God.Let the lives and hearts of the sons and daughters of my country be one, my God.

                                                                                                                       Rabindranath Tagore

 “There is a Balm in Gilead”

Image used with permission.