Prayers of Great Traditions

Prayers of Lancelot Andrewes 53

The Evening Office

Preparation

Lord, my Lord,

for my being, life, reason;

for nurture, protection, guidance;

for education, civil rights, religion;

for your gifts of grace;

for redemption, regeneration, instruction;

for my call, recall, and many calls besides;

for your forbearance towards me,

many seasons, many years, until now;

I bless you and will bless,

I give thanks to you and will give thanks,

all the days of my life.^184

The Psalm, or...

You are such a help to me,

so I sing for joy under the shadow of your wings.^185

The Word of God

Set reading

Lord, give me grace unceasingly to return thanks

to your Word and only Son,

as the purifier of our nature, by his conception and nativity,

the deliverer of our persons, by his sufferings, cross and death,

the conqueror of hell, by his descent,

of death, by his resurrection,

our forerunner, in his ascension,

our advocate, in his sitting in glory,

the perfecter of our faith, in his second advent.^186