Sir Jacob, later Lord Astley, a Royalist fighting for King and country at the battle of Edgehill, in England's first civil war in 1642, uttered the following words as he led his men into battle:-
"O Lord, Thou knowest how busy I must be this day,
If I forget Thee, do not Thou forget me"
From a small amount of research I can find nothing to indicate that this leader of men was Catholic; in fact, the likelihood is that he was Protestant.
Yet, this is a great prayer; a sound prayer for each of us today whether we risk death by a terrorist bomb, a London bus or a final clogging up of the arteries.
We live in a world where the treadmill pace increases daily and where the hubbub of humanity drowns out the opportunity, for many, to speak at length to Our Lord.
This is a prayer that you can say as you board your train or take your seat at the office team meeting.
In particular, I like the final line that is often not included in what has become known as 'Astley's Prayer' - "March on boys!"
A brief history of Lord Astley may be found HERE
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