Lord Christ,
you have no body on earth but ours,
no hands but ours,
no feet but ours.
Our are the eyes through which your compassion
must look out on the world.
Ours are the feet by which you may still
go about doing good.
Ours are the hands with which
you bless people now.
Bless our minds and bodies,
that we may be a blessing to others.

St Teresa of Avila - Carmelite

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O Lord God,
I have no idea where I am going,
I do not see the road ahead of me,
I cannot know for certain where it will end.

Nor do I really know myself,
and that fact that I think
I am following Your will
Does not mean that I am actually doing so.
But I believe
that the desire to please You
does in fact please You.
And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing.

I hope that I ill never do anything
apart from that desire to please You.
And I know that if I do this
You will lead me by the right road,
though I may nothing about it.
Therefore I will trust You always
though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death,
I will not fear,
for You are with me
and You will never leave me to make the journey alone.

Thomas Merton - Cistercian

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O God, you have created us (me)
to do some definite service;
you have given some definite work to us (me)
which you have not given to any other.
We (I) a place in your plan.
We may never know what it is in this life
but we shall be told it in the next.
Therefore we (I) will trust you in all things.
If we are sick, our sickness may serve you.
If we are worried, our worry may serve you.
If we are in sorrow, our sorrow may serve you.
Nothing is in vain:
all things serve your purpose.
We may lose our friends and find ourselves among strangers;
we may feel forgotten so that our spirits may sink;
our future may be hidden from us;
still, you work in all things for good,
and we (I) trust you.

Cardinal John Henry Newman

For further information please contact Carmelite Vocations.