Here is a prayer at the table suitable for use at Christmas. It was written by Jennifer Phillips, the Vicar of St. Augustine’s Episcopal Church in Kingston, Rhode Island.
Eucharistic Prayer for Christmas
Holy God, our Source and Ending, Alpha and Omega,
we give thanks to you!
You have called all creation into being,
setting the earth on its foundations.
You have spread out the heavens like a tent,
and set a boundary to the seas,
you have filled the world with your creatures
and called all things good.
The heavenly beings are your messengers night and day,
and with them we sing and give glory to you:
Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of power and might.
heaven and earth are full of your glory.
Hosanna in the highest!
Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest!
In these latter days, God leaned toward the earth
and spoke to us by a Son, Jesus the Beloved.
Born of our sister Mary and the Holy Spirit,
guarded by our brother Joseph with fatherly care,
Jesus came among us as a baby, humbly born,
cradled beside the beasts and warmed by their breath,
human as we are, in need of human love.
Yet kings bowed down before him, bringing gifts
and emperors were troubled by his reign—
this Child in whom all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell.
This Word of God made flesh and full of grace
was sent to deliver us from our sin,
from the power of evil and the fear of death.
As a servant, Jesus emptied himself of might upon the cross,
and as the risen Anointed One is enthroned at God’s right hand
to bring mercy and justice to all the earth at the end of days.
And so, rejoicing in all God has done for us,
we proclaim the mystery of our faith:
Christ has died.
Christ is risen.
Christ will come again!
Holy God, as you visited us in the birth of Jesus,
visit us now by the power of your Spirit
in these creatures of bread and wine,
making them for us the Body and Blood of Christ,
the banquet of heaven here on earth,
as we remember how Jesus took bread and blessed
and broke it and gave it to his friends, saying,
“Take, eat, This is my body, given for you.
Do this for the remembrance of me.”
and after supper, took a cup of wine
and blessed and gave it to them, saying:
“Drink this, all of you.
This cup is the new covenant in my blood,
poured out for you and for many
for the forgiveness of sin.
Do this for the remembrance of me.”
Blessed God, shed your grace brighter than starlight on us
that we may bear your good tidings to all
and renew the weary world in your name:
the name of Emmanuel—God-With-Us,
to whom we give honor and glory in joy, now and for ever. Amen.
— written by Jennifer Phillips. Posted on the Worship Well website.
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