Daily Prayers for April 26
On April 26, 1986, a nuclear power accident in Chernobyl, Ukraine, dispersed large amounts of radioactive debris into the air. The plume drifted over parts of the Soviet Union and Europe, extending as far as Ireland. The most contaminated areas were in Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia, forcing the evacuation and resettlement of 336,000 -people. There were fifty-six direct deaths; it is estimated that eight hundred thousand others suffered radiation exposure.
O Lord, let my soul rise up to meet you
as the day rises to meet the sun.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.
Come, let us bow down and bend the knee : let us kneel before the Lord our Maker.
Song “Guide My Feet”
Guide my feet and hold my hand : set my heart on heaven’s way.
Psalm 119:105 – 8, 111 – 12
Your word is a lantern to my feet : and a light upon my path.
I have sworn and am determined : to keep your righteous judgments.
I am deeply troubled : preserve my life, O Lord, according to your word.
Accept, O Lord, the willing tribute of my lips : and teach me your judgments.
Your decrees are my inheritance for ever : truly, they are the joy of my heart.
I have applied my heart to fulfill your statutes : for ever and to the end.
Guide my feet and hold my hand : set my heart on heaven’s way.
Leviticus 19:26 – 37 1 Peter 1:13 – 25
Guide my feet and hold my hand : set my heart on heaven’s way.
Dorothy Day, co-founder of the Catholic Worker Movement, wrote, “We believe that spiritual action is the hardest of all — to praise and worship God, to thank Him, to petition Him for our brothers, to repent of our sins and those of others. This is action, just as the taking of cities is action, as revolution is action, as the Corporal Works of Mercy are action. And just to lie in the sun and let God work on you is to be sitting in the light of the Sun of Justice, and the growth will be there, and joy will grow and spread from us to others. That is why I like to use so often that saying of St. Catherine of Siena: ‘All the Way to heaven is Heaven, because He said I am the Way.’ ”
Prayers for Others
Our Father
Open our eyes to see your glory in the smallest things, that we would live with the faith and the boldness required to believe that all the way to heaven truly is heaven. Amen.
May the peace of the Lord Christ go with you : wherever he may send you;
may he guide you through the wilderness : protect you through the storm;
may he bring you home rejoicing : at the wonders he has shown you;
may he bring you home rejoicing : once again into our doors.
