The prayer entitled “La prière du para” should be a source of encouragement for those who dedicate their lives to great ideals.
Newsroom (21/04/2022 3:25 PM, Gaudium Press) Just over 103 years ago, on April 19, 1919, Leslie Irvin made the first parachute jump in history. How many outdoor jumps, performed with this object that allows man to realize, in part, his dream of inhabiting the heights, would take place in the most diverse conditions to this day!
“Give me the courage, the strength and the faith!”
It was July 27, 1942. An elite group of the French army was venturing onto the warm desert sands. Their target? A German air base in Egypt. Amidst the machine gun fire and the bombardment of the German stuka, one of the soldiers is wounded in the shoulder and abdomen. Serious injuries, as soon becomes apparent from the profuse bleeding. His pale face and almost pale lips seem to indicate that the brave soldier will not be alive for long.
In fact, shortly afterwards he dies, there, in the middle of the desert, in the middle of the war. Moments before delivering his soul to God, he said to one of his companions, with the calmness of someone who knew how to fight and trust in Providence: “I’m leaving you. Everything is in order with me”.
Due to the turmoil of the moment, his companions improvised a grave with the stones of the place, topped by a cross made with two pieces of wood. And they carefully stored the coordinates of the place, so that they could later recover his remains.
Before burying him, they searched his pockets and found a small notebook: simple, discreet, a bit rough and worn. Far greater than the material value of this object was its content.
Among the writings it contained, a prayer entitled La prière du para – The Parachutist’s Prayer, composed by the deceased – the young military man André Zirnheld, born on March 7, 1913 – had to be a source of encouragement to those who dedicate their lives to great ideals.
It is a poetic groan that springs from the depths of a heart chiseled by suffering and ablaze with the love of God. The person who composed it was aware of his evil inclinations, but committed to fighting them, to the point of imploring “courage, strength, and faith.”
The Paratrooper’s Prayer
“Give me, O Lord my God, what You have left, what no one asks of You.
I do not ask You for rest or tranquility, neither of soul nor body.
I do not ask You for wealth, or success, or health.
So many ask this of You, God, that You probably have nothing left to give.
Give me, Lord, what You have left; give me what everyone else refuses.
I want the insecurity and the restlessness, I want the struggle and the storm.
Give me this, my God, definitively, give me the certainty that this will be my portion forever, because I won’t always have the courage to ask You for it.
Give me, Lord, what You have left, give me what others do not want, but also give me the courage, the strength and the faith.”
Excerpted, with adaptations, from: MEIRELES, Ney Henrique. “Give me the courage, the strength and the faith!”.
In: Heralds of the Gospel. Year XX, nº 232, April 2021, p. 14-17.
Complied by Teresa Joseph
