Commontide

Preparation for Personal Prayer

Holy Spirit, breath of God and fire of love, I cannot pray without your aid: Kindle in me the fire of your love, and illumine me with your light; that with a steadfast will and holy thoughts I may approach the Father in spirit and in truth; through Jesus Christ my Lord, who reigns with you and the Father in eternal union. Amen.

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Commontide
Blessing
Prayers

Receive the sign of the Cross

Holy Baptism — at the signing of the newly baptized (may use the Oil of Chrism)

N., receive the sign of the Cross as a token of your new life in Christ, in which you shall not be ashamed to confess the faith of Christ crucified, to fight bravely under his banner against the world, the flesh, and the devil, and to continue as his faithful soldier and servant to the end of your days. Amen.

Found in the Prayer Book

  • Holy Baptism

Provenance

Cranmer 1549

Draft — AI-assisted research under editorial review.

When a priest signs the newly baptized with the cross, these words name what the gesture means: a life pledged to Christ, engaged in a real spiritual contest. Thomas Cranmer composed this formula for the first English Prayer Book in 1549, adapting an ancient signing practice into English wording that proved durable enough to persist, lightly modernized, into the ACNA BCP 2019.