faith – A Collection of Prayers

Give Us Faith to Overcome Our Weakness

Lord God, heavenly Father,
in your special love and mercy
you gave us your Son
who became truly human
and died on the cross for us.
Pour your Holy Spirit into our hearts
that we may put all our trust in him,
just as the Centurion believed
that Christ would help his sick servant,
may we be assured
of the forgiveness of our sins and eternal life.
We have your Word:
“Whoever believes in me will never see death.”
Dear Father in heaven,
grant that we may believe with no doubts in our hearts,
and remain in the faith until our last hour.

Almighty and eternal God,
mercifully look on our weaknesses,
and in all dangers and needs
defend us with your power against our enemies;
through Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one true God, now and forever.

Source: Veit Dietrich, d. 1549, Epiphany 3.

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.

Crown the Faith of Those Who Cling to You

O God,
Father of your only Son,
you dwell in heaven
and you scoff at those
who rise against your Anointed One.
Grant us special grace
that we may not yield to adversities,
that the unbelief of those who do not know you
may be done away with,
and the faith of those who cling to you
may be crowned.

Source: Mozarabic Rite, 7th Century

Source of this version: Oremus, edited by Paul Zeller Strodach

Help Us Patiently Wait for Your Light

Merciful Lord,
Comforter and Teacher of your faithful people,
increase in your Church the desires you have given.
Strengthen the hearts of those who hope in you,
and show them the depth of your promises.
Lead all your adopted children to see with the eyes of faith,
and help them wait patiently for the light that is now hidden;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Source: Ambrosian, freely modified from Ancient Collects, ed. William Bright, p. 76.4.

The Light of the World

antifonariodelec3b3n1 Hear us, never-failing Light,
Lord our God, source of light,
light of the angels, principalities, powers
and all intelligent beings.
You have created the light for your saints.
May our souls be your lamps
kindled and illuminated by you.
May we shine and burn with the truth
and never go out in darkness and ashes.
May the gloom of sins be cleared away
and the light of constant faith abide within us.
Amen.

Source: Mozarabic Rite

Source of this version: Freely modified from Prayers Ancient and Modern
by Mary Wilder Tileston, Boston, Little Brown, 1914, p. 62 #1

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