Beannacht

This Celtic prayer is for a young woman who became a friend. A single mom, cared for by a whole hospice team of single mom's, who were all touched deeply by the life and death of this beautiful soul. This prayer/poem resonated with me for her. Now, it is our task to learn from her spiritual virtues, and to incorporate what we learned from her into our own lives.


BEANNACHT( Celtic Prayer, for a friend)



On the day when the weight deadens on your shoulders

and you stumble,

may the clay dance to balance you.

And when your eyes freeze behind the grey window

and the ghost of loss gets in to you,

May a flock of colours, indigo, red, green and azure blue

come to awaken in you a meadow of delight.

When the canvas frays in the curach of thought

and a stain of ocean blackens beneath you,

May there come across the waters a path of yellow moonlight

to bring you safely home.

May the nourishment of the earth be yours,

may the clarity of light be yours,

may the fluency of the ocean be yours,

may the protection of the ancestors be yours.

And so may a slow wind work these words of love around you,

an invisible cloak to mind your life.



John O’Donohue ( A Roman Catholic Priest in Connemara, Ireland.)