Tuesday Prayer Blogging

I would not have chosen this graphic for a prayer post but it seems well-suited to Advent with the great battle between light and darkness portrayed as Michael and the legions of heaven cast the devil and his angels out of heaven. It is by Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528), of course.

ArtCyclopedia says this about him:

Albrecht Dürer is the greatest exponent of Northern European Renaissance art. While an important painter, in his own day Dürer was renowned foremost for his graphic works. Artists across Europe admired and copied Dürer's innovative and powerful prints, ranging from religious and mythological scenes, to maps and exotic animals.

Technically, Dürer's prints are exemplary for their detail and precision

You can see many of Dürer's works online at Wikipedia Commons.

Today, however, we turn to this artist for a prayer of his that seems rather timely now:

O God in heaven, have mercy on us! Lord Jesus Christ, intercede for your people, deliver us at the opportune time, preserve in us the true genuine Christian faith, collect your scattered sheep with your voice, your divine Word as Holy Writ calls it. Help us to recognize your voice, help us not to be allured by the madness of the world, so that we may never fall away from you, O Lord Jesus Christ.

Prayer found on page 55 of The Communion of Saints: Prayers of the Famous, edited by Horton Davies (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1990)

--the BB