January 12, 2018
O Lord Jesus, like Saint Paul,
may I count everything as loss
in comparison with the supreme advantage of knowing you.
I want to know you and what your passion and resurrection can do.
I also want to share in your sufferings
in the hope that if I resemble you in death
I may somehow attain to the resurrection from the dead.
Give me grace to make every effort
to supplement faith with moral courage,
knowledge with self-control,
self-control with patience,
patience with piety,
piety with brotherly affection,
and brotherly affection with love.
May these virtues keep me both active and fruitful
and bring me to the deep knowledge of you,
Lord Jesus Christ.
Amen.
The Columbans are a society of missionaries, including priests and lay people, who minister to people of various cultures as a way of witnessing to the universal love of God.