Our Sacred Roots: The Priesthood of All Believers

444

T he S eason after P entecost

Departing to Serve

Benediction O Thou Lord of all worlds, we bless Thy Name for all those who have entered into their rest, and reach the Promised Land, where Thou art seen face to face. Give us grace to follow in their footsteps, as they followed in the footsteps of Thy Holy Son. Encourage our wavering hearts by their example, and help us to see in them the memorials of Thy redeeming grace, and pledges of the heavenly might in which the weak are made strong. Keep alive in us the memory of those dear to ourselves, whom Thou hast called out of this world, and make it powerful to subdue within us every vile and unworthy thought. Grant that every remembrance which turns our hearts from things seen to things unseen, may lead us always upwards to Thee, till we too come to the eternal rest which Thou hast prepared for Thy people; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. ~ F. J. A. Hort, A.D. 1828 , in Selina Fitzherbert Fox, A Chain of Prayer Across the Ages: Forty Centuries of Prayer, 2000 B.C.-A.D. 1916. NewYork: E. P. Dutton, 1943. p. 235. Affirmation for the Day All Saints Day: Gather your saints of all the ages into your holy presence, O God. Pray without Ceasing – Flash Prayer for the Day I believe in the communion of saints, the ingathering of all the faithful, living, dead, and unborn, whom God will honor with eternal life in his Son.