God Is Our Guide
Jan 12th, 2007 by michelle
My in-laws gave our son a book of “Best-Loved Prayers” for Christmas, and I browsed through the book today for the first time. I was surprised to find a prayer of a saint from whom my husband’s last name is derived: St. Columba (521-597).
My dearest Lord,
Be thou a bright flame before me,
Be thou a guiding star above me,
Be thou a smooth path beneath me,
Be thou a kindly shepherd behind me,
Today and forevermore.
As an English major in college and former high school English teacher, I love this prayer. St Columba was obviously a poet at heart. You can go here to read more about him.
That really is a lovely prayer. Thanks for sharing.
Holy St. Columba, pray to God for us.
That is one of my favorite prayers as well. A man who was Chrismated at the same time as I was took the name of Columba.
Our goddaughter’s father took the name Columba at chrismation; he had felt an attraction to him before even dealing with Orthodoxy. When he came into our little mission and saw an icon of St. Columba up on the wall, the hairs on the back of his neck stood up; he knew he was home.