Daily Primer — August 2, Isle of Uist, Outer Hebrides — Scotland

I WANT TO TELL YOU OF MY OWN EXPERIENCE,
AS I PROMISED.
Not that it is of any importance. But I make this disclosure only to help you, and if you derive any profit from it I shall be consoled for my foolishness; if not, my foolishness will be revealed. I admit that the Word has also come to me-I speak as a fool-and has come many times. But although he has come to me, I have never been conscious of the moment of his coming. I perceived his presence. I remembered afterwards that he had been with me; sometimes I had a presentiment that he would come, but I was never conscious of his coming or his going. And where he comes from when he visits my soul, and where he goes, and by what means he enters and goes out, I admit that I do not know even now; and John says: "You do not know where he comes from and where he goes." There is nothing strange in this, for of him was it said, "Your footsteps will not be known."

The coming of the Word was not perceptible to my eyes, for he has no color; nor to my ears, for there was no sound; nor yet to my nostrils, for he mingles with the mind, not the air; he has not acted upon the air, but created it. His coming was not tasted by the mouth, for there was no eating or drinking, nor could he be known by the sense of touch, for he is not tangible.

How then did he enter? Perhaps he did not enter because he does not come from outside?

He is not one of the things which exist outside us. Yet he does not come from within me, for he is good, and I know there is no good in me. I have ascended to the highest in me, and look! The Word is towering above that. In my curiosity I have descended to explore my lowest depths, yet I found him even deeper. If I looked outside myself, I saw him stretching beyond the furthest I could see; and if I looked within, he was yet further within. Then I knew the truth of what I had read. “In him we live and move and have our being.” And blessed is the man in whom he has his being, who lives for him and is moved by him.

YOU ASK THEN HOW I KNEW he was present, when his ways can in no way be traced?
He is life and power, and as soon as he enters in, he awakens my slumbering soul; he stirs and soothes and pierces my heart, for before it was hard as stone, and diseased. So he has begun to pluck out and destroy, to build up and to plant, to water dry places and illuminate dark ones, to open what was closed and to warm what was cold, to make the crooked straight and the rough places smooth, so that my soul may bless the Lord, and all that is within me may praise his holy name....

I have marveled at the depth of his wisdom when my secret faults have been revealed and made visible; at the very slightest amendment of my way of life I have experienced his goodness and mercy; in the renewal and remaking of the spirit of my mind, that is of my inmost being, I have perceived the excellence of his glorious beauty, and when I contemplate all these things I am filled with awe and wonder at his manifold greatness.

But when the Word has left me, all these spiritual powers become weak and faint and begin to grow cold, as though you had removed the fire from under a boiling pot, and this is the sign of his going. Then my soul must needs be sorrowful until he returns, and my heart again kindles within me—the sign of his returning... As long as I live the word "return," the word of recall for the recall of the Word, will be on my lips.

As often as he slips away from me, so often shall I call him back. From the burning desire of my heart I will not cease to call him, begging him to return, as if after someone who is departing, and I will implore him to give back to me the joy of his salvation, and restore himself to me.

=============
Jesus!  my companion be
On the road I take today
Through the moor or o’er the sea,
Thou, for me, be guide and stay.
Jesus, my sweet lover! place
In the heart of all I greet
Love like Thine that is a grace
To homing men or roving feet.
Up the hill-way, down the glen,
Past the forest edged with broom,
Where the shadows hide the ben,
Where the rivers deepen gloom,
Radiant, I, Thy lovesman go
Free from fear and sain from foe.

Florilegium is the Medieval Latin word for bouquet, or more literally flowers (flos, flor-) which are gathered (legere). The word florilegium was used to refer to a compilation of writings, often religious or philosophical. These florilegium are literary flowers—beautiful words/prayers/thoughts I have gathered.  During my sabbatical they will give me something to ponder each day. — PHL.

Glory be to God who has shown us the light!
Lead me from darkness to light,
Lead me from sadness to joy,
Lead me from death to immortality.
Glory be to God who has shown us the light!

I arise with God,
May God arise with me.
God’s hand enfolding me
as I sit, as I lie down
and as I rise.  Amen.

Come, bless the Lord, all you servants of the Lord,
who stand by night in the house of the Lord!

God, Father of heaven,
With the saints I worship you.
Christ, hope of all the world,
With the saints I worship you.
Holy Spirit, who sanctifies the people of God,
With the saints I worship you.

† That I may remember always those who have gone before,
God of the saints, hear me.
† That I may be inspired by the noble works of old,
God of the saints, hear me.
† That I may seek to follow the example of the faithful,
God of the saints, hear me.
† That the church make stand for truth and justice,
God of the saints, hear me.
† That I may be unafraid to proclaim the gospel,
God of the saints, hear me.
† That I may lead others to worship you,
God of the saints, hear me.
† That I may bring your light into dark places,
God of the saints, hear me.

Watch, dearest Lord, with those who wake, or watch, or weep this night, and give your angels charge over those who sleep.  Tend your sick ones, O Lord Christ; rest your weary ones; bless your dying ones; soothe your suffering ones; pity your afflicted ones; shield your vulnerable ones — all for your love’s sake.  In the name of the great One in Three.  Amen.