“Faithful friends are a sturdy shelter; whoever finds one has found a treasure” (Sirach 6:14).
True friends don’t need words to understand you — a mere gesture or a glance suffices. They give you their love and support, mourn your defeats, and rejoice in your successes.They are always there to lend you a hand and stand by you in the time of trouble. On this July 30, when the world celebrates the International Day of Friendship, you can recite this wonderful prayer:
Lord, I am grateful to You
for the friends I have.
I thank You for placing them on my path.
Help me make our bond
flourish in truth and honesty.
Let our spiritual journeys
help me to progress and to get through the day.
Teach me how I can help my friends, how to
be generous with them and dedicate time to them.
Help me not to expect someone else to do
what I should have done for them.
Preserve me from all jealousy.
Teach me how to be compassionate
and fair to my friends.
Help me to remain loyal to them despite
the distance that life has put between us.
Lord, I am grateful to You
for the moments I’ve shared with my friends, for our affinity.
Thank you, Lord for the joy
You give me each time I see them.
Teach me how to place You at the center
of my relationships and to turn myself to You.
Give me enough simplicity and humility,
so I can also ask my friends to pray for me.
Amen
(This prayer was composed by a Benedictine monk, Fr. Ludovic Lécuru, the former vicar of Sanary-sur-Mer parish in France and a parish in Larchmont, New York. He is currently the priest of St-Cyr-sur-Mer in France’s Var region.)
Read more:
How to overcome the loss of friendship
And today we celebrate...