RING PRAYER

589When my soul is deathly tired
and my aching body begs to be spared,
when my heart is filled to overflowing
and tears stream forth with woeful sobs—
  Then my little ring calls out to all my drives:
  “The hour of your love has come!”
590When my heart is under so much pressure it could burst
and every pinion of the soul hangs limp,
when I still revolve too much around myself
and cannot find the right way to reach out to others—
  Then my little ring calls out to all my drives:
  “The hour of your love has come!”
591When I seek the Father and do not find him
and struggle tediously in my place in life,
when dark clouds hang in every part of the sky
and everything wants to powerfully push for “freedom”—
  Then my little ring calls out to all my drives:
  “The hour of your love has come!”
592When without my knowing my Mother leaves me
and the Bridegroom goes his way without me,
when I am misunderstood and avoided by my friends
and they give no thought to my worries, troubles and sorrows—
  Then my little ring calls out to all my drives:
  “The hour of your love has come!”
593When my superiors do not give me enough attention
and overlook, belittle and ignore me,
when all the world casts stones at me
and all my passions declare mutiny within—
  Then my little ring calls out to all my drives:
  “The hour of your love has come!”
594When sun, moon and stars reappear
and my Bridegroom returns home from distant places,
when the Mother’s arms warmly embrace her child
and every chord of my soul resounds—
  Then my little ring calls out to all my drives:
  “The hour of your love has come!”
595When I am ever more the Father’s joy,
his favorite child on his sunlit earth,
when I increasingly overcome my limitations
and new strength urges me to act—
  Then my little ring calls out to all my drives:
  “The hour of your love has come!”
596When at prayer my soul rejoices and sings
and everything around me brings me joy,
when I see the Schoenstatt meadow prosper in joy
and all are striving at the level of the Inscriptio dedication—
  Then my little ring calls out to all my drives:
  “The hour of your love has come!”
597When the world entices me with siren songs
and my body trembles from the lower drives of the flesh,
when others try to steal my heart
and stand between me and my love—
  Then my little ring calls out to all my drives:
  “The hour of your love has come!”
598When death wants to haunt me with its dark shadows
and rob me of my strength and vigor,
when demons make their last bold effort
to open before me the avenging fires of hell—
  Then my little ring calls out to all my drives:
  “The hour of your love has come!”
599When the Bridegroom calls me to the wedding
and overwhelms me with his love in heaven,
when my Mother leads her child proudly to the Father,
the child who prepared him such joy while on earth—
  Then my little ring calls out to all my drives:
  “The hour of your love has come!”