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A PRAYER FOR THE BEGINNING OF A YEAR
by Alexander V. Griswold, Episcopal Bishop 1835
(Submitted by Ted Schroder)
Adorable and every gracious God, whose days are without end and whose mercies cannot be numbered, thou art from everlasting to everlasting; the same yesterday, today and for ever. Thou hast laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of thy hands. They shall perish but thou remainest: they shall all wax old as doth a garment, and shall be changed; but thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail. Though days, and months and years pass away, and time itself shall be no longer, thy kingdom shall endure for ever and ever.
Behold in mercy thy needy, dependent and perishing creatures, whose life is but a span, and whose age is even as nothing in respect of thee. It is of thy mercy that we are not consumed, and because thy compassions fail not. Thou holdest our souls in life, and to thee we lift our eyes as the only hope of all the ends of the earth.
We thank thee, O blessed Lord God, that while another year has passed away, and thousands and tens of thousand precious souls have departed to the eternal world, we yet survive; that we have been, by thy merciful providence, conducted through a thousand perils to this present time. Help us, O heavenly Father, so to number our days, and so duly to consider the shortness and uncertainty of human life, that we may apply our hearts to true wisdom. Shouldst thou, O Lord, in thy goodness, let us alone another year also, give us grace, we beseech thee, to serve thee better than in times past. Create us again unto good works, and renew us day by day.
Our life and breath are thine; our times are in thy hand; and may our whole heart and soul be devoted unto thee, and we be ever prepared to say, To live is Christ, and to die is gain.
Support us in all our dangers, both of soul and body. Lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil. We ask it in the name, and through the mediation of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
(From the library of Ted Schroder, Amelia Plantation Chapel, Amelia Island, Flordia)
