Poems as Prayers in the Night Prayer Section of the Breviary

This series of seven blog posts will review the poems in the
Night Prayer section of the breviary - poems used as alternatives
to the traditional hymns prayed at the closing of the day.

For Sunday, the poem given is "Abide with Me", by H.F. Lyte. The
poem is as follows:

Abide with me; fast falls the eventide;
The darkness deepens; Lord, with me abide;
When other helpers fail, and comforts flee,
Help of the helpless, O abide with me.

Swift to its close ebbs out life's little day;
Earth's joys grow dim, its glories pass away;
change and decay in all around I see;
O thou who changest not, abide with me.

Hold thou thy Cross before my closing eyes;
Shine through the gloom, and point me to the skies;
Heaven's morning breaks, and earth's vain shadows flee;
In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me.

Thinking about the eventuality of our death often leads as to
see the wisdom of God more than the wisdom we have learned in
this world. As the day closes and we are led to reflect on what
transpired during the day, we sometimes fail to remember that
whatever gain or loss we had sustained, will really just pale in
comparison to the value of our eternal destiny of eternal life
with God. Sometimes we become so fixated at a loss that we fail
to see the greater gain we have achieved. It is like an ink blot
on a piece of white paper. We look too much at the ink stain
and fail to see the other parts of the paper that can still be
used and written upon.

To have a broader spiritual vision, we are called to seek the
Lord and to appeal to Him to abide with us always - especially
at the closing of the day. The poem by H.F. Lyte helps us to
pray for God's abiding presence at the end of the day when we
will retire and sleep. Since the symbol of night is one of
anxiety, desolation, and darkness, we need the Lord to abide
with us - and to be with us especially when we will be in the
throes of death.

In the poem, we are given a glimpse of the person of the Lord
through the poem's two descriptions of Him: "Help of the
helpless" and "Thou who changest not". And we are led to pray
constantly and see the wisdom of always seeking to be in the
Lord's presence, as the stanzas of the poem always end with
"abide with me" (three times).

When we always seek God's presence, we will certainly always
receive His unfailing help. And this is more certain and true
when the our of our death arrives. Even amidst dimness, the
passing away of earthly glories, and decay, God-who-never-changes
will be with us at that time. He will be the Light to shine
through the gloom around us and point us to the skies - our
heavenly abode - so that in life and even in death the Lord will
always be there for us.