September 2016 – A Collection of Prayers

Redirect Those Who are in Error

Almighty God,
you redirect those who are in error
by the light of your truth
so they may return to the way of righteousness.
Grant that all who are brought
into the fellowship of Christ’s kingdom
may avoid those things that are hurtful to their faith
and follow all things that strengthen them in it;
through our Lord Jesus Christ,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever.
Amen.

Source: Leonine Sacramentary, 6th-7th Centuries, Historic Collect for the Third Sunday after Easter

This translation is licensed by Paul C. Stratman under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Please contact for permission for any commercial use.

Fix Our Hearts on True Joys

O God,
you make the minds of the faithful
to be of one will.
Grant that we may love what you command
and desire what you promise,
that among the many changes of this world,
our hearts may always be fixed
where true joys are found;
through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever.
Amen.

Source: Gelasian Sacramentary, 8th Century, Historic Collect for the Fourth Sunday after Easter

This translation is licensed by Paul C. Stratman under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Please contact for permission for any commercial use.

Give Us a Devout Will and a Desire to Serve You

Almighty and eternal God,
always give us a devout will toward you
and the desire to serve your majesty with a pure heart;
through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever.
Amen.

Source: Gelasian Sacramentary, 8th Century, Historic Collect for the Sunday after Ascension

This translation is licensed by Paul C. Stratman under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Please contact for permission for any commercial use.

A Prayer for Communicants

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Lord Jesus,
you call to yourself
all who labor and are heavy laden
to refresh them and give rest to their souls.
Let these guests experience your love
at the heavenly feast you have prepared
for your people on earth.
Keep them from impenitence and unbelief
that none may partake of this holy Sacrament
to their own judgment.
Take off from them the spotted garment of the flesh
and of their own righteousness,
and adorn them with the garment of the merit
purchased with your blood.
Strengthen their faith,
increase their love and hope,
and hereafter have them sit at your heavenly table,
where you will have your people eat of the eternal manna
and drink from the river of your pleasure forevermore.
Hear us for your own sake. Amen.

Source: Modified from Liturgy and Agenda, 1921

As a paragraph:

Lord Jesus, you call to yourself all who labor and are heavy laden to refresh them and give rest to their souls. Let these guests experience your love at the heavenly feast you have prepared for your people on earth. Keep them from impenitence and unbelief that none may partake of this holy Sacrament to their own judgment. Take off from them the spotted garment of the flesh and of their own righteousness, and adorn them with the garment of the merit purchased with your blood. Strengthen their faith, increase their love and hope, and hereafter have them sit at your heavenly table, where you will have your people eat of the eternal manna and drink from the river of your pleasure forevermore. Hear us for your own sake. Amen.

“you call to yourself all who labor and are heavy laden” is a reference to Matthew 11:28

“that none may partake of this holy Sacrament to their own judgment” is a reference to 1 Corinthians 11:29

“Take off from them the spotted garment of the flesh… and adorn them with the garment of the merit purchased with your blood” is a reference to Zechariah 3, Romans 13:12-14, Galatians 3:27 and Revelation 7:14

“Strengthen their faith, increase their love and hope,” is a reference to 1 Corinthians 13:13

“eat of the eternal manna” is a reference to Revelation 2:17

“drink from the river of your pleasure forevermore” is a reference to Psalm 36:8 and Revelation 22:1-2

Graphic from Wikimedia Commons

Direct Our Hearts

O Lord,
direct our hearts by the working of your grace,
since without you, we are not able to please you;
through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever. Amen.

Source: Gelasian Sacramentary, 8th Century, Historic Collect for the Eighteenth Sunday after Trinity

This translation is licensed by Paul C. Stratman under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Please contact for permission for any commercial use.

Prayer for the Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost

O Christ,
the alpha and the omega,
the beginning and the ending,
the root and the offspring of David,
our King and our Savior,
may we serve you faithfully here,
and continue to be yours forever;
through your merits, O our God,
you are blessed,
and live and govern all things,
now and forever.
Amen.

Source: Freely modified from Mozarabic Collects, ed. Rev. Chas. R. Hale, New York, 1881, p. 36 #1 (Trinity 18)

“alpha and the omega” is a reference to Revelation 1:8, Revelation 21:6 and Revelation 22:13

“root and offspring of David” is a reference to Revelation 5:5, Revelation 22:16, John 7:42, 2 Timothy 2:8. See this link for references to “Son of David”

The Saxon Agenda of 1540

I have completed translation of The Saxon Agenda of 1540, also known as “Prince Henry’s Agenda.”

Follow this link to download a pdf of The Saxon Agenda of 1540

The original German Saxon Agenda of 1540 may be read here on Google Books.

May We Not Forget Eternal Things

Lord God, heavenly Father,
rule and govern our hearts by your Holy Spirit,
that we may not, like the rich man,
hear your Word in vain
and become so devoted to worldly things
that we forget eternal things,
but that we serve those who are in need
and not defile ourselves with carousing and pride.
Keep us from despair
when we experience trials and misfortunes
and move us to trust wholly in your fatherly help and grace,
so that in faith and Christian patience
we may overcome all things;
through your Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one true God, now and forever.
Amen.

Source: Veit Dietrich, d. 1549, Trinity 1

This revision/translation of The Collects of Veit Dietrich is licensed by Paul C. Stratman under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Please contact for permission for any commercial use.

Give Us Grace and Faith While We Await the Resurrection

Almighty God,
through the death of your Son
you have destroyed the power of sin and death
and through his resurrection
have restored innocence and eternal life
so that we would be redeemed
from the power of the devil.
Through the same power of the Resurrection,
raise our mortal bodies
when you awaken the dead.
Grant us your grace
that we may steadfastly believe this
with all our hearts,
and await the joyful resurrection of our bodies
with all your blessed ones;
through the same Jesus Christ,
your Son, our Lord.
Amen.

This prayer is from Prayers from the Evangelical-Lutheran Heritage, available from Amazon.com, and also available for Amazon Kindle. It is a collection of prayers from the history of the Evangelical-Lutheran Church from Luther to Loehe. The collection includes prayers by Johannes Bugenhagen, Georg C. Dieffenbach, Veit Dietrich, Matthias Flacius, Wilhelm Loehe, Martin Luther, Philip Melanchthon, Joachim Mynsinger, Johann G. Olearius, Johann Jacob Rambach, and the early agendas and prayer books of the Austrian, Brunswick, Hamburg, Lueneberg, Norwegian, Nuremberg, Pomeranian, Riga, Russian, Saxon, Schleswig-Holstein, and Swedish Evangelical-Lutheran churches.

At the Death of a Christian Brother or Sister

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O Lord God, Lord of life and death,
you turn man to dust and say,
“Return, O children of men,”
we give you thanks for all the mercies
which during his life you bestowed
on this our beloved brother, now fallen asleep.
Especially do we praise you
for having brought him to the knowledge
of your dear Son Jesus Christ.
Comfort the survivors
with your everlasting comfort,
and cheer them with the sweet hope
of a blessed reunion in heaven.
Grant to the lifeless body
rest in the bosom of the earth,
and hereafter, together with us all,
a joyful resurrection to life everlasting.
Teach us all to number our days
that we may apply our hearts to wisdom,
and finally be saved;
through Jesus Christ, your beloved Son,
our Lord and Savior. Amen.

Source: Liturgy and Agenda (1921), p. 134

prayer for the dead in middle ages

prayers for the dead