Above: Nevada State Orphanage, Carson City, Nevada
Image Source = Library of Congress
Litany Source = A Book of Worship for Free Churches (1948), the General Council of the Congregational Christian Churches in the United States
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Let us thank God for his blessings. For all thy blessings in creation; for the beauty of earth and sea and sky; for thy manifold works, and the wisdom with which thou hast made them all,
We thank thee, O God.
For the happiness of our earthly life; for peaceful homes and healthful days; for our powers of mind and body; for faithful friends, for the joy of loving and being beloved,
We thank thee, O God.
For the revelation of thy love and for newness of life in our Saviour; for the blessings brought to us by thy holy Church; for the grace of thy sacraments and for our fellowship with thee in Christ,
We thank thee, O God.
Lord, have mercy upon us.
Christ, have mercy upon us.
Lord, have mercy upon us. From blindness to thy presence in life and sacrament; from hardness of heart and from want of truth, in thought and word and deed,
Good Lord, deliver us.
From all that would injure the body, from unworthy fears and anxieties, from despondency, discontent and despair,
Good Lord, deliver us.
From want of sympathy with friends and neighbors; from harsh judgments and ill-feeling towards any; from idle talk and slander; from want of love for our contrary, and unwillingness to seek the common good,
Good Lord, deliver us.
When we question the value of life; when our sense of duty grows faint through self-indulgence; in suffering and failure; in times of happiness and success; in our days of labor and our nights of rest; in the freedom of youth and the weariness of old age; in the hour of death, and in the day of judgment,
Good Lord, deliver us.
That it may please thee to bless with wisdom and courage to those to whom the people have entrusted power, and to give thy guidance and blessing to all who hold rule over their fellows;
We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord.
That it may please thee to inspire all who are seeking to improve the conditions of our industrial life, and to give fortitude and new hope to all who are out of work;
We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord.
That it may please thee to solace all who have lost those whom they most loved; to sustain the widows and orphans; to uphold all who are sick and suffering; to protect such as have lost the kindly light of reason; and to supply the needs of the blind, the deaf, and the dumb;
We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord.
May the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the splendor of the Eternal Light, remove from our hearts all darkness, now and forevermore. Amen.
–Pages 306-309
GATHERED PRAYERS 
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