Digging Deeper – Tolkien’s Prayers

J.R.R. Tolkien is my favorite author (outside of Scripture). I am surely not alone, because his Lord of the Rings series was voted on many lists as the best book of the twentieth century. Tolkien was also a devout Christian and, according to C.S. Lewis, was instrumental in Lewis’s conversion to Christianity.
Sometimes I forget that Tolkien was also a soldier who served on the Western Front in World War I. He endured brutal trench warfare. Years later, his sons both flew in the RAF during WW2, Christopher as a pilot and Michael as a gunner.

Tolkien sent letters to the boys to remind them to “make a habit of the praises.” He reminded them that there are prayers you can use when you don’t know how to pray, when you are at a loss because of your circumstances.

Tolkien drew on these common prayers from his Catholic faith:

The Gloria Patri
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

The Gloria in Excelsis
Glory to God in the highest, and peace on earth to men of good will. We praise you, we bless you, we glorify you, we give you thanks for your great glory. Lord God, heavenly King, God the Father Almighty. Lord Jesus Christ, only begotten Son, Lord God, Lamb of God, Son of the Father, who takes away the sin of the world, have mercy on us. Receive our prayer. You sit at the right hand of the Father; have mercy on us. For you alone are the Holy One, you alone are the Lord, you alone are the Most High, Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit, in the glory of God the Father. Amen.

The Laudate Dominum
Praise the Lord, all nations; praise him, all people. For he has bestowed his mercy upon us, and the truth of the Lord endures forever. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

What all these have in common is that they focus on God, not circumstances. When you are going through a tough place, sometimes it can be hard to know how to pray. You can always pray and remind yourself of who God is. Even in your darkest times, God is still God.