Third Sunday after Whitsun

Protéctor in te sperántium, Deus, sine quo nihil est válidum, nihil sanctum: multíplica super nos misericórdiam tuam; ut, te rectóre, te duce, sic transeámus per bona temporália, ut non amittámus ætérna. Per Dóminum nostrum Iesum Christum, Fílium tuum: qui tecum vivit et regnat in unitáte Spíritus Sancti Deus, per ómnia sǽcula sæculórum.
℟. Amen.

God, the protector of all that truſt in thee, without whom nothing is ſtrong, nothing is holy: Increaſe and multiply upon us thy mercy; that thou being our ruler and guide, we may ſo paſs through things temporal, that we finally loſe not the things eternal: Grant this, O heavenly Father, for Jeſus Chriſt’s ſake our Lord. Amen.

Keynote: The Two Standpoints

There are two standpoints from which we can look at life: the standpoint of the lower self, with its background of Spirit. The higher self is developed and awakened by means of the experiences which fall to the lot of the lower self in its struggles with life in the flesh. When the struggle is painful and unavailing, when the denial of the pleasures of the senses and the gratification of human desires forces us to seek a higher aid, when the barrenness of external things forces us to look within, we are in little danger of becoming enmeshed by matter. But when the lower self is on a flowing tide of prosperity, or when it is spurred by a fear for the loss of its accustomed flesh-pots, we are all too apt to live exclusively in things temporal and lose sight of the eternal values by which the soul's account must ultimately be balanced.

Even more in prosperity than in loss do we need the contact of the spiritual forces, or, to use the old phraseology, the blessing of God, to rest upon our lives, lest we forget the purpose of life, which is the evolution of the soul, not the gratification of the senses. Let us measure all things against a background of infinity, and life itself will become for us the way of enlightenment.