As a continuation of Friday's reading:
"Bron remembered it well, for he had learned it long before he came to the skeilic. It had been part of his preparation for this pilgrimage. He could still recite almost word for word what Cassian had written. That the prayer conveyed all the feelings human nature was capable of, could be adapted to every condition, could be usefully recruited to find every temptation. That it expressed the humility of the most pious confession. That it conveyed the watchfulness which was born of endless worry and fear, a sense of our frailty, the assurance of being heard, the confidence of help was always near and present. This one short verse was an indomitable wall for everyone struggling against demons, an impenetrable breastplate and the sturdiest of shields. Whatever our disgust, our anguish, or our gloom, this verse kept us from despairing of our salvation, since it revealed to us Him whom we called, He Who saw our struggles, and Who was never far from those who prayed to Him. If things went well for us, if there was joy in our hearts, this verse warned us not to become proud, because our prosperity could not be retained without the protection of God. The verse was necessary to each of us in all conditions because it acknowledged the need for God's help through good and ill.
All this Bron remembered as well as he recalled any injunction in anything he had ever read. 'Come to my help, O God: Lord, haste thee to help me.'"
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