Yes, pray it even there

It seems our Celtic monastic ancestors were a bit squeamish about praying in the latrine, believing them to be haunts of devils and evil spirits. The ancient Rule of the Céli Dé prescribed that the only prayer a monk might say therein was the Adjutorium. "O God, come to my assistance; O Lord, make haste to help me." On reading this, I asked myself what it might mean. Comparing what I know of monastic prayer around the world, it seems most reasonable to me that the Adjutorium was a constant prayer for these monks, and so even while in the jakes it was permitted; it was not reasonable to ask a monk to stop at any time.

Adjutorium - first, a disclaimer

Mchiha aka ; ʽAminjjate aka. (Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! in Aramaic.)

The only person who has any real business writing about continual prayer is the person who prays continually. I am not that person. With less absoluteness, I also say that the only person with any real business writing about ancient Celtic Christian practices is the scholar of the subject. I am not that person. So I confess to having no business writing about the ancient Celtic Christian practice of continual prayer. But I have not read anything about it elsewhere. I may be the only person available to write about it. You, the reader, undoubtedly deserve better than me. The subject deserves better. But if I am the best there is, then I will undertake the job with trepidation and prayer. Please pray for me.

I have a little intellectual knowledge of both subjects to bring to the task, and some (though far less) experience. However, I believe that I have something exciting and heretofore unheard of to say. I hope it profits you.

In Christ the risen Lord,
Fr. Sean

In Latin

OK, here it is in Latin. I looked it up so I can get it right.

Deus in adjutorium meum intende.
Domine ad adjuvandum me festina.

It is the opening of Psalm 70.

More later.

First post

Well, here goes. This is not going to be much, just a test. But still, I pray a blessing on whoever reads it. ... "Give them, God, some grace in their day.... Amen."

Why Adjutoriuim?
The word adjutorium is Latin. It is a form of a word meaning help. It is taken from one of the most popular prayers of our Celtic Catholic ancestors, a prayer which still is used by Christians:

Oh God, come to my assistance.
O Lord, make haste to help me.

If I weren't afraid of misspelling something terribly and looking like a fool, I would put it in the original Latin. But right now, all my books are in storage, so it will have to wait.

I chose the name Adjutorium for this blog for several reasons.
One, it is the title I have given to a form of "praying by hand" I have created using the "top 5" most popular prayers of the old Celtic monks and nuns. I want to promulgate this way of praying, since it has been so helpful to me and might be to others.
Two, I need God's help. Today. Always. I am forty-two years old and have figured out, at least in my better moments, that all that claptrap about needing God is not claptrap at all but simply the bare truth.
Three, I might, in some of my ramblings, be of some help to somebody else. That would make this all worth the effort.

The effort and the silliness. I am not at all convinced that I have anything to say in a blog. But I am willing to experiment. And one of my friends just started a blog (Poor Blogger), and I do not want to be outdone. After all, I am a priest and he is just a brother. And a poor one at that, by his own admission.

Enough for now.