Notes from a Sojourn
April 7, 2020
Night
Fifteen years ago I graduated from Algonquin College's practical nursing program and became a RPN. My career in nursing was brief but I will always be thankful for the opportunity to be formally trained in the science and art of caring for other people.
My field was palliative care. I usually cared for patients in their own homes for long overnight shifts. It was rarely busy work, but sometimes it was very difficult work.
During those long nights, I would often find myself praying. Without specific words or articulated ideas, I would sense the need to hold the experience of a given night before God. I would quietly acknowledge the difficulties of the night as I sat and attended to my duties.
It was after I had given up nursing and had become a priest that I was introduced to a beautiful prayer by St. Augustine of Hippo. This prayer from the 4th century is not unique in any way. It is a night prayer that holds before God the situations before us. It is important to me because the words are so simple and familiar. There is no pretense or rationalization. It is an honest prayer of care for others.
Night comes to us in many forms. Some nights can be very long indeed. This prayer encourages us to hold that reality with honesty. When we pray at night, we hold the night's sorrows. And we pray that God holds them with us.
"Keep watch, dear Lord, with those who work, or watch, or weep this night, and give your angels charge over those who sleep. Tend the sick, Lord Christ; give rest to the weary, bless the dying, soothe the suffering, pity the afflicted, shield the joyous; and all for your love's sake. Amen."
Patrick+
