Thirsty

Thou that hast giv'n so much to me, Give one thing more, a grateful heart. See how thy beggar works on thee By art. He makes thy gifts occasion more, And sayes, If he in this be crost, All thou has giv'n him heretofore Is lost. But thou didst reckon, when at first Thy word our hearts and hands did crave, What it would come to at the worst To save. Perpetuall knockings at thy doore, Tears sullying thy transparent rooms, Gift upon gift, much would have more, And comes. This notwithstanding, thou wentst on, And didst allow us all our noise: Nay, thou has made a sigh and groan Thy joyes. Not that thou has not still above Much better tunes, than groans can make; But that these countrey-aires thy love Did take. Wherefore I crie, and crie again; And in no quiet canst thou be, Till I a thankfull heart obtain Of thee: Not thankfull, when it pleaseth me; As if thy blessings had spare dayes: But such a heart, whose pulse may be Thy praise. - George Herbert, (1633) was

(from the Nov '08 issue of Magnificat ) This litany is a meditation on what some of the saints have spoken or written. As we listen to these saints, we pray for a deeper personal participation in their sanctity. This litany represents only a small sampling of the vast communion of saints (the selection is limited due to space constraints). Feel free to add your favorites to it. One option is to sing the litany and it's response. R: (Saint's name), pray for us. Holy Mary, Mother of God: "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word." R. Saint Gabriel the Archangel: "Hail, favored one! The Lord is with you." R. Saint Joseph: [pause in reverent silence] R. Saint John the Baptist: "Jesus must increase; I must decrease." R. Saint Peter: "Lord, you know that I love you." R. Saint Paul: "We had accepted within ourselves the sentence of death, that we might trust not in ourselves but i