The Litany of the Most Holy Trinity

Blessed be the holy Trinity and undivided Unity;
we will give glory to him, because he has shown his mercy to us.

O Lord our Lord, how wonderful is your name in all the earth!
O the depth of the riches of the wisdom and of the knowledge of God!

Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy. 

Blessed Trinity, hear us.
Adorable Unity, graciously hear us.

God the Father of Heaven, have mercy on us.
God the Son, Redeemer of the world, have mercy on us.
God the Holy Ghost, have mercy on us. 

Holy Trinity, One God, have mercy on us. 

Father, from whom are all things,
Son, through whom are all things,
Holy Spirit, in whom are all things, have mercy on us. 

Holy and undivided Trinity, have mercy on us. 

Eternal Father,
only Son of the Father,
Spirit who proceeds from the Father and the Son, have mercy on us. 

Co-eternal majesty of three divine persons, have mercy on us. 

Father, the Creator,
Son, the Redeemer,
Holy Spirit, the Comforter, have mercy on us. 

Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of hosts,
who is, who was, and who is to come,
God most high, who inhabits eternity,
to whom alone are due all honor and glory,
who alone does great wonders,
power infinite,
wisdom incomprehensible,
love unspeakable, have mercy on us. 

Be  merciful, spare us, O Holy Trinity.
Be  merciful, graciously hear us, O Holy Trinity.

From all evil, deliver us, O Holy Trinity.
From all sin, deliver us, O Holy Trinity. 

From all pride,
from all love of riches,
from all uncleanness,
from all laziness,
from all misdirected love,
from all envy and malice,
from all anger and impatience,
from every thought, word, and deed contrary to your holy law,
from your everlasting condemnation, deliver us, O Holy Trinity. 

Through your almighty power,
through your abundant loving kindness,
through the exceeding treasure of your goodness and love,
through the depths of your wisdom and knowledge,
through all your unspeakable perfections, deliver us, O Holy Trinity. 

We sinners pray, hear us.

That we may always serve you alone,
that we may worship you in spirit and in truth,
that we may love you with all our heart, with all our soul, and with all our strength,
we pray, hear us.

That, for your sake, we may love our neighbors as ourselves,
that we may faithfully keep your holy commandments,
that we may never defile our bodies and souls with sin,
that we may go from grace to grace, and from virtue to virtue,
that we may finally enjoy the sight of you in glory,
that you would hear us,
we pray, hear us.

O blessed Trinity, deliver us.
O blessed Trinity, save us.
O blessed Trinity, have mercy on us.

Lord, have mercy,
Christ, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.

Blessed are you, O Lord, in the firmament of heaven,
And worthy to be praised, and glorious, and highly exalted forever.

Let us pray.
Almighty and everlasting God, you have granted your servants in the confession of the true faith, to acknowledge the glory of an eternal Trinity, and in the power of your majesty to adore a Unity. Strengthen our faith and defend us from all adversity; through Jesus Christ Our Lord. Amen.

Source: Modified from http://catholictradition.org/Litanies/litanies1a.htm

Now and Forever: New Collects for Modern Lectionaries

Now and Forever: New Collects for Modern Lectionaries

Written for the Sunday and Festival themes in the Revised Common Lectionary. 

The prayers, all newly composed, are written in classic collect form and find their themes in the readings for each Sunday in the lectionary. This book gives additional options for the Prayer of the Day/Opening Prayer. These prayers may also be used for concluding petitions in the Prayer of the Church (Prayers of Intercession or Prayers of the People) or may be used as closing prayers that fit thematically with the readings of the day. Pastors, lectors and worship planners may find this to be a valuable resource for prayers in the worship service.

Because the prayers focus mainly on the themes in the Gospels, the prayers are compatible or usable with Revised Common Lectionary, Evangelical Lutheran Worship, Lutheran Service Book, ILCW, Roman Catholic and Episcopal lectionaries.

Available from Amazon.com in paperback and for Kindle.

A Family Handbook of Prayer

AFHoP,Cover.pngI was contacted by Mary J. Moerbe who is a blogger interested in Lutheran writers. She also runs a Lutheran homeschool website, www.LutheranHomeschool.com. She asked if I would develop a short prayerbook with a set of classic prayers, and provide some prayers and Scriptures in other languages for homeschoolers who are teaching their children other languages.

The result is A Family Handbook of Prayer. It is provided as a free download. Its 24 pages contain morning and evening prayers, the Lord’s Prayer in several languages, table prayers, and a selection of psalms taken from the English Standard Version, some are also printed with German (Luther 1545), Latin (Vulgate) and Spanish (Reina-Valera 1995) translations.

It is formatted as a pdf, and instructions on printing as a booklet are on the inside front page (p. 2).

Download at this link: A Family Handbook of Prayer

 

For Whitsunday (Pentecost)

O God the Trinity,
your name is wonderful.
You purify the depths of the heart from vices
and make it whiter than the snow.
Give us your compassion.
Renew our hearts by your Holy Spirit
so that we may declare your praise.
Strengthen us by your righteous and royal Spirit
and give us a place in the heavenly Jerusalem;
through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Source: Sarum Rite

Source of this version: Freely modified from Prayers of the Middle Ages, edited by J. Manning Potts, 1954.

Kindle Our Hearts by Your Spirit

Almighty God,
fulfill our desire
and kindle our hearts by your Spirit,
that being filled with the oil of your grace,
we may shine as bright lights
at the coming of your Son Jesus Christ;
who lives and reigns
with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever.

Source: Gelasian
Source of this version: Freely modified from A Century of Collects, [3] selected and translated by Atwell M. Y. Baylay, 1913.

Pentecost

O God,
my heart is a vain heart,
a wandering and unstable heart
when it is led by its own judgment
and lacking divine counsel,
and it cannot subsist in itself.
When it seeks other ways,
it finds nothing,
but remains miserable in its labor,
and empty of peace.
It does not agree with itself,
it dissents from itself,
it alters resolutions,
changes its judgment,
frames new thoughts,
pulls down the old,
and builds them up again.
It wants and does not want,
and never remains in the same state.

Come, Holy Spirit,
and bring from heaven a ray of your light!
Come, Father of the poor,
giver of gifts,
light of the world,
blessed Comforter,
dear guest of the soul,
and its sweetest refreshment!
Our rest in labor,
our coolness in heat,
our comfort in affliction!
O most blessed Spirit,
fill full the hearts of your faithful people!
Without your influence, there is nothing in us
which is not weakness and guilt.
Oh, cleanse those who are filthy.
Refresh those who are dried up.
Heal those who are wounded.
Bend those who are stubborn.
Cherish in your heart those who are cold.
Guide those who are wandering.
Grant your servants,
who put their trust in you,
the merit of your righteousness.
Give them final salvation.
Grant them eternal joy!

O Lord, hear our prayer,
and let our cry come to you. Amen.

Source: Bernard of Clairvaux, 12th Century
Source of this version: Freely modified from Prayers of the Middle Ages, edited by J. Manning Potts, 1954.

For the Holy Spirit

O Holy Spirit, Comforter,
with the Father and the Son
you live as one God.
Descend to our hearts this day,
that while you make intercession for us,
we may call on our Father with full confidence;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Source: Mozarabic Liturgy

Source of this version: Freely modified from Prayers of the Middle Ages, edited by J. Manning Potts, 1954