Parvuli
A low door for the youngest of the household, where the covenant is told in little words, and a grown-up is bidden to come along.
The Ten Lines
These ten lines are the covenant in small, and every one of them is true for grown folk also. The article each line standeth with is named after it, and the lines that carry no article are said so.
- We will keep the peace, and mend what fighting hath broken. serves Article the Second
- We will share our bread, so that no one is hungry alone. serves Article the Eighth
- We will care for the earth, and the sea, and the sky, and every living creature. serves Article the Fifth and Article the First
- We will speak the truth, even when it is hard. serves Article the Eighth
- We will welcome strangers, and make of them friends. no article — the lines' own practice
- We will say we are sorry when we have done wrong. no article — the lines' own practice
- We will forgive others, as we hope to be forgiven. no article — the lines' own practice
- We will listen more than we speak. no article — the lines' own practice
- We will be brave for those who cannot be brave yet. serves Article the Sixth
- We will love one another, for we are one family. serves Article the Seventh
The lines are the covenant in small, and not the covenant in order: three practices are the door's own — the stranger's welcome, the apology and the forgiving, and the listening — and the articles not named here stand whole in the Pactum.
The Simplest Prayers
They are short because they are meant to be remembered; say them at night, and say them again in the morning.
Lord, keep us in thy peace this day.
Teach our hands to mend the world.
Be near to those we love, and to those we have not met.
What a Child May Carry
None of them is heavy, and none is hard to keep; carry them till they shine.
Thou art loved, always.
Thou art never alone; the Lord is near, and we are one family.
Be kind, be brave, be curious.
A Note for Grown-Ups
The Oratio Communis is named for those of thirteen years and older, and it is said in common. This door is for the younger ones, who are not yet of that company: let them read it with their grown-ups, and let the reading be slow. If a question cometh that thou canst not answer, say so, and seek it together. A child who knoweth the covenant in little words shall not forget it in larger ones.
When they are ready for the larger words, the doors stand open: the Pactum, the Oratio, and the prayers.
The work of the covenant continueth in the Common Prayer, the Prayers, Blessings, and Declarations, and It Is Upon Us to Repair the World. The wing's threshold telleth of them all.