My Lord and my God, take from me everything that distances me from you.
My Lord and my God, give me everything that brings me closer to you.
My Lord and my God, detach me from myself to give my all to you.
Prayer of Saint Nicholas of Flue
patron of Switzerland
What simple, lovely, and dangerous prayer. What would happen if we could even once pronounce it with all our heart and all our mind and all our strength?
I had not heard of St Nicholas so I looked him up and see that he was a very interesting man, certainly one with much to offer to the people of our time. If only he had lived four centuries earlier, I would promote him among my fellow Orthodox!