end time – A Collection of Prayers

Make Us Watchful and Heedful

Lord God, heavenly Father,
make us watchful and heedful
in awaiting the coming of your Son,
our Lord Jesus Christ,
that when he stands at the door and knocks,
he may find us not sleeping in carelessness and sin,
but awake and rejoicing in his appearing;
through your beloved Son,
Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one true God, now and forever.

Source: Veit Dietrich, d. 1549, Trinity Last

This revision/translation of The Collects of Veit Dietrich 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.

Kindle Our Hearts by Your Spirit

Almighty God,
fulfill our desire
and kindle our hearts by your Spirit,
that being filled with the oil of your grace,
we may shine as bright lights
at the coming of your Son Jesus Christ;
who lives and reigns
with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever.

Source: Gelasian
Source of this version: Freely modified from A Century of Collects, [3] selected and translated by Atwell M. Y. Baylay, 1913.

Thanks

Almighty, most holy, most high and supreme God,
holy and just Father,
Lord, king of heaven and earth,
we give thanks to you because by your holy will,
and by your only Son
you created all things spiritual and corporal in the Holy Spirit,
made us in your image and likeness and placed us in paradise,
where we fell by our own fault.
We give you thanks
that just as you created us by your Son,
so by your true and holy love,
you sent him as true God and true man,
to be born….
And we give you thanks because your Son himself
will come again in the glory of his Majesty
… to say to all who have known you and adored you,
and served you in repentance:
“Come, you who are blessed by my Father,
inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.”
Since we wretches and sinners are not worthy to name you,
we humbly pray
that our Lord Jesus Christ,
your beloved Son
in whom you are well pleased,
together with the Holy Spirit,
the Counselor,
may give thanks to you as it is pleasing to you.
Amen.

Source: Francis of Assisi, 13th Century
Source of this version: Freely modified from Prayers of the Middle Ages, edited by J. Manning Potts, 1954.

For Sanctification

O Christ our God,
you will come to judge the world
in the humanity you have taken on yourself.
Sanctify us wholly,
that in the day of your coming
our whole spirit, soul, and body
may arise to a fresh life in you,
that we may live and reign with you forever,
to your honor and glory;
you live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit,
one God. Amen.

Source: Mozarabic Liturgy

Freely modified from Prayers of the Middle Ages, edited by J. Manning Potts, 1953. The New Ancient Collects, #54

Advent Prayer

Advent 1

O Lord Jesus Christ,
at your first coming you humbled yourself because of our sins.
At your second coming our sins will be done away by your mercy,
and we will be numbered with your saints in glory everlasting;
through your merits, O blessed Savior,
with the Father and the Holy Spirit
you live and reign,
one God,
now and forever.
Amen.

Source: Mozarabic Collect for the First Sunday in Advent, freely modified from Mozarabic Collects, ed. Rev. Chas. R. Hale, New York, 1881, p.15 #1

You Gave Us a Meek and Righteous King

veit-dietrich Lord God, heavenly Father, we thank you, we bless you and praise you forever that you sent your Son to rule over us poor sinners, who justly deserve to remain in the tyranny of sin and Satan, but in Jesus, you gave us a meek and righteous King, who by his death became our Savior from sin and eternal death. Enlighten, govern and direct us by your Holy Spirit, that we may always remain faithful to this righteous King and Savior and not like the rest of the world, be offended with his humble form and despised Word, but firmly believing in him, obtain eternal salvation; through your beloved Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one true God, now and forever. Amen.

Source: Veit Dietrich

Source of this version: Freely modified from The Lutheran Hymnary, 1913, http://olcc.us/liturgical-resources/collects-veit-dietrich/ (Advent 1)

Keep Us Steadfast in Your Grace and Truth

O Lord God, heavenly Father,
pour out your Holy Spirit on your faithful people.
Keep them steadfast in your grace and truth,
protect and comfort them in all temptation,
defend them against all enemies of your Word,
and bestow on Christ’s Church militant your saving peace;
through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever.
Amen.

Source: Saxon Agenda, 1539, Historic Collect for the Reformation

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.