Harry Murray Stokes
Elizabethan English, gender-sensitive language, and vastly expanded references and metaphors that bespeak feminine as well as masculine dimensions of the Divine, here are truly fresh prayers in classic collect form for use in the liturgies in the contemporary key. Few are capable as Harry Stokes to hold before us the beauty of traditional forms for use in modern Unitarian Universalist Christian worship.
Charles C. Forman
Eternal God, to thy children be as a mother in mercy and care: Defend us from all harm, protect us in our homes, feed and nourish us in body and spirit that we may lie down in quietness to rest at day’s end. Grant this, we beseech thee, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen
O God, who through thy Moabite daughter Ruth, didst show pity and loving-kindness to Naomi, a widow without home and alone: Give us grace also that we may befriend those who are alone, without home and family, as much as we are able to do, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen
Blessed God, who art our heavenly father, mother and friend, our trust is in thee: Comfort, we beseech thee, all who are without cheer, the unquiet and disconsolate. Be thou their friend in need, their solace and hope, their father, mother and helper, as thou wast present at the cross of thy beloved Jesus Christ.
Amen
Almighty and everlasting God, whose will it is that we should know the truth and do it accordingly: Grant us truth in our inward parts, in heart, mind and soul, that we search after and at last find thee, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
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Almighty and everliving God, Lord of angels and archangels: We praise thy holy Name for having exalted from low estate the Virgin Mary, that she should bear the child Jesus. Doing thy will, in obedience to thy purpose, she gave herself that thy promises for us be fulfilled. May we, following her blessed example, be an instrument of grace, obedient as daughters and sons of thy covenant as was her child, Christ Jesus our Lord.
O Lord into whose household are invited all who hunger and thirst, the downcast and heavy-laden: Spread before thy children the banquet thou hast prepared, that they may be fed with meat and drink unto salvation, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen
Gracious God, who has bidden us to love our neighbor as ourselves: Grant us Charity to relieve pain wheresoever we have been the cause and to bind up the Wounds we have inflicted, as thou hast befriended us in Jesus Christ our Lord.
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O Thou who art God most holy, before whom there is nope other: Be present in thy Church that she with constant prayer Witness a true and lively faith through holy word and sacrament. Bind up her Wounds, succor her distress and grant her peace, wisdom, unity and completion, blessed Lord, through thy good shepherd, our Savior Jesus Christ.
Amen
O gracious and everlasting God, instructed by the good example of thy saints: May we prepare our homes like Martha and open our hearts like Mary for the visitation of thy Word, ever diligent and disposed to receive thy grace, granted us through Jesus Christ our Lord.
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Almighty God, before whom we must render a just account: Deal mercifully with us and lighten our Sorrow with the compassion thou wouldst have us give one another, beneath the cross of one who suffered and died as brother and friend, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
Amen
Eternal God, who callest us in thy Church to minister unto thee as servants one of another: May we not demur but with haste draw water for all who thirst to refresh the weary, as once Rebekah didst strengthen Abraham’s servant and the woman of Samaria served thy dear Son, whose promises in us are as waters springing up into everlasting life, through whom be unto thee 0 God, the fountain of all goodness and mercy, thanksgiving and praise.
Amen
0 God, who has schooled us in the prophets and revealed through one who is thy Word an everlasting covenant: Give sight to eyes that see not thy Church universal, that she may rejoice in the kingdom prepared for her, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
Gracious and ever blessed God, through whose shaping in our mother’s womb we had our beginning, that with one purpose we may return to thee at the close of our earthly day: Grant us resurrection on the day of thy choosing, that we may awake in Christ Jesus our Lord.
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Heavenly God, who has set us forth upon the sea of a great journey and in whose mystery we sail as wayfarers: Grant us at last a safe harbor in thee, through the beacon-light of our voyaging, Jesus Christ our Lord.
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Eternal God, who dwellest in thy saints as light brightening the darkness: We praise thee for all thy holy ones, who have kindled within our hearts the hope of glory, exemplars of thine unblemished image, the first-born of thy new creation and heirs with Christ in thy blessed kingdom; Through them we know thee as thy servant showed us the way, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen
O Thou, whom the Cherubim and Seraphim acclaim: Give us voice that we in thy Church below neither dumbly speak, nor feebly echo them on high, but suitably praise, as becometh a holy people united to thine inseparable Word, our great high priest Jesus Christ, with whom and through whom, we offer all honor and thanksgiving to thee Holy God, the Blessed One, forever and ever.
Amen
O God of Pentecost, in joy and gladness we greet thee, who hast stirred within our hearts the great working of thy Spirit: Thy presence we adore, thy life-giving and holy Spirit, heavenly comforter and advocate. So continue thou within us, that we bear witness as becometh servants of thy beloved servant, our Lord Jesus Christ.
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O God whose life is everlasting, who livest and dost breath~ through thy creation inspiring the same with thy holy Spirit: Continue thy wonders amongst us that daily we be renewed wheresoever sacrifice is offered, prayers are said and bells resound to thy honor and glory, as becometh children of thine, through the same Spirit, in thy Son our Savior, Jesus Christ.
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O God most holy, Lord of all saints and all souls: Esteem us at judgment a people of good harvest, seeds of thy planting, scattered in good earth by the wonderful sower of souls and nourisher of saints, Jesus Christ our Lord.
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O God most holy, who forbiddest us to worship creatures of our own making: Preserve us from all seduction of vain imaginings that we keep faithfully unto thee as though hast given us eyes to see and hearts to discern, through thine own image of Jesus Christ our Lord.
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O God, the creator of heaven and earth, whom the morning stars rejoice to praise: Whereby shall we exult before thee, except thou shinest in hearts awakened from all shadow of night, through our day-spring from on high, Christ Jesus our Lord.
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O righteous God who desirest a righteous people: So inform us with thy holy Spirit that we stray not, neither be persuaded to ungodliness, but with thy mercy as our constant strength, unravel thou the evil which worketh to undo righteousness, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
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O God, ancient of days, how shall we come before thee but as children nourished by thy feeding and nurtured for paradise, except through Christ in whom is our trust, who hath prepared for us a places and preceded us to make a house in heaven with forgiveness and grace, the shepherd of thy Church, Christ Jesus our Lord.
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O God, whereof Holy Scripture offereth glorious witness: So testify within our hearts and minds and souls that we be no longer ungraven tablets within, but living pracles of thy word in the work of thy Spirit, through Christ Jesus our Lord.
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O God who knowest and judgest the ways of the world: Unto them who have striven much, to whom the world hath given little, grant such a place that they may be lifted up, where all righteous ones are at peace with Christ, who was made lowly that the down-trodden might be lifted up, thy servant who suffered, died and was raised again, Christ Jesus our Lord.
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O Lord God who didst welcome a widow’s gift of her so small means as a most acceptable offering: Be pleased we pray thee, in like manner to receive the prayers of thy Church and all other gifts from our hands, that they may be accounted unto thee a laudable offering, through one who offered up himself that we might be an acceptable people, even Jesus Christ our Lord.
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O gracious God who dost not afflict willingly nor grieve thy children except for sin: Comfort and preserve with thy holy Spirit those who mourn. Strengthen and raise up the sorrowful that befriended by thy good Spirit, they may arise in joy to the promises given them through the resurrection of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
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O Lord of heaven and earth who hast given us a goodly inheritance wherein we should make our home and work faithful service: Labor thou within our hearts and be thou the guide of our hands that we may work thy will and as servants called at the end of day, receive us also into joy, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
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O Holy God who from amongst the company of thy dear Son didst choose three handmaidens to proclaim the resurrection that thy Church might therein rejoice: Vouchsafe unto us, we beseech thee, their glad tidings that we may share in the same joy as disciples of Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen
O Lord God who hast given us a covenant in Christ to which we are bound in faithful duty and service; We thank three for the reverend martyrs who have sealed with their blood the faith of they Church. Bring us not to the trial, O God, but should we be brought to the test, strengthen though our hearts that we may walk in the same way as disciples of Jesus Christ our Lord.
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O Lord God who bearest as a mother and father the afflictions suffered by thy children here on earth: Comfort those who are afflicted; Kindly be their way; Gentle their condition and give them a home, Blessed God, through Christ Jesus our Lord.
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Blessed God who feedest the hungry with good things: Continue to nourish us with spiritual food and drink in the mystery of Holy Communion that therein we may ever taste and see thy goodness towards us in Christ Jesus our Lord.
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O Lord God who has woven thy creation together in a most wondrous fashion that all things should work together for good: Grant unto us a place in the same creation that thou mayest work in us goodness while it is day and when the night cometh, we may dwell with thee forevermore, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
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O Lord God who hast planted a vineyard, wherein we may drink the wine of gladness and sown wheat whereof we may eat the bread of life: Send forth with thy holy Spirit into the harvest those who may break the bread and bless the wine that we in thy Church may be nourished unto everlasting life, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
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O Lord God who hast taught us that we should love one another: Set thou them as a seal upon thine heart who engage to love one another in the covenant of marriage, that in all things they may ever share and enjoy a blessed estate as beloved children of thine, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
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Gracious God, with great and exceeding love thou didst send forth thy Son into the world, that we might have life and have it more abundantly: We give thee thanks for his advent amongst us and pray that we may ever embrace and entertain the gospel as a faithful and holy people, through the same Jesus Christ our Lord.
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O Lord God who at Sinai didst give thy people Israel the law of life which sustained them through the wilderness into the promised land: Sustain with thy holy Spirit thy Church, that she ever look unto the rock from whence she was hewn, and by the confession of a true faith forever to know thee, through the one thou didst send to be our Saviour, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen
Eternal God within whose heavenly city we aspire to dwell: With thy grace and mercy cleanse thou our earthly cities; rid them of crime, corruption and strife, that we may inhabit them in all safety, security and peace. This, we ask, through one who wept for the peace of thy city Jerusalem, even Jesus Christ our Lord.
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O God, whose great and wondrous glory the heavens declare: Brighten thou our hearts, that they may ever reflect the light of thy glory and as a people made pleasing in thy sight, receive us into glory, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
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O though living God who blessed our mother Sarah and didst not forsake Hagar in the wilderness; who heard the cries of Rebekah, Rachel, Miriam and Ruth, and who raised up a new people through blessed Mary in they child Jesus: Hearken unto the voices of all who weep, the mothers of the children unfed, homeless and bereft; through one born homeless, give them food, drink, shelter and life in this world and in the world to come, in Christ Jesus our Lord.
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O Lord God, like as a father and mother who have joy in their children: Be pleased, we pray thee, to smile upon thy Holy Church, that she may ever cherish and raise up children of thine in the way of Jesus Christ our Lord.
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O Holy God who delightest in whatsoever things are true, just, pure and lovely: Dwell thou within our hearts with thy holy Spirit, that we may be praiseworthy in thy sight, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
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O Holy God from whose goodness we are abundantly blessed: We thank thee for thy continual care for our well-being and pray that we may in like manner ever cherish the well-being of our neighbor, in Christ Jesus our Lord.
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Gracious God, as we devoutly believe that neither life nor death shall separate us from thy steadfast love: Strengthen us in faith, when all else fails and we are assailed in body and soul, through sickness, adversity and all manner of evil, that we may abide in thee, through Christ Jesus our Lord.
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Eternal God who givest us so much of life on earth that all our days are numbered; who wast our beginning and receivest us at the end: Make us to know our days that we may shun evil and do good, for the benefit of our souls and for thy glory in Christ Jesus our Lord.
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Eternal God who dost gather together one generation after another into thy good keeping: Receive us at the last into thy holy family gathered in heaven that the faith we profess and the hope which is ours may find fulfillment in thy love for us, through Christ Jesus our Lord.
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Gracious and everlasting God, within whose arms thy children are at last embraced in the sleep of death: Hold them tenderly in thy care, nurse them unto everlasting life and receive them in glory, through Christ Jesus our Lord.
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Eternal God who hast made us to know that of dust we were created and to trust we shall return: Make us also to know that we are tabernacles of thy holy Spirit and receivers of grace, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
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Eternal God who didst exercise thy Spirit in the work of creation and resteth, seeing the goodliness thereof: Grant unto us, we beseech thee, rest, peace, and approbation, that at the end of our labors we may obtain resurrection with the author and finisher of our faith, Christ Jesus our Lord.
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O God who has given us a world in which we may rejoice to find our way, to do thy will and to work our salvation: Keep us safe through this world that we may exercise thy purpose in all our doing through thy good Spirit, so that (at the last) we may attain thine everlasting kingdom, through Jesus our Lord.
Amen