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Today is Monday 15 April, in the 3rd week of Eastertide.

Juliano Ravanello sings, Adoro Te Devote:

Godhead here in hiding, whom I do adore,

Masked by these bare shadows, shape and nothing more,

See, Lord, at thy service low lies here a heart

Lost, all lost in wonder at the God thou art.

Adoro te devote, latens Deitas

Quæ sub his figuris vere latitas

Tibi se cor meum totum subjicit

Quia te contemplans totum deficit

Visus, tactus, gustus in te fallitur

Sed auditu solo tuto creditur

Credo quidquid dixit Dei Fílius

Nil hoc verbo veritatis verius

In cruce latebat sola Deitas

At hic latet simul et humanitas

Ambo tamen credens atque confitens

Peto quod petivit latro pœnitens

Plagas, sicut Thomas, non intueor

Deum tamen meum te confiteor

Fac me tibi semper magis credere

In te spem habere, te diligere

O memoriale mortis Domini!

Panis vivus, vitam præstans homini!

Præsta meæ menti de te vivere

Et te illi semper dulce sapere

Pie pellicane, Jesu Domine

Me immundum munda tuo sanguine

Cujus una stilla salvum faceret

Totum mundum quit ab omni scelere

Jesu, quem velatum nunc aspicio

Oro fiat illud, quod tam sitio

Ut, te revelata cernens facie

Visu sim beatus tuæ gloriæ. Amen

Today’s reading is from the Acts of the Apostles.

Acts 6:8-15

Stephen, full of grace and power, did great wonders and signs among the people. Then some of those who belonged to the synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called), Cyrenians, Alexandrians, and others of those from Cilicia and Asia, stood up and argued with Stephen. But they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he spoke. Then they secretly instigated some men to say, ‘We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God.’ They stirred up the people as well as the elders and the scribes; then they suddenly confronted him, seized him, and brought him before the council. They set up false witnesses who said, ‘This man never stops saying things against this holy place and the law; for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and will change the customs that Moses handed on to us.’ And all who sat in the council looked intently at him, and they saw that his face was like the face of an angel.

Stephen, full of grace and power, did wonders and signs among the people of the Synagogue of Freedmen.

As you pray today, imagine yourself in the Synagogue of Freedmen…listening to Stephen, what does he look like as he serves God here?

Some of those listening can’t withstand hearing his words…they began to argue and plot against him, saying that he is blaspheming. How do you feel as you hear these accusations against Stephen? In your imagination, can you rise, walk through the people, and stand with him in the face of such vehement opposition?

What is it like to stand beside him?

As you listen to the reading again, notice Stephen’s countenance as his opponents accuse him.

Amid the arguments, false witnesses, being seized, then stoned to death, Stephen has the “face of an angel”. What does this tell you about Stephen’s faith and love of the Lord?

What gift might you receive from Stephen that can strengthen and encourage you in your faith? You might like to end this prayer time asking for that gift from the Lord.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.