John Armstrong

“ When I stand at Thine Altar, grant that I may have the profoundest sense of Thy Presence; take me, as it were, out of the world; shut the gate of my heart against it; lift up my spirit; let the house of prayer be unto me as a heavenly place; let the very rails of the altar remind me of my especial separation from the world; may I feel myself to be on holy ground; I cannot draw nearer unto Thee on the earth, may I feel Thy nearness. Till me with a sense of my own sins and Thy great love, of my own unworthiness and Thy mercy; for who can tell the love wherewith Thou hast loved us ”

“ If men should listen eagerly to my own fallible words, may I never be puffed up; may I strive against a self-seeking and vain-glorious mind; may I kneel down and meditate upon the multitude of my sins. Easily might my soul be lost through the sweetness and deceivableness of human praise. Or if through lack of eloquence, a gift now over-esteemed to the neglect of prayer, my flock come but ill to the house of prayer, may I by true seriousness seek to edify the more devout and stable souls. It is not a multitude of listeners that bespeaks the growth of piety. ”

“ As I have many things to do, to pray—to read Thy Holy Word—to preach accordingly—to offer up supplications for the sick, and thanksgivings for those to whom Thou hast shewed mercy—to baptize— to receive the blessed Sacrament of Thy Body and Blood—to administer it—to lay in the grave those of our brethren whom it hath pleased Thee to take from us unto Thyself,—help me, Holy Jesus, in all these acts of devotion, that the spirit of devotion may be sustained throughout, that all my ministrations may be done with a single mind, and may be blest unto myself and unto those to whom I minister. ”