Praying with the prayers of the saints

Christians who have gone before us provide inspiration and examples of living the Christian life. They can also provide us with prayers that we can use in our own lives. The commemoration of saints has always been a part of the Anglican tradition and has evolved over the centuries. A good modern source of this tradition is a book entitled For All the Saints, published by The Anglican Church of Canada. For All the Saints is intended to help enrich our celebration of the communion of saints. The book can be read and downloaded, at no cost, from the Anglican Church of Canada’s website at: https://www.anglican.ca/wp-content/uploads/ForAlltheSaints.pdf.

 It provides prayers and readings for specific days, according to the Calendar of the Book of Alternative Services, and some recent additions. The Saints included are those formally canonized by the church as well as many others. There are several entries for notable Canadian Saints, and Saints from elsewhere in the past. Sometimes we need inspiration to frame our prayers, and this book can help us to pray with prayers related to a Saint on a particular day of the year.

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Another way to pray with the Saints is to use prayers that have been written over the years by the Saints themselves. There are, of course, many hundreds and thousands of these, and I encourage you to search for the ones that might be helpful in making your connection with the Divine Presence. In no particular order, here are a very few prayers written by past notable Saints.

Julian of Norwich (1342-1416))

In you, Father all-mighty, we have our preservation and our bliss. In you, Christ, we have our restoring and our saving. You are our mother, brother, and Saviour. In you, our Lord the Holy Spirit, is marvellous and plenteous grace. You are our clothing; for love you wrap us and embrace us. You are our maker, our lover, our keeper. Teach us to believe that by your grace all shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well.

St. Francis of Assisi (1182-1226)

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace: where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy. O Divine Master grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console, to be understood as to understand, to be loved as to love.  For it is in giving that we receive, it is in pardoning that we are pardoned, and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

St. Richard of Chichester (1197-1253)

Thanks be to thee, my Lord Jesus Christ, for all the benefits thou hast given me, for all the pains and insults thou hast borne for me. O most merciful redeemer, friend and brother, may I know thee more clearly, love thee more dearly, and follow thee more nearly, day by day.

St. Teresa of Avila (1515-1582)

Let nothing disturb you. Let nothing frighten you. All things pass. God does not change. Patience achieves everything. Whoever has God lacks nothing. God alone suffices. Christ has no body now on earth but yours; no hands but yours; no feet but yours. Yours are the eyes through which the compassion of Christ must look out on the world. Yours are the feet with which He is to go about doing good. Yours are the hands with which He is to bless His people.

St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274)

Grant me grace, O merciful God, to desire ardently all that is pleasing to You, to examine it prudently, to acknowledge it truthfully, and to accomplish it perfectly, for the praise and glory of Your name. Amen. 

St. Augustine (354-430)

Breathe in me, O Holy Spirit, that my thoughts may all be holy. Act in me, O Holy Spirit, that my work, too, may be holy. Draw my heart, O Holy Spirit, that I love but what is holy. Strengthen me, O Holy Spirit, to defend all that is holy. Guard me, then, O Holy Spirit, that I always may be holy.

Praying with the Saints can help us experience the breadth and depth of the ways we can connect with the Holy One and experience God’s presence in our lives.