Necessity and Freedom

During the war years Rudolf Steiner spoke the following commemorative words before every lecture he gave to the Anthroposophical Society of countries affected by the war:

My dear friends, let us think of the guardian spirits of all the people out on the battlefields:

Spirits ever watchful, guardians of your souls,
May your pinions carry
Our souls' imploring love
To the human beings upon earth committed to your care;
That, united with your power,
Our prayer may radiate with help
To the souls whom our love is seeking.

And let us turn to the guardian spirits of all those souls who have already passed through the portal of death because of the catastrophes of our time:

Spirits ever watchful, guardians of your souls,
May your pinions carry
Our souls' imploring love
To the human beings in the spheres committed to your care
That, united with your power,
Our prayer may radiate with help
To the souls whom our love is seeking.

And may the Spirit whom we have for many years sought to approach with our spiritual science, the Spirit who passed through the Mystery of Golgotha for the salvation of the earth and the freedom and progress of humanity, may that spirit be with you in your arduous tasks.