O God,
you led our ancestors
to this land
where they found
refuge from oppression
and freedom to worship you.
Always guide our nation
in the way of your truth and peace,
so that we enjoy
the blessing you have promised
to the people whose God is the Lord;
through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Source: Paul Zeller Strodach, 1917, slightly modified from the Common Service Book of the Lutheran Church, 1917
Almighty God,
you have given us a land
where we are free to read and hear your Word,
confess your name
and work together
for the extension of your kingdom.
May the liberty given us
be continued to our children
and our children’s children,
that the power of the gospel
may here increase
to the blessing
of all the nations of the earth
and to your eternal glory;
through your Son,
Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Source: Henry Eyster Jacobs, 1917, slightly modified from the Common Service Book of the Lutheran Church (1917, 1918)
Original in traditional English:
ALMIGHTY God, Who hast given us a land, wherein we are free to read and hear Thy Word, to confess Thy Name, and to labor together for the extension of Thy Kingdom: Grant, we beseech Thee, that the liberty vouchsafed unto us, may be continued to our children and our children’s children, and that the power of the Gospel may here abound, to the blessing of all the nations of the earth, and to Thine eternal glory; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord. Amen.
O Lord,
help us when we are tempted.
Let nothing move us to distrust your care for us,
or mislead us to use your gifts and forget you, their Giver.
May we never assume your protection
when we forsake your paths, and tempt you.
May we never, for the sake of any supposed gain or advancement,
quench the testimony of your Spirit,
or prove disloyal to your service.
Support us in all temptations
so that when we have been tried,
we may receive the crown of life,
which you have prepared for them that love you.
Amen.
Source: Henry Alford, d. 1871
O merciful Lord Jesus Christ,
you were made in the likeness of sinful flesh,
you bore our sins in your body
to cleanse us by your death
and to make us new creatures
acceptable to God.
Purify us from those stains of sin
that daily defile our souls,
and grant us grace
to maintain the cleanness
which you impart
that both in name and in profession
we may give you glory as your people;
for you live and reign
with the Father and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever.
Amen.
Source: The Priest’s Prayerbook, 1897
Original in traditional English:
The canticle Dignus est agnus, (Worthy is the Lamb) is taken from Revelation 5:12-13b, 15:3b, 19:5b-6
Worthy is the Lamb who was slain
to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength
and honor and glory and blessing.
To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb
be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever.
Great and marvelous are your works, Lord God Almighty.
Just and true are your ways, King of the Nations.
Who will not fear you, Lord, and who will not praise your name?
You alone are holy!
Praise our God, all you his servants
and you who fear him, small and great.
Alleluia! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns.
Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.
Source: Common Service Book of the Lutheran Church, revised using phrases from The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version.
The canticle Dignus est agnus seems to have its origins in American Lutheranism in the late 19th century. It appeared in several service books beginning with the General Synod’s Church Book of 1868.
It appears on p. 122 of The Lutheran Hymnal (1941) without music. Earlier books prescribed its use as an option for the main canticle in Matins and Vespers (in place of the Te Deum or Magnificat). Later books suggested it as an alternative song of praise in the Common Service (in place of the Gloria in Excelsis).
In 2000 Years of Classic Christian Prayers, ed. Owen Collins, a similar text is given composed of several Bible verses from Revelation, attributed to Francis of Assisi (d. 1226):
Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, who was and who is and who is coming. (Revelation 4:8)
Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive the glory and the honor and the power, for you have created all things, and because of your will they existed and were created. (Revelation 4:11)
Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing. (Revelation 5:12)
Bless the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit; sing praise to him and highly exalt him forever. (Song of the Three Holy Children)
Praise our God, all you his servants and you who fear him, small and great (Revelation 19:5)
Let every creature that is in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them say: To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever. (Revelation 5:13)
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
Praise him and exalt him above all forever.
As it was in the beginning is now and will be forever.
Amen. Praise him and exalt him above all forever.
An article on Dignus est agnus by John Warwick Montgomery can be read here: http://www.ctsfw.net/media/pdfs/montgomeryhistoricalstudy.pdf
The text of this canticle has been reworked into a new canticle, This Is the Feast of Victory / Worthy Is Christ, by poet John W. Arthur. It first appeared as an anthem for choir, Festival Canticle: Worthy Is Christ with music by Richard W. Hillert, and made its first appearance in a hymnal in Lutheran Book of Worship as an alternative to the Gloria in Excelsis in the Divine Service.
Refrain:
This is the feast of victory for our God.
Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia.
1 Worthy is Christ, the Lamb who was slain,
whose blood set us free to be people of God. [Refrain]
2 Power, riches, wisdom and strength,
and honor, blessing and glory are his. [Refrain]
Short interlude…
3 Sing with all the people of God
and join in the hymn of all creation.
4 Blessing, honor, glory and might
be to God and the Lamb forever. Amen. [Refrain]
For the Lamb who was slain
has begun his reign. Alleluia. [Refrain]
© 1978 Lutheran Church in America, The American Lutheran Church, The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada, and The Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod
Source: https://hymnary.org/text/worthy_is_christ_the_lamb_who_was?sort=displayTitle
The U. S. Book of Common Prayer (1979) has two canticles that have the same material as “Worthy is the Lamb.”
A Song to the Lamb Dignus es
Revelation 4:11; 5:9-10, 13
Splendor and honor and kingly power *
___are yours by right, O Lord our God,
For you created everything that is, *
___and by your will they were created and have their being;
And yours by right, O Lamb that was slain, *
___for with your blood you have redeemed for God,
From every family, language, people, and nation, *
___a kingdom of priests to serve our God.
And so, to him who sits upon the throne, *
___and to Christ the Lamb,
Be worship and praise, dominion and splendor, *
___for ever and for evermore.
The Song of the Redeemed Magna et mirabilia
Revelation 15:3-4
O ruler of the universe, Lord God,
___great deeds are they that you have done, *
___surpassing human understanding.
Your ways are ways of righteousness and truth, *
___O King of all the ages.
Who can fail to do you homage, Lord,
and sing the praises of your Name? *
___for you only are the holy One.
All nations will draw near and fall down before you, *
___because your just and holy works have been revealed.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: *
___as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.
Parts of this canticle are identical with the introit for Christ the King in the Roman rite. This is the Latin text:
Dignus est Agnus, qui occisus est, accipere virtutem, et divinitatem, et sapientiam, et fortitudinem, et honorem.
Ipsi gloria et imperium in saecula saeculorum.
Deus, judicium tuum Regi da: et justitiam tuam Filio Regis.
This canticle has been paraphrased into hymns:
Abide with us, Lord,
for it is toward evening and the day is far spent;
abide with us, and with your whole Church.
Abide with us in the evening of the day,
in the evening of life,
in the evening of the world.
Abide with us in your grace and mercy,
in holy Word and Sacrament,
in your comfort and your blessing.
Abide with us in the night of distress and fear,
in the night of doubt and temptation,
in the night of bitter death,
when these shall overtake us.
Abide with us and with all your faithful ones,
O Lord, in time and in eternity.
Amen.
Source: Georg Christian Dieffenbach (1822-1901)
Part of this prayer is found here: The Oxford Book of Prayer, ed. Appleton, © 1985, 1992
A reflection on Luke 24:29
A version of this prayer is found in Lutheran Worship (LCMS 1982) as an alternative collect for Easter Eve.
Original in German:
Bleibe bei uns, Herr,
denn es will Abend werden,
und der Tag hat sich geneigt.
Bleibe bei uns und bei deiner ganzen Kirche.
Bleibe bei uns am Abend des Tages,
am Abend des Lebens, am Abend der Welt.
Bleibe bei uns mit deiner Gnade und Güte,
mit deinem heiligen Wort und Sakrament,
mit deinem Trost und Segen.
Bleibe bei uns,
wenn über uns kommt
die Nacht der Trübsal und Angst,
die Nacht des Zweifels und der Anfechtung,
die Nacht des bitteren Todes.
Bleibe bei uns und allen deinen Gläubigen
in Zeit und Ewigkeit.
Amen.
Source of the original German prayer: Evangelische Haus-Agende by Georg Christian Dieffenbach, 1853
* Although this prayer is often attributed to The Lutheran Manual of Prayer in many prayer books and anthologies, I have never seen or found a book with that title. A search on http://www.amazon.com and on Google Books yields several Lutheran prayer books, but none with that title.
O God,
you are the healer
of soul and body.
Save us
and make us whole.
Even when
we suffer
under all our sickness
and all our infirmity,
help us overcome
the temptations of the enemy
by your strength;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Source: Freely modified from The Priest’s Prayerbook, 1865, #262
Original in traditional English:
O GOD, Who art the Healer of soul and body, send forth Thy salvation, and make us whole; that while we deplore all our sickness and all our infirmity, we may by Thy strength overcome the temptations of the enemy. Through…
Even though there are many
who say of me,
“His God will not help him,”
you, O Lord, are my Defender,
my Worship,
the One who lifts up my head.
Do not forsake me
when I am in need,
but defend me
until the trouble
is past.
Amen.
Source: Freely modified from The Priest’s Prayerbook, 1865, #238
Original in traditional English:
Many a one there be that say of my soul, There is no help for him in his GOD: but Thou, O LORD, art my Defender, Thou art my worship, and the lifter up of my head. Depart not from me in the time of my need but defend Thou me until this tyranny be overpast. Through…
O God,
you never forsake
those who hope in you.
Grant that we
may live in the hope
you have given us by your Word
as an anchor of our souls,
sure and steadfast,
to preserve us unshaken and secure
in all the storms of this life;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Source: Freely modified from The Priest’s Prayerbook, 1865, #235
Original in traditional English:
O GOD, Who never forsakest those that hope in Thee: grant that we may ever keep that which Thou hast given us by Thy Word as an anchor of our souls, sure and steadfast, to preserve us unshaken and secure in all the storms of this life; Through…
O God,
help us
in all discouragement,
difficulty,
danger,
distress,
and darkness
in this mortal life,
to build our hopes
on the sure foundation
of your infinite mercy
in Christ Jesus.
Deliver us from despair,
both now
and at the hour of death.
Amen.
Source: Freely modified from Euchologion. A collection of Prayers, etc. for the use of families, 1847, p. 85.
Original in traditional English:
Grant, O God, that amidst all the discouragements, difficulties, dangers, distress, and darkness of this mortal life, we may depend upon Thy mercy, and on this build our hopes, as on a sure foundation. Let Thine infinite mercy in Christ Jesus deliver us from despair, both now and at the hour of death. Amen.
A Collection of Prayers 