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March 6

Lord, you are the portion of our inheritance. Teach us never to aim at or desire anything but you. What we can enjoy in you, give us according to your will. What we cannot, keep from us. Amen.

Christina Georgina Rossetti (1830-1894). Revised from Prayers Ancient and Modern.

Lord God, grant that we may love one another sincerely, for where love is, there you are. Whoever loves his brothers and sisters is born of you, and dwells in you, and you in him. Where brothers and sisters glorify you together, there you pour out your blessing on them. Love us, Lord, and pour your love into our hearts, that we may love you, and our brothers and sisters in you and for you as your dear children; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Book of Christian Prayers, 1578. Revised from Prayers Ancient and Modern.

Prayers Ancient Made Modern (annotated) is available in print and on Amazon Kindle through Amazon.com.

Based on Prayers Ancient and Modern originally selected and arranged by Mary Wilder Tileston, 1897. Now in public domain.

March 5

Infinite and Holy One, our Father and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, we thank you for your mercy in creating us from the dust, and for the greater mercy that has created us anew by a heavenly adoption as your children. For the gracious promises in your Word of things not seen, for their satisfaction in yourself, we thank you. We rejoice that you have encouraged our frail and mortal spirits by revealing to us your gracious nature and calling us to follow you. Move us to respond to your loving-kindness with obedience. Strengthen our plans and purposes by making us more aware of your grace, that we may imitate your love in a childlike spirit; through the help of your dear Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Adapted from Henry Wilder Foote (1838–1889).[1] Revised from Prayers Ancient and Modern.

[1] Henry Wilder Foote was a Unitarian clergyman and historian.

Prayers Ancient Made Modern (annotated) is available in print and on Amazon Kindle through Amazon.com.

Based on Prayers Ancient and Modern originally selected and arranged by Mary Wilder Tileston, 1897. Now in public domain.

March 4

I will say to my God, my Lord, and my King, “How abundant is your goodness, Lord, which you have stored up for those who fear you.” But what are you to those who love you? What are you to those who serve you with their whole heart? In this you have shown me the sweetness of your love; that when I was not, you made me. When I went far astray from you, you brought me back again. Ah, Lord, truly I am your servant. Turn to me and have mercy on me. Give strength to your servant, I pray. Amen.

Thomas à Kempis (c. 1380-1471). Revised from Prayers Ancient and Modern.

Prayers Ancient Made Modern (annotated) is available in print and on Amazon Kindle through Amazon.com.

Based on Prayers Ancient and Modern originally selected and arranged by Mary Wilder Tileston, 1897. Now in public domain.

March 3

Gracious and merciful God, give us a humble trust in your mercy, and do not let our hearts fail us. Even if our sins are seven, or seventy times seven, or more in number than the hairs of our head, lead us by your grace to repent, that we may cast ourselves into the depth of your compassion. Amen.

Christina Georgina Rossetti (1830-1894). Revised from Prayers Ancient and Modern.

God, source of perfect blessedness, you teach your faithful people to walk in your laws, to search your testimonies, to keep your commands. Give us your righteousness, that we may seek you with our whole hearts, that we, who often have wandered like lost sheep, may be restored by your kind arms, and rejoice in the glories of Paradise; through Jesus Christ your Son. Amen.

Sarum Breviary, A.D. 1085. Revised from Prayers Ancient and Modern.

Prayers Ancient Made Modern (annotated) is available in print and on Amazon Kindle through Amazon.com.

Based on Prayers Ancient and Modern originally selected and arranged by Mary Wilder Tileston, 1897. Now in public domain.

March 2

Hear us, never-failing Light, Lord our God, source of light, light of the angels, principalities, powers, and all intelligent beings. You have created the light for your saints. May our souls be your lamps kindled and illuminated by you. May we shine and burn with the truth and never go out in darkness and ashes. May the gloom of sins be cleared away and the light of constant faith abide within us. Amen.

Mozarabic, before A.D. 700. Revised from Prayers Ancient and Modern

God, good and gracious King of our souls, you want to rule in the hearts of all your children. Deliver us from laziness in doing your work and all coldness from following your will. Rekindle our love when we look to you and renew our strength as we wait for you; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

William Bright (1824-1901). Revised from Prayers Ancient and Modern

Prayers Ancient Made Modern (annotated) is available in print and on Amazon Kindle through Amazon.com.

Based on Prayers Ancient and Modern originally selected and arranged by Mary Wilder Tileston, 1897. Now in public domain.

March 1

Holy Spirit, love of God, pour out your grace, and descend plentifully into my heart. Enlighten the dark corners of this neglected dwelling, and scatter there your cheerful beams. Dwell in that soul that longs to be your temple. Water that barren soil, overrun with weeds and briars, and lost for lack of cultivating, and make it fruitful with your dew from heaven. Come, refreshment of those who languish and faint. Come, star and guide of those who sail in the tempestuous sea of the world. You are the only haven of the tossed and shipwrecked. Come, glory and crown of the living, and only safeguard of the dying. Come, Holy Spirit, in your great mercy, and open my heart to receive you. Amen.

St. Augustine (354–430). Revised from Prayers Ancient and Modern

Prayers Ancient Made Modern (annotated) is available in print and on Amazon Kindle through Amazon.com.

Based on Prayers Ancient and Modern originally selected and arranged by Mary Wilder Tileston, 1897. Now in public domain.

Merry and Blessed Christmas from A Collection of Prayers

Merry Christmas, Feliz Navidad, Feliz Natal, Joyeux Noël, Fröhliche Weihnachten, 圣诞节快乐！(Shèngdàn Jié kuàilè!), счастливого Рождества (Schastlivogo Rozhdestva), щасливого Різдва (Shchaslyvoho Rizdva) to all our readers around the world from A Collection of Prayers.

May the glory of the Christchild give you strength, healing, pardon and peace!

+ In Christ +

Paul C. Stratman
Editor/curator of A Collection of Prayers

Bless My Life with Growth in Grace

Blessed fountain of life, I praise you for your living breath in me! Bless my life with growth in grace, and increase my knowledge of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Lengthen my patience, strengthen my soul in humility and zeal, and set my heart and mind on things above. I hunger and thirst for your righteousness. Heavenly Father, feed me with the living bread of your Word, teach me to do what pleases you, lead me by your gracious Spirit, and renew your holy image within me. I ask and hope through Jesus Christ our Lord, in whom we have received all the fullness of your grace. Amen.

Source: Freely modified from a prayer by Philip Doddridge (1702-1751) in Prayers Ancient and Modern, p. 238 (August 25).

Original in traditional English:

O Thou ever blessed fountain of life, I bless Thee that Thou hast infused into me Thine own vital breath, so that I am become a living soul. It is my earnest desire that I may not only live, but grow; grow in grace, and in the knowledge of my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. May I grow in patience and fortitude of soul, in humility and zeal, in spirituality and a heavenly disposition of mind. In a word, as Thou knowest I hunger and thirst after righteousness, make me whatever Thou wouldest delight to see me. Draw on my soul, by the gentle influences of Thy gracious Spirit, every trace and every feature which Thine eye, O heavenly Father, may survey with pleasure, and which Thou mayest acknowledge as Thine own image. I ask and hope it through Him of whose fulness we have all received — Amen.

Prayers Ancient Made Modern is available through Amazon.

Based on Prayers Ancient and Modern originally selected and arranged by Mary Wilder Tileston, 1897. Now in public domain.

Featured Prayers: Times of Natural Disaster

Prayers / Collects

Prayer for Flood Victims (Stratman, 2019)
Prayer When a Storm Is Approaching (Stratman, 2019)
Prayer about the Fires in California (Stratman, 2018)
After a Fire (Stratman, 2018)
At Sea or in Danger (Book of Common Prayer, Litany Prayer)
For Blessings (Liturgy of St. Mark)
Give Us Your Strength and Protection (Luther)
Look upon Our Needs (Luther)
Help Us Depend on Your Mercy (Euchologian, 1847)
Help and Defend Us (Gregorian)
Give us Health of Mind and Body (Gregorian)
In Time of Trouble (Sarum)
A Prayer for Help in Troubles “Guard Us through the Dangers of the Night” (Mozarabic)
May the Almighty, All-Wise, All-Good God Bless Us (Blessing)

After Deliverance

After Deliverance from Trouble (Eastern Orthodox)

Litanies

Litany of Intercession (16th century Kirchenordnung)
A Short Litany (Shortened from Luther’s German Litany)
A Litany (Reformed Church in the United States, 1866)
Dunkeld Litany (Scottish, 8th or 9th Century)

The New Ancient Collects

For over 150 years, Bright’s Ancient Collects has been a standard resource for classic Christian prayers. The New Ancient Collects is a complete revision and refreshing of all the prayers in Bright’s Ancient Collects with updated language.

Since 2017, The New Ancient Collects has been available as one of A Collection of Prayers’ publications. In 2025 the cover was updated to match some more recent publications.

Click here for paperback, Kindle, or Audiobook formats.

Here is an example of the kind of updating that was done: