CRUSADER'S PRAYER

God of Virtue and Valor,

Lancelot, King Arthur,
and other knights of old,
in legend or reality, vowed
before Your cathedral altars
to live spotless, exemplary, moral lives in service to a king or lord.

They pledged to defend their feudal liege, to right wrongs, to aid
the defenseless, and to stand up
for the weak and the poor.

Arrayed in coats of chain mail
and shining breastplates, they were armed with swords and daggers
and lances. They were the
“law and order” of the Middle Ages.

Some did good works in secret
so that only You would know,
and to escape praise and avoid
the pitfall of pride.

Let me be Your knight and pledge
my fealty and service to You
in the modern world, my God,
and let me challenge wrong wherever
I encounter it.

Let faith be my armor, and my code
of honesty be my shield. Let my voice and my good deeds be my weapons
of choice. Let the emblem on my shield be Your Holy Cross.

Let my conscience be my helmet, crowned with the plume of my personal integrity.

Let injustice, dishonesty, laziness, duplicity and the Serpent Satan
and his devious minions be my hated foes, and let me battle them
without mercy.

Let me do secret good deeds,
of which only You and I will know.

Help me, Lord, to stand ready
to defend the defenseless,
as in speaking up for an absent friend whose character is being assassinated, or in the wider world, protecting
and assisting the disabled,
the orphans, the downtrodden,
the helpless poor, the sick,
the wretched homeless and those
who have no vote or voice
in the public square.

Let me be valorous in standing up
for the cause of anyone whose rights are being denied or taken away.

Help me to be courageous in defending my beliefs, and generous in sharing them with others.

Keep me chivalrous in virtue,
faithful in keeping my promises, unflagging in attending to my duties, and conscientious in following through scrupulously on commitments made.

Let me hold in check with chains of grace all evil and ignoble actions and let me not give way to sinful temptations

Let me never use the cowardly weapons of personal insult, falsehood
or ridicule, no matter what
the circumstance.

Let me go forth, My Lord, pledged
to aid the poor and the defenseless.

Let me live so that it can be said
of me, “He fought the battle fairly and fiercely to the end. He carried his banner high, and served his Lord and Master wisely and well.”

All this I pray at Your altar,
Prince of Peace, Lord of Lords,
King of Kings, that I may one day bow in fealty before Your throne
in the celestial court of heaven.

Please accept this prayer, my Liege,
my King, my God.

Amen

(c) 2012 Donn B. Murphy

Images - MedievalCollectibles

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