Prayer
Some days, although we cannot pray, a prayer utters itself. So, a woman will lift her head from the sieve of her hands and stare at the minims sung by a tree, a sudden gift. Some nights, although we are faithless, the truth enters our hearts, that small familiar pain; then a man will stand stock-still, hearing his youth in the distant Latin chanting of a train. Pray for us now. Grade 1 piano scales console the lodger looking out across a Midlands town. Then dusk, and someone calls a child's name as though they named their loss. Darkness outside. Inside, the radio's prayer - Rockall. Malin. Dogger. Finisterre.
Carol Ann Duffy
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Image: Unknown Italian Artist (Veneto). King David, from The Rothschild Miscellany, c.1479, Illumination on vellum, 21 x 15.9cm, The Israel Museum, Jerusalem, MS 180.51 fol. 1b, B61.09.0803o.s., Zev Radovan / Art Resource, NY
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In St Mary’s prayer cycle for June 2020, today we pray for all charities worried about their future as income falls.
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If you would like to contribute to these reflections, please do email Katherine Cox at kvcox-therapy@gmail.com
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To keep up to date with how we continue the life of St Mary’s in these difficult times – including our ‘Icons of the Day’, Fr Jeff’s and Fr Piotr’s pastoral letters and reflections, weekly Zoom services and more – do please ‘like’ our Facebook page and bookmark our website www.stmarytwick.org.uk
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