easter (season) – Page 4 – A Collection of Prayers

Prayer for the Second Sunday of Easter

O Lion of the tribe of Judah, O Root of David,
enlighten our hearts and minds with your true wisdom,
that we who rejoice in your Resurrection,
may join with your blessed ones,
and with all the heavenly host in your kingdom
in praising your glorious name;
with the Father and the Holy Spirit
you live and reign,
ever one God,
now and forever.
Amen.

Source: Freely modified from Mozarabic Collects, ed. Rev. Chas. R. Hale, New York, 1881, p. 26 #2 (Easter 1)

“O Lion of the tribe of Judah, O Root of David” is a reference to Revelation 5:5

Abide with Us

G_C_Dieffenbach

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)

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.

Guide and Empower Us to Do What is Right

O God,
all good things come from you.
Inspire your humble servants
to think those things that are right,
and guide and empower us to do them;
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 Fifth Sunday after Easter

This prayer is also in the Leonine Sacramentary in a shorter form.

Original in Latin:

Largire nobis, quaesumus, Domine, semper spiritum cogitandi quae recta sunt, propitius et agendi: ut, qui sine te esse non possumus, secundum te vivere valeamus.

This prayer also appears in Die pommersche Kirchen-Ordnung und Agenda, p. 298.

O Herr, wir bitten, gib uns allezeit guadiglich einen Geist zu gedenken und zu thun, was recht ist, auf daß wir, die wir ohne dich nicht sei können, nach dir auch leben mögen, durch Jesum Christum unsern Herrn, der mit dir in vereinigter Gottheit des heiligen Geistes lebet und regieret immer und ewiglich, Amen.

Translation of the German:

O Lord,
graciously give us your Spirit
to always think and do
those things that are right.
Since we cannot do anything good without you,
empower us to live according to your will;
through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever.
Amen.

These translations are licensed by Paul C. Stratman under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Please contact for permission for any commercial use.

Redirect Those Who are in Error

Almighty God,
you redirect those who are in error
by the light of your truth
so they may return to the way of righteousness.
Grant that all who are brought
into the fellowship of Christ’s kingdom
may avoid those things that are hurtful to their faith
and follow all things that strengthen them in it;
through our Lord Jesus Christ,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever.
Amen.

Source: Leonine Sacramentary, 6th-7th Centuries, Historic Collect for the Third Sunday after Easter

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.

Fix Our Hearts on True Joys

O God,
you make the minds of the faithful
to be of one will.
Grant that we may love what you command
and desire what you promise,
that among the many changes of this world,
our hearts may always be fixed
where true joys are found;
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 Fourth Sunday after Easter

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 a Devout Will and a Desire to Serve You

Almighty and eternal God,
always give us a devout will toward you
and the desire to serve your majesty with a pure heart;
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 Sunday after Ascension

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.

Our Souls Long for You

antifonariodelec3b3n1 As watchmen wait for the morning,
so do our souls long for you, O Christ.
Come with the dawning of the day,
and make yourself known to us in the breaking of bread;
for you are our God for ever and ever.
Amen.

Source: Mozarabic Rite

Source of this version: http://1stholistic.com/Spl_prayers/prayer_mozarabic-morning-prayer.htm

Also found here: https://attentiontothemoment.wordpress.com/2010/04/26/the-mozarabic-sacramentary/

“As watchmen wait for the morning” is a reference to Psalm 130:6

“known in the breaking of bread” is a reference to Luke 24:35

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

For the Loving Care of the Good Shepherd

stjohnsashfield_stainedglass_goodshepherd-frame_crop O Lord Jesus Christ,
good Shepherd of the sheep,
you came to seek the lost
and gather them to your fold.
Have compassion on those who have wandered from you.
Feed those who hunger,
make the weary lie down in your pastures,
bind up those who are broken in heart,
and strengthen those who are weak,
that we rely on your care,
find comfort in your love,
and abide in your guidance to our lives’ end;
for your name’s sake.
Amen.

Source: An Ancient Collect, Sixth Century

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

I Am the Good Shepherd

stjohnsashfield_stainedglass_goodshepherd-frame_crop O Lord Jesus Christ,
you are the Good Shepherd,
and you call your own by name.
Let people everywhere hear your voice
and follow you on the path of life,
that so there may be one flock,
and one Shepherd;
to the honor and glory of your name.
Amen.

Source: Freely modified from A Book of Collects in Two Parts, John Wallace Suter and John Wallace Suter, Jr., Milwaukee: Morehouse Publishing, 1919.

This prayer references John 10

“and follow you on the path of life” in A Book of Collects the line is given as “and follow thee into the abundant life.”

Picture: St John the Baptist’s Anglican Church, Ashfield, New South Wales. Wikimedia Commons