A couple of weeks ago I led a Day of Prayer at The Cenacle Retreat House, a lovely oasis of green and calm in the busy city of Houston, Texas. One of the topics for the retreat was Celtic Prayers for Everyday.

The Celts left so many legacies—story telling, love of poetry, connection to earth and place, gracious giving of hospitality, calm sense of time (“When God made time, God made plenty of it”), respect for women’s leadership. These are just a few among many. One of the legacies we focused on at the Day of Prayer was the Celts’ appreciation of ordinary life and the presence of the Divine in the everyday. The Celts worshiped God in their daily work and very ordinary chores. And they expressed joy doing so.

I shared a few Celtic prayers with the group that day. Here are a couple:

Churning

Come on, churning, come;
Come on, churning, come;
It’s God of all did give the fruit,
And not a hag-charm with a root.
Come on, churning, come;
Come on, churning, come;
Come, O Bridget calm-bright,
And bless the milk of kine.

Making the Bed

I make this bed
In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit
In the name of the night we were conceived,
In the name of the night we were born,
In the name of the day we were baptized,
In the name of each night, each day,
Each angel that is in the heavens.

Then I asked the participants to write their own Celtic prayers for everyday. What wonderful prayers they created.

Here is a prayer for cleaning the kitchen floor written by Kathy Reiter:

The Kitchen Floor

God bless the feet that have dirtied the floor, wherever they may be now.
Those feet of Jim, Katie, Sarah and Michael.
The feet of family friends and their friends. Bless them as they drive cars, run in sports and walk the halls of home and school.
Then there would be the paws of those have left this fur behind;
I’m grateful for the joy of pets.
Bless Jim who provides this home
And our church who is its caretaker

It’s with gratitude that I sweep crumbs of food we’ve dropped.
Gratitude for the nourishment you’ve provided us,
and gratitude for the time as a family at the table.

As I clean the floor with water now I’m reminded of how you wipe us clean.
I’m relieved to give this floor a new start
But I wonder if you are as easily annoyed when I sully your cleaning as I am when my family sullies mine.

So, the floor shines, Lord.
It shines until life enters that door again!
I’ll set the broom and mop aside
Until you and I return to bless this floor again.

	A beautiful book of Celtic prayers collected by G. R. D. McLean

Now, for A Writer’s Prayer composed by Sheryl Mylan:

A Writer’s Prayer

Let my words flow
like a clear crystal stream
Let my words leap
like a dolphin at play
Let my words soar
like a phoenix in flight

Bright with courage and wisdom
Your power and light

Pat Clark wrote this prayer for cooking breakfast:

Cooking Breakfast

Gas comes on
The pan is placed
Water added
Till it looks like lace.

Swirl the grits
And salt the swirls
Unrefined carbs
Make healthy girls.

God is making my body strong.
This my mantra, this my song
Glory, O Christ, my praises arise
So much better than chocolate pie.

Joan Bohls created this Artist’s Prayer:

An Artist’s Prayer

Give me Holy images, and yet
Keep my brushes ever wet.

As I squeeze each tube
Alizarin, yellow, red
Sap and Prussian blue,
Viridian, green and cad.

Give me Holy images, and yet
Keep my brushes ever wet.

As I take the pencil, sketch
Squinting, deleting, choosing, completing,
What to put in, what to leave out,
Moving my view finder in and out.

Give me Holy images and yet
Keep my brushes ever wet.

Thinly brushing a panel
Over all the canvas tone,
Starting with shadows,
Shapes and light on stones.

Give me Holy images and yet
Keep my brushes ever wet.

Cool clear Prussian blue sky,
Red at the horizon, purple over umber raw,
Always asking where and why,
What’s the message, where’s the awe?

Give me Holy images and yet
Keep my brushes ever wet.

God You are in the Light,
Jesus You are in the Dark,
Spirit You are in the Color,
Lord may they see You in my mark.

Give me Holy images and yet
Keep my brushes ever wet. Amen

And, Jan Kelly prayed this prayer of gratitude for her voicemail:

Bless This Voicemail System

Bless this voicemail system-
As it takes my messages…

Allowing me to hear what needs to be said to me,
While I am away.
Giving me things to do,
Appointments to make,
Calls to return.

All connections with people…
Which is ultimately for You.

More work for me to do
So I can to earn money
to buy groceries
to pay the mortgage
to pay the car notes
to pay on the credit cards
to donate to your causes,
and the list goes on and on,
As do the messages.

Bless this voicemail system,
While I am absent from the office.

Each woman whose prayer appears above gave her permission for the prayer to be printed here, and I thank each for her generosity. I am inspired by their prayers to imagine prayers I might pray as I sit down to the my computer, put a load of wash in the washer, or bring in the mail. If you decide to write your own Celtic prayer for everyday, send me a copy and I’ll include it in the future.

How much we owe the Celts for their example of seeing the secular and sacred as one. And for being thankful in everything they did. Because of these prayers I know I am going to be more thankful today.

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Dr. Elizabeth Harper Neeld offers wisdom and practical insights to anyone whose life is in a time of transition, change, grief and loss of any kind. As an internationally recognized and accomplished consultant, and author of more than twenty books - including Tough Transitions and Seven Choices: Finding Daylight After Loss Shatters Your World - she is committed to work that helps lift the human spirit.