“. . . . deliver us from evil.” As we say these words in The Lord’s Prayer, perhaps we envision deliverance from the evils of terrorism; serious illness; financial ruin; danger faced by our loved ones in the military; hardhearted secularism and numbing apathy here at home; and the absurd political correctness that is eroding our safety, our freedoms, our very civilization. But there is an even greater evil from which we ask God to spare us: It is the evil that threatens to claim our souls; the evil we ourselves invite into our lives when we put our trust in earthly powers; the evil that entices us to turn away from God and God’s immutable natural laws.
In destroying our traditional liturgy based on God’s Word and substituting for it a secular “religion,” Episcopal Church revisionists have left us without the forms of spiritual guidance. For this, we must turn to our Book of Common Prayer — the 1928 edition.
The 1928 BCP is the only American prayer book in use today in the Episcopal Church that is entirely based on Christian doctrine. If we use it in our personal devotions and encourage our parish priests to use it in church services, if each of us can persuade one other person to seek strength and comfort in the words of the 1928 Book of Common Prayer, we will be lightening our darkness and helping to strengthen hope for our salvation. What better gift could we give a loved one on Christmas Day or any time at all?
The words of the Collect for the First Sunday in Advent inspire us to “cast away the works of darkness, and put upon us the armour of light.” The source of that light is the same Power that created the Star of Bethlehem, shining ever more brightly as the anniversary of our Savior’s birth approaches.
This collect of light is an inspirational prayer to repeat by ourselves and with others each day during this time of the church year, and during this time in our lives. With the Lord’s Prayer we ask God to deliver us from evil. With this Advent prayer, we ask that God grant us the grace to participate in our own deliverance – to choose the light.
The Christian year begins.
Archangel Michael: The Power of The Light
The First Sunday in Advent.
This Collect is to be repeated every day, after the other Collects in Advent, until Christmas Day.
Page 90, The 1928 Book of Common Prayer
Loading ...