Here’s a beautiful prayer of remembrance suitable for use on All Saints or in conjunction with the Beatitudes texts (Matthew 5: 3-12; Luke 6: 20-26). It was written by Bruce Prewer, Uniting Church of Australia.
Prayer of Remembrance: All Saints Day
Living God, in whom there is no shadow or change, we thank you for the gift of life eternal, and for all those who having served you well, now rest from their labours.
We thank you for all the saints remembered and forgotten, for those dear souls most precious to us.
Today we give thanks for those who during the last twelve months have died and entered into glory. We bless you for their life and love, and rejoice for them “all is well, and all manner of things will be well.”
God of Jesus and our God, mindful of all those choice souls who have gone on ahead of us, teach us, and each twenty-first century disciple of every race and place,
· to follow their example to the best of our ability:
· to feed the poor in body or spirit,
· to support and comfort the mourners and the repentant,
· to encourage the meek and stand with them in crises,
· to affirm those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
· to cherish and learn from the merciful,
· to be humbled by, and stand with, the peacemakers.
Let us clearly recognize what it means to be called the children of God, and to know we are to be your saints neither by our own inclination nor in our own strength but simply by the call and the healing holiness of Christ Jesus our Saviour. Amen!
— written by Bruce Prewer and posted on his website, Bruce Prewer’s Homepage.
For more resources for All Saints Day (November 1), click on All Saints in the list of “Labels” at the lower right side of the page. For more resources on the Beatitudes, click on Beatitudes.
For other prayers and prayer resources on this blog, see this Scriptural Prayer Index or this Topical Prayer Index.
