Wednesday, March 16, 2011

A Sarum Prayer for Ember Wednesday in Lent

In the Sarum Missal, the mass for Ember Wednesday in Lent concluded with the following “prayer over the people”:

We beseech Thee, O Lord, cast the bright beams of Thy light upon our minds, that we may both perceive the things we ought to do, and also may have power rightly to fulfill the same.

A variation of this prayer was and is the collect for the First Sunday in Epiphany.

It is a favorite prayer of mine. I often feel that, in spite of my feeble best efforts, too much of my life is spinning my wheels instead of accomplishing what God would have me to do. And I covet both God’s guidance and power to make something of this live he has given me. So when I come across this collect, I pray it most heartily.

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