Prayers & Reflections for November 25

The Armor of God
Reflections and Prayers for Wartime

CHAPTER III
Thoughts for Fighting Men

Army life becomes easier if we accept its trials in union with the sufferings of Our Lord, as that great soldier Joyce Kilmer did it:

Prayer of a Soldier in France
My shoulders ache beneath my pack;
(Lie easier, Cross, upon His back).

I march with feet that burn and smart;
(Tread, Holy Feet, upon my heart).

Men shout at me that may not speak;
(They scourged Thy back and smote Thy cheek). ­

I may not lift a hand to clear
My eyes of salty drops that sear.
(Then shall my guilty soul forget
Thy agony of Bloody Sweat?)

Lord, Thou didst suffer more for me
Than all the hosts of land and sea.
So let me render back again
This millionth of Thy gift.

Amen.

[Continued tomorrow]
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From:
The Armor of God
Reflections and Prayers for Wartime
by Rt. Rev. Msgr. Fulton J. Sheen
(C) 1943, P.J. Kenedy & Sons