05 July 2016

Of Missionaries

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For Missionaries. 

O Most merciful Saviour and Redeemer, who wouldest not that any should perish, but that all men should be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth; Fulfil Thy gracious promise to be present with those who are gone forth in Thy Name to preach the Gospel of salvation (in distant lands). Be with them in all perils by land or by water, in sickness and distress, in weariness and painfulness, in disappointment and persecution. Bless them, we beseech Thee, with Thy continual favour, and send Thy Holy Spirit to guide them into all truth. O Lord, let Thy ministers be clothed with righteousness, and grant that Thy Word, spoken by their mouths, may never be spoken in vain. Endue them with power from on high, and so prosper Thy work in their hands that the fulness of the Gentiles may be gathered in, and all Israel be saved. Hear us, O Lord, for Thy mercy’s sake, who livest and reignest with the Father and the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen. 

 For Missionaries Journeying. 

O God, who didst bring Abraham Thy servant out of Ur of the Chaldees, and didst preserve him unhurt through all his pilgrimage; We beseech Thee, that Thou wouldest vouchsafe to keep these Thy servants: be unto them, O Lord, a Support in setting out, a Solace by the way, a Shadow in the heat, a Covering in the cold, a Shelter from the storm, Rest in weariness, their Guardian in adversity, their Staff in slippery places, and a Haven in shipwreck, that Thou being their Ruler and Guide, they may in safety reach their journey’s end. Grant, we beseech Thee, Almighty God, to these Thy servants a way of safety, that they following the doctrine of the blessed Forerunner Saint John, may, without let or hindrance, attain to Him whom he foretold, Thy Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost for ever and ever. Amen.


A Book of Offices, 1914