Some will recall this prayer from a small collection entitled "A little book of prayers from Old English Sources" edited by Dom F. Aidan Gasquet and published by the Catholic Truth Society. More recently Templegate republished the volume in 1996 as Ancestral Prayers: Prayers in common use before the Norman Conquest of 1066 and in the centuries following.
This ancient prayer from before A.D. 1066 is an excellent aid in contemplation of the Judgement of God under which every soul shall pass.
PRAYER TO GOD AND HIS SAINTS
O Almighty and Holy Trinity, one God, whom I adore, whom I love, whom I confess, hear my humble prayer; enter into my heart and blot out my numberless sins.
And, because I have nothing good upon which I may rely, first and before all things do thou intercede for me, O Holy Mary, ever a Virgin, that I may deserve to be heard and find eternal salvation.
Come to my assistance also, O thou most honoured Prince of the Angels, Saint Michael, with all the host of heavenly powers.
And thou, Abraham, too, Patriarch beloved of God, who as a similitude of the Father didst offer thy son Isaac to Him, for which thing in thee all the nations of the earth are blessed, mayest thou and may all the other patriarchs pray that I may daily offer my soul to Christ.
Be at my side also, O David, prophet, king, and psalmist, who even as a boy didst overthrow the giant Goliath with a stone. Do thou, with all the other holy prophets, drive far from me the everlasting foe.
O glorious Saint Peter, Prince of the Apostles, by the memory of thy high glory, do thou with the other Apostles, those lights of this earth, who seated upon the twelve thrones will judge the world, do you help me, that in the Judgement Day my lot may not be found with the wicked.
May the choir of Holy Innocents, slain for the Infant Jesus, intercede beneath the throne of the Lamb of God for me.
O thou glorious and illustrious through every age, Saint Stephen, and you, all ye crimsoned ranks of martyrs, by your intercession help to wash me from every stain of sin.
Amen.+
