11 September 2007

A personal prayer in times of trouble

Sa ngalan ng Ama,
at ng Anak,
at ng Espiritu Santo.
Amen, Hesokristo.

O Bathalang Maykapal,
hush the forces of the North,
hush the forces of the South,
hush the forces of the East,
hush the forces of the West;
to these directions sanctify with your presence,
and purify of all evil.
Crush the forces of Bakunawa,
and purify of all evil.
Blow, O Hangin, blow:
speak your words now and bless our way.
Give us your peace.
Give us your peace.
Heal our wounds from the battle,
and give us your peace.
Keeper of the flame!
Bathala the creator of all wonder,
Kan-Laon the ruler of space and time,
Gugurang and Lumawig,
dinggin mo kami.
To you, I offer my praises and prayers,
invoking the sacred Name
of Poong Hesokristo.
Amen, Hesokristo.



Joshua Ligan 2007.
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6 comments:

+JN1034 said...

Our prayers have been with you each day. We look each day to hear from you via email. Our hearts sense your heaviness, a heaviness unfamiliar to your tender heart. Still, if you need an ear or two or six, let us know. None is on Earth alone; we are, despite what the naysayers interject, a mystical family in Christ. Be strong, Joshua, for ours is a God of miracles, though often creating ones that take us time to come to see and appreciate. Hindsight sucks. We stand with you in prayer, and we kiss your worthy hands. +++

Joshua Migallos Ligan said...

Forgive my tardiness in responding to you. The fact is, I feel as if I don't know how to really pray at this time, and in the same respect I don't know what to say. It feels like everything around me has been shattered, and so have my thoughts as well. I promise I shall get to you, when I can finally bring myself together and forcefully cry out every hope, every intention, and every prayer. It's been hard to express myself at this time, and so this blog entry is one of the few times I have actually spoken out from the darkness.

Thank you for your prayers. It helps to know that I'm surrounded by such a loving community of faith. I hug each and every one of you. *hugs*

I am ever yours,
Joshua Ligan

+JN1034 said...

Many times our hands can't rise in prayer, our voices can't sing aloud, our hearts can't give one more drop of love. From our heaviness of heart, the Holy Spirit intervenes and prays for us, raises its hands, offers its voice, and loves in our place. The Holy Spirit knows us better than we and does what is best for us even when we have no clue. Rest back and trust in the Spirit to do your work, pray your prayer, speak your silence.

Eric said...

What a beautiful prayer, O Mother Hen. :)

I hope things start looking up, and I'm always here if you need to talk.


hush the forces of the North,
hush the forces of the South,
hush the forces of the East,
hush the forces of the West;


(Beautiful.)

eleKtrofly said...

mmmmm i like that--
in what language is the first part?

Joshua Migallos Ligan said...

Hello!

The language is Tagalog, which is a Malayo-Austronesian language spoken in the Philippines. I have composed this prayer in the spirit of the New Zealand Prayer Book.

The first part is the Sign of the Cross. As with early Filipino custom, I have ended the prayer with "Amen,Jesus" instead of just "Amen."

"Bathalang Maykapal" means "All powerful God". In every case, I have replaced the Spanish derived "Diyos" with ancient Filipino names of the Supreme Being.

"Bakunawa" is the ancient name for the Lord of the Underworld.

"Hangin" means "wind" and refers to the Holy Spirit.

Bathala, Kan-Laon, Gugurang, and Lumawig are all ancient names of the Supreme Being in various Philippine languages.

"Dinggin mo kami" means "hear our prayer".

"Poong Hesokristo" means "Lord Jesus".

Hope this helps!

-Josh