The Paratrooper's Prayer

[vman24601]

I stumbled upon this prayer through a friend who read “Man on Fire.” This prayer is featured at the beginning of the book.​

The Paratrooper’s Prayer

I BRING THIS PRAYER TO YOU LORD,
For you alone can give
What one cannot demand from oneself.
Give me, Lord, what you have left over,
Give me what no one ever asks you for.
I don’t ask you for rest,
Or quiet,
Whether of soul or body;
I don’t ask you for wealth,
Nor for success, nor even health perhaps.
That sort of thing you get asked for so much
That you can’t have any of it left.
Give me, Lord, what you have left over,
Give me what no one wants from you.
I want insecurity, strife,
And I want you to give me these Once and for all.
So that I can be sure of having them always,
Since I shall not always have the courage
To ask you for them.
Give me, Lord, what you have left over,
Give me what others want nothing to do with.
But give me courage too,
And strength and faith;
For you alone can give
What one cannot demand from oneself.​

The author of this prayer is André Zirnheld, a WWII French paratrooper.The prayer or poem was found on his body after his death and it is now the official prayer of the French and Portuguese Paratroopers. I’m assuming Zirnheld came from a Catholic background since he was French but I can find very little Catholic commentary on this.

What do you think of this prayer? What would the Church think of a prayer like this?

 

[paperwight66]

Didn’t you already post this prayer? I can’t remember where exactly, but I responded to it at the time, as did one or two other people.

You seem to have deleted the original.

 

[AlanFromWichita]

I like the prayer, except for the words, “That you can’t have any of it left.” I’d edit those out if I were saying it.

It makes it sound like God is playing a zero-sum game and cannot create.

Alan

 

[vman24601]

Didn’t you already post this prayer? I can’t remember where exactly, but I responded to it at the time, as did one or two other people.

You seem to have deleted the original.

I’m surprised to find that I can no longer access the original thread I started. I believe since I posted this prayer in “Traditional Catholicism”, they took it down. However, this thread fits better in Spirituality anyways. Could you repost what you said originally in the first one? I don’t think I read it.

 

[vman24601]

I like the prayer, except for the words, “That you can’t have any of it left.” I’d edit those out if I were saying it.

It makes it sound like God is playing a zero-sum game and cannot create.

Alan

I agree. God is always abundant in goodness.