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
Absolution
Prayers

The Absolution

The Holy Eucharist — the Bishop or Priest stands and says

Almighty God, our heavenly Father, who in his great mercy has promised forgiveness of sins to all those who sincerely repent and with true faith turn to him, have mercy upon you, pardon and deliver you from all your sins, confirm and strengthen you in all goodness, and bring you to everlasting life; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Found in the Prayer Book

This prayer appears in more than one place in the 2019 Book of Common Prayer.

  • Holy Eucharist Anglican Standard Text · as “The Absolution”The Holy Eucharist
  • Reconciliation Of Penitents · as “Absolution (alternative form)”Ministry to the Sick & Dying
  • Communion Of The Sick · as “Absolution”Ministry to the Sick & Dying
  • Ash WednesdayLent & Holy Week

Provenance

Cranmer 1548

Draft — AI-assisted research under editorial review.

This declaration of forgiveness has been spoken by a priest over penitent communicants since Cranmer's first authorized English communion rite, the 1548 Order of the Communion. It passed into the 1549 prayer book a year later and has remained unchanged in substance for nearly five centuries.