SECOND CENTURY PRAYERS
Intercession
May God the Father, and the Eternal High Priest Jesus Christ, build us
up in faith and truth and love, and grant to us our portion among the
saints with all those who believe on our Lord Jesus Christ. We pray for
all saints, for kings and rulers, for the enemies of the Cross of
Christ, and for ourselves we pray that our fruit may abound and we may
be made perfect in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.
—Polycarp.
A Dying Prayer of Polycarp, the Martyr
O Father of Thy well-beloved and blessed Son Jesus Christ, through whom
we have known Thee; O God of the angels and powers and of every living
creature, and of all sorts of just men which live in Thy presence, I
thank Thee that Thou hast graciously vouchsafed this day and this hour
to allot me a portion among the number of martyrs, among the people of
Christ unto the resurrection of the everlasting life, both of body and
soul, in the incorruption of the Holy Ghost; among whom I shall be
received in Thy sight this day, as a fruitful and acceptable sacrifice,
as Thou hast heretofore prepared, often revealed and now fulfilled, most
faithful God who canst not lie. Wherefore for all things I praise Thee,
I bless Thee, I glorify Thee, through the everlasting High Priest, Jesus
Christ, Thy well-beloved Son, to whom with Thee and the Holy Ghost, be
all glory, world without end. Amen.
—The Martyrdom of Polycarp.
A Prayer for the Privilege of Martyrdom
Ask for me this only in your prayers, that strength may be given me of
the Lord that I may not be called but proved to be a Christian. Then
shall I be seen to be faithful when the world no longer sees me. For
nothing that appeareth is eternal. For the things which are perceived
are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal. I write to
the Churches and charge you all that willingly I die for Christ, if you
prevent me not. I ask of you that your love for me be not untimely;
allow me to be devoured of wild beasts, through whom I may attain unto
God. I am the grain of God ground between the teeth of wild beasts, that
I may be found to be the pure bread of Christ. Then indeed shall I be
the true disciple of Christ when the world shall no longer behold my
body. Beseech Christ on my behalf that through these means I may be
found a perfect sacrifice. Not as Peter and Paul do I command you. They
were apostles, I am the least of them; they were free, but I am a slave
even unto this day, but, if you wish, I shall be the freedman of Jesus
Christ, and in Him I shall rise again and be free. Amen.
—Ignatius.
For Soul Cleansing
O God, who hast taught us Thy divine and saving oracles, enlighten the
souls of us sinners for the comprehension of the things which have been
before spoken, so that we may not only be seen to be hearers of
spiritual things, but also doers of good deeds, striving after guileless
faith, blameless life, and pure conversation.
Release, pardon, and forgive, O God, all our voluntary and involuntary
sins, such as we have committed in action and in word, knowingly and
ignorantly, by night and by day, in mind and thought, forgive us all in
goodness and love.
Sanctify, O Lord, our souls, bodies and spirits; examine our minds and
search our consciences; take from us all evil imaginations, all impurity
of thought, all inclinations to lust, all depravity of conception, all
envy, pride and hypocrisy, all falsehood, deceit and irregular living,
all covetousness, vain glory and sloth; all malice, anger and wrath, all
remembrance of injuries, all blasphemy and every motion of flesh and
spirit that is contrary to the purity of Thy Will. Amen.
—Liturgy of St. James.
To Witness for Christ
Grant, O merciful God, that as Thy holy Apostle St. James, leaving his
father and all that he had, without delay, was obedient to the call of
Thy son Jesus Christ, and followed Him, and at last cheerfully laid down
his life for His gospel’s sake, so I, forsaking all worldly and carnal
affections, may be evermore ready to follow Thy holy commandments, and,
whenever Thy providence shall make it my duty, may readily and
cheerfully embrace death, though armed with his utmost terror, rather
than forsake or deny Thee. Let me rejoice in every happy occasion of
testifying the sincerity of my love, by suffering for Thy truth, and let
the firm belief of those glorious eternal rewards which Thou hast
prepared for them who lay down their lives for Thy sake, support me
under all the cruelties of the most merciless persecutors. Grant this, O
blessed Lord, who didst die for me, and didst rise again, and now
sittest at the right hand of the Father, to intercede for me, and all
Thy faithful disciples. Amen.
—Liturgy of St. James.
For a Pure Heart
O God, the Father of our Saviour Jesus Christ, whose name is great,
whose nature is blissful, whose goodness is inexhaustible, God and Ruler
of all things, who art blessed forever; before whom stand thousands and
thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand, the hosts of holy angels
and archangels; sanctify, O Lord, our souls and bodies and spirits,
search our consciences, and cast out of us every evil thought, every
base desire, all envy and pride, all wrath and anger, and all that is
contrary to Thy holy will. And grant us, O Lord, Lover of men, with a
pure heart and contrite soul, to call upon Thee, our holy God and Father
who art in heaven. Amen.
—Liturgy of St. James.
Sanctify Us, O Lord
God and Father of our Lord and God and Saviour Jesus Christ, the
glorious Lord, the blessed essence, the bounteous goodness, the God and
Sovereign of all, who art blessed to all eternity, who sittest upon the
cherubim, and art glorified by the seraphim, before whom stand thousand
thousands and ten thousand times ten thousand hosts of angels and
archangels: Thou hast accepted the gifts, offerings, and fruits brought
unto Thee as an odour of a sweet spiritual smell, and hast been pleased
to sanctify them, and make them perfect, O good One, by the grace of Thy
Christ, and by the presence of Thy all-holy Spirit.
Sanctify also, O Lord, our souls, and bodies, and spirits, and touch our
understandings, and search our consciences, and cast out from us every
evil imagination, every impure feeling, every base desire, every
unbecoming thought, all envy, and vanity, and hypocrisy, all lying, all
deceit, every worldly affection, all covetousness, all vainglory, all
indifference, all vice, all passion, all anger, all malice, all
blasphemy, every motion of the flesh and spirit that is not in
accordance with Thy holy will: and count us worthy, O loving Lord, with
boldness, without condemnation, in a pure heart, with a contrite spirit,
with unshamed face, with sanctified lips, to dare to call upon Thee, the
holy God, Father in heaven. Amen.
—Liturgy of St. James.
For Stewardship
O Lord God Almighty, who hast built Thy Church upon the foundation of
the Apostles, under Christ the head corner-stone, and to this end didst
endue Thy holy apostle St. Barnabas with the singular gift of the Holy
Ghost; leave me not destitute, I humbly beseech Thee, of Thy manifold
gifts and talents, nor yet of grace to make a right use of them always
without any sordid self-ends, to Thy honour and glory; that, making a
due improvement of all those gifts Thou graciously entrustest me with, I
may be able to give a good account of my stewardship when the great
Judge shall appear, the Lord Jesus Christ, who reigneth with Thee and
the Eternal Spirit, one God, blessed forever. Amen.
—Barnabas.
Stewardship
O Lord God Almighty, who didst endue Thy holy apostle Barnabas with
singular gifts of the Holy Ghost; leave us not, we beseech Thee,
destitute of Thy manifold gifts, nor yet of grace to use them always to
Thy honour and glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
—Barnabas.
Prayer to the Teacher
Be gracious, O Instructor, to us Thy children, Father, Charioteer of
Israel, Son and Father, both in One, O Lord. Grant to us who obey Thy
precepts, that we may perfect the likeness of the image, and with all
our power know Him who is the good God and not a harsh judge. And do
Thou Thyself cause that all of us who have our conversation in Thy
peace, who have been translated into Thy commonwealth, having sailed
tranquilly over the billows of sin, may be wafted in calm by Thy Holy
Spirit, by the ineffable wisdom, by night and day to the perfect day;
and giving thanks may praise, and praising thank the Alone Father and
Son, Son and Father, the Son, Instructor and Teacher, with the Holy
Spirit, all in One, in whom is all, for whom all is One, for whom is
eternity, whose members we all are, whose glory the aeons are; for the
All-good, All-lovely, All-wise, All-just One. To whom be glory both now
and forever. Amen.
—Clement of Alexandria.
For Growth in Grace
Give perfection to beginners, O Father; give intelligence to the little
ones; give aid to those who are running their course. Give sorrow to the
negligent; give fervour of spirit to the lukewarm. Give to the perfect a
good consummation; for the sake of Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.
—Irenaeus, Old Gallican Sacramentary.