Eternal Father

Eternal Father, who leavest not thy children homeless, but providest, here and hereafter, their nurture and protection: we thank thee for thy holy church, reaching unto us across the ages, circling earth, and encompassing heaven. We praise thee for communion therein, with those we love, both who are with us now, and who have gone before; and with saints, apostles, prophets, martyrs, of every time and place; and with the great Head of the church, even Christ our Lord, who blesseth us with grace upon grace; and with the Holy Spirit, who daily laboreth within us, guiding, purifying, perfecting, and binding us together into one; and with thyself, who art over all, our Creator and our God.

Let not those, who wait for thee, through us be put to shame. Thy name be praised in every mouth, both now and evermore. Amen. 442.

O God, who hast made of one blood all the nations of mankind, so that all are children and members one of another: how is it that we are so slow to trace the family likeness, so reluctant to claim our common kinship? We pray thee, O our God, to make the peoples one. We pray for the church of Christ so broken, scattered and dismembered, that none would think we followed all one Lord and held a common faith. Purge away the vanity, intolerance, and unforgiving spirit which keep us far apart.

May the seamless robe not be utterly rent, nor the body any longer broken. We pray that since man’s need is one, we all may find the one way to thee, the one God. Forbid that in our highest things we should find fellowship impossible. May the spirit of Christ break down all barriers and answer the desire of all nations.

We pray for a union so deep and universal that it shall gather all within one fold: those who pray and those who cannot; those whose faith is firm, and those whose doubt is slow to clear. May we never be content with aught that excludes another from the fullness of thy grace, a single soul from the welcome of thy heart. Amen.