Lost Prayers #13

A Selection of Short Evening Prayers

O Almighty and Everlasting God, as in the morning and at noontide, so now, prostrate before Thy Majesty, we pray that the darkness of sin being dispelled from our hearts, we may be brought to the true light, which is Christ. Through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Look favourably, O Lord, on this our evening prayer, and grant that when the night is passed we may be found without any stain, ready to offer our morning praises to Thee. Through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Hear, O Lord, Thy servants offering their evening praises to Thy Name. Through the silent hours of the night deign to watch over us, whom Thou hast protected in all the dangers of the day. Through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Illumine our hearts with the light of Thy splendour, O Lord, we beseech Thee: may Thy protection keep us safe all the days of our life, and in every attack of our enemy. Through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

We thank Thee, O Lord, God Almighty, for that Thou hast preserved us through the course of this day, and hast brought us unto this evening hour: we humbly pray that this raising of our hands to Thee may be counted for an evening sacrifice well pleasing in Thy sight. Through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Send Thy light, O Lord, into the dark places of our hearts. In Thy love, discover to us the snares set by our enemy in the hours of night, that, saved by Thy protection in soul and body, we may deserve again to see the morning light. Through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

O God, Who does bid us to praise Thee that Thou mayest be constrained to pardon, grant that the prayers which we have offered up at each hour of this day may be remembered in Thy mercy. Whatever evil we have done this day, do Thou in Thy loving kindness forgive. So guard us through the nights and days of this earthly life, that we may merit to see the dawn of the day that knows no night. Through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

(From A Little Book of Prayers from Old English, 1900)

Notes from the Hours: Renewal

As a sign of Your love, You renew each day for the sake of our well-being and happiness, renew us daily for the sake of Your glory.

A sign of Your love... Lord, sometimes we forget how much You love us. Since You are love, perfect love, agapē, that love that pours itself out completely for the good of the beloved, You give us innumerable signs of Your love. Please help us notice them.

You renew each day... Lord, You give us a fresh start, a new beginning each morning. You offer us all new graces, new opportunities to reach out to You and to welcome You as You extend Your love to us. You provide joys. You give us challenges that we might learn. Sometimes You allow sorrows that we might turn to You for comfort. No matter what, You renew each day that we may grow ever closer to You.

For the sake of our well-being and happiness... Lord, You want us to be happy, but the only way we can find real happiness is to unite ourselves to You, to give You our whole being, to love You with all our heart, all our soul, all our mind, and all our strength. Only then will we experience true happiness and well-being.

Renew us daily... Lord, we all fail. We all sin. We all need Your mercy, Your grace, Your forgiveness. We all need the renewal, the restoration that only You can give. Renew us, Lord, each and every day.

For the sake of Your glory... Lord, all that we are, all that we have, all that we do must be directed toward You, must be for Your glory, must be according to Your will. We must learn to put You first, before and above all things and even all other people. Our love for You must always take top priority. Give us the grace to make that true every day.

Amen.

Notes from the Hours: The God of All Consolation

On this feast of St. Paul Miki and his companions, we read from the Common of Several Martyrs. This morning's prayer includes the passage from 2 Corinthians 1:3-5:

Praised be God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all consolation! He comforts us in all our afflictions and thus enables us to comfort those who are in trouble, with the same consolation we have received from Him. As we have shared much in the suffering of Christ, so through Christ do we share abundantly in His consolation.

The God of all consolation. What a beautiful title for our Father. In Greek, the word translated here as “consolation” is paraklēsis, and it literally means a calling by someone close beside. God is close beside us; He calls us to Himself; and therein lies our consolation, our comfort, and our joy.

In the midst of our afflictions, God remains beside us and comforts us. The verb for “comfort” is parakaleō, and like the related noun above, it refers to a personal calling from someone very close. We draw our comfort from our intimacy with God. We dwell in His presence; His presence dwells in us; and we find that we can cope with whatever suffering we experience.

But we can't leave it there. We are meant to spread God's consolation to others. We are meant to remain close beside them in their sufferings and call them to join us in intimacy with God. This is the best comfort we can ever offer.

Suffering can and does draw us closer to our Father when we unite our pain to that of Christ. As we enter into Christ's sufferings, we can also enter into His intimacy with the Father. As we learn to cling to our crucified Lord even and especially in the midst of our trials, we discover comfort that comes from just being close to God, held securely in His arms, and we find that we can praise Him even in this midst of our most fierce storms.

The Greek definitions come from Biblehub.com, especially HELPS Word Studies.