A Prayer for the Seventh Sunday of Easter

Here is the closing prayer from the Ancient Christian Devotional for the Seventh Sunday of Easter.  It is taken from The Gelasian Sacramentary.

"O God of unchangeable power and eternal light, look favorably on thy whole church, that wonderful and sacred mystery, and by the tranquil operation of thy perpetual providence, carry out the work of human salvation, let the whole world feel and see that things which were cast down are being raised up, that those which had grown old are being made new and that all things are returning to perfection; through him from whom they took their origin, even Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord.  Amen."  (136)

A Prayer for the Fourth Sunday of Lent

This is the opening prayer for today from the devotional I'm following.  It comes from Jerome. 

"Show me, O Lord, your mercy, and delight my heart with it.  Let me find you whom I longingly seek.  See, here is the man whom the robbers seized, mishandled and left half dead on the road to Jericho.  O kind-hearted Samaritan, come to my aid!  I am the sheep who wandered into the wilderness--seek after me, and bring me home again to your fold.  Do with me what you will, that I may stay by you all the days of my life and praise you with all those who are with you in heaven for all eternity."

Jerome in his study. 

In Store Now - The Paraclete Psalter

One of my classes when I was at Moody Bible Institue was on the Psalms.  John Frye was my professor and one of the requirements for the class was to read through the book of Psalms six times.  I about fell out of my chair when he told us that.  I started doing the math in my head "Six times in four months that's . . . well, it's just too much."  I did do it and it helped that he encouraged us to use different translations.  I confess I did practice some speed reading skills but when all was said and done I enjoyed it.  This week we received The Paraclete Psalter: A Book of Daily Prayer from Paraclete Press and I was reminded of my Psalms class.   This is a handsomely bound book in imitation black leather which will take you through the Psalms in one month.  But it is much more than just the book of Psalms.  It is also a book of prayers to accompany your reading of the Psalms.  The Psalms are arranged in a thematic order.

"Psalms with references to morning, light, and praise can be found in Lauds; psalms describing evening and the remembrance of God's goodness are mostly found in Vespers.  Retained at the Midday Office are Psalm 119 and the Gradual Psalms (120-34) that have traditionally been chanted at the Little Hours--the shorter prayer services used in some communities--of Terce, Sext, and None.  Alone with Compline these services are prayed each weekday."  (viii)

If you're like me some of this terminology is unfamiliar.  It just so happens I've been reading a book by James F. White called A Brief History of Christian Worship and he has a nice chart of "The Western Monastic Cycle of the Daily Office" which helped me understand some of these terms (the chart is on page 54).

Vespers (at the end of the working day)

Compline (before bedtime)

Nocturns or Vigils or Matins (during the middle of the night)

Lauds (at daybreak)

Prime (shortly thereafter)

Terce (during the middle of the morning)

Sext (at noon)

None (during middle of the afternoon)   

I thought it odd that it would start with Saturday Vespers.  "Shouldn't it start with a morning reading," I thought?  The introduction explains that the only reading for "Saturday is Vespers, which is actually a First Vespers to prepare for Sunday's worship."  I have so much to learn from this rich tradition. 

The book is imitation leather with 336 pages and sells for $24.99.  It uses the NIV for its translation of the Psalms. 

Prayer for the Beginning of the Day from the Mosaic Bible

I just received my copy of the Mosaic Bible from Tyndale (thank you Gary) and was looking through it and was struck by this prayer from Philaret of Moscow (Russia/1782-1867). This is a great prayer for someone in retail. Of course the prayer is for anyone and everyone and I'm pretty sure Philaret was not thinking of retailers when he penned this but I found it uniquely appropriate in a number of places.

O Lord, grant me to greet the coming day in peace. Help me in all things to rely upon thy holy will. In every hour of the day reveal thy will to me. Bless my dealings with all who surround me. Teach me to treat all that comes to me throughout the day with peace of soul, and with firm conviction that thy will governs all. In all my deeds and words guide my thoughts and feelings. In unforeseen events let me not forget that they are sent by thee. Teach me to act firmly and wisely, without embittering and embarrassing others. Give me strength to bear the fatigue of the coming day with all that it shall bring. Direct my will, teach me to pray, pray thou thyself in me. Amen. (275)