(The walled city of Carcassone, France)

Our souls are like fortresses...we lock the gates against Satan and his temptations, we avoid near occasions of sin, and we watch the windows of our five senses that we may not allow sin to enter. But sometimes within our souls we struggle with our emotions, thoughts, feelings, and anxieties. Do you ever feel that there is a battle going on inside?

This beautiful prayer refers to our soul as Our Lord's Kingdom, and asks Him to restore peace to it, and the triumph of His Love:

"Come, O my Lord Jesus Christ, take away all scandals out of Thy kingdom, which is my soul, that Thou mayest reign in it alone. Pride, lust, envy, detraction, anger, and other passions fight in my heart, to usurp portions of it to themselves. Through Thy grace, I watch and resist with all my strength: I cry out that I belong to Thee alone, and I am all Thine; and stretching out my hands to Thee, I say I have no king but the Lord Jesus. Come, therefore, O Lord, disperse Thy enemies in Thy mighty strength, and Thou wilt reign in me, because Thou art my King and my God."
~ A prayer attributed to Thalerus in a sermon, by Rev. T.H. Kinane, P.P. in his 1880 book, The Lamb of God