Paulo Coelho

– I envy such a saintly man, who is content with so little – said the ruler.

– I envy Your Majesty, who is content with even less than I – responded the hermit.

– How can you say such a thing, when this entire country belongs to me? – said the offended king.

– For precisely that reason. I have the music of the celestial spheres, I have the rivers and mountains of the whole world, I have the moon and the sun, because I have God in my soul.

“Your Majesty, on the other hand, has only this kingdom.”

Upon reaching the market, the servant saw his own Death shopping at the store near him.

Terrified, he ran back to the merchant’s house.
“I have to leave now, “he said, almost crying. “I saw my death this morning in the market, and I have to escape. I will go to Bokhara, my village, to spend the weekend there. ”

The merchant accepts the plea of the servant, but is wary. He decides to go to the market, where he finds the Death of the servant.

“Wow, you frightened my employee,” said the merchant.

“He also frightened me ” replied Death. “I never expected to find him around here as I have an appointment with him in Bokhara. ”

.

(taken from a short story by John O’Hara, and translated by Priya Sher)

However, just as he had managed to get together enough money to begin work on the project, the river Uji flooded, provoking a catastrophe of gigantic proportions.
When he saw the victims of the flood, Tetsugen resolved to spend all the money he had collected on relieving the sufferings of the people.

Afterwards, he resumed his struggle to make his dream come true: he went from door to door, he visited the various islands of Japan, and once more he managed to raise the money he needed.
When he returned, exultant, to Edo, a cholera epidemic was sweeping the country. Again, the monk used the money to treat the sick and to help the families of the dead.

Undeterred, he returned to his original project. He set off again and, nearly twenty years later, he published seven thousand copies of the sacred verses.

They say that Tetsugen actually published three separate editions of the sacred texts.

But the first two are invisible.

Saint Joseph,

priez pour nous.

Lumière des Patriarches,

priez pour nous.

Époux de la Mère de Dieu,

priez pour nous.

Gardien de la Vierge,

priez pour nous.

Nourricier du Fils de Dieu,

priez pour nous.

Chef de la sainte Famile,

priez pour nous.

Joseph très juste,

priez pour nous.

Joseph très courageux,

priez pour nous.

Miroir de patience,

priez pour nous.

Modèle des travailleurs,

priez pour nous.

Gloire de la vie de famille,

priez pour nous.

A te, o beato Giuseppe,

stretti dalla tribolazione, ricorriamo, e fiduciosi invochiamo il tuo patrocinio dopo quello della tua santissima sposa.

Per quel sacro vincolo di carità, che ti strinse all’immacolata Vergine Madre di Dio, e per l’amore paterno che portasti al fanciullo Gesù, riguarda,

te ne preghiamo, con occhio benigno la cara eredità che Gesù Cristo acquistò col suo sangue,

e con il tuo potere ed aiuto sovvieni ai nostri bisogni.

Proteggi, o provvido custode della divina Famiglia, l’eletta prole di Gesù Cristo; allontana da noi, o padre amantissimo, la peste di errori e di vizi che ammorba il mondo,

assistici propizio dal cielo in questa lotta col potere delle tenebre, o nostro fortissimo protettore, e come un tempo salvasti dalla morte la minacciata vita del bambino Gesù,

 così ora difendi la santa Chiesa di Dio dalle ostili insidie e da ogni avversità, e stendi su ciascuno di noi il tuo patrocinio, affinché col tuo esempio

e con il tuo soccorso possiamo virtuosamente vivere, piamente morire e conseguire l’eterna beatitudine in cielo.
Amen.

Glorioso San José

Glorioso San José, Hacedme trabajar en conciencia,

haced que trabaje con agradecimiento y alegría,

poniendo todo mi empeño y honor en aprovechar y desarrollar,

por medio del trabajo,

todos los talentos que he recibido de Dios.

Inspiradme a menudo la cuenta que he de rendir del tiempo perdido,

de los talentos malgastados,

de las omisiones

y de toda vana complacencia en éxitos obtenidos.

¡Todo según vuestro ejemplo,

oh Patriarca San José!

Senhor, meus braços e minha fé, são toda a minha riqueza .

Eu te peço, Senhor,

para não me deixares sem casa e sem trabalho,

e me conserves com saúde

para ganhar o  meu sustento.

Eu peço também, Senhor,

por todos os trabalhadores

que neste momento

se encontram desempregados

sem nenhuma perspectiva para o futuro.

Faze com que nós, através de nosso trabalho

sejamos capazes de lutar pelos oprimidos

pelos que não tem mais coragem de sonhar

pelos excluídos,

pelos que se sentem derrotados.

Faze Senhor, que o trabalho nos purifique

E nos uma na Fé em Cristo,

Teu Filho, nosso irmão

e trabalhador como nós.

Só assim

Podemos construir um mundo

Que seja realmente digno.

Escolhe no meio de nós,

homens capazes de ter servir

para anunciar a todos

o Evangelho da Justiça e da Paz.

Amém

– Don’t be afraid. Your faith will help you walk on the waters. But the minute you lose faith, you will drown.

The man trusted Bibhishana, and began to walk on the waters, without any difficulty. At a certain point, he had an overwhelming desire to know what his master had written on the leaf tied to his back.

He took it and read what was written:

“Oh god Rama, help this man to cross the river.”

“Is that all?” thought the man. “And who is this god Rama, anyway?”

The moment this doubt became lodged in his mind, he was submerged and drowned in the strong current.

We can define it in various ways:
something that goes against the laws of nature;
an intercession in moments of deep crisis;
healings and visions;
impossible encounters;
a last-minute intervention when the Unwanted Visitor arrives.

All these definitions are true, but a miracle goes beyond even that.
It’s something that suddenly fills our hearts with Love.
When that happens, we feel a profound reverence for the grace God has bestowed on us.

So please Lord, give us today our daily miracle.
Help us to see in each grain of sand in the desert proof of the miracle of difference, and may that encourage us to accept ourselves as we are.
Because just as no two grains of sand are alike, so no two human beings will think and act in the same way.

Help us to be humble when we receive and joyful when we give.

Help us to understand that wisdom lies not in the answers we are given, but in the mystery of the questions that enrich our lives.

Help us never to be imprisoned by the things we think we know, because we know so little about Fate.
And may this lead us to behave impeccably, making use of the four cardinal virtues: boldness, elegance, love and friendship.

taken from MANUSCRIPT FOUND IN ACCRA

Acolytes who have acquired the breadth of Bene Gesserit abilities are called Reverend Mothers within the organization’s ranks.

Oppose a religion with another religion only if your proofs (miracles) are irrefutable or if you can mesh in a way that the fanatics accept you as god-inspired.

The Bene Gesserit choose to use indirect methodologies to further their goals, rather than wield overt power themselves.

When God hath ordained a creature to die in a particular place, He causeth that creature’s wants to direct him to that place.

They have noted the Taoist principle that whatever rises must fall; and so rather than taking direct control of the human race, they instead manipulate the social and political order with subtlety and insinuation, often using extraordinarily long-term stratagems spanning generations.

The mystery of life isn’t a problem to solve, but a reality to experience.

The Bene Gesserit avoid appearing too rich or powerful, or revealing the extent of their powers, to prevent being seen as overtly responsible for the rise and fall of governments and empires, and to avoid any organized backlash.

. It’s shocking to find how many people do not believe they can learn, and how many more believe learning to be difficult.

The Bene Gesserit practice “religious engineering” through a faction called the Missionaria Protectiva.
Collectively known as Panoplia Prophetica, these myths, prophecies, and superstitions provide the opportunity for a Bene Gesserit to later cast herself as a guide, protector, or some other figure in fulfillment of a prophecy in order to manipulate the religious subjects for protection or other purposes.
These myths also exploit religion as a powerful force in human society; by controlling the particulars of religion, the Bene Gesserit have a manipulative lever on society in general.

Fanatics (and many are fanatic on one subject or another) must know where you stand, but more important, must recognise who whispers in your ear.” – Missionaria Protectiva, Primary Teaching

Source: DUNE

Although we cannot control God’s time, it is part of the human condition to want to receive the thing we are waiting for as quickly as possible.

Or to drive away whatever is causing our fear.

How can you tell a passionate heart to be still and contemplate the miracles of Creation in silence, free of tension, fear and unanswerable questions?

Anxiety is part of love, and should not be blamed because of that.

How can you tell someone not to worry when he has invested his money and his life in a dream and has yet to see any results? The farmer cannot speed the progress of the seasons in order to pick the fruit he planted, but he waits impatiently for the coming of autumn and harvest-time.
How can you ask a warrior not to feel anxious before a battle?
He has trained to the point of exhaustion for that moment, he has given of his best, and while he believes he is prepared, he fears that all his efforts could prove to be in vain.

Anxiety was born in the very same moment as mankind. And since we will never be able to master it, we will have to learn to live with it – just as we have learned to live with storms.

taken from MANUSCRIPT FOUND IN ACCRA

Just as there are many paths to the top of a mountain, so there are many paths to achieving our goal. Help us to recognise the only one that is worth following, the one on which Love is to be found.

Help us to awaken the Love sleeping within us before we awaken love in other people. Only then will we be able to attract affection, enthusiasm and respect.

Help us to distinguish between battles that are ours, battles into which we are propelled against our will and battles that we cannot avoid because Fate has placed them in our path.

May our eyes open so that we can see that no two days are ever the same. Each one brings with it a different miracle, which allows us to go on breathing, dreaming and walking in the sun.

May our ears also open to hear the apposite words that suddenly emerge from the mouth of one of our fellows, even though we haven’t asked for his advice and he has no idea what is going on in our soul at that moment.

And when we open our mouth, may we speak not just the language of men, but the language of angels too and say: ‘Miracles do not go against the laws of nature; we only think that because we do not know nature’s laws.’

And when we achieve this, may we bow our head in respect, saying: ‘I was blind, but now I can see. I was dumb, but now I can speak. I was deaf, but now I can hear. Because God worked his miracle within me, and everything I thought was lost has been restored.’

taken from MANUSCRIPT FOUND IN ACCRA