Sunday Prayers by Lancelot Andrewes
Lancelot Andrewes (1555 – 25 September 1626) was an Anglican priest and bishop in England, where he served “on the committee of scholars that produced the King James Translation of the Bible, and probably contributed more to that work than any other single person. It is accordingly no surprise to find him not only a devout writer but a learned and eloquent one, a master of English prose, and learned in Latin, Greek, Hebrew and eighteen other languages.” [1] During his life, Andrewes “prepared for his own use a manuscript notebook of Private Prayers, which was published after his death” – The Private Devotions and Manual for the Sick of Lancelot Andrews. [2] “The material was apparently intended, not to be read aloud, but to serve as a guide and stimulus to devout meditation.” [3]
Easter “is the day on which the very essence of what it means to be human is transformed and elevated in Christ – the first day of a new creation that neither negates nor overpowers the old but restores and raises it up.” [4] One of the ways we celebrate the joyful season of Eastertide is through our lectionary readings recalling the Creation and focusing on renewal in Christ. Another way we celebrate is through prayer. Included in Andrewes’s manual are prayers for each day of the week, each day recalling God’s act of creation. These prayers serve as wonderful meditations during Eastertide.
Below are excerpts of Lancelot Andrewes’s prayers for Sundays from The Private Devotions and Manual for the Sick of Lancelot Andrews.
THROUGH the tender mercy of our God, the day- spring from on high hath visited us.—Luke i. 78.
Glory be to thee, O Lord, glory be to thee, who, as on this day, didst create the light, and enlighten the world; (Gen. i. 3.)
The visible light; The rays of the sun, the flame of fire, the day and the night, the evening and the morning. — Gen.i.5.
The intellectual light; That which is known of God,—Rom. i. 19.
That which is written in the law.—Luke x. 26.
The revelations of Prophets,
The melody of Psalms,
The instruction of Proverbs,
The experience of Histories.
A light which hath no evening.
GOD is the Lord, which hath shewed us light; keep holiday in multitudes, even unto the horns of the altar.—Psalm cxviii. 27.
By thy resurrection, raise us up unto newness of life (Rom. vi. 4.); grafting in us fruits meet for repentance.—Matt. iii. 8.
Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus Christ, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant;
Make us perfect in every good work to do his will, working in us that which is well-pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever.—Heb. xiii. 20, 21.
O THOU who, on this day, didst send down thy most holy Spirit on thy disciples, take not, O Lord, that holy Spirit from us, (Ps. li. 11.) but daily renew it in us who call upon thee.— Chrysost. Lit. [5]
I BELIEVE in thee, O Lord, The Father, The Word, One God.—1 John v. 7.
The Spirit, J 1.
That by thy Fatherly mercy and power all things were created.
That by thy goodness and thy love towards man all things are restored. 2.
In thy Word: Who, for us men and for our salvation, was made flesh;
Was conceived, was born,
Suffered and was crucified, Dead, and buried;
He descended, he rose again,
He ascended, he sat at the right hand;
He shall return, and render unto every man. 3.
That, by the illumination and operation of thy Holy Spirit,
A peculiar people is called out of the whole world into one society,— Tit. ii. 14.
Unto belief of the truth,—2 Thess. ii. 13.
And holiness of conversation:—1 Pet. iii. 2.
That, in this Spirit,
We are made partakers
Of the communion of the saints,
Of the remission of sins,
In this life present;
And that, in the same Spirit, we assuredly look for
The resurrection of the flesh, and life everlasting,
In the world to come.
THIS most holy faith,
Once delivered unto the saints,—Jude 3.
I believe, O Lord; Help thou mine unbelief.—Mark ix. 24.
Increase my little faith;—Luke xvii. 5.
And mercifully grant That I may love the Father for his goodness,
And adore the Almighty for his power;
That I may commit the keeping of my soul to him in well-doing, as unto a faithful Creator.— 1 Pet. iv. 19.
Grant that I may share Salvation of Jesus,
Unction of Christ,
Adoption of the only-begotten Son.
That I may worship the Lord,
For His conception, In faith;
For His birth,
In humility;
For His sufferings,
In patience, and in hatred of sin;
For His cross,
In crucifying the first emo tions of the flesh;—Gal. v. 24.
For His death, In mortifying the flesh;
For His burial,
In burying evil thoughts by good works;
For His descent,
In descending by frequent meditation into hell;
For His resurrection,
In rising up unto newness of life;—Rom. vi. 4.
For His ascension,
In setting my affection on things above;—Col. iii. 2.
For His sitting at the In giving unto godliness the right hand of the first place in my heart;
Father,
For His return from In awe of His second com thence,
For His judgment of
In judging myself, that I the world, be not judged by Him.— 1 Cor. xi. 31.
Grant, that I may receive from the Spirit
The breath of saving grace,
That in the Church I may be partaker of Election,
In the Holy Church, of Sanctification.
In the Catholic Church, of Communication;
And of a share in Its sacraments and prayers,
Its fastings and groanings,
Its watchings and tears,
Its afflictions;
Unto an assurance of the remission of my sins,
Unto a hope of resurrection and translation to eternal life.
O THOU, that art the hope of all the ends of the earth, and of them that remain in the broad sea; —Ps. lxv. 5.
O thou, in whom our fathers trusted, and thou didst deliver them; in whom they trusted, and were not confounded;—Ps. xxii. 4, 5.
O thou, that hast been my hope from my youth; (Ps. lxxi. 5.) even when I was upon my mother’s breasts; (Ps. xxii. 9.) upon whom I was cast from the womb;—Verse 10.
Be thou my refuge henceforth and for ever, and my portion in the land of the living.—Ps. cxlii. 5.
My hope is in the goodness of thy nature, in the excellency of thy names, in thy types and figures, in thy word and works:
Let me not be ashamed of my hope.—Psalm cxix. 116. [6]
[5] [6]
Citations:
[1] Kiefer, J. E. (n.d.). Lancelot Andrewes, Bishop and Scholar. Biographical sketches of memorable Christians of the past. Retrieved May 16, 2022, from http://justus.anglican.org/resources/bio/252.html
[2] Ibid. 1
[3] Ibid. 1
[4] Balsbaugh, J. (2019, April 22). Easter Monday and the New Creation. Veritas Journal. Retrieved May 16, 2022, from https://veritasjournal.org/2019/04/22/easter-monday-and-the-new-creation/
[5] Andrewes, Lancelot. The Private Devotions and Manual for the Sick of Launcelot Andrews (Kindle ed., p. 404-413). Kindle Edition.
[6] Ibid. 5, P. 627-683
Posted in: Prayer
