Words from around the world… What words can be uttered when our thoughts and imaginations are shattered? What words do we say aloud when we gather to worship? What words bring sense to violent senselessness? Perhaps the silence between the words will offer the needed time for sighs and tears. These prayers were originally written […]
Read full textCandlelight words
Longest Night opening prayer — Cara Heafey, UK
Appropriate for a Blue Christmas or Longest Night service, acknowledging the challenges often faced during the dark seasons of the year. On this longest night of the year, we gather to worship you, our Creator. The prophets tell of a light to the nations; a dawn from on high breaking upon us. The poets speak […]
Read full textPsalm 63, I ache for you — Jim Burklo, USA
Lectionary reading — Lent 3 Year C O dear God, I love you! I ache for you, my heart burns for you and only you can quench this fire only you can satisfy my desire O sweet God, be on my lips lightly brushing, then with the full force Of my passion for your presence […]
Read full textUnfolding – David Long-Higgins, USA
O Love, Unfold me anew; For my spirit easily tightens Around yesterday’s too much Sadness and loss and worry. Stretch me open With an energy not my own But given as the gift of Life Revealing beauty within Already formed by You Before I even knew to notice. Yes, Love, ground me In Your forming […]
Read full textHealing prayer after trauma — Elizabeth Gray-King, UK
A prayer for healing after trauma Easily adapted for a group, e.g. using ‘our’ and ‘us’ God of all time, this time is difficult. My memories rush at me. My memories have disappeared as my mind manages each day. I am aware that others have had times like mine or worse. But God it feels […]
Read full textPatient dawn — Sam Goodman
The next time it gets light I will awake with hope And tonight as it gets dark I will not fear The next time it grows light I will welcome the dawn The next time morning comes I’ll be reborn The next time it grows dark I will not hide away The darkness does not […]
Read full textThe nights are long — source unknown
The days are short. The nights are long. Your universe mirrors the reality of our hearts, Revealing your gracious spirit that Mourns with us in grief, Cries with us in sorrow, Sits with us in despair. You are not a distant God, removed from human pain, But a faithful companion Closer to us than our […]
Read full textThe nights are closing in — Amy Boucher Pye, USA
The nights are closing in, And darkness descends. Sometimes I feel lost in the dark, Wondering where you are; If you’ve left me. At times like these, Remind me of your presence and love And help me, Gently, to educate my feelings To fall in line with the truth of your promises. Enable me to […]
Read full textStardust — Lorraine Steel, USA
Genesis 1 is often included in readings for the Easter vigil, Trinity Sunday and Epiphany. As the stars slid down the beams of the universe in it’s beginning, they burned with love…. so much so that some became vulnerable and exploded. Eons later, in free fall toward our planet many of their parts held us […]
Read full textPrayer of approach & confession — Cara Heafey, UK
Prayers of approach and confession Loving God Our souls sing out in worship And all of creation bursts forth with praise! For you look with compassion on all who suffer. You shed tears of sorrow with those in grief. You reach down into the dark pit of hopelessness. You kneel in the dust to lift […]
Read full textSacred time — Annie Heppenstall, UK
Let this be a sacred time, O God, in which I let what has begun, gradually grow, finding within me the patience and trust that allows me to tend my concerns with wisdom. This prayer by Annie Heppenstall was distributed at Gloucester Cathedral during the ‘Museum of the Moon’ exhibition in October 2019.
Read full textLighting a candle is a prayer – Hereford Cathedral, UK
When I lit a candle in Hereford Cathedral, I picked up a card that reads: The shrine of St Thomas of Hereford: a place where pilgrims have left their prayer for hundreds of years. Lighting a candle is a prayer When we have gone it stays alight — continuing our prayers of thanksgiving and intercession […]
Read full textDark Moments — Ann Lewin, UK
A reflection on Dame Julian of Norwich’s text from Revelations of Divine Love: ‘All shall be well. You shall see yourself that all things shall be well. That which is impossible for you is not impossible for me. I shall keep my word in all things and I shall make all things well.’ ‘All shall […]
Read full textHopeful brokenness, in response to a bombing — Ana Gobledale, UK
Written April 2018 during a time of personal reflection in the Lady Chapel, Ely Cathedral, UK, following the bombing of Syria by the US and the UK. Broken Bombed Darkness descends How did it come to this? God groans The world whimpers. We cower Fearfully crying out, ‘Which way?’ What about our grandchildren? Follow the […]
Read full textLight a little candle, Matthew 2:1-2– Jeremy McLeod, Colorado USA
In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, asking, ‘Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage.’ — Matthew 2:1-2 Light a […]
Read full textTaize, a reflection — Lynne Roberts, Australia
Lofty, cavernous space Warm, earth-toned candlelight enfolding me in its womb. Nothing can harm you A suggestion of incense Soft, background chanting hinting at generations past and to come. Vast eternal community gathered in microcosm. Come and pray in us, Holy Spirit Majestic windows drawing my soul upwards on the rising […]
Read full textJohn 1:5, Come, shine in the darkness — Cara Heafey, UK
God, you are not distant from us You came to us in vulnerability You offered yourself as a gift of love. We pray today for those who are in the midst of darkness The darkness of poverty The darkness of loneliness The darkness of grief The darkness of despair Wherever shadows threaten to overwhelm Wherever […]
Read full textScouts International Peace Light Service
Each Advent season, the Scout International Peace Light travels from Bethlehem around the world. Towns and faith communities hold services for receiving the light and for sending it forth. These resources are for use in a Peace Light Service. Peace Light Prayer May the kindly spirit of Christmas spread its radiance far and wide, So all the […]
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