Bright’s Ancient Collects – Page 10 – A Collection of Prayers

A Prayer for God’s Chosen People

O God,
you have made all those who are born again in Christ
to be your chosen people, royal priesthood and holy nation.
Grant us both the will and the power to do what you command,
that your people who are called to eternal life
may have the same faith in their hearts
and the same devotion in their actions;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Source: Gelasian Sacramentary

Source of this version: Modified from Ancient Collects and Other Prayers, Ed. by W. Bright: J.H. & Jas. Parker, London, 1901, p. 99 #2

“chosen people,”etc., This prayer quotes 1 Peter 2:9. In this version, the reference was expanded. In the original, the line is “…to be a royal and priestly race.”

Graphic, Gelasian Sacramentary, from Wikipedia.com

Good Shepherd, Protect Your Flock

stjohnsashfield_stainedglass_goodshepherd-frame_crop

O good Shepherd,
look mercifully on your flock,
and do not let the sheep
which you redeemed with your precious blood
to be torn to pieces
by the assaults of the devil.

Source: Leonine Sacramentary

Source of this version: Modified from Ancient Collects and Other Prayers, Ed. by W. Bright: J.H. & Jas. Parker, London, 1902 p. 97 #3

Hearts and Minds Unshadowed

O God,
you divide the day from the night.
Give us hearts and minds
unshadowed by the gloom of evil,
that we may think continually upon things
that are good and wholesome,
and be always pleasing in your sight;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Original Source: Gelasian Sacramentary

Source of this version: Modified from http://newscriptorium.com/assets/docs/collects-and-prayers/prmanual.htm

Also found here: Ancient Collects, and Other Prayers, ed. William Bright, 1902, p. 6 #2

Graphic, Gelasian Sacramentary, from Wikipedia.com

May We Delight in Your Praise

6069369723_ee697728eb_z_d In this hour of this day,
fill us, O Lord, with your mercy,
that rejoicing throughout the whole day,
we may delight in your praise;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.

Source: Sarum Breviary

Also found in Ancient Collects and Other Prayers, Ed. by W. Bright: J.H. & Jas. Parker, London, 1902 p. 13 #2

Also found here: http://www.ccel.org/ccel/potts/prayermiddle.x.pr99.html

Graphic: Page from an English Psalter, from Flickr, Walters Art Museum, Public Domain.

Evening Thanks

We give you thanks, O Lord,
for you have preserved us through the day.
We give you thanks
for you will preserve us through the night.
Bring us in safety, O Lord,
to the morning hours,
That you may receive our praise at all times;
through Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Original Source: Gelasian Sacramentary

Source of this version: Freely modified from Ancient Collects, and Other Prayers, ed. William Bright, 1902, p. 10 #5

Graphic, Gelasian Sacramentary, from Wikipedia.com

A Prayer for Unity

God the Father,
source of Divinity,
good beyond all that is good,
fair beyond all that is fair,
in you is calmness, peace and unity.
Repair the things that divide us from each other
and restore our unity of love
like your divine love.
And as you are above all things,
unite us in goodness and love
that we may be spiritually one,
with you and with each other,
through your peace which makes all things peaceful
and through the grace, mercy, and tenderness
of your only Son., Jesus Christ. Amen.

Source: Dionysius of the Syrian Jacobite Church, 9th Century

Source of this version: Freely modified from Prayers of the Middle Ages, edited by J. Manning Potts, 1954. (New Ancient Collects, #264)

God Begins and Finishes All Things

O God, in your loving kindness
you both begin and finish all good things;
grant that as we glory in the beginnings of your grace,
so we may rejoice in its completion;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Source: Leonine Sacramentary, 440

Source of this version: Modified from http://womenofchristianity.com/page/2/

Also found here: Ancient Collects and Other Prayers, Ed. by W. Bright: J.H. & Jas. Parker, London, 1902, p. 92 #1

Also found here: Prayers Ancient and Modern by Mary Wilder Tileston, Boston, Little Brown, 1914, p. 165 #2

A Prayer for Peace

antifonariodelec3b3n1 O God, you are peace eternal.
Your gift is peace.
You have taught us
that your children will be called peacemakers.
Pour out your peace into our souls
that all discord may vanish away,
and that we may forever love and seek
the things that bring your peace;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.

Source: Mozarabic Sacramentary (Also attributed to the Gelasian Sacramentary)

Source of this version: Ancient Collects, and Other Prayers, ed. William Bright, 1902, p. 82 #4, also in Prayers of the Middle Ages, edited by J. Manning Potts, 1953.

Graphic: Mozarabic manuscript from the Cathedral of Leon, from Wikimedia Commons.

Without Stumbling or Stain

antifonariodelec3b3n1

Grant us, O Lord, to live this day in gladness and peace,
without stumbling and without stain,
that reaching the evening victorious over all temptation,
we may praise you,
the eternal God,
for you govern all things,
and are praised
now and forever.

Original Source: Mozarabic Liturgy

Also found at: http://justus.anglican.org/resources/bcp/1928/S&S_Prayers.htm

Variant:

Let our prayer, O Lord, come before Thee in the morning. Thou didst take upon Thee our feeble and suffering nature; grant us to pass this day in gladness and peace, without stumbling and without stain; that reaching the even-tide without any temptation, we may praise Thee the Eternal King: through Thy mercy, O our God, who art blessed and dost live, and govern all things, world without end. Amen.—Mozarabic Liturgy

http://www.ccel.org/ccel/potts/prayermiddle.vi.pr30.html

Also found in Ancient Collects, and Other Prayers, ed. William Bright, 1902, p. 8 #1

And in Prayers Ancient and Modern by Mary Wilder Tileston, Boston, Little Brown, 1914, p. 354 #2

Graphic: Mozarabic manuscript from the Cathedral of Leon, from Wikimedia Commons.