8th Century – Page 8 – A Collection of Prayers

Guide Those Established in Your Love

Lord,
may we always love and revere your holy name,
for you never fail to guide
those you establish firmly in your love;
through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever.
Amen.

Source: Sarum Rite, Gelasian Sacramentary, 8th Century

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.

Give Us Strength

O God, the strength of all who hope in you,
mercifully accept our prayers.
Because of our weakness
we can do nothing good without you.
Give us strength to keep your commandments
so that we may please you in will and deed;
through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever.
Amen.

Source: Gelasian Sacramentary, 8th Century, Historic Collect for the First Sunday after Trinity

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.

You Raised Up the Fallen World

O God,
by the humiliation of your Son
you raised up the fallen world.
Give your faithful people constant gladness,
deliverance from the danger of eternal death,
and make us partakers of eternal joys;
through the same Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever.
Amen.

Source: Gelasian Sacramentary

A new translation of the Historic Collect for the Second Sunday after Easter

Translation of “Deus, qui in Filii tui humilitate…” by Paul C. Stratman is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Please contact for any commercial usage.

Preserve Us with Your Mercy

O Lord,
preserve your church with your perpetual mercy.
Without you, our mortal flesh can only fail.
Keep us and lead us away from all things hurtful,
and lead us to all things beneficial for our salvation;
through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever.
Amen.

Source: Gelasian Sacramentary

A new translation of the Historic Collect for the Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity.

Translation of “Custodi, Domine, quaesumus…” by Paul C. Stratman is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Please contact for any commercial usage.

The Medicine of Heavenly Grace

O God,
you always govern your creatures
with tender affection.
Hear our prayers
and graciously help your servant
who is suffering from bodily sickness.
Visit him with your salvation
and give him the medicine of heavenly grace;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.

Source: Gelasian Rite

Source of this version: Freely modified from Benediction of a Parish House or Mission Room, Book of Offices, 1914

Watchful, Humble and Diligent Spirits

Into your hands, O Lord,
we commit ourselves this day.
Give each of us a watchful, humble, and diligent spirit,
that we may seek to know your will in all things,
and when we know it, that we may perform it completely and gladly,
to the honor and glory of your name;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Source: Gelasian Sacramentary

Graphic, Gelasian Sacramentary, from Wikipedia.com

Open Wide the Door of My Heart

The Last Chapter Lord God almighty,
open wide the door of my heart
and illumine it with the grace of the Holy Spirit,
that I may seek what is pleasing to your will.
Guide my thoughts and my heart,
and lead my life in the way of your commandments,
that I may always seek to fulfill them,
and that I may grasp the eternal joys of the heavenly life;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.

Source: The Venerable Bede (672–735)

Source of this version: Freely modified from A Book of Prayers: Together with Psalms and Hymns and Spiritual Songs, Ancient and Modern, Ed. Charles Leffingwell, Morehouse Publishing Company, 1921, p. 44 #4

For Mercy

O Lord, you gave your apostles peace,
shed down on us all your holy calm;
gather together with your hand
all those who are scattered,
and bring them like sheep into the fold of your holy Church,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Strengthen and confirm me, O Lord, by your cross,
on the rock of faith,
that my mind be not shaken by the attacks of the enemy.
For you alone are holy.

You know, O Lord,
how many and great are my sins,
you know how often I sin,
from day to day,
from hour to hour,
in the things I do
and the things I leave undone.
No more, O Lord,
no more, O Lord my God,
will I provoke you.
No more shall my desire be for anything but you,
for you alone are truly lovable.
And if again I offend in anything,
I humbly ask your mercy
to grant me strength
to live in a manner more pleasing to you.
Amen.

Source: Theodore the Studite

Source of this version: Freely modified from Prayers of the Middle Ages, edited by J. Manning Potts

A Personal Blessing

O Lord, open your heavens;
from there may your gifts descend to him.
Put forth your own hand and touch his head.
May he feel the touch of your hand,
and receive the joy of the Holy Spirit,
that he may remain blessed for evermore.
Amen.

Source: Æthelwold of Winchester, c. 908-984

Source of this version: Modified from http://www.dsbc.org.uk/downloads/June_2012_MAGAZINE_seq.pdf

Also found in Prayers of the Middle Ages, edited by J. Manning Potts, p. 41

Increase Our Desire for Your Good

antifonariodelec3b3n1 It is good for us to hold on to you, O Lord,
but increase in us our desire for your good,
that our hope in you may not be shaken
by any wavering of faith,
but may endure in steadfastness of love.

Source: Mozarabic Rite

Source of this version: Freely modified from Ancient Collects, and Other Prayers, ed. William Bright, 1902, p. 76 #2

Graphic: Mozarabic manuscript from the Cathedral of Leon, from Wikimedia Commons.