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
Prayer
Prayers

For the Absent

O God, whose fatherly care reaches to the ends of the earth: We ask you graciously to behold and bless those we love who are now absent from us. Defend them from all dangers of soul and body, and grant that both they and we, drawing nearer to you, may be bound together by your love, in the communion of your Holy Spirit and in the fellowship of your saints; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

BCP 2019, p. 662

Provenance

1928 BCP, ACNA 2019

Draft — AI-assisted research under editorial review.

This prayer for those we love who are away from us appears at least as early as the 1928 American Prayer Book, in its household "Family Prayer" set; the 2019 ACNA prayer book kept it almost unchanged, just trading the old "thee" and "thou" for "you."