Thursday, November 23, 2006

Prayers of Thanksgiving, East and West

ALMIGHTY God, Father of all mercies, we, Thine unworthy servants, do give Thee most humble and hearty thanks for all Thy goodness and loving-kindness to us, and to all men; [*particularly to those who desire now to offer up their praises and thanksgivings for Thy late mercies vouchsafed unto them.]. We bless Thee for our creation, preservation, and all the blessings of this life; but above all, for Thine inestimable love in the redemption of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ; for the means of grace, and for the hope of glory. And, we beseech Thee, give us that due sense of all thy mercies, that our hearts may he unfeignedly thankful: and that we show forth Thy praise, not only with our lips, but in our lives, by giving up our selves to Thy service, and by walking before Thee in holiness and righteousness all our days; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with Thee and the Holy Ghost, be all honour and glory, world without end. Amen. -- A General Thanksgiving, from the 1928 BCP.

Thanks be to Thee, O Creator and Governor of the universe, for my well-being through the years since I arrived at birth. Thanks be to Thee, my joy, my confidence, my God, for the gifts by which Thou hast preserved me and enabled me to grow. A Prayer of St. Augustine.

I adore Thee, my God, and I love Thee with all my heart. I give Thee thanks for having created me, for having made me a Christian, and for having preserved me this day. Pardon me for the evil I have done today; if I have done anything good, do Thou accept it. Keep me while I take my rest and deliver me from all dangers. May Thy grace be always with me. Amen. An Evening Prayer.

O Existing One, Master Lord, God, almighty and adorable Father: It is truly meet and right and befitting the majesty of Thy holiness that we should praise Thee, hymn Thee, bless Thee, worship Thee, give thanks unto Thee and glorify Thee, the only truly existing God, and offer unto Thee with contrite heart and spirit of humility this our rational worship; for Thou art He that hath graciously bestowed upon us the knowledge of Thy truth.

And who is sufficient to speak of Thy mighty acts, to make all Thy praises to be heard, or to tell of all Thy wonders at every season?

O Master of all, Lord of heaven and earth, and of all creation both visible and invisible, Who sittest upon the throne of glory and beholdest the depths, Who art unoriginate, invisible, immutable, the Father of our Lord: the great God and Savior Jesus Christ, our Hope, Who is the Image of Thy goodness, the Seal of equal type, in Himself showing forth Thee, the Father, the living Word, the true God, the Wisdom before all ages, the Life, Sanctification, Power, the true Light, through Whom the Holy Spirit was manifested: the Spirit of truth, the Gift of adoption, the Pledge of the inheritance to come, the First-fruits of eternal good things, the life-giving Power, the Fountain of sanctification, by Whom enabled every rational and intelligent creature doth serve Thee and ascribe to Thee perpetual praise, for all things are Thy servants.
Filled thus with great awe at Thine immeasurable mercies and love, do Thou receive the unfeigned praise and thanksgiving of our unworthy hearts for all that Thou hast provided for us in this world and the next, and enable us to walk before Thee in holiness and purity all the days of our life in fitting gratitude for Thy loving-kindness to us; For blessed art Thou O Holy Father together with Thy Son, our Lord Jesus Christ to Whom, with Thee and the Holy Spirit, be all honor and glory and worship, now and every and unto ages of ages. Amen. Thanksgiving Prayer of St. Basil

O God, Whose mercies are without number and Whose goodness is an infinite treasure: we render thanks to Thy most gracious Majesty for the gifts Thou hast bestowed upon us, always imploring Thy mercy, that as Thou grantest the prayers of those that ask Thee, Thou wilt never forsake them but will prepare them for the future reward. Through Christ our Lord. Amen. Act of Thanksgiving

Eternal Father! I thank Thee, I bless Thee, for Thy goodness and mercy. Thou hast had compassion on me, although in my folly I had wandered far away from Thee and offended Thee most grievously. With fatherly love Thou hast received me anew after so many relapses into sin and forgiven me my offences through the holy sacrament of penance. Blessed forever, O my God, be Thy loving-kindness, Thy infinite mercy! Never again will I grieve Thee by ingratitude, by disobedience to Thy holy will. All that I am, all that I have, all that I do shall be consecrated to Thy service and Thy glory. Amen. Thanksgiving After Confession.

O my Lord, my Lord, I thank Thee for that I am, that I am alive, that I am rational: for nurture, preservation, governance: for education, citizenship, religion: for Thy gifts of grace, nature, estate: for redemption, regeneration, instruction: for calling, recalling, further calling manifold: for forbearance, longsuffering, long longsuffering towards me, many times, many years, until now: for all good offices I have received, good speed I have gotten: for any good thing done: for the use of things present, thy promise and my hope touching the fruition of the good things to come: for my parents honest and good, teachers gentle, benefactors always to be had in remembrance, colleagues likeminded, hearers attentive, friends sincere, retainers faithful: for all who have stood me in good stead by their writings, their sermons, conversations, prayers, examples, rebukes, wrongs: for these things and all other, which I wot of, which I wot not of, open and secret, things I remember, things I have forgotten withal, things done to me after my will or yet against my will, I confess to Thee and bless Thee and give thanks unto Thee, and I will confess and bless and give thanks to Thee all the days of my life. What thanks can I render to God again for all the benefits that He hath done unto me? A Thanksgiving of Bp. Lancelot Andrewes.

Let us give thanks to the beneficent and merciful God, the Father of our Lord, God and Savior, Jesus Christ, for He has covered us, helped us, guarded us, accepted us unto Him, spared us, supported us, and brought us to this hour. Let us also ask Him, the Lord our God, the Almighty, to guard us in all peace this holy day and all the days of our life.

O Master, Lord, God the Almighty, the Father of our Lord, God and Savior, Jesus Christ, we thank You for every condition, concerning every condition, and in every condition, for You have covered us, helped us, guarded us, accepted us unto You, spared us, supported us, and brought us to this hour.

Therefore, we ask and entreat Your goodness, O Lover of mankind, to grant us to complete this holy day, and all the days of our life, in all peace with Your fear. All envy, all temptation, all the work of Satan, the counsel of wicked men, and the rising up of enemies, hidden and manifest, take them away from us, and from all Your people, and from this holy place that is Yours.
But those things which are good and profitable do provide for us; for it is You Who have given us the authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and upon all the power of the enemy.

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, by the grace, compassion and love of mankind, of Your Only-Begotten Son, our Lord, God and Savior, Jesus Christ, through Whom the glory, the honor, the dominion, and the adoration are due unto You, with Him, and the Holy Spirit, the Life-Giver, Who is of one essence with You, now and at all times, and unto the ages of all ages. Amen. From the Agpeya (Coptic Book of Hours).

Most gracious God, by whose knowledge the depths are broken up, and the clouds drop down the dew ; We yield thee unfeigned thanks and praise, as for all thy mercies, so especially for the returns of seed-time and harvest, and for crowning the year with thy goodness, in the increase
of the ground and the gathering in of the fruits thereof. And, we beseech thee, give us a just sense of this great mercy ; such as may appear in our lives, by an humble, holy, and obedient walking before thee all our days ; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with thee and the Holy Ghost, be all glory and honour, world without end. Amen. From the 1787 Book of Common Prayer, for Thanksgiving Day.

O most merciful Father, who of thy gracious goodness hast heard the devout prayers of. thy Church, and turned our dearth and scarcity into plenty; We give thee humble thanks for this thy special bounty; beseeching thee to continue thy loving-kindness unto us, that our land may yield us her fruits of increase, to thy glory and our comfort; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. For Plenty, from the 1928 BCP.

Warrior-Chieftain and Lord, Vanquisher of hell, I Thy creature and servant offer Thee songs of praise, for Thou hast delivered me from eternal death. But as Thou hast unutterable loving-kindness, free me from every danger, as I cry: Jesus, Son of God, have mercy on me. Akathist to the Sweetest Lord Jesus.

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