The Closing Prayers, Mere Anglicanism 2023

girl praying

Our recent Mere Anglicanism Conference opened with Choral Evensong. I had the privilege of serving as Officiant and Precentor for what was a stunningly beautiful service of prayer. After the Psalms, the readings, the Mag and the Nunc, near the end of the service are the Closing Prayers. I often look to the Prayer Book for other prayers to use, but sometimes I look to outside sources. For instance, I have a collection of the prayers of Soren Kierkegaard that I love and find a boon to my own prayer life.

I found three wonderful prayers; one from Kierkegaard, one from Karl Barth, and one from Thomas Cranmer (which I don’t think ever hit a prayer book, could be wrong). All were edited a bit by me. Anyway, several asked for them, so here they are…

The Closing Prayers
You have loved us first, O Lord. May we never forget that you are love, so that this sure conviction might triumph in our hearts over the whirling of the world, over the inquietude of the soul, over the anxiety for the future, over the fright of the past, over the distress of the moment. May this conviction discipline our soul so that our hearts might remain faithful and sincere in the love which we bear to all those we love as ourselves; through Christ our Lord. Amen. (SK)

O Lord, our God! Thou knowest who we are: some content, others discontent; some secure, others insecure; some believing, others struggling to believe. Thou also knowest whence we have come: from peaceful prosperity or from manifold adversities and troubles. We are all gathered now in thy presence: in all our diversity equally unrighteous before thee and each other, equally subject to death, equally lost without thy mercy, yet also equally sharing the promise and the gift of thy grace offered to all in thy dear Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. (KB)

O Lord Jesus Christ, you are the sun of the world, evermore arising, and never going down, which by your most welcome appearing and sight, brings forth, preserves, nourishes, and refreshes all things, as well that are in heaven as also that are on earth; We beg you mercifully and faithfully to shine in our hearts, so that the night and darkness of sins, and the mist of errors on every side may be driven away; with you brightly shining in our hearts we may all our life go without stumbling or offense, and may decently and seemly walk as in the day time, being pure and clean from the works of darkness, and abounding in all good works which God has prepared for us to walk in; you who with the Father and with the Holy Ghost live and reign for ever and ever. Amen. (TC)

 

The Rt Revd Chip Edgar


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