Evening Prayer 5/11/09

Lord God, you who know our every weakness, put away from us all worry and anxious fear. Having ended the work and play of this day under your care and protection, we now commit ourselves, and all whom we love, into your gracious keeping; and as night comes, provide for us, we pray, your precious gift of sleep; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

US Journalist Freed in Iran

Good news from Iran: American reporter Roxana Saberi, arrested in Iran in January and convicted of espionage last month, has been freed. Via Fox News:

An American reporter jailed in Iran on espionage charges was to be freed Monday and can leave the country immediately, her lawyer said after an appeals court suspended her eight-year prison sentence.

However, an Iranian judiciary source told Reuters that freelance journalist Roxana Saberi has already been freed from Tehran's Evin jail.

Saberi, a 32-year-old dual American-Iranian national who grew up in Fargo, North Dakota, was convicted last month of spying for the U.S. and sentenced to eight years in prison. An appeals court heard her case on Sunday.

Thank God for this answered prayer! Please continue to pray for American journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee who are facing similar trumped charges in North Korea after being kidnapped by guards as they were filming a story about human trafficking along the Chinese border.

Morning Prayer 5/8/09

Heavenly Father, Almighty and Everlasting God, we thank you that you have brought us safely to the beginning of this day; defend us, your humble servants, with your mighty power and grant that we neither fall into sin, nor run into any kind of danger; also grant that, being guided and governed by you, we may do what is right in your sight; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Evening Prayer 5/6/09

O God that art the only hope of the world,
The only refuge for unhappy men,
Abiding in the faithfulness of heaven,
Give me strong succor in this testing place.
O King, protect thy man from utter ruin,
Lest the weak faith surrender to the tyrant,
Facing innumerable blows alone.
Remember I am dust, and wind, and shadow,
And life fleeting as the flower of grass.
But may the eternal mercy which hath shone
From time of old
Rescue thy servant from the jaws of the lion.
Thou who didst come from on high in the cloak of flesh,
Strike down the dragon with that two-edged sword,
Whereby our mortal flesh can war with the winds
And beat down strongholds, with our Captain God.

---Venerable Bede, 672-735
Oxford Book of Prayer, p. 125

Morning Prayer 5/6/09

Come let us sing to the Lord; *
let us shout for joy to the Rock of our salvation.

Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving *
and raise a loud shout to him with psalms.

For the Lord is a great God, *
and a great King above all gods.

In his hand are the caverns of the earth, *
and the heights of the hills are his also.

The sea is his, for he made it, *
and his hands have molded the dry land.

Come, let us bow down, and bend the knee, *
and kneel before the Lord our Maker.

For he is our God,
and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand. *
Oh, that today you would hearken to his voice!

Evening Prayer 5/5/09

Psalm 31 In te, Domine, speravi

1 In you, O LORD, have I taken refuge;
let me never be put to shame: *
deliver me in your righteousness.

2 Incline your ear to me; *
make haste to deliver me.

3 Be my strong rock, a castle to keep me safe,
for you are my crag and my stronghold; *
for the sake of your Name, lead me and guide me.

4 Take me out of the net that they have secretly set for me, *
for you are my tower of strength.

5 Into your hands I commend my spirit, *
for you have redeemed me,
O LORD, O God of truth.

Morning Prayer 5/5/09

The First Song of Isaiah Ecce, Deus


Surely, it is God who saves me; *
I will trust in him and not be afraid.

For the Lord is my stronghold and my sure defense, *
and he will be my Savior.

Therefore you shall draw water with rejoicing *
from the springs of salvation.

And on that day you shall say, *
Give thanks to the Lord and call upon his Name;

Make his deeds known among the peoples; *
see that they remember that his Name is exalted.

Sing praises of the Lord, for he has done great things, *
and this is known in all the world.

Cry aloud, inhabitants of Zion, ring out your joy, *
for the great one in the midst of you is the Holy One of Israel.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: *
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.

Thank God for Stupid Pirates!

Eleven pirates were arrested after they attempted to hijack a ship that turned out to be a French warship rather than the defenseless merchant vessel they mistook it for. Via CNN:

(CNN) -- The French Navy said they seized 11 pirates Sunday after they apparently mistook a French military vessel for a commercial ship and made a run at it.

Two pirate assault boats approached the Nivose "at great speed," Capt. Christophe Prazuck said, but a French helicopter intervened before the attackers had time to fire at the French navy ship.

The helicopter fired warning shots, he said.

The pirates, who had a mother ship as well as the two assault boats, are being held for questioning on the Nivose, Prazuck said. The vessels were carrying AK-47 rifles and rocket-propelled grenades, but the pirates did not fire, he said.

The incident took place about 1,000 km (620 miles) east of Mombasa, Kenya, at 8:30 a.m. local time (0430 GMT) he added.

In the past three weeks, the Nivose has intercepted 24 suspected pirates as part of a European Union anti-piracy operation off the coast of Somalia, which has become a piracy hotspot.

Over the past year, more than 100 suspected pirates have been picked up, Prazuck said. Of that total, 27 have been released, and more than 70 taken to jail in France, handed to authorities in Somalia or taken to Kenya under an EU agreement with the government in Nairobi.

Two other attacks were thwarted over the weekend; one, however, was successful: the British cargo ship Ariana, with an undisclosed number of crewmembers. Please pray for their safety and the protection of all the other hostages being held captive by pirates in Somalia.

Morning Prayer 5/4/09

You are God Te Deum laudamus

You are God: we praise you;
You are the Lord; we acclaim you;
You are the eternal Father:
All creation worships you.
To you all angels, all the powers of heaven,
Cherubim and Seraphim, sing in endless praise:
Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might,
heaven and earth are full of your glory.

The glorious company of apostles praise you.
The noble fellowship of prophets praise you.
The white-robed army of martyrs praise you.
Throughout the world the holy Church acclaims you;
Father, of majesty unbounded,
your true and only Son, worthy of all worship,
and the Holy Spirit, advocate and guide.

You, Christ, are the king of glory,
the eternal Son of the Father.
When you became man to set us free
you did not shun the Virgin's womb.
You overcame the sting of death
and opened the kingdom of heaven to all believers.
You are seated at God's right hand in glory.
We believe that you will come and be our judge.
Come then, Lord, and help your people,
bought with the price of your own blood,
and bring us with your saints
to glory everlasting.

Captain Phillips Calls for Armed Security on Merchant Ships

In testimony Thursday before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Captain Richard Phillips, who was held hostage by Somali pirates who tried unsuccessfully to hijack his ship, the Maersk Alabama, last month, said that armed security is essential to protect ships and their crews. Via The Boston Globe:

WASHINGTON - Commercial ships in pirate-infested waters need a small team of well-trained guards - preferably former military - to defend them and deter attacks, the famed captain of the Maersk Alabama told a congressional committee yesterday.

"I don't mean a security guard. I don't mean a mall cop," Richard Phillips told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Instead, the ships need two or three special force members each, backed up by the US government, to take on pirates or scare them off, he said.

Neither the committee members nor Phillips - a 53-year-old Boston native and Vermont resident who became a hero last month after he was held hostage for five days by Somali pirates, then rescued by Navy SEAL snipers who killed three of them - offered a definitive solution to thwarting attacks from increasingly bold pirates.

But Phillips and the chairman of Maersk said that arming ship crews would not solve the problem.

International law makes the idea tricky, said Maersk chairman John P. Clancey, since the vast majority of ports do not allow armed ships to enter. Further, he said, arming merchant sailors "may result in the acquisition of even more lethal weapons and tactics by the pirates," putting crews in greater danger.

And while Phillips said he was open to the idea of a small group of senior, well-trained ship officers having weapons on board, he preferred a government-backed team - as long as the security force answered to the captain.

"I am not comfortable giving up command authority to others," Phillips said. "In the heat of an attack, there can be only one final decision-maker."

In the video above, Capt. Phillips also that increased naval patrols and escorts would help, although the area is so vast that it is impossible to cover every possible venue of attack.

Please pray that our lawmakers will choose a wise course in picking a strategy that will protect our shipping from attack without exposing our merchant seamen to even greater danger.

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Piracy Archive
Captain Phillips Free!
Captain Attempts Escape But is Recaptured
USS Bainbridge Arrives at Scene of Hijacking
Pirates Seize Ship With American Crew