Saint Martin's Cloak

O MOST mighty and merciful God, in this time of grievous sickness, we flee unto thee for succour. Deliver us, we beseech thee, from our peril; give strength and skill to all those who minister to the sick; prosper the means made use of for their cure; and grant that, perceiving how frail and uncertain our life is, we may apply our hearts unto that heavenly wisdom which leadeth to eternal life; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 1928 Book of Common Prayer (U.S.) This prayer did not appear in the 1662 Book of Common Prayer. That edition contained a much different prayer, "In the time of any common Plague or Sickness". This prayer is also missing from the 1979 edition of the Book of Common Prayer; apparently, pandemics weren't high on the list of concerns in 1979. I imagine that the great flu pandemic of 1918 was still on the minds of those who composed the 1928 edition. 

Dear God, I ask for your blessing on this ceremony, our awardees and all who are gathered with us today. I pray that you will fill each employee with satisfaction at the great work they are doing for the sake of their country. I especially pray for those who are deployed away from home. Keep us all, and those we love, safe and strong. Grant us success in every good endeavor as we serve our community, our nation and our world. Be with us this hour, and every hour, I pray. Amen.

Holy God, creator of all, you give your sons and daughters the ability to acquire knowledge and you rejoice when they gain true wisdom. I ask that we might know the blessing of your presence here this afternoon as we honor these young scholars. Thank you for the food we share, for the work of this organization and for the generosity of those who made these scholarships possible. Thank you for the leadership, intelligence and creativity that we see in these young adults. Thank you for caring teachers and mentors who nurtured their minds and shaped their character. Thank you for friends and parents who supported and encouraged them. You helped them become who they are; now help them grow into the men and women they can become. Be with them and strengthen them for whatever the future holds. Lead them in the paths that are best for them. Help them fully develop the gifts of mind, body and spirit that you have given them. Use them to make the world a better place for everyone. Guide th...

Almighty God, creator of all, as we gather to celebrate the promotion of John Doe to the rank of colonel, our hearts are filled with happiness for him and for his whole family. You have prepared John for this day and blessed him with this special trust. You endowed him with abilities of mind, body and spirit more than equal to the task. You gave him leaders, mentors and peers to help him along the way. You sustained him and protected him in days of difficulty and peril. Remembering that to whom much is given, much is required, I ask you to direct his steps and give him the strength to carry out his new responsibilities. Endow him with the spirit of wisdom and justice. We know all too well our weak and fallible human nature, and we recognize that the work which lies before us is demanding and complex. Yet, O God, I thank you for calling us to this difficult and rewarding work. Lead John, and all of us, O Lord, in the way of peace.  Unite us in the spirit of service. No...

Gracious God, Thank you for this day now coming to a close, for this food from your bounty that we are about to share, and for all the blessings of this life. As we gather tonight to honor [the retiree] and his family, I pray that they might find in this fellowship yet one more piece of evidence of how much they are appreciated for their service, and loved for who they are. Now bless this food to the nourishment of our bodies, and this fellowship to the nourishment of our souls. Surround our tables with the joy of your presence and keep us in your care. In your holy name I pray. Amen [Offered at a pre-retirement dinner, when a separate retirement ceremony would take place on the following day.]

Almighty God, I pray this morning for the men and women of [this organization]. Unite them as one in a spirit of service and camaraderie. Sustain them in their good work. Encourage them, and grant them safety in every peril. Give them strength for their labors and wisdom equal to every task. As we pass the colors in this historic ceremony, I especially lift up the two commanders, one outgoing and one incoming. Go with [the outgoing commander] as he and his family move to a new assignment. Let their new place of service be a blessing to them in every way. And be with [the incoming commander] as he assumes command of this great organization. Endow him with every grace of leadership that he will need. Watch over him and his loved ones through all the times of trial. Grant him and his people success in every good endeavor, so that their many missions might be accomplished and every member of the team might find satisfaction in the important work they are doing on behalf of their nation ...

Almighty God, creator and sustainer of all life, It is our duty and our privilege to give you thanks for your loving care. We thank you for the many blessings you have given us over this past year. We thank you … For food to eat and clothes to wear, For shelter from the heat of summer and the cold of winter, For the fruitfulness of farms and factories and fertile minds, For safety in our homes and in our homeland, For health and happiness of every sort, And, perhaps most of all, for friends and family who love us. As citizens of these United States, we are also grateful for the civil and religious freedom we enjoy. We thank you for the labors of all those who have who have secured these many blessings for us, especially for those who serve in our nation’s armed forces. Watch over our brothers and sisters in arms who today are far from home. Heal those who are suffering from the grief and wounds of war, and provide for all those in need. We pray for your continued care and ...

Eternal God, I pray for our* army, its soldiers and civilian employees, and for all who are part of the army family. Strengthen the ties that bind us together as one, and pour out your blessing on every individual. Keep every family and every friendship whole and healthy. Guard us from all harm. Lift up the broken-hearted, and relieve those who are suffering. Guide and protect our brothers and sisters deployed throughout the world. Lead our nation always to employ us wisely and honorably. Give us the wisdom, courage and strength of spirit to accomplish every mission entrusted to us by our nation. And let our labors always contribute to the cause us of peace. Keep alive in us all those virtues of character that produce happiness for ourselves, peace in our families and righteousness in our community. Amen. * Offered for the members of the army in which the author serves as a uniformed member.

Almighty God, king of all nations, we pray to you today for our country and for all the people of the earth. Bring peace to your world, O Lord, and establish your justice among the nations. Defeat the powers of death and destruction that rage throughout the world. Deliver the innocent from their enemies. Protect your creation from harm. We give thanks for our country and for all that is good in our society. Bring joy to our land, we pray, and happiness into every home. Where we have gone astray, correct our faults and set us on the right path. Give us the means to provide for our all our families and to afford our children a better future. Build up our communities as places of well-being for everyone, and give us a love for each other that reflects the love you have for us. We seek these blessings for our nation, and for all the people of the world. Amen.

God of the ages, We thank you for all the men and women who have served in the armed forces of this country. We thank you for the freedom which their sacrifice has earned and guarded for us and for the people of the world. Help us to prize this freedom and use it well. We seek your blessings today for all living veterans and their families. Give them a sense of satisfaction in their labors and help them know just how much this nation appreciates their service. Come to the aid of those who have stumbled and who have no one to lift them up. Guide those who are having difficulty finding their way. Comfort those who grieve. Heal those who bear physical, emotional or spiritual wounds. Stand with those who provide care to them. Move us all to reach out in love to our neighbors who are veterans, or relatives of veterans, or who currently serve in the military. We pray for the day when no one needs to take up arms. Help us to live now in anticipation of that day, as people who...

O God our help in ages past, our hope for years to come, You are with us through all our days. Even in times of change, you are still God and we trust in you. I pray today for this dedicated and faithful Soldier as he retires. We are grateful for the decades of sacrificial service which he offered on our behalf. He and his family have given themselves for us; now I pray that the years to come might continue to bring them satisfaction and well being. Go with them and bless them in every new endeavor. Lord, bless us all with strength, defend us from harm, and preserve all that we hold dear, that we may continue to serve our community, our nation and our world. In your holy name, Amen.

An invocation for a National Hispanic American Heritage Month celebration, observed annually from September 15 to October 15. O God, you have made of one blood all the people of the earth, but you have also richly blessed us with a world of many languages, cultures and traditions. I thank you today for the many contributions which Hispanic Americans have made - and continue to make - to our great country. Enable us always to learn from and appreciate each other. Make us even stronger as one nation because of our diverse gifts and experiences. Enrich our minds, bodies and spirits, we pray, as we celebrate together on this beautiful day. Amen.

I gave this invocation at my command's formal holiday (aka Christmas) dinner on December 14, 2012. * * * The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned. O Lord, you have indeed brought light into our lives. The joy that we feel tonight as we gather together around these tables is but a taste of the good things you pour into our lives. I thank you at this moment for the gifts of food and friendship, for the work that you enable us to do and for the times of rest that refresh us. We are grateful for the promise that this season holds, and I pray for those in our military family who will find merriment difficult this year. For those who are grieving the loss of loved ones. For those who are separated by deployment away from friends and family. And for those still carrying around the wounds of war, whether visible or invisible. Bless us all, I pray, not with presents and packages wrapped up with bows, but by an...

A prayer for the Human Resource professionals of the Adjutant General Corps O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! When I look at the heavens and consider the vastness of the universe you have made — what are human beings, that you think of them; mere mortals, that you care for them? Yet you made them little less than angels, and crowned them with glory and honor. Our God, indeed what a precious resource are human beings, that you would entrust their lives to us. We are truly grateful for outstanding work of the men and women of the Adjutant General Corps whom we honor today. Their faithful service sustains the daily life of our Soldiers – their careers, their livelihoods, their ability to provide for their families and even their hopes for the future – and their work lays the foundation for our strong Army teams. Through their example of excellence, inspire us all to do our best for the men and women whose well-being depends on us. Give us eyes always to see t...

For a community Baccalaureate held at a prayer breakfast for seniors graduating from an overseas Department of Defense Dependent School (DODDS). Our God, We ask to know the blessing of your presence here this morning as we mark this important milestone in the life journey of these young men and women. We give you thanks for this food we share together, for the friendships that have sustained our spirits, for caring teachers and mentors who have nurtured our minds and shaped our character and for ideas that have captured our imagination. We thank you Lord for the growth - physical, mental, moral and social - that has taken place in these young men and women over the past 18 or so years. You've helped them become who they are; now help them grow into the men and women they can become. Be with them and strengthen them for whatever the future holds. Lead them in the paths that are best for them. Watch over them and protect them as they begin to establish their independence. And be...

A prayer at the lighting of the community holiday lights. God of light and life, In the darkness of winter, you bring cheer to our hearts with the lighting of these trees. May your light shine within our hearts throughout these days, and fill us, I pray, with the hope of peace on Earth and good will to all. Let your blessing rest upon each one standing guard here on Freedom's Frontier, and bring comfort to all of those who are separated this holiday season from those they love. I also pray that your Spirit might strengthen and protect our brothers and sisters in arms who tonight are deployed to even more lonely and dangerous places throughout the world, sacrificing so much to achieve a measure of that peace we seek. Sustain them and their families through every difficult day. Make us all, I pray, instruments your more perfect peace. Where there is hatred, let us sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where th...

God of all nations and all people, This morning you bless us with gifts of life and food, laughter and music, wisdom and inspiration. Despite our many differences, you have gathered us around these tables in true peace and community. We thank you for your grace and for the labor of those who have made this morning possible. Pour out your grace upon us, that your perfect peace might reign in every heart and every home and every land. Fulfill the deepest hopes and dreams of those who founded this nation to be a beacon of freedom and justice. Enable each one of us to fulfill our calling in this world. Where we are ignorant, enlighten us. Where we are prideful, humble us. Where we are weak, strengthen us. Where we are broken, heal us. We thank you for all those who lay their lives on the line for the sake of others, and for all our partners in the cause of peace. Sustain and protect all who labor with us this day to give the world a taste of the good things that we have experi...