A prayer of Dame Julian of Norwich

In you, Father all-mighty, we have
     our preservation and our bliss.
In you, Christ, we have our restoring and our saving.
You are our mother, brother, and Saviour.
In you, our Lord the Holy Spirit,
     is marvellous and plenteous grace.
You are our clothing; for love you wrap us
     and embrace us.
You are our maker, our lover, our keeper.
Teach us to believe that by your grace
     all shall be well,
     and all shall be well,
     and all manner of thing shall be well.
AMEN.

-- Dame Julian of Norwich (1342-1416)

Sabbath Poem X, 1979

Whatever is foreseen in joy
Must be lived out from day to day.
Vision held open in the dark
By our ten thousand days of work.
Harvest will fill the barn; for that
The hand must ache, the face must sweat.

And yet no leaf or grain is filled
By work of ours; the field is tilled
And left to grace. That we may reap,
Great work is done while we’re asleep.

When we work well, a Sabbath mood
Rests on our day, and finds it good.

--Wendell Berry (1934- ), American poet, novelist, agrarian activist, from This Day: Sabbath Poems New and Collected, 1979-2013, 2013

A Prayer of Awareness

God is the foundation of everything;
This God undertakes, God gives,
Such that nothing that is necessary
     for life is lacking.
Now humankind needs a body that
     at all times honors and praises God.
This body is supported in every way
     through the earth.
Thus the earth glorifies the power of God.

--Hildegard von Bingen (1098-1179)

Prayer of Invocation for Evening

Lord of the evening hour,
who hast often met with us at the close of day,
be our refuge now from the noise of the world
and the care of our own spirits.

Grant us thy peace.

Let not the darkness of our ignorance and folly,
of our sorrow and sin
hide thee from us.
Draw hear to us that we may be near to thee.
Speak to each of us the word we need,
and let thy word abide in us
till it has wrought in us thy holy will.

Quicken and refresh our hearts,
renew and increase our strength,
that we may grow into the likeness of thy faithful children,
and by our worship at this time
be enabled better to serve thee in our daily life
in the spirit of Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

--John Hunter, Devotional Services, 1915, cited in Morgan Phelps Noyes, Prayers for Services

Prayer of Petition

Lord,
be thou within us, to strengthen us;
without us, to keep us;
above us, to protect us;
beneath us, to uphold us;
before us, to direct us;
behind us, to keep us from straying;
round about us, to defend us.

--Bishop Lancelot Andrewes, Preces Privatae, 16th Century

Prayer of Intercession

Almighty God,
whose goodness loved us into life,
and whose mercies never fail;

we commend to thee
all who have a place in our hearts and sympathies;
all who are joined to us by the sacred ties
of kindred, friendship, and love;
all little children who are dear to us;
all our neighbors and their households;
all who help us to a faithful life,
and whose spirit turns our duties to love;

keep them both outwardly in their bodies,
and inwardly in their souls,
and pour upon them the continual dew of thy blessing.

--John Hunter, Devotional Services, 1915, cited in Morgan Phelps Noyes, Prayers for Services

Leavetaking

Nearing the start of that mysterious last season
Which brings us closer to the close of the other four,
I'm somewhat afraid and don't know how to prepare
So I will praise you.

I will praise you for the glaze on buttercups
And for the pearly scent of wild fresh water
And the great crossbow shapes of swans flying over
With that strong silken threshing sound of wings
Which you gave them when you made them without voices.

And I will praise you for crickets.
On starry autumn nights
When the earth is cooling
Their rusty dimunitive music
Repeated over and over
Is the very marrow of peace.

And I will praise you for the crows calling from treetops
The speech of my first village,
And for the sparrow's flash of song
Flinging me in an instant
The joy of a child who woke
Each morning to the freedom
Of her mother's unclouded love
And lived in it like a country.

And I will praise you that from vacant lots
From only broken glass and candy wrappers
You raise up blue chicory flowers.
I thank you for that secret praise
Which burns in every creature,
And I ask you to bring us to life
Out of every sort of death

And teach us mercy.

-- Anne Porter (1911-2011) from Living Things: Collected Poems, 2006

Celtic Blessing

God bless the path on which you go
God bless the earth beneath your feet
God bless your destination.
God be a smooth way before you
A guiding star above you
A keen eye behind you
This day, this night, and forever.
God be with you whatever you pass
Jesus be with you whatever you climb
Spirit be with you wherever you stay.
God be with you at each stop and each sea
At each lying down and each rising up
In the trough of the waves, on the crest of the billows.
Each step of the journey.

Benediction based on 1 Thessalonians 5

Go forth into the world in peace;
be of good courage;
hold fast that which is good;
render to no one evil for evil;
strengthen the fainthearted;
support the weak;
help the afflicted;
honour everyone;
love and serve the Lord,
rejoicing in the power of the Holy Spirit;
and the blessing of God almighty,
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,
be among you and remain with you always. 

--1 Thessalonians 5:13-22

Prayer- Let nothing disturb you

Let nothing disturb you,
Let nothing frighten you,
All things are passing away:
God never changes,
Patience obtains all things
Whoever has God lacks nothing;
God alone suffices.

--St. Teresa of Avila (1515-1582)