<h2 class="sc" id="c4">Chapter II <br/>SECOND CENTURY PRAYERS</h2>
<div class="pb" id="Page_22">22</div>
<h3>Intercession</h3>
<p>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. <span class="sc">Amen.</span>
<span class="lr">—Polycarp.</span></p>
<h3>A Dying Prayer of Polycarp, the Martyr</h3>
<p>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
<span class="pb" id="Page_23">23</span>
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. <span class="sc">Amen.</span>
<span class="lr">—The Martyrdom of Polycarp.</span></p>
<h3>A Prayer for the Privilege of Martyrdom</h3>
<p>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
<span class="pb" id="Page_24">24</span>
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. <span class="sc">Amen.</span>
<span class="lr">—Ignatius.</span></p>
<h3>For Soul Cleansing</h3>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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
<span class="pb" id="Page_25">25</span>
injuries, all blasphemy and every motion of flesh
and spirit that is contrary to the purity of Thy
Will. <span class="sc">Amen.</span>
<span class="lr">—Liturgy of St. James.</span></p>
<h3>To Witness for Christ</h3>
<p>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.
<span class="sc">Amen.</span>
<span class="lr">—Liturgy of St. James.</span></p>
<div class="pb" id="Page_26">26</div>
<h3>For a Pure Heart</h3>
<p>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. <span class="sc">Amen.</span>
<span class="lr">—Liturgy of St. James.</span></p>
<h3>Sanctify Us, O Lord</h3>
<p>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
<span class="pb" id="Page_27">27</span>
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.</p>
<p>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.
<span class="sc">Amen.</span>
<span class="lr">—Liturgy of St. James.</span></p>
<h3>For Stewardship</h3>
<p>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
<span class="pb" id="Page_28">28</span>
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. <span class="sc">Amen.</span>
<span class="lr">—Barnabas.</span></p>
<h3>Stewardship</h3>
<p>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. <span class="sc">Amen.</span>
<span class="lr">—Barnabas.</span></p>
<h3>Prayer to the Teacher</h3>
<p>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
<span class="pb" id="Page_29">29</span>
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.
<span class="sc">Amen.</span>
<span class="lr">—Clement of Alexandria.</span></p>
<h3>For Growth in Grace</h3>
<p>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.
<span class="sc">Amen.</span>
<span class="lr">—Irenaeus, Old Gallican Sacramentary.</span></p>
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