Hear me, O Christ, a sinful woman! To Thy service
and to the honour of Thy most sacred Cross, I dedicate this true man.
Bless Thou this shield of his, that it may be between him and his
enemies, and his arms, also, that he may go before our host, and save
many, and lead us to Thy holy place in Jerusalem! Endue him with grace,
fill him with strength, enlighten his heart. Hear me and help me, O
Christ, a sinful, loving woman!
"Holy Spirit of God, Most High, Creator, Comforter, let Thy pure gifts
descend upon this clean-hearted man, that his courage fail not in life,
nor in the hour of death. Hear me, a sinful woman, Thou who, with the
Father and the Son, livest and reignest in glory forever!"
When she had prayed, she knelt a little while longer, with bowed head
pressing against her clasped hands on the praying-stool till they hurt
her. And that was the hardest, for it had been her meaning to make a
solemn promise, and she saw between her and her love the barrier of her
faith to be kept to God, and of her respect of her own plighted honour.
Rising at last, she took the shield again, and kissed it once between
the arms of the cross; and her lips made a small mark on the fresh
gold-leaf.
"He will never know what it is," she said to herself, as she looked at
the place, "but I think that no arrow shall strike through it there,
nor any lance."
Suddenly she longed to kiss the shield again, and many times, to
thousands, as if her lips could give it tenfold virtue to defend.
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