Prayer
of Sir Francis Drake
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| Sir Francis Drake's GOLDEN HIND |
On the afternoon of the day the English
fleet sailed forth to meet the Invincible Spanish Armada, Admiral of the Fleet
Sir Francis Drake offered this prayer up to God for his men and himself. Note
the tenor and charity of it:
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ost merciful and
loving Father, we beseech thee most humbly, even with all our hearts, to pour
out upon our enemies with a bountiful hand whatsoever things thou knowest may
do them good; and chiefly a sound and uncorrupt mind, wherethrough they may
know thee and seek thee in true charity, with their whole hearts, and love us
thy children, for thy sake. Let
not their hating of us turn to their harm, neither let us in any wise hurt them.
Seeing that we cannot do them good
for want of ability, Lord, we desire their amendment, and not their
punishment. Separate them not from us by punishing
them, but join and knit them to us by thy favourable dealing with them. And seeing we be all ordained to be
citizens of the one everlasting city, let us begin to enter in that way here
already by mutual love, which may bring us right forth hither; through Jesus
Christ, our Lord. Amen.
Miraculously, the out-gunned and
inferior British fleet was victorious over a naval force of unquestioned
superiority. The forces of nature (and of nature's God) combined to deal a
decisive defeat to the would-be invaders of England. Perhaps the only
difference in the outcome was due to the prayer of Sir Francis Drake. What think
ye?
