But you, O Bethlehem of Ephrathah,
    who are one of the little clans of Judah,
from you shall come forth for me
    one who is to rule in Israel,
whose origin is from of old,
    from ancient days.
Therefore he shall give them up until the time
    when she who is in labour has brought forth;
then the rest of his kindred shall return
    to the people of Israel.
And he shall stand and feed his flock in the strength of the Lord,
    in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God.
And they shall live secure, for now he shall be great
    to the ends of the earth…

O Lord Jesus Christ,
stay beside me to defend me,
within me to guide me,
before me to lead me,
and above me to bless me,
that with you and in you,
I may live, and move and have my being,
for ever and ever.
Amen.

(unknown)

Having got ready,
Mary, in those days
went to the hill country
with haste
to a town of Judah,
and she went
to the house of Zechariah,
and greeted Elizabeth.

And it came to pass
as Elzabeth heard Mary’s greeting
the baby moved in her womb,
and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit,
and she exclaimed with a great cry,
and said:
‘Blessed are you among women,
and blessed is the fruit of your womb.
And why me, why this?
that the mother of my Lord has come to me?
For, look
as the sound of your greeting came to my ears,
the baby in my womb
moved with joy.
And blessed is she who has believed
that there would be fulfilment
of the things spoken to her
by the Lord.

Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart;
Naught be all else to me, save that thou art –
Thou my best thought, by day or by night;
Waking or sleeping, thy presence my light.

Always rejoice,
constantly pray.
Give thanks
in all situations
– for this is the will of God
in Christ Jesus
for you all.

Do not extinguish the Spirit,
do not despise prophecies.
But test all things,
Hold fast to the good.
Abstain from every kind of evil

Then
may the God of peace himself
sanctify you completely,
and may
your whole spirit, soul and body
be kept blamelessly
in the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The one who calls you is faithful,
and he will do it.

Lord, you have given me so much,
I ask for one more thing –
a grateful heart.

George Herbert

Therefore I encourage you
first of all
to make
petitions,
prayers,
intercessions
and thanksgivings
for all people,
for kings
and for all who are in positions of authority,
that we might lead a peaceful and quiet life.
in all godliness and seriousness.
This is good and pleasing to God, our saviour,
who wishes all people to be saved
and to come to knowledge of the truth.
For there is one God,
and one mediator,
between God and humanity
(the) man Jesus Christ
who gave himself as a ransom for everyone
a testimony at the proper time.

Be thou a bright flame before me,
Be thou a guiding star above me
Be thou a smooth path below me
Be thou a kindly shepherd behind me
Today – tonight -forever
Amen.

St Columba

So be patient! – brothers/sisters – until the coming of the Lord.
Look! – the farmer waits for the precious crop from the ground
being patient for it
until it receives the autumn and spring rain.
Be patient! – you also –
Strengthen you hearts
because the coming of the Lord is arriving

Do not grumble! – brothers/sisters – against each other
so that you will not be judged.
Look! the judge stands at the door.
As an example take
the suffering and the patience of the prophets
who spoke in the name of the Lord.
Look! we consider those who have endured fortunate.
You have heard about the steadfastness of Job
and you have seen the intention of the Lord
that the Lord is very compassionate
and merciful.

O Love, O God who created me, in your love recreate me.
O Love, who redeemed me,
fill up in me whatever part of your love
has fallen into neglect within me.
O Love, O God, who first loved me,
grant that with my whole heart,
and with my whole soul,
and with my whole strength,
I may love you.

Gertrude the Great

So (John) said to the crowd,
who had come out to be baptized by him,
‘Offspring of snakes
who warned you all
to flee from the coming wrath?
So bear fruit worthy of repentance,
and do not begin to say amongst yourselves
‘We have Abraham as our father.’
For I say to you
that God can raise from these stones
children for Abraham.’
And already the axe is ready
at the root of the trees.
So every tree
not bearing good fruit
is being chopped down
and being thrown into fire.’

The people being in expectation
and all wondering in the hearts about John
whether he might be the C hrist
John answered them all:
‘On the one hand I baptize you,
but on the other, the one stronger than me comes,
the one whom I am not worthy to loose the straps of his sandals.
He will baptise you all in the Holy Spirit and fire.
who cleans out his threshing floor with the shovel in his hand
and to gather the wheat into his barn,
but the chaff he will burn in unquenchable fire.

Grant, Lord,
that we may hold to you without parting,
worship you without wearying,
serve you without failing;
faithfully seek you,
happily find you,
and forever possess you,
the only God,blessed now and for ever.
Amen

St Anselm

See, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me,
and the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple.
The messenger of the covenant in whom you delight
—indeed, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. 
But who can endure the day of his coming,
and who can stand when he appears?
For he is like a refiner’s fire
and like fullers’ soap;
 he will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver,
and he will purify the descendants of Levi
and refine them like gold and silver,
until they present offerings to the Lord in righteousness.
Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem
will be pleasing to the Lord 
as in the days of old and as in former years.

Thank you, dear Jesus,
for all you have given me,
for all you have taken away from me,
for all you have left me.

Thomas More (c.1478-1535)

May the God,
of endurance and encouragement,
give to you the same mind
among one another
according to Christ Jesus,
so that
in like mind
with one voice
you might glorify the God
and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Therefore welcome one another,
because Christ welcomed you too
to God’s glory.

So may the God of hope
fill you all with all joy and peace
in believing
so that you may abound in hope
by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is discord, union,
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.

For your mercy and your truth’s sake

Amen.

—St. Francis of Assisi

And Zachariah, his father, was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied, saying:

Worthy of praise is the Lord, the God of Israel,
because he has visited and redeemed his people.
And he raised a horn of salvation for us,
in the house of David, his servant (or child).
As he said
through the mouths of his holy prophets from eternity.
Salvation from our enemies
and from the hand of all those who hate us:
to (show) mercy to our fathers
and to remember his holy covenant,
a promise which he (made) to Abraham, our father,
which he gave us
without fear
freedom
from the hand our enemies
to serve him
in holiness and righteousness
before him for all our days.

And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High,
for you will go before the Lord,
to prepare his paths,
to give to his people,
knowledge of salvation,
by the forgiveness of their sins,
because of our God’s deepest mercy,
upon us the Sunrise will visit us from the heights,
to give light to those sitting in darkness and the shadow of death
to guide our feet into the path of peace.

O Lord Jesus Christ,
stay beside me to defend me,
within me to guide me,
before me to lead me,
and above me to bless me,
that with you and in you,
I may live, and move and have my being,
for ever and ever.
Amen.

(unknown)

In the fifteenth year of the rule of Emperor Tiberias
Pontius Pilate being governor of the Judeans,
and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee,
Philip, his brother, being tetrarch of Iturea, and the region o f Trachonitis,
and Lysanias being tetrarch of Abilene,
at the time of the high-priesthood of Anna and Caiaphas-
it came to pass that the word of God came to John son of Zechariah
in the wilderness.

And he went into all the surrounding region of the Jordan (river),
preaching a baptism of repentance
for the forgiveness of sins,
as it is written in the book of Isaiah, the prophet:
‘A voice, crying in the wilderness,
“Prepare the Lord’s road.
Make straight his paths.
Every valley will be filled
and every mountain and hill will be humbled.
And the crooked will be (made) str aight,
and the rough (ways) will be made smooth roads.
And all flesh will see the salvation of God. “

Steer the ship of my life, good Lord, to your quiet harbour,
where I can be safe from the storms of sin and conflict.
Show me the course I should take.
Renew in me the gift of discernment,
so that I can always see the right direction in which I should go.
And give me the strength and the courage to choose the right course,
even when the sea is rough and the waves are high,
knowing that through enduring hardship and danger in your name
we shall find comfort and peace.
Amen

Basil of Caesarea (c.329-379)