A Party or a Prayer?
	We wish everyone a blessed, healthy and happy New Year.  And while we certainly do not object to a party to celebrate the coming year and put behind the old one, we must — as we head into this dangerous time — not forget where to put our priorities:  in Him. So as a love gift, we suggest, to those who wish, the following prayer offering everything in their lives for the coming year to the Holy Spirit. As the Third Person of the Most Holy Trinity, the Holy Spirit is there for us in our every need.  He is our Counselor, Comforter and Paraclete.  He is the Love of the Eternal Father and Son enveloped into One.  A succinct manifestation of God’s omnipotence, omniscience and omnipresent Nature. Indeed, as the Creed states, the Holy Spirit is the Lord and Giver of Life. What, then, have we, in return for this great gift, given back to Him? Here, at the beginning of the New Year, is our chance to give Him nothing less than what He deserves:  everything!!!  For remember, without the Holy Spirit, we have no breath of life to enjoy a party with! And so Agnus Dei Presents                                     An Offering to the Holy Ghost On my knees, before the multitude of heavenly witnesses, I offer myself, soul and body, to Thee, Eternal Spirit of God!  I adore Thee, great God, and acknowledge Thy dominion over me. Thou art the Light and the strength of my soul.  In Thee I live and move and have my being.  I desire never to grieve Thee by unfaithfulness to grace, and I pray with all my heart to be kept from the smallest sin against Thee. Make me faithful in every thought, and grant that I may always listen to Thy voice, watch for Thy Light, and follow Thy gracious inspirations.  I cling to Thee, and give myself to Thee, and ask Thee, by Thy compassion, to watch over me in my weakness. Holding the pierced Feet of Jesus, and looking at His five wounds, trusting in His Precious Blood, and adoring His Sacred Heart, lacerated for love of me, I implore Thee, Holy Spirit, helper of my infirmity, so to keep me in Thy grace that I may never sin against Thee with the sin which Thou canst not forgive. Give me grace, O Holy Ghost, Spirit of the Father and the Son, to say to Thee, always and everywhere, “Speak Lord, for Thy servant heareth!”                                                                                                                        From the 1944 edition of My Prayer Book                                                                                                                                                                                by the Rev. F. Lasance                                                                                                                                                      with approbation by Pope Pius XI in 1927
		greatspiritualbattle.com