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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Prayer
Prayers

Post Communion Prayer

Holy Matrimony

O God, the giver of all that is true and lovely and gracious: we thank you for binding us together in these holy mysteries of the Body and Blood of your Son Jesus Christ, uniting us with him, and giving us a foretaste of the great marriage supper of the Lamb. Grant that by your Holy Spirit, N. and N., now joined in Holy Matrimony, may become one in heart and soul, live in fidelity and peace, and obtain those eternal joys prepared for all who love you; for the sake of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Found in the Prayer Book

  • Holy Matrimony

Provenance

Episcopal Church USA, 1979

Draft — AI-assisted research under editorial review.

A modern prayer written for the 1979 American Book of Common Prayer that weaves four New Testament threads into a single post-communion collect: the Philippians 4:8 catalogue of good things, the Eucharist as foretaste of Revelation's "marriage supper of the Lamb," Acts 4:32's "one heart and soul," and the eternal joys of 1 Corinthians 2:9. The ACNA BCP 2019 enriched the 1979 text by making the eschatological connection explicit.