Private Devotions of Lancelot Andrewes for the Second Day (Monday)
1. Meditation
My voice You shall hear in the morning, O Lord;
in the morning I will direct my prayer to You
as I look up to the heavens.[1]
Blessed are You, O Lord,
Who did create the firmament of heaven,
the heavens and the heaven of heavens,
the heavenly powers,
angels,
archangels,
cherubim,
seraphim;
the waters above the heavens,
mists and vapors,
showers,
dew,
hail,
snow like wool,
frost like ashes,
ice like morsels,[2]
clouds from the ends of the earth;
lightning,
thunder,
winds out of Your treasuries,
storms;
the waters beneath the heavens,
water to drink,
and water for washing.[3]
2. Confession of Sin
I will confess my sins,
and the sins of my ancestors;
I have transgressed, and neglected You and Your creation, O Lord,
and walked contrary to Your ways.[4]
Set not, O Lord, my iniquities before You,
nor my secret sins in the light of Your countenance,[5]
but pardon the iniquity of Your servant,
according to the greatness of Your mercy,
just as You have forgiven me from my days as a child,
even until now.[6]
Have I sinned?
What have I done to You,
O watcher of men?
Why have You set me as Your target,
so that I am a burden to myself?
O pardon my transgression,
and take away my iniquity.[7]
Deliver me from going down to the pit,
for You have found a ransom for me.[8]
Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David!
Lord, help me.
Yes, Lord; yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs
which fall from their master’s table.[9]
Have patience with me, Lord;
I am unable to pay the debt, I confess to You;
forgive me the whole debt, I beseech You.[10]
How long, O Lord?
Will You forget me forever?
How long will You hide Your face from me?
How long shall I take counsel in my soul,
and have sorrow in my heart each day?
How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?
Consider and hear me, O Lord my God;
open my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death;
lest my enemy say, “I have prevailed against him”;
lest those who trouble me rejoice when I am shaken.
But I have trusted in Your mercy;
my heart shall rejoice in Your salvation.
I will sing to the Lord,
because He has dealt bountifully with me.[11]
3. Prayer for Grace
Remove from me
all iniquity and profanity,
superstition and hypocrisy;
worship of idols and worship of men;
rash oath and curse;
neglect or indecency of worship;
haughtiness and recklessness;
strife and wrath;
passion and corruption;
indolence and fraud;
lying and injury,
every evil notion, every impure thought,
every base desire, every unseemly impression.
Help me
to be godly and devout;
to worship and serve;
to bless and speak truthfully;
to confess honestly in the congregation;
with affection and obedience;
patience and good temper;
purity and sobriety;
contentment and goodness;
truth and innocence;
wholesome thoughts and endurance to the end.
4. Confession of Faith
I believe in God
the Father Almighty,
Maker of heaven and earth:
and in Jesus Christ
His only begotten Son Our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Ghost,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified,
dead,
and buried:
He descended into hell;
He rose again from the dead;
He ascended into heaven,
and sits on the right hand;
to return thence
to judge both the quick and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Ghost;
in the Church,
holy,
Catholic,
The communion of saints;
In the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the flesh,
and the life everlasting.[12]
And now, Lord, what do I wait for?
My hope is in You;[13]
In You, O Lord, I put my trust,
let me never be ashamed.[14]
5. Intercession
I pray to You, Lord, for the whole creation:[15]
for the supply of the seasons,
healthful, fruitful, and peaceful;
for the whole race of humankind:
for those who are not Christians,
for atheists, non-religious, Pagans, Muslims, Jews,
that they all may experience Your boundless love;[16]
for all Christians:
for the restoration of all
who languish in selfishness and sin;
for the affirmation of all
who have been granted truth and grace;
for the guidance and comfort of all
who are discouraged, ill, distressed, or wandering;
for gratitude and clarity of thought for all
who are hearty, healthy, flourishing and sound,
for all men and women;
for the universal Church,
its establishment and increase;
for the Eastern Church,
its deliverance and unity;
for the Western Church,
its adjustment and peace;
for the Anglican Church,
its supply for all that is lacking,
its strengthening for all that remains;
for the episcopate, the presbyterate, the diaconate, and the laity.
for all the states of the inhabited world;
for states inspired by Christian values,
far off and near;
for our own;
for all who rule and serve,
for all elected officials,
for councils and judicatories,
army and police,
everyday people and their leaders,
farmers, herders, fishers, merchants,
traders, and mechanics,
the down-to-earth workers
and the poor;
for stability:
for the health and nurture of families and youth,
for all those in colleges, universities, and schools,
at work, in city or country;
for all who are connected to me
by kinship:
siblings, cousins, and relatives
that God’s blessing may be on them
and their loved ones;
for all who are connected to me
by benefits conferred:
those who have helped me in practical ways
that they may be rewarded by Your favor;
for all who are connected to me
by trust placed in me:
for all whom I have educated;
for all whom I have baptized, married, and blessed [confirmed and ordained]
for my college and my parish,
[Southwell, St. Paul’s, Westminster,
Dioceses of Chichester, Ely and my present Winchester]
clergy, laity, ministries, commissions, and councils
deaneries, chaplaincies, and charities;
for all who are connected to me
by natural kindness:
for all who love me
though I know them not;
for all who are connected to me
by Christian love:
for those who hate me without a cause,
and some who may hate me on account of truth and righteousness;[17]
for all who are connected to me
by neighborhood:
for those who live near me
peacefully and harmlessly;
for all who are connected to me
by promise:
for all whom I have promised to remember in my prayers,
and for all who remember me in their prayers and ask me to do the same;
for all who fail to call upon You;
for all who have no intercessor on their own behalf;
for all who are presently in agony
or extreme need or deep affliction;
for all who are attempting any good work
which will bring glory to the Name of God,
or some great good to the Church;
for all who act reverently toward the church or to the poor;
for all who have been offended by me
either in word or deed.
God be merciful to me and bless me;
God make Your face to shine upon me,
and have mercy on me.[18]
God bless me, even our God;
God bless me, and receive my prayer.
O direct my life towards Your commandments,[19]
hallow my soul, purify my body, correct my thoughts,
cleanse my desires, soul and body,
mind and spirit,
heart and emotions.
Renew me thoroughly, O Lord,[20]
for, if You willing, You can make me clean.[21]
6. Thanksgiving
The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious,
longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth,
Keeping mercy for thousands,
forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin;
And Who will by no means leave the guilty unpunished;
visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children.[22]
I will bless the Lord at all times:
His praise shall continually be in my mouth.[23]
Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace,
goodwill toward men.[24]
Glory to You among
the angels who guard us;
the archangels who illuminate us;
the thrones who judge us;
the dominions who benefit us;
the principalities who govern us;
the virtues who encourage us;
the cherubim who give us wisdom;
the seraphim who set us on fire with love.[25]
Glory to You
in all the thoughts of our hearts,
words of our lips,
deeds of our hands,
paths of our feet.
[1] Psalm 5:3
[2] “He gives snow like wool; He scatters the frost like ashes; He casts out His hail like morsels” Psalm 147:17 NKJV
[3] This prayer loosely based on Daniel 3:52 – 68, additions to Daniel
[4] Leviticus 26:40
[5] Psalm 90:8 NKJV modified
[6] Numbers 14:19 NKJV modified
[7] Job 7:20 – 21 NKJV modified. Andrewes changes the question of Job 7:21a (“Why do You not pardon my transgression and take away my iniquity?”) into a petition.
[8] Job 33:24 NKJV modified; YHWH’s speech.
[9] Matthew 15:22, 25, 27; the words of the Canaanite woman.
[10] Derived from the Parable of the Unforgiving Debtor (Matthew 18:21 – 35)
[11] Psalm 13 NKJV
[12] A slightly abbreviated form of the Apostles Creed in 1662 Book of Common Prayer
[13] Psalm 39:7 NKJV
[14] Psalm 31:1 NKJV
[15] Here, Andrewes writes “Let us pray”; however, to remain consistent with the personal prayers for individuals I modified it to “I pray…”
[16] “…that atheists, ungodly, Pagans, Turks, Jews may be converted.”
[17] “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake…” Matthew 5:10
[18] Derived from the Aaronic Blessing: “The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you” (Numbers 6:24 – 25).
[19] Psalm 119:35
[20] Psalm 51:10
[21] Matthew 8:2
[22] Exodus 34:6 – 7
[23] Psalm 34:1
[24] Luke 2:14
[25] This reference to the angels bookends the opening meditation on the angels, who, according to some traditions, were created on the second day of Creation. Andrewes lists the celestial hierarchies according to Pseudo-Dionysius and then later Thomas Aquinas. While Andrewes simply lists the orders and their function: “The angels, guardianship; archangels, illumination…” I modified the text so that it flows more explicitly as a Thanksgiving Prayer: Glory to you among…”
DANIEL DeFOREST LONDON 