And Jesus, with his disciples, withdrew to the sea, and a great crowd from Galilee followed him – and from Judea, and from Jerusalem, and from Idumea and from the other side of the Jordan, and around Tyre and Sidon, a great crowd – hearing what he had done -came to him.
And he told his disciples to get ready a little boat for him, because of the crowd, so that they would not crush him.
For he had healed many, so that those who had an illness were falling over themselves in order to touch him. And the unclean spirits, whenever they saw him, they fell down before him and cried out: ‘You are the Son of God’, and he sternly ordered them not to make him known.
Steer the ship of my life, good Lord, to your quiet harbour,
where I can be safe from the storms of sin and conflict.
Show me the course I should take.
Renew in me the gift of discernment,
so that I can always see the right direction in which I should go.
And give me the strength and the courage to choose the right course,
even when the sea is rough and the waves are high,
knowing that through enduring hardship and danger in your name
we shall find comfort and peace.
Amen
Basil of Caesarea (c.329-379)