16th Century – Page 19 – A Collection of Prayers

May We Seek refuge in Your Word

Lord God, heavenly Father, you allowed your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, to become fully human and come into the world to destroy the tyranny of the devil. Deliver us poor offenders from sin and death and give us eternal life. Rule and govern our hearts by your Holy Spirit, that we may seek no other refuge than his Word and avoid all offense, that we may always be found among the faithful followers of your Son, and by faith in him obtain eternal salvation, through your beloved 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

Source of this version: Freely modified from The Lutheran Hymnary, 1913, http://olcc.us/liturgical-resources/collects-veit-dietrich/ (Advent 3)

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.

May We always Watch and Pray

Lord God, heavenly Father, by your Son you have revealed to us that heaven and earth will pass away, that our bodies will rise again and that we all must appear before the judgment throne. Keep us by your Holy Spirit in your Word, establish us in the true faith, graciously defend us from sin and preserve us in all temptations, that our hearts may not be obsessed with carousing, drunkenness, and foolish cares, but that we may always watch and pray and trust fully in your grace, await with joy the glorious coming of your Son and at last, obtain eternal salvation, through your beloved 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

Source of this version: Freely modified from The Lutheran Hymnary, 1913, http://olcc.us/liturgical-resources/collects-veit-dietrich/ (Advent 2)

You Gave Us a Meek and Righteous King

Lord God, heavenly Father, we thank you, we bless you and praise you forever that you sent your Son to rule over us poor sinners, who justly deserve to remain in the tyranny of sin and Satan, but in Jesus, you gave us a meek and righteous King, who by his death became our Savior from sin and eternal death. Enlighten, govern and direct us by your Holy Spirit, that we may always remain faithful to this righteous King and Savior and not like the rest of the world, be offended with his humble form and despised Word, but firmly believing in him, obtain eternal salvation; through your beloved 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

Source of this version: Freely modified from The Lutheran Hymnary, 1913, http://olcc.us/liturgical-resources/collects-veit-dietrich/ (Advent 1)

Prayer for All Saints’ Day (November 1)

O almighty and eternal God,
through your only and beloved Son, Jesus Christ,
you will sanctify all your elected and beloved.
Give us grace to follow their faith, hope and charity,
that together with them we may obtain eternal life;
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

Keep Us Steadfast in Your Grace and Truth

O Lord God, heavenly Father,
pour out your Holy Spirit on your faithful people.
Keep them steadfast in your grace and truth,
protect and comfort them in all temptation,
defend them against all enemies of your Word,
and bestow on Christ’s Church militant your saving peace;
through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever.
Amen.

Source: Saxon Agenda, 1539, Historic Collect for the Reformation

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.

To You, O Jesus

To you, O Jesus, I direct my eyes;
to you my hands, to you my humble knees;
to you my heart shall offer sacrifice;
to you my thoughts, who my thoughts only sees;
to you myself–myself and all I give;
to you I die; to you I only live.

Source: Sir Walter Raleigh

Source of this version: Modified from Christus redemptor: the life, character, and teachings of … Jesus Christ … from various authors, p. 263

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

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.

Preserve Us from Greed

Lord God, heavenly Father,
you generously give us
your blessing and our daily bread.
Preserve us from greed and awaken our hearts
that we willingly share your blessed gifts
with our neighbors in need.
Make us faithful stewards of your gifts
and be gracious to us when our time of stewardship is done
and we come before your judgment;
through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one true God, now and forever.
Amen.

Source: Veit Dietrich, d. 1549

Fix Our Hearts with Steadfast Faith

Merciful and eternal God,
you did not spare your only Son
but gave him up for us all
that he might bear our sins on the cross.
Grant that our hearts may be so fixed
with steadfast faith in him
that we may not fear any trouble;
through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.

Source: Saxon Agenda 1540, LXII (B)