Jesus, Come into Our Enclosure

'Come!  I am so bold as to invite You, Lord Jesus, to enter my heart.  I have prepared a place of refuge for You.  Come!

Come!  I ask that You shine Your light into all areas of my heart refuge; not just into the most easily accessible ones, but most especially into the hidden crannies and dimly lit areas.  Come!

Come!  Are there any areas that need cleaning, dusting, or polishing?  Are there areas in a state of disrepair?  Are there areas where trash or garbage have accumulated and need to be removed?  Come!

Come!  Lord Jesus, please show me what needs to be done to keep my heart a fit and pleasing refuge for You.  I want my heart to be as perfect a place for You to stay as I can prepare.  Knowing that I can never reach total perfection, I humbly ask that You accept my great desire for this perfection.  Come!

Come!  It is my desire to have a perfect heart refuge for You, and from that comes my boldness to ask You to enter and stay with me.  It causes me much sadness to know that I will always fall short.  Yet You stoop to Your child because of Your great mercy, to accept what my love can give.  Come!

Come!  With tears of joy and thanksgiving, I thank and praise You for coming to one so afflicted and poor as I.

Come, Lord Jesus!  Come enter my heart refuge!'

Written by Rosemary O.

May she rest eternally in the Heart of Christ.

Painting:  Winslow Homer, Girl in the Orchard

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Enlighten the Dark Corners

'O Holy Spirit, Love of God, infuse Your grace! 

Plentifully descend into my heart.

Enlighten the dark corners of this neglected dwelling.

Dwell in that soul that longs to be Your temple. 

Water that barren soil, overrun with weeds and briars

and lost to fruitfulness for want of cultivating. 

Make it fruitful with Your gracious beams,

Your dew from heaven..

Come, Holy Spirit, in much mercy! 

Make me fit to receive You.' 

St. Augustine

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Benedito Calixto painting, cropped

Enlighten the Dark Corners

"O Holy Spirit... descend into my heart!
Enlighten the dark corners 
of this neglected dwelling.
Dwell in that soul
that longs to be Your temple!
Water that barren soil,
overrun with weeds and briars 
and lost to fruitfulness
for want of cultivating.
Make it fruitful 
with Your gracious beams,
Your dew from heaven. 
O come, Refreshment of those
who languish and faint;
You only Haven
of the tossed and the shipwrecked!
Come, Holy Spirit, in much mercy!
Make me fit to receive you."
                                                           (St. Augustine)