Everyday (Breviary) Carry

In my journeys across the Internet, I ran into the concept of Everyday Carry (or "EDC," if you're cool). 

EDC describes a phenomenon where people share the things that they consider essential tools for life. The pictures they share usually include - beyond the basics of wallets, phones, and keys - things like pocketknives, notebooks, pens, multitools, paracord bracelets, and flashlights - all arranged in an orderly fashion. There are even blogs devoted to this kind of content.

I find the whole idea interesting. There is the practical aspect of seeing what other people use and what might be useful to you; but I think there is also a kind of pleasure in sharing a little slice of your life with other people. Something as insignificant as what you carry in your pockets tells a bit of the story of your life.

Priests have tools too, and one of the most common is the breviary. This is the book that contains the Liturgy of the Hours, the prayers that all priests and religious promise to pray everyday. But I've also found that the breviary tends to be a place where priests keep some of their essential tools - favorite prayers, lists of people to pray for, even pictures of loved ones.

So, in the spirit of everyday carry, here is my breviary unpacked:

In the front cover, I keep a picture of my favorite saint, St. Therese of Lisieux, dressed as another great saint, St. Joan of Arc. St. Therese greatly admired St. Joan's passionate spirit and wrote plays about the saint's life. On the back of the photo I wrote out a favorite prayer by St. Therese:

O my God! I offer Thee all my actions of this day for the intentions and for the glory of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. I desire to sanctify every beat of my heart, my every thought, my simplest works, by uniting them to Its infinite merits; and I wish to make reparation for my sins by casting them into the furnace of Its Merciful Love.
O my God! I ask of Thee for myself and for those whom I hold dear, the grace to fulfill perfectly Thy Holy Will, to accept for love of Thee the joys and sorrows of this passing life, so that we may one day be united together in heaven for all Eternity. Amen. 

In the back cover of my breviary, I keep a guide to the Rosary in Latin and a copy of "A Priest's Prayer" that I received while on retreat in seminary.

Finally, there is a prayer card of St. Rose of Lima. I'm attached to her because of my trip to Peru when I was a deacon, but also because of the powerful quote on the back:

Our Lord and Savior lifted up his voice and said with incomparable majesty: “Let all men know that grace comes after tribulation. Let them know that without the burden of afflictions it is impossible to reach the height of grace. Let them know that

the gifts of grace increase as the struggles increase. Let men take care not to stray and be deceived. This is the only true stairway to paradise, and without the cross they can find no road to climb to heaven.”