St. Gregory, Prayer from the Liturgical Year, 1901

[Mary Naeem]

St. Gregory, Thaumaturgus

Prayer from the Liturgical Year, 1901

O holy Pontiff, thy faith, removing mountains and commanding the waves, was a justification of our Lord's promise. Teach us in our turn to do honour to the Gospel, by never doubting of our Lord's word and of the help He promises us against Satan, whom the Church points out to us today as the proud mountain that is to be cast into the sea; and also against the overflowing tide of our passions, and the enticements of the world, of which thy writings teach us the vanity. After the victory let us not forget that the succour came to us from heaven; preserve us from ingratitude, which thou didst so detest. We still possess the touching eulogy dictated by thy gratitude towards the illustrious master, to whose teachings, under God, thou didst owe the glorious strength and splendour of thy faith. Here is a precious and practical lesson for all: while praising divine Providence in the man who was his predestined instrument in thy regard, thou didst not forget the homage due to the Angel of God, who had preserved thee from falling into the abyss, during the darkness of infidelity in which thy first years were spent; that heavenly Guardian who, ever watchful in his active, enlightened, persevering devotedness, supplies for our insufficiencies, nourishes and instructs us, leads us by the hand, and secretly arranges for our souls those blessed circumstances and occasions, which transform our life and secure eternal happiness.

How can we sinful creatures sufficiently thank the Author of all good, the infinite Being Who gives to man both the holy Angels and the visible intermediaries of divine grace on earth? But let us take courage, for we have as our Head his own Son, His Word Who saved our souls, and Who rules the universe. He alone, and that without effort, can render to His Father unceasing, eternal thanksgiving, for Himself and for us all, without risk of not knowing or of forgetting the least subject of gratitude, without fear of any imperfection in the manner or the magnitude of His praise. To Him, then, to the divine Word, we commit as thou didst, O Gregory, the care of perfecting the expression of our gratitude for the unspeakable kindness of our heavenly Father; for the Word is to us, as to thee, the only channel of piety, gratitude, and love. May He give us in these days pastors who will imitate thy works; and may He raise up again the ancient churches of the East, which once received such light from thee!