O Lord Jesus Christ, you became poor for our sake, that we might be made rich through your poverty: Guide and sanctify, we pray, those whom you call to follow you under the vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, that by their prayer and service they may enrich your Church, and by their life and worship may glorify your Name; for you reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Photo: A member of a special order of Greek Orthodox monks, called Hagiotaphites, who keep watch at the Holy Edicule in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem. Though they can be severe, I experience them as encouraging deep piety at the traditional place of Jesus Christ’s entombment and Resurrection. As I left this morning, feeling not a little transformed, I offered a blessing, and he reciprocated.