A Collection of Prayers

Litany of Thanksgiving

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

God the Father in heaven, have mercy on us.
God the Son, Redeemer of the world, have mercy on us.
God the Holy Spirit, have mercy on us.

Holy Trinity, one God, have mercy on us.

O God, you have decreed from eternity to do good to us,
you have employed your power, wisdom, and love for our benefit,
moment by moment you bestow new blessings on us,
you have not withdrawn your generous hand from us; have mercy on us.

Because you have made us in your own image,
because you have raised us up to a goal beyond this life,
because you have given us an immortal soul,
because you have made it possible to know you, love you, and enjoy you forever,
because you have given so many creatures for our service,
because you have kept and nourished us to this day in your fatherly goodness,
because you have given us the holy apostles as our shepherds and teachers,
because you have redeemed us from the captivity of hell by the Passion of your dear Son,
because you have made us members of your holy Christian Church,
because you have given us the holy Sacraments for our salvation,
because you have given us your means of grace,
because you have not rejected and condemned us for so many past sins,
because you have saved us from innumerable sins of soul and body; we thank you, O Lord.

For all your gifts and blessings, natural and supernatural,
for all our inward and outward sufferings,
for all your fatherly correction and discipline,
for all your gifts and blessings which we have never yet fully known,
for all your gifts and blessings which we have never yet duly treasured up,
for all your gifts and blessings which we have so often sinfully misused,
for all your gifts and blessings which you have bestowed on our relatives, benefactors, friends and enemies,
for all your gifts and blessings which you have bestowed on all the family of mankind; we thank you, O Lord.

In unity with the Church militant here on earth, we give you thanks now, and until the end of the world. We thank you, O Lord.

In unity with the Church triumphant in heaven, we give you thanks now, and will give you thanks forevermore. We thank you, O Lord.

Son of God, we pray, hear us, Lord Jesus.

Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world, spare us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world, graciously hear us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world, have mercy on us.

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

Our Father…

You are my God, and I will thank you.
You are my God, and I will praise you.

All your works praise you, O Lord,
and your saints give thanks to you.

The Lord be with you,
And also with you.

Let us pray.
O God, you have shown us the riches of your love and generosity in all their greatness. Show us also your priceless grace and blessing, that we may always truly know, treasure and employ them for your honor and our salvation. Through holy use of your Word and grace, and in thankful love for them, bring us at last where with all your saints and elect, we shall praise and bless your boundless goodness and mercy for evermore; through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Source: The Priest’s Prayerbook, 1906, p. 180, freely modified.

Featured Prayers: Thanksgiving Day

Prayers with the tag “thanksgiving day” can be seen at this link:
https://acollectionofprayers.com/tag/thanksgiving-day/

Cover My Soul with the Shadow of Your Wing

Thanks to you, O God, that I have risen today,
to the rising of life itself;
may it be to your own glory,
O God of every gift,
and to the glory of my soul likewise.
O great God, aid my soul
with the aiding of your own mercy;
even as I clothe my body with wool,
cover my soul with the shadow of your wing.
Help me to avoid every sin,
and the source of every sin to forsake;
and as the mist scatters
on the crest of the hills,
may each ill haze clear from my soul, O God.

Source: Adapted from Carmina Gadelica.

Did You Enjoy “Prayers from the Ancient Celtic Church”?

Did you enjoy Prayers from the Ancient Celtic Church? Here’s another part of the Celtic-Anglo Christian heritage!

From the Introduction:

"God Be in My Head..." Prayers from Old Sarum by [Stratman, Paul] The “Sarum Rite” or “Use of Salisbury” was a variant of the Roman Rite. It was known for additional responses not in the Roman Rite and for its high ceremony. In 1078, William of Normandy appointed Osmund, a Norman nobleman, as bishop of Salisbury. As bishop, Osmund initiated some revisions to the Celtic-Anglo-Saxon Rite and the local adaptations of the Roman Rite. Scholars have theorized that the liturgical practices of Rouen in northern France inspired the Sarum liturgical books. After the liturgical reforms in Salisbury, other English dioceses issued their own books, based on the Sarum Rite.

The Sarum Rite had a wealth of richly worded prayers that have influenced Christian worship ever since. Many prayers from the Sarum Rite were used in the Book of Common Prayer. This book gathers prayers from the original Sarum Missals, Breviaries and Psalters and presents them in a single collection in contemporary liturgical English, and may be useful in public or private devotions.

NOTE: This volume also contains all the psalm prayers from the book Psalm Prayers from Sarum.

Available in paperback and for Kindle from Amazon.com.

Prayer of Thanks (Antiochan, 5)

The dark clouds of life bring no terror to those in whose hearts your fire is burning brightly. Outside is the darkness, terror and howling of the storm; but in the heart, in the presence of Christ, there is light, peace and silence: Alleluia!

Alleluia!

I see your heavens sparkling with stars. How glorious you are, radiant with light! Eternity watches me by the rays of the distant stars. I am small, insignificant, but the Lord is at my side. your right arm guides me wherever I go.

Glory to you for constantly watching over me.

Glory to you for the encounters you arrange for me.

Glory to you for the love of parents, for the faithfulness of friends.

Glory to you for the humbleness of the animals which serve me.

Glory to you for the unforgettable moments of life.

Glory to you for the heart’s innocent joy.

Glory to you for the joy of living moving and being able to return your love.

Glory to you, O God, forever and ever!
Glory to you, O God, forever and ever!

Source: Akathist Hymn, Kontakion 5, Antiochian Orthodox

Source of this version: Modified from http://ww1.antiochian.org/orthodox-prayers/akathist-of-thanksgiving

Prayer of Thanks (Antiochan, 4)

How sweet for those whose thoughts dwell on you. How life-giving is your holy Word. To speak with you is more soothing than anointing with oil, sweeter than the honeycomb. To pray to you lifts the spirit and refreshes the soul. Where you are not, there is only emptiness; hearts are smitten with sadness; nature, and life itself, become sorrowful; where you are, the soul is filled with abundance, and its song resounds like a torrent of life: Alleluia!

Alleluia!

When the sun is setting, when quietness falls like the peace of eternal sleep, and the silence of the spent day reigns, then in the splendor of its declining rays, filtering through the clouds, I see your heavens: fiery and purple, gold and blue, they declare the unspeakable beauty of your presence, and call to us in their majesty. We turn to the Father:

Glory to you at the hushed hour of nightfall.

Glory to you , covering the earth with peace.

Glory to you for the last ray of the sun as it sets.

Glory to you for sleep’s repose that restores us.

Glory to you for your goodness even in the time of darkness when all the world is hidden from our eyes.

Glory to you for the prayers offered by a trembling soul.

Glory to you for the pledge of our reawakening on that glorious last day, that day which has no evening.

Glory to you, O God, forever and ever!
Glory to you, O God, forever and ever!

Source: Akathist Hymn, Kontakion 4, Antiochian Orthodox

Source of this version: Modified from http://ww1.antiochian.org/orthodox-prayers/akathist-of-thanksgiving

Prayer of Thanks (Antiochan, 3)

It is the Holy Spirit who shows us joy in each flower: the exquisite scent, the delicate color, the beauty of the Most High in the tiniest of things. Glory and honor be to the Spirit, the Giver of Life, who covers the fields with their carpet of flowers, crowns the harvest with gold, and gives us the joy of gazing at it with our eyes. O be joyful and sing to him: Alleluia!

Alleluia!

How glorious you are in the springtime, when every creature awakens to new life and joyfully sings your praises with a thousand tongues. You are the Source of Life, the Destroyer of Death. By the light of the moon nightingales sing, and the valleys and hills lies like wedding garments, white as snow. All the earth is your promised bride awaiting her spotless husband. If the grass of the field is like this, how gloriously shall we be transfigured in the Second Coming after the Resurrection! How splendid our bodies, how spotless our souls:

Glory to you, bringing from the depth of the earth an endless variety of colors, tastes and scents.

Glory to you for the warmth and tenderness of the world of nature.

Glory to you for the numberless creatures around us.

Glory to you for the depths of your wisdom, the whole world a living sign of it.

Glory to you! On my knees, I kiss the traces of Thine unseen hand.

Glory to you, enlightening us with the clearness of eternal life.

Glory to you for the hope of the unutterable, imperishable beauty of immortality.

Glory to you, O God, forever and ever!
Glory to you, O God, forever and ever!

Source: Akathist Hymn, Kontakion 3, Antiochian Orthodox

Source of this version: Modified from http://ww1.antiochian.org/orthodox-prayers/akathist-of-thanksgiving

Here I Receive Christ, My Soul’s Salvation

Almighty and Eternal God,
I come to the sacrament
of your only-begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.
As one sick I come to the Physician of life;
unclean, to the Fountain of mercy;
blind, to the Light of eternal splendor;
poor and needy to the Lord of heaven and earth.

Therefore, through your infinite mercy and generosity,
heal my weakness,
wash my uncleanness,
give light to my blindness,
enrich my poverty,
and clothe my nakedness.
May I thus receive the Bread of Angels,
the King of kings,
the Lord of lords,
with reverence and humility,
contrition and devotion,
purity and faith,
purpose and intention,
since here I receive Christ,
my soul’s salvation.

Grant that I may receive not only
the Sacrament of the body and blood of our Lord,
but also its full grace and power.
Give me the grace, most merciful God,
to receive the body of your only Son,
our Lord Jesus Christ,
born of the virgin Mary,
and unite me with his mystical body
and include me among his members.

Most loving Father,
grant that I may behold for all eternity,
face to face,
your beloved Son,
whom now on my pilgrimage,
I am about to receive in this sacrament,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever. Amen.

Source: Thomas Aquinas, 13th century.

Source of this version: Freely modified from https://www.ourcatholicprayers.com/aquinas-before-communion.html

Prayer was edited for stylistic and doctrinal reasons. Translation from ourcatholicprayers.com reads as follows:

Almighty and Eternal God, behold I come to the sacrament of Your only-begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. As one sick I come to the Physician of life; unclean, to the Fountain of mercy; blind, to the Light of eternal splendor; poor and needy to the Lord of heaven and earth. Therefore, I beg of You, through Your infinite mercy and generosity, heal my weakness, wash my uncleanness, give light to my blindness, enrich my poverty, and clothe my nakedness. May I thus receive the Bread of Angels, the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, with such reverence and humility, contrition and devotion, purity and faith, purpose and intention, as shall aid my soul’s salvation.

Grant, I beg of You, that I may receive not only the Sacrament of the Body and Blood of our Lord, but also its full grace and power. Give me the grace, most merciful God, to receive the Body of your only Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, born of the Virgin Mary, in such a manner that I may deserve to be intimately united with His mystical Body and to be numbered among His members. Most loving Father, grant that I may behold for all eternity face to face Your beloved Son, whom now, on my pilgrimage, I am about to receive under the sacramental veil, who lives and reigns with You, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, world without end. Amen.

Forgiveness and Salvation

Lord,
Father all-powerful,
and ever-living God,
I thank you,
for even though I am a sinner
in the kindness of your mercy
you have fed me
with the precious body and blood of your Son,
our Lord Jesus Christ.
I pray that this holy communion
may not bring me condemnation and punishment
but forgiveness and salvation.
May it be a helmet of faith and a shield of good will.
May it purify me from evil ways
and put an end to my evil passions.
May it bring me charity and patience,
humility and obedience,
and growth in power to do good.
May it be my strong defense against all my enemies,
visible and invisible,
and the perfect calming of all my evil impulses,
bodily and spiritual.
May it unite me more closely to you,
the one true God
and lead me safely through death
to everlasting happiness with you.
Lead me, a sinner, to the banquet,
where you with your Son and Holy Spirit,
there is true and perfect light,
total fulfillment,
everlasting joy,
gladness without end
and perfect happiness for your saints.
Grant this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Source: Thomas Aquinas, 13th Century

Source of this version: Freely modified from https://catholicexchange.com/5-prayers-of-thanksgiving-for-the-holy-eucharist

Prayer of Thanks (Antiochan, 2)

O Lord, how lovely it is to be your guest:
the breezes are full of scents;
the mountains reach to the skies;
the waters like boundless mirrors
and the floating clouds
reflect the sun’s golden rays.
All nature murmurs mysteriously,
breathing the depth of tenderness.
Birds and beasts of the forest
bear the imprint of your love.

You have blessed our home, the earth,
in its changing loveliness,
which wakens our yearning for happiness that will last forever,
in the land where beauty never grows old,
and the cry rings out:
Alleluia!
Alleluia!

You have brought me into life as into an enchanted paradise.
We have seen the sky like a dome of deepest blue,
where the birds sing in the heights.
We have listened to the rustling leaves of the forest
and the bubbling music of the streams.
We have tasted the freshest fruit
and the sweetest honey.
We can live very well on your earth.
It is a pleasure to be your guest!

Glory to you for each day of life;
glory to you for the perfume of lilies and roses.

Glory to you for each different taste of berry and fruit;
glory to you for the sparkling silver of early morning dew.

Glory to you for the joy of dawn’s awakening;
glory to you for the new life each day brings.

Glory to you, O God, forever and ever!
Glory to you, O God, forever and ever!

Source: Akathist Hymn, Kontakion 2, Antiochian Orthodox

Source of this version: Modified from http://ww1.antiochian.org/orthodox-prayers/akathist-of-thanksgiving

The paragraph, “You have blessed our home, the earth…” was changed because the original read as if it were a prayer to “Mother Earth.”