Words of Light and Hope from Fran Neale

Words of Light and Hope from Fran Neale

I know this from my Grandmother’s collection of prayers, poems etc. There are updated versions and some extra verses, but this is the version she had written out.

The Divine Office of the Kitchen (by Klara Munkres)

Lord of the pots and pipkins, since I have no time to be
A saint by doing lovely things and vigilling with Thee,
By watching in the twilight dawn, and storming Heaven’s gates,
Make me a saint by getting meals, and washing up the plates!

Lord of the pots and pipkins, please, I offer Thee my souls,
The tiresomeness of tea leaves, and the sticky porridge bowls!
Remind me of the things I need, not just to save the stairs,
But so that I may perfectly lay tables into prayers.

Accept my roughened hands because I made them so for Thee!
Pretend my dishmop is a bow, which heavenly harmony
Makes on a fiddle frying pan; it is so hard to clean,
And, ah, so horrid! Hear, dear Lord, the music that I mean!

Although I must have Martha’s hands, I have a Mary mind,
And when I black the boots, I try Thy sandals, Lord, to find.
I think of how they trod our earth, what time I scrub the floor.
Accept this meditation when I haven’t time for more!

And some words of comfort from Mother Julian of Norwich.

He did not say, “You shall not be tempest-tossed, you shall not be work-weary, you shall not be discomforted.” But he said, “You shall not be overcome.” God wants us to heed these words so that we shall always be strong in trust, both in sorrow and in joy.

Photo by Scott Umstattd on Unsplash