5th Century – Page 8 – A Collection of Prayers

St. Patrick’s Creed

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Our God, God of all people,
God of heaven and earth, sea and rivers,
God of sun and moon, of all stars,
God of highest mountain, of deepest valleys,
God over heaven and in heaven and under heaven.

He has his dwelling
in heaven and earth and sea
and all that is in them.

He inspires all,
he gives life to all,
he surpasses all,
he upholds all.

He ignites the light of the sun.
He surrounds the stars and tells them to shine.
He makes fountains in dry lands,
and dry islands in the sea,
and stars to serve the greater lights.

He has a Son,
coeternal with him and like him.
The Son is not younger than the Father,
neither is the Father older than the Son.

And the Holy Spirit breathes in them.
Not separate are the Father and Son and Holy Spirit.

Source: St. Patrick, fifth century, in The Tripartite Life of Patrick, 1887, p. 315-316
Translated for Prayers of the Ancient Celtic Church

Graphic: Saint Patrick stained glass window from Cathedral of Christ the Light, Oakland, CA, from Wikimedia Commons

St. Patrick’s Creed (from ‘The Confession of St. Patrick’)

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There is no other God,
and there never was another,
nor will there be any after him
except God the Father, without beginning.
From him is all beginning.
He upholds all things.
And his Son Jesus Christ
whom together with the Father
we testify to have always existed.
Before the beginning of the world
he was spiritually present with the Father.
Begotten in an indescribable manner before all beginning.
By him all things visible and invisible were made.
He was made man,
and having overcome death
was received into heaven to the Father:
And the Father has bestowed on him
the name that is above every name,
so that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord and God.
In him we believe,
and we await his coming
who before long shall judge the quick and dead.
He will render to everyone according to his deeds,
and has poured out abundantly on us
the gift of the Holy Spirit,
even the pledge of immortality,
who makes those that believe and obey
to be the sons of God the Father
and joint-heirs with Christ.
Him we confess and adore —
one God in the Trinity of the sacred name.

Source: St. Patrick, fifth century, from The Confession of St. Patrick
The Confession of Patrick, Tr. Olden, 1853, p. 44-46

Graphic: Saint Patrick stained glass window from Cathedral of Christ the Light, Oakland, CA, from Wikimedia Commons

Worthy Is Your Glorious Name

Worthy of praise from every mouth,
worthy of confession from every tongue,
worthy of worship from every creature,
is your glorious name, O Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

For you created the world in your grace,
and by your compassion you saved the world.

To your majesty, O God,
ten thousand times ten thousand bow down and adore,
singing and praising without ceasing, and saying:
Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of hosts;
heaven and earth are full of your praises.
Hosanna in the highest.

Source: Nestorian Liturgy, Fifth Century

Source of this version: http://re-worship.blogspot.com/2012/05/traditional-litany-for-trinity-sunday.html

Also found here: http://www.beswick.info/rclresources/TSC9598OS.htm

Give Me the Strength to Seek You

220px-sandro_botticelli_050 Lord,
my God,
my one hope,
hear me,
that I be not unwilling, through weariness,
to seek you,
but that I may always ardently seek your face.

Give me the strength to seek,
since you have made me in order to find you,
and have given me the hope of finding you more and more.

My strength and my weakness are known to you:
preserve the one
and heal the other.

My knowledge and my ignorance are known to you:
where you have opened to me,
receive me as I enter;
where you have closed to me,
open to me as I knock.

May I remember you,
understand you,
love you.

Increase these things in me
until you have wholly renewed me.

Source: St. Augustine

Source of this version: http://www.marypages.com/SaintAugustinus.htm

Also found here: http://www.vatican.va/spirit/documents/spirit_20021011_agostino-trinity_en.html

Graphic by Sandro Botticeli from Wikipedia.com.

Will You Guide Me?

220px-sandro_botticelli_050 Father, I am seeking:
I am hesitant and uncertain,
but will you, O God,
watch over each step of mine
and guide me?

Source: St. Augustine

Source of this version: http://www.christiancollegeguide.net/article/Guide-Me-God

Also found here: http://www.stjames-coorparoo.org.au/prayer-augustine-on-prayer.html

And here: http://getupwithgod.com/god/sunday-prayer-12/

Graphic by Sandro Botticeli from Wikipedia.com.

Help Us in Our Time of Need

You guided Noah over the flood waves: hear us.
With your Word you recalled Jonah from the deep: deliver us.
You stretched forth your hand to Peter as he sank: help us, O Christ.
Son of God, you did marvelous things of old: help us also in our time of need.

Source: Early Celtic Prayer

Source of this version: Modified freely from http://www.malankaraworld.com/Library/Devotional/Feb-5-2011-God_weekly_devotional.htm

Variant:

We have sinned, O Lord, we have sinned:
forgive our sins and save us,
hear us, O Lord, you who guided Noah on the waves of the flood,
for it was by your Word that Jonah was recalled from the abyss.
Free us, you who reached out your hand to Peter as he was sinking:
bear us up, O Christ, Son of God.
For you performed wonders among our fathers, O Lord:
Now stretch forth your hand from the Heavens,
help us in our times of need.

Source of this version: Confession of sins in Celtic Vespers: http://celticorderofuniversalwisdom.weebly.com/uploads/5/8/5/2/5852535/short_celtic_vespers.pdf

Your Word is Our Light

O Lord, you have given us your Word
for a light to shine upon our path;
grant us so to meditate on that Word,
and to follow its teaching,
that we may find in it the light
that shines more and more until the perfect day;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Source: St. Jerome

Source of this version: http://www.swordofthespirit.net/bulwark/november09p8a.htm

Also found here: http://spckpublishing.co.uk/blog/spck-prayer/a-prayer-of-st-jerome-347-420/

This prayer is a reflection on Psalm 119:105.

What Can We Give You?

What blessing,
what praise,
what thanksgiving
can we give you, O God, lover of all?
For when we were in the darkness of death
and drowning in the depths of sin
you granted us freedom
and gave us this immortal and heavenly food,
and showed us the mystery kept secret for long ages.
Help us understand your supreme mercy
and the greatness of your goodness
and Fatherly care for us.

Source: The Coptic Liturgy of St. Cyril

Source of this version: Freely modified from Ancient Collects, and Other Prayers, ed. William Bright, 1902, p. 148 #1

“What blessing … can we give you” is be a reference to Psalm 116:12

“For when we were…” is a reference to Romans 5:8

“Mystery kept secret…” is a reference to Romans 16:25

To Go Forward with Your Help

O God,
set us on fire with your Spirit.
Strengthen us with your power.
Enlighten us with your splendor.
Fill us with your grace.
Draw us forward with your help.
O Lord, give us
a right faith,
perfect love,
true humility.
O Lord, give us
simple affection, brave patience,
persevering obedience,
perpetual peace,
a pure mind,
a right and clean heart,
a good will,
a sharpened conscience,
spiritual strength,
a life unspotted and blameless.
And having finished the course,
enter your kingdom by your grace. Amen.

Source: Gallican Sacramentary

Source of this version: Modified from Ancient Collects and Other Prayers, Ed. by W. Bright: J.H. & Jas. Parker, London, 1902, p. 93 #3

A Gallican Blessing

May God the Father bless us,
who created all things in the beginning,
May the + Son bless us, who for our salvation
came down from his throne on high,
May the Holy Spirit bless us,
who rested as a dove on the Christ in Jordan.

May he sanctify us in the Trinity
whose coming in judgment all nations look for.
Amen.

Source: Gallican Missal

Source of this version: http://rockhay.tripod.com/worship/benewip.htm

Also found here: http://newlife.org.my/shahalam/be-blessed/