19th Century – Page 6 – A Collection of Prayers

Seal and Preserve Your Testimony in Our Hearts

We thank you, wilhelm_loehe
Lord God, heavenly Father,
that you have taught us to know
the chief parts of Christian truth.
Seal and preserve this testimony in our hearts
and preserve us from all errors,
so that we may remain steadfast in your fear and faith,
always rejoice in hope,
and finally obtain the goal of our faith,
the salvation of our souls;
through Jesus Christ, your dear Son, our Lord.
Amen.

Source: Freely modified from Liturgy for Christian Congregations of the Lutheran Faith, Wilhelm Löhe, 1902, p. 70-71, Order of Service for Catechization

Thank You for Preserving Your Word

We thank you, wilhelm_loehe
Lord God, heavenly Father,
that you have preserved for us your holy Word,
and have built us up in your faith
by its mighty power.
Graciously forgive us
everything that we have done contrary to your Word.
Preserve among us this precious treasure,
that through its power
we may come to eternal life;
through Jesus Christ, your dear Son, our Lord.
Amen.

Source: Freely modified from Liturgy for Christian Congregations of the Lutheran Faith, Wilhelm Löhe, 1902, p. 70, Order of Service for Catechization

Strengthen and Keep Us

O Lord, wilhelm_loehe
we pray that we may receive
this Sacrament which we have eaten outwardly
also with pure minds and clean hearts.
Strengthen and keep us always
in this new life you have given us;
through Christ our Lord.
Amen.

Source: Freely modified from Liturgy for Christian Congregations of the Lutheran Faith, Wilhelm Löhe, 1902, The Orders of Public Worship, The Communion or Morning Service, A, p. 36-37

In the 1902 translation of Löhe’s Liturgy, the prayer reads:

We heartily beseech Thee, O Lord, that we may receive with pure minds and clean hearts this Sacrament, which we have eaten outwardly, so that it may be unto us an everlasting deliverance: through Christ our Lord. Amen.

We Praise and Thank Your Divine Goodness

O almighty and eternal God, wilhelm_loehe
we praise and thank your divine goodness
for the precious food and drink you have given us
in the body and blood of your only Son.
By your Holy Spirit, grant us
the forgiveness of sin,
growth in grace,
and everlasting union
with your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.

Source: Freely modified from Liturgy for Christian Congregations of the Lutheran Faith, Wilhelm Löhe, 1902, The Orders of Public Worship, The Communion or Morning Service, A, p. 36

You Have Made Me for the Praise of Your Name

wilhelm_loehe Ever blessed Trinity,
to your mercy I commit this day
my body and soul,
together with all my ways and undertakings.
Be gracious to me,
enlarge my heart and open my lips,
that I may praise and magnify your name
which alone is holy.
And as you have made me
for the praise of your holy name,
grant that I may yield my life
in service to your honor
in humble love and fear.
Amen.

Source: Freely modified from Liturgy for Christian Congregations of the Lutheran Faith, Wilhelm Löhe, 1902, Breviary for the Use of the Pastor, Morning Prayer 1, p. 6

After One Has Departed in the Lord

Thanks and praise be rendered now and forevermore
to Christ Jesus, Lord of glory and Prince of life,
for having so graciously delivered this sainted brother,
and received his soul into his holy hands.
We pray him to reunite the soul with the body
in heavenly brightness on the last day,
and to grant to us a godly walk
and an equally happy departure
at the time appointed of God.
Restore, O Lord, all distressed hearts with sweet comfort
and keep all of us always in your grace
for the sake of your eternal mercy and goodness.
Amen, O most holy and exalted Trinity. Amen! Amen!

Source: Modified from The Abridged Treasury of Prayers: An Epitome from the Larger Gebets-Schatz, 1906, #64

Two Prayers for the Dying

Almighty, eternal God, heavenly Father,
comfort and strengthen this your servant
and save him through your goodness.
Deliver him from all anguish and distress,
release him in your grace,
and take him to yourself in your kingdom;
through Jesus Christ your dear Son,
our only Lord Savior and Redeemer.
Amen.

Almighty, eternal God,
have compassion on the anxious sighs
and groanings of this dying person.
Receive him into your kingdom
that you have mercifully prepared for him
and all believers from the beginning of the world.
Graciously release him, O Lord,
and comfort him eternally with the elect;
through your dear Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Source: Modified from The Abridged Treasury of Prayers: An Epitome from the Larger Gebets-Schatz, 1906, #63

prayer for the dead in middle ages

prayers for the dead

A Prayer for a Dying Person

O almighty and merciful God,
you are our rod and staff in the shadow of death.
We pray, visit this sick person,
his body and soul,
with your mercy,
and graciously to forgive all his sins.
Take the sacrifice of the innocent death
of Jesus Christ your dear Son
as payment for his transgressions
since he was baptized in Christ’s name
and cleansed by Christ’s blood.
Deliver him from bodily pains or shorten them.
Sustain him against the accusations of conscience
and all attacks of the wicked one
that he may fight a good fight and overcome.
Grant him a blessed departure for the life everlasting.
Send your holy angels
that they escort him to the gathering
of the elect in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Amen.

Source: The Abridged Treasury of Prayers: An Epitome from the Larger Gebets-Schatz, 1906, #61

“you are our rod and staff in the shadow of death” is a reference to Psalm 23:4

“Take the sacrifice of the innocent death of Jesus Christ your dear Son as payment for his transgressions” is a reference to Isaiah 53:5

“Sustain him against the accusations of conscience and all attacks of the wicked one” may be a reference to Ephesians 6:16

“that he may fight a good fight and overcome” is a reference to 1 Timothy 6:12

“Send your holy angels” is a reference to Luke 16:22

prayer for the dead in middle ages

prayers for the dead

Shelter Us in Your Mercy

Almighty God,
the refuge of all who are distressed,
in all troubles of this mortal life
draw us to you to find comfort
in knowing your loving-kindness
and tender mercy.
Shelter us in your mercy
that the storms of life may pass over us
and not shake the peace of God within us;
through Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Amen.

Source: George Dawson, d. 1876

Source of this version: Freely modified from Collects and Prayers for use in Church, United Lutheran Church in America, 1935, #247

Bless, Preserve, and Keep Us

God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit
bless, preserve, and keep us.
The Lord mercifully with look on us with his favor,
and fill us with all spiritual benediction and grace,
that we may live godly, righteously, and soberly in this life,
and in the world to come we may have life everlasting.
Amen.

Source: The gospel of the kingdom, a vade-mecum of texts and prayers of intercession, ed. Hugh Croskery, 1877 and Short services for family worship: arranged chiefly from the Book of common prayer by John Gibson, 1844

This blessing is based in part on Numbers 6:24ff.