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Principal Service Year A

FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT

Matthew 24:36–44

Let us pray, as we prepare for the coming of the Lord.

May the Church be faithful and vigilant, ever on guard against evil, and as a good servant ready for the Master’s call … At this Advent time, grant to her ministers and all her people the grace to prepare in prayer and meditation for the coming Nativity.

Speak to a heedless world where many have ceased to learn from the past the signs of future danger … Be merciful to those who fail in the duty laid upon them for the guidance of others and open their eyes to follow the right path.

In all we do, in all our work, in our homes, in our times of quiet, let us so live that we are ready without fear for the call of God … Grant to those we love the grace of lives fitly offered.

Have mercy on those who have no future hope, those who value the passing moment beyond its worth, those who through pain and sorrow have ceased to care for what is to come … Give them the assurance that this present world is not the end.

We pray for those who have already been called to the future judgement and the future peace, for those who came with joyful expectation into the divine presence, and for those who came bewildered and unprepared … May the love of God enfold them all.

May our prayers be acceptable through Christ the Lord who has come, is present here and will come again.

SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT

Matthew 3:1–12

Let us pray to God who receives all who come to him in love and humility.

Renew the life of the Church, that her people shall hear the call of the future and not rest in the comfort of the past … May those whom the Lord has called be confident in his mercy but not forgetful of his judgement.

Grant repentance to the nations of this world, for the cleansing of what is false and evil, and the building of what is true and good … Root out the complacency that will not confess error and the indifference that tolerates injustice.

Trusting in no achievements of our own, claiming no privilege in the values of this world, may we and those with whom we live and work, and all who share our community, come to walk in the path of peace … Help us to remember that we shall fulfil the will of God by waiting upon his word.

Have mercy on all who think that their position sets them above error and beyond judgement … Have mercy also on those who are afraid to turn back to the right way and are without hope.

May the departed find mercy at the heart of judgement and be cleansed from all their sins so that they may stand perfect before the eternal majesty of God … Give us grace at this time to recollect that we too must die.

May Christ who knows the secrets of all hearts mercifully hear our prayers.

THIRD SUNDAY OF ADVENT

Matthew 3:1–12

Let us pray to God to open our lips to speak as messengers of his gospel.

May we who are the Church of Christ on earth hear his call to repentance … As we see the signs of his healing power, make us ready to receive him into our hearts at this time and to look for his coming in glory.

Come in mercy to the people who seek for help in the kingdoms of this world and do not look to the signs of the Kingdom of Heaven … Break through the doubt and uncertainty that cloud the vision, the false values that hide the truth, that all may know that salvation has come.

Make us faithful witnesses, to bring the knowledge of Christ into our homes, our work, our meeting with others … Guide all in this community so to seek that they may truly find.

Have mercy on the sick in body or mind, the disabled, the sorrowful. Lead them from the wilderness into the fertile land of your healing love, where they may be made whole.

Lord Christ who raised the dead, receive into your Kingdom the souls of the departed … As they saw the signs of your power in this world, may they enter into the fullness of your glory.

We offer our prayers through the one long expected who has come to be among us, Christ the Lord.

FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT

Matthew 1:18–23

As we wait for the birth of the Lord, we pray for the Church and for the world he came to save.

Lord God, guide your Church into the way of truth and keep her free from false doctrine and all error … Give grace to her ministers, so that your purposes may be clearly known and faithfully proclaimed, to the glory of your name.

Come to the world where the truth is so often unknown and the message of hope not understood … Teach those who hold authority over others to govern without fear and suspicion and to seek the way of peace.

Bring into our homes the joy of those who trust in your love, and share that love with one another … Give light to families where love has turned to bitterness and jealousy. May the tender protection of Joseph and the gentleness of Mary be with them.

Have pity on all whose sleep is troubled, who lie awake in darkness or are tormented in their dreams … In the night hours, may the sick and those who watch with them know your calming presence and the assurance of your love.

Give rest to the departed and an awakening to heavenly joy … As you were with them in this life, so let them now be with you for ever, no longer afflicted by the doubts and fears that they once knew.

We offer our prayers in the name of Jesus our Emmanuel, God with us.

CHRISTMAS DAY

Luke 2:1–20 or John 1:1–14

Rejoicing in the precious gift of the Son, let us pray to the Lord.

Grant to the Church, illumined by the eternal light, the grace to shine as the servant of Incarnate God … May the simple faith of the shepherds, the adoration of the angels, and the love of the Holy Family be the ground of our worship and witness now and at all times.

Son of God, taking our human nature so that all broken humanity might be made new, look with mercy on a world which has not heeded the angelic message of peace … Bring to the nations knowledge of the love which has been from the beginning and which no sin can extinguish or folly destroy.

May the love that shone from the blessed manger bed be ours today … In every heart, every home, every place where some must work, may the grace and truth of God dwell with us and draw us into his holiness, and empower us to tell out the tidings of great joy.

Light of God, come into the darkness of pain and suffering … In the new day that has dawned, may the sick find healing, the sorrowful comfort, the despairing hope and the dying assurance … Bring the wanderers and the homeless to shelter … Shield the newly born and the mothers waiting for the time of birth.

Grant to the departed the peace that unites earth and heaven … The life that was in Christ, the life of all that was made, be theirs in the greater light of his eternal glory.

We offer our prayers through Christ, the Word made flesh for our salvation.

FIRST SUNDAY OF CHRISTMAS

Matthew 2:13–23

We pray to God who has shared the pain of the world.

May the Church, made an image of the glory of Christ, stand also as a witness to his suffering … Change our weakness into strength, our anxiety into trust that he who became helpless for love of us will be our present help and make us able to meet the needs of all who come.

In the world where many are driven from their homes as wanderers in strange lands, where tyrants rage and destroy the innocent, may God direct the ways of those who are lost in sorrow and fear … Come close to those who abuse their power, that they may learn to love, and turn from anger to compassion.

Give us grateful hearts for the security that we know, in our human lives and our assurance of the love of God … Grant to all in this community the mutual concern and sympathy which tell us that all grief is shared and is healed only by his presence.

We pray for those who have lost their homes and all who at the end of the day will have no place to rest … Bring them to a place of refuge, as Mary and Joseph were led to a home for their child … Comfort those who at this time are mourning for the death of children.

May those who died as little children find the fullness of life … May those who have died violently and unprepared find the peace that was denied them in their dying … May those who have killed come to repentance and pardon in their own deaths.

May our prayers be acceptable to the vulnerable Christ who is our Lord.

SECOND SUNDAY OF CHRISTMAS

John 1:1–18

Let us pray, trusting in God who receives all who come to him for grace.

As we have been granted the knowledge of God which comes only through the revelation of his Son, we pray that the Church may be a light to the world … Confident in truth and enabled by grace, may all her people tell with their lips and follow in their lives the new law of love.

Give to all people knowledge of the power of God who made the world and all that is in it … Grant humility to those who exercise human power, and give them right judgement in their decisions … Be merciful to those who do not know Christ or will not receive him, and let his light break through their darkness.

Draw us closer to our families, our friends, our colleagues, with the love that has come into the world … Make us as those who are born again, not of human will but of God, the only source of life and the giver of grace.

Have mercy on all who are in error and guide them into the true light of Christ … Bring the fullness of life to those who have made their lives narrow by rejecting love … Comfort and heal the sick and all who suffer, and strengthen with grace those who care for them.

Hold in eternal life the faithful departed who have witnessed to the truth of Christ in this world … May the light which led them on their way shine on them as perpetual light and make them perfect by his grace.

We pray in the name of Christ in whom we have received grace upon grace.

THE EPIPHANY

Matthew 2:1–12

Let us kneel in homage as we pray to God, the King of Kings.

We offer our richest gifts of prayer and praise, knowing them imperfect but trusting in the holiness of Christ to make them holy … As the Wise Men were led by a star to Bethlehem, so guide your pilgrim Church to worship in holiness and bow down in adoration until the time when your purpose is accomplished.

Give wisdom to the rulers of this world, that they may see the light of truth and follow the way of peace … Let them not be moved by fear or envy; make them ready to see you in what seems small and unimportant, so that their power is used not in pride but in service.

As we have known the joy of Christmas and rejoiced in the gift of the Holy Child, may we now bring to him our gifts of love and reverence … Make our lives, in our families and in all our meeting with others, tokens of the treasures that in our hearts we offer to the Lord.

Look with mercy on those whose journeys through the world are long and who can see no guiding star … Bring them through the hard places of sickness and sorrow until they may set down their burdens and rest … Give grace to those who are seeking truth and cannot find their way: lead them to the feet of Christ.

Receive the souls of the departed into the Kingdom where all journeys end and all worship is fulfilled in glory … As little Bethlehem was made great by the divine birth, so may those who were humble and unregarded in this world be numbered with the saints in heaven.

We make our offering of prayer to Christ, King, Priest and atoning Sacrifice.

THE BAPTISM OF CHRIST (FIRST SUNDAY OF EPIPHANY)

Matthew 3:1–17

Let us pray to God who in baptism has called us to be his body on earth.

Send the Holy Spirit upon the Church, that the glory of the Son may be known and proclaimed … Bless all who come for baptism, fill them with grace to walk in the way of Christ whose example they have followed. Bless those who are leading people to know the Lord.

Cleanse with the water of holiness all that is corrupt in the world today. Speak with the voice from heaven to those in authority and lead them into the right way … Teach them that all their power comes from one who is greater than they, the source of all power.

Bless all those who at this time are preparing for baptism, for themselves or for their children … Give them the light of the Holy Spirit, to lead them to new life in Christ … May all that we do in our daily lives be pleasing in the sight of God.

Be with those for whom the glory is veiled by suffering and let the light of heaven shine upon them again … As Christ followed the way of human obedience, so may he bring healing to the sick and comfort to the sorrowful.

Let the heavens be opened to those who have passed from this world … Cleansed by baptism and kept faithful by the Holy Spirit, may they find all joy and peace in the glory of the Father.

We pray in the name of Christ, the Son, the Beloved.

SECOND SUNDAY OF EPIPHANY

John 1:29–42

Let us pray to God, who guides all who seek him in faith.

As you have called your chosen ones to be your witnesses, give power to the Church to witness faithfully … Since by grace we have known the true Messiah, may we make him known to others … As the first disciples followed Christ to his dwelling, so may his servants at this time come to him and rest with him.

Bless the people of this world with wisdom to know the Lord and the will to follow him … Holy Spirit, descending on him and abiding in him, enter into the dark places of the world, to banish ignorance and reveal the Saviour who has come.

As Andrew brought his brother to Christ, so may we bring to him those who are close to us but do not yet know the fullness of his love … May he come into our homes and make them his own … May he, the great Teacher, give light to all who teach and all who learn in this community.

Have mercy on those who seek rest and cannot find it; give them hope in Christ who calls the seekers to find their peace in him … Come to the lonely ones who have no one to walk with them and show them the way … May they find human friendship, and divine love.

Grant eternal rest to those who have come at last to where Christ dwells in glory … As they have sought him and tried to serve him in this world, may they see him with full vision and abide in him for ever.

We pray in the name of Christ, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

THIRD SUNDAY OF EPIPHANY

Matthew 4:12–20

Let us pray to God who has called us to his service.

Give to the Church a burning zeal to win souls for Christ … Empower the shared ministry of all believers, so that human love may serve the love of God and make it known … Let your people never be deaf when you call them to your work, whether it is great or little.

May the people who sit in darkness see the great light of God and know his presence among them … Bless all our work in this world, but help us to know that it is not the whole of life … Enrich the skills and talents of daily labour, opening them to new service for the Kingdom.

Be present with our families and all the families of this community … Increase our love for one another but save us from the clinging selfishness that will not share our security with those who have none … When we are called to be apart from one another, keep us confident that we are not separated from your protecting love.

Come close to those who have had to leave their homes and loved ones … Comfort parents who are lonely when children have gone away … As the disciples were given the power of healing, bless all those who care for the sick in mind or body.

Receive into the heavenly light those who have passed through the shadow of death … Healed of all their infirmity, may they rejoice with those who first heard the call of Jesus and walked with him in Galilee.

We pray in the name of Christ, the source of all strength to those who hear his call.

FOURTH SUNDAY OF EPIPHANY

John 2:1–11

Let us pray to God who gives freely and beyond measure.

May God who knows the secrets of all hearts and who hears the prayers of all who turn to him in their need, give strength to his Church … We pray that from the weakness of our mortal nature we may draw out the good wine of the gospel, that we may drink of it and bring new life to others.

Come with mercy to the world where so many are anxious about the needs of every day … Give assurance to those who are in doubt, that they may trust in your will to provide, and may offer their resources to the aid of those in need.

We pray for those recently married or preparing for their weddings … Give them joy in each other, faithfulness in their lives together and the support of their families and friends … May Christ bless all families with his presence.

Bless those who have too little for their needs and fear for what is to come … Teach them to ask with faith and to follow where they are led, that they may find the good gifts that are in God’s love.

We pray for those whose hour has come, who have passed from the anxieties and pleasures of this world … May they receive the good wine that is kept to the last, in the heavenly feast where Christ the gracious guest is the host of all who have put their trust in him.

May Christ whose glory has been revealed that we may believe, accept our prayers.

THE PRESENTATION OF CHRIST

Luke 2:22–40

Let us pray, as we are commanded by the Law of God.

Give to the Church the spirit of prophecy, to proclaim the light that has come to lighten all nations … As Mary and Joseph made their offering according to the Law, so may all Christian people offer their prayer and praise for the gift of the Son according to his new law of love.

Let all people know that the day of salvation has come and the love of God reaches out to the ends of the earth … May those who administer justice understand that all law and power come from God, to be offered back to him with humility … Give grace to all who teach, that they may be guided in wisdom and insight.

As Jesus found the shelter of an earthly home in Nazareth, may his presence bless our homes and all the families in our community … Bless those who rejoice in a new birth … Be with our older people and grant them still the bright vision of divine love.

Have mercy on parents whose hearts are pierced by the loss or suffering of their children … May the light that was brought by the Son of God be their light in the time of darkness … Bless those who are near to death, that they may be sustained by the sight of salvation.

We pray for those who have departed in peace from this world and entered into the greater life … May the light of heaven shine perpetually upon them, in the realm where the secrets of all hearts are revealed.

We pray in the name of Christ, our light and our salvation.

EPIPHANY 5 (PROPER 1)

Matthew 5:13–20

Let us pray to the Lord who has called us to be faithful in his service.

Give to the Church power to proclaim your great works and to shine as a light that will draw all people to love and honour your name … May your people never lose by sin or negligence the holiness which is given to all who trust in you and seek to do your work.

As people seek their own ways and turn away from obedience, bring them to know that the Law of God is strong and does not change as human fashions change … Give courage to any who have gifts which they do not know, or which they have failed to use, and lead them into the light of the divine purpose fulfilled.

Bless those who do the work of God in our community, who tend the sick in mind or body and bring aid to the infirm … May they have strength to continue, and may they be an example, that others shall follow in the paths of mercy.

Look with compassion on all who have lost the assurance of faith and purpose in life which they once had … May they know that they are not cast out from your love but may be won back to the way that cannot be found by human will alone … Bless those who in sickness and distress still shine brightly in their patient trust.

Receive into glory the souls of those whose light shone as a witness in the world, and have mercy on those whose light was darkened by sin or suffering … May they too shine with the light that cannot be extinguished, and find the peace that they did not find here.

We pray in the name of Christ, in whom all the commandments are fulfilled.

EPIPHANY 6 (PROPER 2)

Matthew 5:21–37

Let us pray to the Lord who has given us a new and greater Law.

Give grace to the Church to follow the commands of the gospel, and to teach them so that all may serve in faith and obedience … Cleanse us from anger, strife and impurity, and empower us to fulfil the example of Christ, in firm resolve and gentle compassion.

Guide into peace a world where there is so much hatred and bitterness, where the power of law is used for revenge and gain, where hurtful words are spoken in scorn … Forgive the breaches of trust, the false promises, the anger which breeds its own destruction … Open the way of reconciliation to the minds that are closed against it.

Wherever disputes threaten the harmony of our homes, where there is hostility towards neighbours, where tension is growing in places of work, teach us to forgive and to acknowledge our own mistakes … Shield us from careless speaking in moments of stress.

Have mercy on all whose lives have been broken by quarrels with those they have loved … Bring healing to the marriages that are falling apart, and comfort where relationships have failed … Grant that those who are in legal difficulties may be relieved and find mercy in the course of justice.

May the departed find rest in the new life where all anger is ended, all injuries forgiven, all damaged hearts made whole … As we remember that promise of glory, let its light shine on our lives in this world and be our guide.

May our prayers be accepted in the name of Christ, in whom alone we may be reconciled.

EPIPHANY 7 (PROPER 3)

Matthew 5:38–48

Let us pray as the children of one heavenly Father.

Fill the Church with the love that does not come from agreement and fellowship alone but reaches out to embrace those who are hostile and scornful … Let no task seem too heavy, no forgiving gesture too costly, because all is done in the strength of God who pardons and saves to the uttermost and has made us his messengers here on earth.

Correct in mercy the errors which divide people into friends and enemies … Heal all divisions which set nations, races, religions in opposition to one another … Cleanse the world of all the darkness which seeks revenge and claims that it is justice.

May the love that is in our homes never become nar-row and excluding, but let it reach out to all who can be drawn into our care … Make the life of this community a token that we are all children of one Father, and bless its members who patiently serve those who are in need.

Have mercy on those who suffer because of faults that have not been forgiven, and those who do not know how to forgive but are caught up in a cycle of retaliation … Give peace and a fresh start to those who are weighed down by guilt, because they have failed in love and generosity and do not know how to make amends.

Pardon in their last hour those who die unreconciled and still bearing a load of anger … May they too be numbered with your children whose deaths were peaceful and all be blessed together in everlasting life.

Christ give us grace to offer our prayers in love for all people.

SECOND SUNDAY BEFORE LENT

Matthew 6:25–34

Let us pray to God, the giver of all beauty in heaven and earth.

Inspire your Church with zeal to seek the Kingdom, setting aside all worldly concerns that may lead away from the goal … Let your people live each day as if it were the first and the last of your purpose for us, to make known the righteousness which is not our own but the fruit of your bounty.

As we give thanks for beauty of the natural world, we pray that it may not be lost through human greed and folly … May those who have control of change act responsibly, as knowing that they are stewards of a treasure not of their making, a glory beyond the riches of the kings and rulers of the earth.

When troubles come in our lives and we are concerned for ourselves or those near to us, make us free from the anxiety that destroys hope and show us the way that is opening before us … Confident in the love that sustains what love had created, let us seek to do your will in all things.

Comfort those who are weighed down by worry about food and clothing and other bodily needs … Help the individuals and the agencies working for the relief of poverty and give generous compassion to all who have enough to spare for others.

Bless in your nearer presence those who have ended their span of life and entered into beauty beyond anything they knew upon earth … May they find peace in the Kingdom where anxiety has gone and there is no more fear, because God’s righteousness is all in all.

We pray through Christ who has taught us to trust and not to be afraid.

SUNDAY NEXT BEFORE LENT

Matthew 27:1–9

Let us pray to God who leads us to see his glory and hear his voice.

As the Church has been called to be the servant of your glory, may she be worthy to be your dwelling on earth … It is good for us to be here, and we pray that we may be filled with the wisdom of the Law, the vision of the Prophets and the grace of Jesus Christ now and in all time to come.

Bless the people of the world with the light that leads them to the heights where they may see your glory, and the strength to return to the plain where the work of life must go on … Guide those in authority to hear the wisdom of the past and to see with clear vision where their present duty lies.

As we go about our daily lives, grant us the times of peace when we may be aware of the glory that is all around us … Through our prayers and meditations bring us closer to the Saviour, to follow him as the first disciples followed, and to know his fullness as they knew it.

Have mercy on those whose suffering lets them see only the darkness of the cloud and keeps them from hearing the voice of divine assurance … Dispel the fear that holds many back from knowing that God is love and calls us to draw near and adore him.

May those who have died in the faith of Christ, and in this world received a partial vision of his glory, now enter into the fullness of his presence … May they dwell for ever in the holy place from which the blessed ones are never turned away.

May our prayers be accepted through Christ, the Son revealed in glory.

ASH WEDNESDAY

John 8:1–11

In penitence and faith, let us pray to the Lord.

As we begin this season of Lent, may our offering of prayer and abstinence be secret, and our love and compassion in the name of Christ be manifest … Grant to the Church the spirit of true repentance and the joy that breaks through sorrow when sins repented become sins forgiven.

Bring to a world where many trust in material things and seek their goal in greater wealth the knowledge of where the true treasure is to be found … Enlighten those whose confidence is in themselves, to know that even if their works are good they are rich only in offering them to God.

Help us now to consider our relationships with others, to see where we can put right the faults we have committed and to heal trust that has been broken … Open our hearts to receive the treasure of God which comes to us through the treasure of human love.

Have mercy on the poor who have no riches to give, no luxury to set aside … May this Lent be a time of greater understanding and care towards those in need … Bring relief to the hungry whose fasting is not chosen but forced upon them.

Grant that the faithful departed may find the heavenly treasure that they sought during their lives on earth … We rejoice with them that their years of obedience and devotion have come to their end in the eternal worship of God.

We pray in the name of Christ, our example and our strength in all our Lenten offerings.

FIRST SUNDAY OF LENT

Matthew 4:1–11

Let us pray for God’s protection of the Church and of the world.

Guard the Church against the assaults of evil … Be close to us when we are tempted to abuse the gifts we have received, to make a show of strength or to use influence from false motives … May we never use means we know to be wrong, with the excuse that the end will be good.

Look with mercy on a world where there are many temptations: where some think only of their own bodily comfort, some desire to show their power by foolish acts, some seek greater power and embrace evil to attain it … Come with your saving love and bring life to the desert places of all hearts.

Grant that what we offer in this Lent may not become a temptation to pride … May our homes be made more joyful and our work more dedicated as we seek to bring our lives closer to the life of our Saviour.

Have mercy on those who in the wilderness of the world find no relief … Hungry, fearful, lonely, many are falling into despair or following ways that lead to deeper distress … May God and his angels bring them relief.

We pray for those who have passed from this world and are free from all temptation … We give thanks that they are delivered from evil, and pray that we in our time may be brought to worship with them and with the host of angels.

May our prayers be accepted in the name of Christ, tempted like us but without sin.

SECOND SUNDAY OF LENT

John 3:1–17

In the power of the Spirit, let us pray to God.

Renew your Church by the working of the Holy Spirit … In quiet and humble rebirth may your people find new strength as your body in the world and show the way of salvation to all who seek.

God who loved the world even to sending the Son to be its Saviour, come among us for the healing of conflict between nations and races … Draw those who hold power and influence into the presence of Christ, to know his love and to make it their own in all their dealings.

Lift up our eyes to see the grace of God in all around us … Lift up our hearts to be his messengers to our families and friends and in our community … Help us to find in what is familiar the new birth of his love.

Have mercy on those who have lost their way and no longer seek to know God and to do his will … May the life-governing Spirit bring healing to the sick, and strength to those who minister to them.

May the souls of those who have died be gloriously born again to the eternal life where love is complete and the night of seeking turns to the perfect day … May we too in our time be born again in glory.

We pray in the name of Christ, lifted up in pain and in triumph for our sake.

THIRD SUNDAY OF LENT

John 4:5–42

Let us pray to God who knows the secrets of all hearts.

May the Lord who gives the living water to all who come to him in faith, give grace to the Church, so to drink of that water that she may bring life to many … May he lift our eyes to see where the time is ripe for harvest and seek to be worthy labourers for the coming of the Kingdom.

Give the word of truth to the world, where there is strife between nations and races, where faiths can be hostile and gender divisive … May honesty overcome all shame and deceit, so that wrongs that have been hidden may be brought to light and healed.

May our Lord be with us in our homes and in all the homes of this community, to teach us by his word, to sustain us with the food of loving obedience and lead us to worship in spirit and in truth … Make us honest in our dealings with one another and repentant for our sins.

Have mercy on all whose lives are distressed by broken relationships, by misunderstandings that have turned to bitterness, by the suppressed anxiety that eats away the heart … May those who have found only partial truth be led into the right way, to know and to perform the will of God.

May those who have passed from this world, and now drink of the living water that flows from the throne of God, rejoice in the eternal worship which is beyond all place and time … May we by grace come to the same rejoicing.

We pray in the name of Christ, the Messiah of all who worship in spirit and truth.

FOURTH SUNDAY OF LENT

John 9:1–41

Let us pray to God for light and healing in the Church and in the world.

Give to the Church the perfect vision of truth and the will to serve it … Open the eyes of the faithful to the faults that hinder their ministry, so that the light may shine through them to the glory of God.

Lighten the darkness of the world where so many stumble and fall in the blindness of pride, of false trust, of power misused … When people doubt the divine love and meet with suspicion the signs of its working, let the words of those who have known it be heard above the voices of mistrust.

Give to our families and to all the homes of this community the love that remains faithful in adversity and does not fear when hostility comes from outside … In all our meeting with others, may we speak the truth with boldness and witness to the blessings that we have received.

Have mercy on all who are blind or whose sight is failing … Empower and guide those who work to treat afflictions of the eyes, and bless their skill … Give courage to parents whose children have sight problems, and bless their acts of care and love.

We pray for the departed whose sins have been washed away and who live now in the light of heaven that will never fade … Grant that we may come to share with them the perfect vision of God.

May our prayers be accepted in the name of Christ, the light of the world.

or MOTHERING SUNDAY

Luke 2:33–35

Let us pray for the Church and the world, cherished in the tender love of God.

As our Lord grew to manhood under a mother’s care, may his Church be as a mother to her children … Bless her ministers with the gift of compassion, to offer themselves in service to all who come to seek their help.

We pray for the world, that all its people may be as one family in harmony and peace … Let motherly love be the desire and the ideal of all the human race … Bless those in positions of power, that they may seek to serve and protect those under their authority.

Bless our homes with care and concern for one another … May our families be as the Holy Family in shared love and worship … Be ever close with the gift of your unfailing love to the mothers and children in our community.

Have mercy on the mothers who are in distress, those who have lost children through death or estrangement, those whose children are sick in body or mind … Grant them strength in their affliction and healing for those they love.

We pray for the departed who have known human love on earth and have passed into the divine love of heaven … May they be in peace and joy with blessed Mary and all the saints.

We pray in the name of Christ, who loves us as a mother loves her children.

FIFTH SUNDAY OF LENT

John 11:1–45

Let us pray to God whose word is the word of life.

As Thomas and the other disciples followed their Lord in faith, give to your people the trust in him that takes away all fear … As Mary and Martha saw with their human eyes his power of resurrection, let your Church witness to his risen presence among us.

Have mercy on a world where many do not follow the way of life but choose the dark way that leads to the death of hope … May those in high places know that their power is limited and that all authority comes only from the Lord of life, the conqueror of death.

Bless our families, friends and neighbours when they are in distress and doubt … Keep us faithful to one another and to our Lord … Help us to trust in his word and to obey his commands even when the way forward is not clear to us.

Look with pity on those who mourn, especially those who feel no hope of resurrection … Strengthen all who walk in fear but are loyal to their calling … Deal tenderly with those who are at the point of death, and ease their passing.

God, in whom the dead are alive and shall never die again, receive the souls of the faithful departed … As their bodies lie in the grave, grant them eternal life in Christ, whose word they trusted in their time on earth.

We pray in the name of Christ, the Resurrection and the Life.

PALM SUNDAY

Matthew 21:1–11

Let us pray for the Church and for the world, to the Lord, the King of Glory.

As the Church rejoices in the triumphal entry of our Lord, grant to us also the spirit of repentance, and sorrow for his suffering … May we at this holy time set forward the message of his salvation and lay our minds and wills before him as an offering of faith.

Bring to a world that judges by outward signs of power the wisdom to discern where true power lies in humility and love … Open the eyes of the rulers of the nations to see the one true King and be ready to serve at his command.

Give to us and to all those around us the vision of holiness in the daily scene of work and play … Help us to find in those we too easily take for granted the image of Christ the Lord, and to honour one another as those who seek to follow in his way.

Have mercy on the sick and suffering for whom the shadow of the Cross is plainer at this time than the glory of the day and who call out not in triumph but in anguish … Give them relief in their affliction and the hope of new life.

May the voices of those who bore witness to God in this world now be blended with the eternal praise of the angels in heaven … May theirs be the song of triumph over sin and death.

We offer our prayers in the name of Christ who has come to save his people.

MAUNDY THURSDAY

John 13:1–17, 31b–35

In love and humility, let us pray to God for the Church and for the world.

Cleanse the Church from all impurity that would harm her witness … Give to all her members the spirit of mutual love that reaches out to the whole world … Make us ever faithful in celebrating and receiving the holy sacrament of the Lord’s Supper.

Give grace to all who hold authority, to become as those who serve and to care more for the needs of those they rule than for their own status and power … Let all live together in peace, free from deceit and betrayal, keeping one holy fellowship.

Sanctify our meals together, that they may follow the pattern of Christ and his disciples who sat together on the night before he suffered … Help us to draw more of our acquaintance to share in the communion of believers.

Come with healing to those whose feet are stained and weary with the sins and sorrows of life … Make them clean, bring them peace, feed them with the love of Christ so that they may again find love in their own hearts.

We join our worship with those who were strengthened by the sacrament on earth and have taken their place at the heavenly banquet … Grant to us so to walk in love that we may come as those cleansed from all impurity to the throne of grace.

We make our prayers in the name of Christ who makes his people clean.

GOOD FRIDAY

John 18:1—19:42

In the sorrow and the glory of the Passion, let us pray to the Lord.

At the foot of the Cross we offer the prayers of the Church … May his people proclaim the death of Jesus Christ through word and sacrament, through teaching and example … May we be worthy to stand with Mary his Mother and the Beloved Disciple and know the price of our salvation.

We pray for the world that Christ died to save … As he was crucified outside the city, may his healing power enter the places where there is ignorance and indifference this day … May our fallen humanity be cleansed and renewed by the blood and water of his last hour.

In our homes and in our work, draw us closer together and teach us how to bear each other’s burdens … Be with all in this community who this day must work or who seek only their own pleasure, and bring them to understand the pain that was borne for them.

Comfort and heal those who stand in the shadow of death, the mothers who have seen their children die, the friends who have been separated by death, all who are dying at this time … Grant that those whose crosses are heavy may find new hope in the Cross of Christ.

We remember those who have died with Christ and have passed with him from darkness to light … Keep us mindful of our own mortality, that in our last hour we may find peace and assurance in the Cross.

Christ died for us: we trust in him alone, and pray in his name.

EASTER EVE

Matthew 27:57–66

As the memory of the Passion draws towards the joy of the Resurrection, let us pray in quiet confidence.

Now let the Church, born from sorrow and despair to a glorious hope, rest with Christ in the tomb and prepare for the day of Resurrection … As his violated body was received with loving care, so may the body of his faithful now on earth honour him with humility and reverence in their worship.

Bring to the world, so torn with violence and destruction, an ending of strife, and grant the peace that can heal its wounds … Give to the rich and powerful the spirit of compassion; bring relief to those who have nothing.

Grant to us and our families a time to pause and prepare for the celebration of our risen Lord … To all in this community, as they take their time of recreation, bring the true meaning of the day, to share the love that Jesus received from his friends in death.

Give grace to those who tend the sick and the injured, who care for the damaged minds and the broken bodies … Have mercy on all who need their help, and on those who are now dying, that the bed of death may be a bed of hope and peace.

Have mercy on those who have left their earthly bodies and come in spirit to the Kingdom that will not pass away … May Christ, who has gone before through the shadow of death, raise them up into light and life eternal.

We pray in the name of Jesus Christ who in love for us entered the darkness of the tomb.

EASTER DAY

Matthew 28:1–10

As disciples who know that Christ is risen, let us pray for the Church and for the world.

As your Church rejoices this day in the Resurrection of her Lord and Saviour, may her worship be reverent and her proclamation faithful … May every Christian soul respond in faith to the call of the Master and make haste to tell the good news.

Let the Easter hope be known in all the world … Give light to those who seek, assurance to those who doubt, and peace to all … May Christ be known as the only Lord, the only hope of the nations.

Be with our families and friends and all who share with us the wonderful day of Resurrection … May the presence of Christ bring us close to those who are separated from us, in the knowledge that no distance can part us from his love.

Have mercy on those who stand at the open door of faith but are held back by doubt or fear of their unworthiness … Draw them in, that they may begin the new life that Christ has brought … Help and comfort those for whom suffering and sorrow mar the happiness of this day.

We pray for those who, having shared with Christ the death of the body, now share with him the eternal life of his Resurrection … May the promise that has been fulfilled in them be our hope in this world and our place in the world to come.

We pray in the name of Christ who conquered death that we might live for ever.

SECOND SUNDAY OF EASTER

John 20:19–31

In the power of the Spirit, let us pray for grace to do the works of faith.

Grant to the Church, the gathered people of the gospel, wisdom to know and power to proclaim the good news of the Resurrection … Make her ministers strong in the Holy Spirit to bring pardon and healing in the name of Christ.

We pray for a world where many wish to believe but are held back by doubt … Open the way to the freedom that is in Christ, that his peace may prevail among the nations and in the hearts of all people.

Grant to us, our families, friends and neighbours, the grace of the Resurrection … Break through the closed doors of our fear and doubt and give us the faith that needs no sign but the knowledge of divine love present among us.

Have mercy on all who suffer persecution for their faith, who must meet in secret and cannot worship openly … Give them strength in their need, give light to those who oppress them, so that all who trust in the Resurrection may be free to share their joy.

We pray for the departed who trusted their Lord in this world and now see him in the fullness of his glory … May their sins be forgiven and may we who now follow in faith share with them the promised blessing.

We pray in the name of Christ, by whose wounds we are healed.

THIRD SUNDAY OF EASTER

Luke 24:13–35

Let us pray to the Lord revealed to us in word and sacrament.

Help your people to search the Scriptures to bring us nearer to our Lord … May the hearts of Christians burn with faith as they feel his presence … Help us to know and to make him known in the breaking of bread.

Guide the feet that walk in doubt and uncertainty and have lost their way on the long roads of the world … Dispel the anxieties and the false reports that keep people apart: set them free with the good news of salvation.

May Christ be the guest at every table … May we see him in the stranger as well as in those close to us and make the weary and hungry welcome for his sake.

We pray for the homeless and for those who wander without a destination … Grant shelter to the unprotected, bread to the hungry and rest to the weary … Bless those who do the work of relief at home and abroad.

Be with those whose day is far spent and who are near to death … We pray for those who are with Christ in the eternal feast of his love and see him with the eyes of perfect sight.

We pray in the name of Christ, our companion through every day.

FOURTH SUNDAY OF EASTER

John 10:1–10

Let us pray for faithful following of the will of God.

Guard the Church from false teaching and from all error … Lead your pilgrim people in the right way to follow their Lord through the gate that leads to abundant life, and in turn to lead others to find the way.

Shield the peoples of this world against those that would destroy the innocent and lead astray the ignorant … Grant wisdom to discern and follow the true way, to find the fullness of living which is God’s will for all his creation.

Make us good shepherds in places where we may have influence, helping our families, friends and neighbours and those with whom we work … Bless all who are leaders in our community and grant them grace to work for the common good.

Have mercy on those who have lost their way through bad advice and false teaching … Restore to them the abundant life that is in Christ, and may his voice bring peace and healing to their wounded souls.

We pray for those who have passed through the gate of death and entered into eternal life … We rejoice with them in the promise of life more abundant than this world can give, where Christ calls his flock to be with him in glory.

May our prayers be accepted in the name of Christ, the Good Shepherd of his sheep.

FIFTH SUNDAY OF EASTER

John 14:1–14

Let us pray in faith to God for the Church and for the world.

Grant that the Church may always follow in the way of Christ, proclaim his truth and live his risen life … Keep Christian people in knowledge and service of the Father, that his will may be done on earth as it is in heaven.

As the disciples were led to understand and taught to seek God in prayer, so may those who are counted wise in the world learn where true wisdom is to be found … Teach those in positions of authority to know that all earthly power is given from above.

When our hearts are troubled, bless us with faith to offer strength and assurance in our homes and in our work … Bless those in this community who help by teaching or example to bring people to know God and to walk in his ways.

Hear the prayers of those who cry out for relief in their afflictions, in sickness, poverty, loneliness, uncertainty … Grant them the assurance that Christ, who has gone before them through suffering to glory, is near to them and will bring them home.