I wrap around me the blanket of providence,
the warm wool of God’s care and devotion;
I wrap around me the blanket of providence,
a sleep garment woven of God’s love and faithfulness;
I wrap around me God’s blanket
of knowing the right and the good for me,
of God’s guiding and watchfulness of me;
May it lead me to good dreams,
a warm restoring night,
and wise trust of God’s way for me
in all my wakings.
Blanket of baptism; burial shroud:
from youth to age
be always God’s blanket of providence
around me-
from my birth to my death,
keeping me safe,
in the household of the great God.
*The idea for this image comes from a woollen blanket brought from Ireland to Australia by my widowed paternal grandfather when he left Rosslare, Co. Wexford, for Australia at the age of 74 where he lived with us until his death. The blanket was made at the Providence Mills in Foxford Co.Mayo, a mill that was set up in 1891 by Mother Agnes Morrogh-Bernard of the Convent of Divine Providence to provide a viable industry for a very poor area. The label on the blanket features the symbol of the eye of God. We still have the blanket. And the mill is still there.
