I composed this prayer and selected the passages of scripture today because, while writing a post at SUNDRY THOUGHTS, not one of the available propers for martyrs seemed adequate, given the topic and my mood.

KRT

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Loving God, why do the just and innocent suffer?

We read and hear ancient theological answers to that question.

Regardless of the truth of any of those answers, they fail to satisfy.

Hasten the age of your justice, we pray, so that

the meek will inherit the earth,

we will beat our swords into plowshares and learn war no more,

artificial scarcity will cease, and

nobody else will have to suffer or die for the love of one’s neighbors.

In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti.  Amen.

Joel 3:9-16

Psalm 70

Revelation 7:13-17

Luke 6:20-26

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

MARCH 15, 2019 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINT ZACHARY OF ROME, BISHOP OF ROME

THE FEAST OF SAINTS JAN ADALBERT BALICKI AND LADISLAUS FINDYSZ, ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIESTS IN POLAND

THE FEAST OF OZORA STEARNS DAVIS, U.S. CONGREGATIONALIST MINISTER, THEOLOGIAN, AND HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF VETHAPPAN SOLOMON, APOSTLE TO THE NICOBAR ISLANDS

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https://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2019/03/15/proper-for-christian-martyrs/

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Above:  Christ Pantocrator

Image in the Public Domain

Text (1834; published in 1853) by James Montgomery (1771-1854)

Hymn Source = Hymnal and Liturgies of the Moravian Church (Unitas Fratrum) (1923), Moravian Church in America

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In the hour of trial,

Jesus, plead for me;

Lest by base denial

I depart from Thee;

When Thou see’st me waver,

With a look recall,

Nor for fear or favor

Suffer me to fall.

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With forbidden pleasures

Would this vain world charm;

Or its sordid treasures

Spread to work me harm;

Bring to my remembrance

Sad Gethsemane,t

Cross-crowned Calvary.

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Should Thy mercy sent me

Sorrow, toil, and woe;

Or should pain attend me

On my path below;

Grant that I may never

Fail Thy hand to see;

Grant that I may ever

Cast my care on Thee.

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When my last hour cometh,

Fraught with strife and pain,

When my dust returneth

To the dust again;

On Thy truth relying

Through that mortal strife,

Jesus, take me, dying,

To eternal life.

Above:  The Entombment of Christ

Image in the Public Domain

Original Greek Text (700s) by St. John of Damascus

English Translation John Athelstan Laurie Riley (1858-1945)

Hymn Source = The English Hymnal (1906), The Church of England

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What sweet of life endureth

Unmixed with Bitter Pain?

‘Midst earthly change and chances

What glory doth remain?

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All is a feeble shadow,

A dream that will not stay;

Death cometh in a moment,

And taketh all away.

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O Christ, a light transcendent

Shines in thy countenance,

And none can tell the sweetness,

The beauty of thy glance.

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In this may thy poor servant

His joy eternal find;

Thou calledst him, O rest him,

Thou Lover of mankind!

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

Above:  The Lamentation of Christ, by El Greco

Image in the Public Domain

Prayer Source = Book of Worship (1942), Evangelical and Reformed Church

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God of comfort and infinite compassion, who canst turn sorrow into joy;

look mercifully upon all who are in trouble whether of mind, body, or estate;

sustain and heal the sick;

support and sanctify the dying;

visit with thy mercy those who mourn.

Pour thy divine peace into every wounded spirit;

and give to each desolate soul the assurance of thy love;

through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Above:  A King’s Burden

Image in the Public Domain

Original German Text (1700) by Caspar Neumann (1648-1715)

English Translation (1863) by Catherine Winkworth (1827-1878)

Hymn Source = Evangelical Lutheran Worship (1908), Evangelical Lutheran Joint Synod of Ohio and Other States (1818-1930)

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Lord, on earth I dwell sad-hearted,

Here I oft must mourn and sigh:

Wherefore hast Thou then departed,

Why didst Thou ascend on high?

Take me, take me hence with Thee,

Or abide, Lord, still with me;

Let Thy love and gifts be left,

That I be not all bereft.

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Leave Thy heart still inly near me,

Take mine hence where Thou art gone;

Open heav’n to me, and hear me,

When to Thee I cry alone;

When I cannot pray, O plead

With the Father in my stead;

Seated now at God’s right hand,

Help us here, Thy faithful hand.

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Worldly joys I cast behind me,

Let me choose the better part,

And though mortal chains yet bind me,

Heav’nward tend my thoughts and heart;

That my time through faith may be

Ordered for eternity;

Till we rise, all perils o’er,

Whither Thou hast gone before.

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Then return, the promise keeping,

That was made to us of old;

Raise the members that are sleeping,

Gnaw’d of death, beneath the mould;

Judge the evil world that deems

Thy sure words but empty dreams;

And for all our sorrows past

Let us know Thy joy at last.

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Above:  Christ Blessing, by Nardo di Cione

Image in the Public Domain

Text (1901) by Cleland Boyd McAfee (1866-1944), a minister of the former Presbyterian Church in the United States (1861-1983), after two nieces died concurrently of diphtheria

Hymn Source = The Presbyterian Hymnal:  Hymns, Psalms, and Spiritual Songs (1990), Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

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1.  There is a place of quiet rest,

Near to the heart of God,

A place where no sin can molest,

Near to the heart of God.

O Jesus, blest Redeemer,

Sent from the heart of God,

Hold us, who wait before Thee,

Near to the heart of God.

2.  There is a place of comfort sweet,

Near to the heart of God,

A place where we our Savior meet,

Near to the heart of God.

O Jesus, blest Redeemer,

Sent from the heart of God,

Hold us, who wait before Thee,

Near to the heart of God.

3.  There is a place of full release,

Near to the heart of God,

A place where all is joy and peace,

Near to the heart of God.

O Jesus, blest Redeemer,

Sent from the heart of God,

Hold us, who wait before Thee,

Near to the heart of God.

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This is post #1550 of GATHERED PRAYERS.

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