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

In Times of Social Conflict or Distress

Increase, O God, the spirit of neighborliness among us, that in peril we may uphold one another, in suffering tend to one another, and in homelessness, loneliness, or exile befriend one another. Grant us brave and enduring hearts that we may strengthen one another, until the disciplines and testing of these days are ended, and you again give peace in our time; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

BCP 2019, p. 659

Provenance

ACNA 2019

Draft — AI-assisted research under editorial review.

This prayer for hard times has no known author. It is remembered as a prayer said in English air-raid shelters during World War II, and the earliest prayer book it can be verified in is the Anglican Church in North America's 2019 Book of Common Prayer. Its closing line borrows an ancient plea for peace that has been part of Anglican worship since Cranmer's day.