Featured Prayers: Sundays after Trinity / Pentecost

tree plant vine wine leaf flower pattern green church christian maple leaf textile art design altar christianity pulpit embroidery church room parament

[A work in progress…]

Collects of the Day

The following prayers / collects were originally composed or chosen to go with the historic lectionary, a series of lessons that developed in the early church. It was a one-year series, that is, the same lessons would be read on the same Sundays, each year. For the historic lectionary on an interactive calendar, see www.sanctus.org.

Most of the collects designated as “historic” come from the sacramentaries of the Roman church.

The collects designated as “Mozarabic” come from the ancient Spanish church around the year AD 700. The Mozarabic church was isolated from the rest of Europe while Spain was occupied by Muslims. The Mozarabic tradition of liturgy and prayer developed independently from worship in Europe and Rome.

Veit Dietrich was a friend and associate of Martin Luther, and these prayers were written in the 1540s as part of a commentary on the historic gospels. They appeared in The Lutheran Hymnary (1913), a worship book prepared by Norwegian-American Lutherans.

Summer and Fall Commemorations

Praying with the Readings: Historic Lectionary

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is cover-historic-1.png
  • Prayers of the church for every Sunday of the church year
  • Flexible responsive prayer format with scriptural responses and options for traditional litany responses
  • Prayers for higher festivals are written in a traditional litany format
  • Downloadable as a single package
  • Seasonal litanies are available for separate purchase
  • Directions for use with the Christian Worship 1993 One-Year Lectionary are given in the notes
  • Each zip package contains files in Word (docx), PDF and Rich Text Format (rtf)
Preview Advent through Christmas prayers:Download

Praying with the Readings: Historic Lectionary ~ Complete Download Package

  • Zip package contains files in Word (docx), PDF and Rich Text Format (rtf)
  • Individual files for each Sunday’s prayer in rtf format is provided in a separate folder for convenience.

For order, file and payment management we use the service www.sendowl.com

$28.00

Prayers of the Church-Historic: Seasonal and Festival Litanies Only

Module contains seasonal and festival litanies from the other modules including litanies for…

  • Advent
  • Christmas (2)
  • Epiphany
  • Transfiguration
  • Ash Wednesday
  • Palm Sunday
  • Passion Sunday
  • Easter (3)
  • Ascension
  • Pentecost
  • Holy Trinity
  • Last Sunday of the Church Year

Praying with the Readings: Revised Common Lectionary, Year C

  • Prayers of the church for every Sunday of the church year
  • Based on the Revised Common Lectionary
  • Compatible with many three-year lectionaries.
  • Flexible responsive prayer format with scriptural responses and options for traditional litany responses
  • A similar product, written specifically for users of the lectionary for Christian Worship: Hymnal (2021) is also in development. Download a free, usable preview of Year B here.
Preview two Advent prayersDownload

Praying with the Readings: Revised Common Lectionary, Year C ~ Download Package

  • Zip file contains files in Word (docx), Portable Document Format (pdf), and Rich Text Format (rtf)
  • Individual files for each Sunday’s prayer in rtf format is provided in a separate folder for convenience.

For order, file and payment management we use the service www.sendowl.com

$28.00

Now and Forever, Now Available as Digital Download

Now and Forever: New Collects for Modern Lectionaries

Now and Forever is a prayer resource based on the Revised Common Lectionary and is adaptable to lectionaries in Lutheran Service Book, Evangelical Lutheran Worship, Christian Worship: A Lutheran Hymnal (1993) and Christian Worship: Hymnal (2021). Also usable with many other three-year lectionaries.

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.

Files are included with the prayers rearranged for use with the readings of the Historic Lectionary.

This resource is also available in book form through Amazon.com.

Download package contains prayers for every Sunday and Festival in the Revised Common Lectionary in Word (docx), PDF and Rich Text Format (rtf). There are two sets of files. One set has the prayers in sense-line (poetic) format and the other set has the prayers in paragraph format. See below for an example of one of the prayers in both sense-line and paragraph formats.

Ash Wednesday

A

(Sense-line format)

God of unfailing love,
have mercy on us.
Work godly sorrow in our hearts.
See what is unseen in us
and forgive us.
Renew and refresh us
by your Holy Spirit;
through your Son,
Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns
with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever. [47]

(Paragraph format)

God of unfailing love, have mercy on us. Work godly sorrow in our hearts. See what is unseen in us and forgive us. Renew and refresh us by your Holy Spirit; through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. [47]

To preview more, see Now and Forever: Easter Sampler

Now and Forever: Easter SamplerDownload
Purchase and Download, $5.00

For those who have already purchased the book, enter the first word of prayer [141] as a coupon code (Look for “Got a code?” at checkout) and get the download for $1.00!

Thanksgiving for Healing

Lord Jesus Christ, you are the great physician of body and soul.
We give you thanks and praise for your gifts of healing for __________.
Help him/her continue on the path of healing,
that he/she may rejoice in you,
continue in a life of love and service,
and let his/her light shine to bring glory to you;
you live and reign, now and forever.

Source: Paul C. Stratman, September 5, 2021

Guide Our Leaders, Comfort the Anxious, Lead People in Safety

Lord of the nations,
you remind us
that despite all our earthly might,
weapons and armies,
we are not in control of all things.
Guide the leaders of our nation
to make wise decisions,
for the good of our citizens
and others who are in danger.
Comfort those who are anxious,
and those who mourn.
Lead many out in safety.
Give your people inner peace
as the peace the world gives
is dashed to pieces.
Remind us of your everlasting kingdom,
when all wars and strife will be no more,
and your people will enjoy your perfect peace,
and you will wipe all tears from our eyes;
through your Son, our peace,
Jesus Christ our Lord.

Source: Paul C. Stratman, reflecting on the strife in Afghanistan, August 27, 2021.

Deliver Us from Every Evil

Deliver us, Lord, from every evil,
and grant us peace in our day.
In your mercy keep us free from sin
and protect us from all anxiety
as we wait in joyful hope
for the coming of our Savior,
Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.

Source: Roman Rite

This prayer is called the “embolism,” a word for a short prayer inserted into another prayer. According to the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia, “[t]he embolism may date back to the first centuries, since, under various forms, it is found in all the Occidental and in a great many Oriental, particularly Syrian, Liturgies.”

Original in Latin:

Libera nos, quæsumus, Domine, ab omnibus malis, da propitius pacem in diebus nostris, ut, ope misericordiæ tuæ adiuti, et a peccato simus semper liberi, et ab omni perturbatione securi: expectantes beatam spem et adventum Salvatoris nostri Iesu Christi.

This short prayer is often inserted into the Lord’s Prayer in this manner:

Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name,
thy kingdom come,
thy will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread;
and forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those
who trespass against us;
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.

Deliver us, Lord, from every evil,
and grant us peace in our day.
In your mercy keep us free from sin
and protect us from all anxiety
as we wait in joyful hope
for the coming of our Savior,
Jesus Christ our Lord.

For thine is the kingdom
and the power and the glory
forever and ever. Amen.

Wedding Dinner Prayer

Lord Jesus Christ,
we give you thanks and praise
for your great acts of love,
your passion
which overcame sin and death,
and your resurrection
which overcame the power of the grave,
all to make us your own
through your redeeming love.
Pour out your blessings on Katrina and Ethan
that nothing may quench their love
since it is empowered by your great love.
Bless us also,
our friendship, fellowship and conversation,
and bless the gifts we are about to receive
which you have given us for body and life;
for you live and reign
with the Father and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever.
Amen.

Source: Paul C. Stratman, July 10, 2021, for the wedding of Katrina Stratman and Ethan Miller.

Prayer references the wedding text, Song of Songs 8:6-7.

A Collection of Prayers Annual Report, June 18, 2021

Today marks the 5th anniversary of A Collection of Prayers. From June 2020 to June 2021 it has been a very interesting year.

Views

Views in the past year are about triple what they were before. I assume that people still in lockdown were looking for devotional materials and prayers. The most sought after prayers were “In the midst of life we are in death,” and litanies, cries to the Lord to have mercy.

The chief views are from English speaking countries (U.S., U. K, Canada and Australia), but there is growing usage from China, Russia and India. There are very few countries that haven’t viewed A Collection of Prayers. For this reason, I added two additional translation links so foreign language users have choices and can choose the translation utility that works best for them.

Links to A Collection of Prayers

WordPress lets me see referrers, that is, other websites that have a link to A Collection of Prayers. The biggest referrers are Christian spirituality websites (www.christianity.com, www.crosswalk.com) and a liturgy website (www.liturgies.net), followed by individual ministries, churches, and even denominational websites.

A Collection of Prayers: Publications

The sale of books pays for the website and supports research. The website’s publishing “imprint” was changed from VaterUnser Books to something more people can understand, A Collection of Prayers: Publications. Imprints on older books will be changed when some updating and editing is done. Prayers from the Ancient Celtic Church remains the best seller. “God Be In My Head,” Prayers from Old Sarum and others are beginning to rise in sales.

A Collection of Prayers: Digital Products

I ventured into digital products, focusing on downloadable resources for worship planners. Sales have been slow. I have plans for seasonal resource books and “toolboxes” of collections of prayers, services and resources for worship planners. Two free downloadable devotionals, The Scriptural Way of the Cross and The Way of Light (An Easter counterpart to the Way of the Cross) were made available and both had many downloads. The Way of the Nativity is scheduled for release on December 1, 2021. The Way of Recovery, a devotional based on the Twelve Steps, is also being developed.

Beyond This Website, Books and Products

Various denominational and devotional publishers have contacted me about using A Collection of Prayers as a source.

My own denomination, the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod, is in the publishing stages of a hymnal project (www.christianworship.com), and I was privileged to be asked to prepare personal prayers for the hymnal, and to edit, compile and compose collects for use as the Prayers of the Day. A few of the Veit Dietrich collects may appear in the Altar Book and electronic resources for the CW21 project.

Link: The Book of Common Prayer with Scripture References

This is not the work of A Collection of Prayers, but a very useful and amazing project.

Someone has researched and compiled Scripture references behind every rite and prayer in The Book of Common Prayer. Here is their preface:

The Book of Common Prayer (BCP) is a landmark document of the Anglican tradition and the English language. Its unique rites, formulations, and collects are suffused with Biblical quotation and allusion.

This resource is a port of The Book of Common Prayer: With marginal references to texts in the Holy Scriptures published by the Church of England in 1839 (archive.org link), which aims to catalogue each scriptural reference in the text of the 1662 BCP.

Inline Biblical quotations are taken from the New Revised Standard Version (BibleGateway link).

And here is the link to The Scriptural BCP.

Carry Your People through All Earthly Evils

Almighty and eternal God,
your Son Jesus Christ healed the sick,
and strengthened them in both in body and soul.
We pray, be gracious also to __________.
Assure him of your forgiveness of sins,
strengthen him by your grace
and carry him through all earthly evils
until you bring him to eternal safety;
through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Source: Paul C. Stratman, 2021, adapted from a prayer by Veit Dietrich for Epiphany 3.

Note: This prayer is written for those who are sick and suffering, and may be approaching end of life.