Category: Prayers and liturgy

The collect for today, the Feast of Saint Joseph of Nazareth, Guardian of Our Lord, Husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Patron Saint of Canada, from The Book of Common Prayer (Canadian, 1962):

O GOD Most High, who from the family of thy servant David didst raise up Joseph the carpenter to be protector of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of our Lord: Grant that we may so labour in our earthly vocations, that they may become labours of love and service offered unto thee, our Father; through the same our Lord Jesus Christ, who with thee and the Holy Spirit liveth and reigneth, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

The Epistle: Romans 4:13-18
The Gospel: St Luke 2:41-52

Artwork: Pietro Annigoni, St. Joseph and the Christ Child in the Carpentry Workshop, 1963. Fresco, San Lorenzo, Florence.

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The collect for today, the commemoration of Thomas Ken (1637-1711), Bishop of Bath and Wells, Non-Juror, Hymn Writer (source):

O God, from whom all blessings flow,
by whose providence we are kept
and by whose grace we are directed:
assist us, through the example of thy servant Thomas Ken,
faithfully to keep thy word,
humbly to accept adversity
and steadfastly to worship thee;
through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord,
who liveth and reigneth with thee,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

With the Epistle and Gospel for a Bishop,
from The Book of Common Prayer (Canadian, 1962):
The Epistle: 1 Timothy 6:11-16
The Gospel: St Luke 12:37-44

Click here to read more about Thomas Ken.

Artwork: Thomas Ken window, Wells Cathedral, installed in 1885 to celebrate the bicentenary of his consecration as Bishop of Bath and Wells.

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The collect for today, the Feast of St. Patrick (c. 390-c. 461), Bishop, Missionary, Patron of Ireland (source):

Almighty God,
who in thy providence chose thy servant Patrick
to be the apostle of the people of Ireland:
keep alive in us the fire of faith which he kindled,
and in this our earthly pilgrimage
strengthen us to gain the light of everlasting life;
through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord,
who liveth and reigneth with thee,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

The Epistle: 1 Thessalonians 2:2b-12
The Gospel: St Matthew 28:16-20

Click here to read the prayer known as St Patrick’s Breastplate.

Artwork: Lombard School, St. Patrick Baptising Christian Converts, 15th century. Fresco, Santuario di San Patrizio, Colzate, Bergamo, italy.

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The Anglican theologian and scholar E.B. Pusey wrote this prayer for Lent:

God, give us grace, this coming Lent, so to lay to heart our ways, that we may weary of all which is not His, from Him, to Him: and may, through Him, the Living Way, by new love and obedience, attain to Him, Who, with the Father and the Holy Ghost, is the End of our being, the Fulness of bliss of all creation, “the Eternal Infinite Truth, the origin, fountain, measure, end, and cause of all created truth,” the ever-blessed, beatific Life; to which He, of His mercy, bring us sinners, to Whom be all glory and thanksgiving and adoration and praise, for ever and ever. Amen.

Edward Bouverie Pusey (1800-1882) was one of the most prominent figures in the Church of England during the 19th century. At the age of 28, he was appointed Regius Professor of Hebrew and Canon of Christ Church, Oxford, positions he held for the rest of his life. Together with John Keble and John Henry Newman (later Cardinal Newman), he was one of the leaders of the Oxford Movement or Tractarian Movement.

Pusey co-founded the first Anglican sisterhood in 1845, helping to revive monastic life in the Church of England. The practice of confession in the Anglican Church stems from his 1846 sermon “The Entire Absolution of the Penitent“. Later in his life, he fought the growing influence of liberalism in the church and successfully opposed proposals to truncate or omit the Athanasian Creed.

He was known as a wise, humble, and compassionate man, who built a parish church in Leeds at his own expense and served the sick during the 1866 cholera epidemic in London.

Two years after his death, friends and admirers established in his honour Pusey House, an Anglo-Catholic house of worship, prayer, and learning. His personal library formed the basis of Pusey House Library, now one of the leading theological libraries at Oxford.

A collection of Pusey’s writings and sermons is posted at Project Canterbury.

Source of prayer: Give Us Grace: An Anthology of Anglican Prayers, compiled by Christopher L. Webber. Anglican Book Centre, Toronto, 2004.

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The collect for today, the First Sunday in Lent, from The Book of Common Prayer (Canadian, 1962):

O LORD, who for our sake didst fast forty days and forty nights: Give us grace to use such abstinence, that, our flesh being subdued to the Spirit, we may ever obey thy godly motions in righteousness and true holiness, to thy honour and glory; who livest and reignest with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, world without end. Amen.

The Epistle: 2 Corinthians 6:1-10
The Gospel: St Matthew 4:1-11

Artwork: Tintoretto, Temptation of Christ, 1578-81. Oil on canvas, Scuola Grande di San Rocco, Venice.

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The collect for today, the Feast of Saint Gregory the Great (540-604), Bishop of Rome, Doctor of the Church (source):

Almighty and merciful God, who didst raise up Gregory of Rome to be a servant of the servants of God, and didst inspire him to send missionaries to preach the Gospel to the English people: Preserve in thy Church the catholic and apostolic faith they taught, that thy people, being fruitful in every good work, may receive the crown of glory that fadeth not away; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

The Lesson: 1 Chronicles 25: 1a, 6-8
The Gospel: St Mark 10:42-45

Artwork: Sebastiano Ricci, Pope Gregory the Great before the Virgin Mary, c. 1700. Oil on canvas, Basilica di Santa Giustina (Basilica of Saint Justine), Padua. Photograph taken by admin, 7 May 2010.

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The collect for today, The First Day of Lent, commonly called Ash Wednesday, from The Book of Common Prayer (Canadian, 1962):

ALMIGHTY and everlasting God, who hatest nothing that thou hast made, and dost forgive the sins of all them that are penitent: Create and make in us new and contrite hearts, that we worthily lamenting our sins, and acknowledging our wretchedness, may obtain of thee, the God of all mercy, perfect remission and forgiveness; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Epistle: St James 4:6-11a
The Gospel: St Matthew 6:16-21

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The collect for today, the Feast of St. Thomas Aquinas (c. 1225-1274), Priest, Friar, Poet, Doctor of the Church (source):

Almighty God, who hast enriched thy Church with the singular learning and holiness of thy servant Thomas Aquinas: Enlighten us more and more, we pray thee, by the disciplined thinking and teaching of Christian scholars, and deepen our devotion by the example of saintly lives; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

The Lesson: Wisdom 7:7-14
The Gospel: St Matthew 13:47-52

Artwork: Sassetta, The Vision of St. Thomas Aquinas, c. 1426-27. Tempera on wood panel, Pinacoteca Vaticana, Vatican City

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The collect for today, Quinquagesima, being the Fiftieth Day before Easter, from The Book of Common Prayer (Canadian, 1962):

O LORD, who hast taught us that all our doings without charity are nothing worth: Send thy Holy Spirit, and pour into our hearts that most excellent gift of charity, the very bond of peace and of all virtues, without which whosoever liveth is counted dead before thee. Grant this for thine only Son Jesus Christ’s sake. Amen.

The Epistle: 1 Corinthians 13:1-13
The Gospel: St Luke 18:31-43

Artwork: The curing of the blind man of Jericho, 6th-century mosaic, Basilica of Sant’Apollinare Nuovo, Ravenna.

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The collect for today, the Feast of Saint Chad (d. 672), Bishop of Lichfield, Missionary (source):

Almighty God,
who, from the first fruits of the English nation
that turned to Christ,
didst call thy servant Chad
to be an evangelist and bishop of his own people:
grant us grace so to follow his peaceable nature,
humble spirit and prayerful life,
that we may truly commend to others
the faith which we ourselves profess;
through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord,
who liveth and reigneth with thee,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

The Epistle: Philippians 4:10-13
The Gospel: St Luke 14:1,7-14

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