The Benefice of Barlings, Diocese of Lincoln : Parishes of Sudbrooke, Stainton by Langworth, and Barlings with Langworth
Our Spiritual Journey / Pilgrimage
Father of all,
We give you thanks and praise,
That,when we still far off,
You met us in your Son,
And brought us home.
Dying and living,
He declared your love,
Gave us grace,
And opened the gate of glory.
May we who share Christ’s body,
Live his risen life;
We who drink his cup,
Bring life to others;
We whom the Spirit lights,
Give life to the world.
Keep us firm in the hope you have set before us,
So we and all your children shall be free,
And the whole earth live to praise your name;
Through Christ,our Lord. ASB
Before thee,Father,in righteousness and humility.
With thee,Brother,in faith and courage,
In thee,Spirit,in stillness.
Grant unto your servant,
Towards our God - a heart of flame,
Towards our fellow men - a heart of love,
Towards ourselves - a heart of steel. St.Augustine of Hippo
Give me,good Lord,a humble,lowly,quiet,peaceable,patient,
Charitable,kind,tender,and pitiful mind,in all my works and all
My words and all my thoughts. Thomas More
Almighty God,who seest that we have no power of ourselves to help ourselves;
Keep us both outwardly in our bodies,and inwardly in our souls;
That we may be defended from all adversities which may happen to the body,
And from all evil thoughts which may assault and hurt the soul;
Through Jesus Christ our Lord. BCP
Lord Jesus,
You have taught us that love is the fulfilling of the law.
Teach us what love really is,
How much it costs,
How far it leads,
How deep it digs into our selfish lives.
Then give us the courage and the generosity to accept what it mean
Today and tomorrow and in the whole future way of our lives.
Michael Hollings
Almighty God,you alone can order the unruly wills and affections of sinful people :
Grant that we may love the things you command us
And desire the things you promise,
So that among the many and various changes of the world,
Our hearts may be surely fixed where true joys are to be found;
Through Jesus Christ our Lord. BCP
I am two men;
And one is longing to serve thee utterly,
And one is afraid.
O Lord,have compassion upon me.
I am two men;
And one will labour to the end,
And one is already weary.
O Lord,have compassion upon me.
I am two men;
And one knows the suffering of the world,
And one knows only his own.
O Lord,have
Compassion upon me.
And may the Spirit of our Lord Jesus Christ
Fill my heart and the hearts of all men everywhere.
used by Prebendary Austen Williams
Whoever truly loves you,good Lord,
Walks in safety down a royal road,far from the dangerous abyss;
And if he so much as stumbles,O Lord,stretch out your hand.
Not one fall,or many,will cause you to abandon him
if he loves you
and does not love the things of this world,
Because he walks in the vale of humility. St.Teresa of Avila
Lord,I am a countryman coming from my country to yours.
Teach me the laws of your country,
Its way of life,
Its spirit,
So that I may feel at home there. William of St.Thierry
Almighty God,Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
Establish and confirm us in your truth by your Holy Spirit.
Reveal to us what we do not know;
Perfect in us what is lacking;
Strengthen us in what we know;
And keep us faultless in your service;
Through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Clement of Rome
Lift up our hearts,O Christ,
Above the false shows of the things of this world,
Above laziness and fear,
Above selfishness,envy and greed,
Above custom and fashion,
Up to the everlasting Truth that you are,
And which shines in the depths of our hearts;
So that we may live joyfully and freely
In the faith that you are our King and our Saviour,
Our Example and our Judge;
And that as long as we are loyal to you,
All will be well with us in this world
And in all worlds to come. Charles Kingsley
Save us,O Lord,from the snares of a double mind.
Deliver us from all cowardly neutralities.
Make us to go in the paths of thy commandments,
And to trust for our defence in thy mighty arm alone.
Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Richard Hurrell Froude
Stir us up,O Lord,
To offer you our bodies,souls and spirits
In all we love,in all we learn,in all we plan,and in all we do;
May we offer our labours,our pleasures,our sorrows to you;
So that you may work through them for the glory of your kingdom,
And so that we may live as people who are not our own,
But bought with your blood,fed with your body
- people who belong to you from the hour of our birth,now and for ever. Charles Kingsley
Guide me,teach me,strengthen me,
Till I become such a person as you would have me be :
Pure and gentle,
Truthful and high-minded,
Brave and able.courteous and generous,
Dutiful and useful. Charles Kingsley
O most tender and gentle Lord Jesus,
Teach me so to contemplate you
that I may become like you,
And love you sincerely and simply
as you have loved me. Cardinal J.H.Newman
Incline us,O God,to think humbly on ourselves,
To be saved only in the examination of our own conduct,
To consider our fellow creatures with kindness,
And to judge of all they say and do
with the charity which we would desire from them ourselves.
Jane Austen
Take from us,O God,
All pride and vanity,
All boasting and forwardness
And give us the true courage that show itself by gentleness,
The true wisdom that shows itself by simplicity,
And the true power that shows itself by modesty. Charles Kingsley
Almighty God,
In whom we live and move and have our being,
You have made us for yourself and our hearts are restless
until in you they find their rest.
Grant us purity of heart and strength of purpose,
That no selfish passion may hinder us from knowing your will,
No weakness from doing it;
But that in your light we may see light clearly,
And in your service we may find our perfect freedom;
Through Jesus Christ our Lord. St. Augustine
Deliver me,Lord God,from a slothful mind,
From all lukewarmness.and all dejection of spirit.
I know these cannot but deaden my love for you;
Mercifully free my heart from them,
And give me a lively,zealous,active and cheerful spirit;
That I may vigorously perform whatever you command,
Thankfully suffer whatever you choose for me,
And always be ardent to obey in all things your holy love. John Wesley
Lord,you are our Teacher.
May we all live in your peace;
And as we journey towards your dwelling place,
may we sail through the waters of sin
in such a way
that we remain untouched by the waves,
carried calmly along by the Holy Spirit. Clement of Alexandria
O Lord God,grant us always,
Whatever the world may say,
To content ourselves with what you will say,
And to care only for your approval,
Which will outweigh all worlds;
For Jesus Christ’s sake. General Charles Gordon
O Christ,
Tirelessly you seek out those who are looking for you
and who think that you are far away;
Teach us,at every moment,
To place our spirits in your hands.
While we are still looking for you,
Already you have found us.
However poor our prayer,
You hear us far more than we can imagine or believe. Brother Roger of Taizé
O Lord Jesus Christ,
Give us a measure of Thy Spirit that we may be enabled
to obey Thy teaching
To pacify anger,
To take part in pity,
To moderate desire,
To increase love,
To put away sorrow,
To cast away vainglory,
Not to be vindictive,
Not to fear death,
Ever entrusting our spirit to immortal God,
Who with Thee and the Holy Ghost
Liveth and reigneth world without end. St. Apollonius
O Father,give us the humility which
Realizes its ignorance,
Admits its mistakes,
Recognizes its need
Welcomes advice,
Accepts rebuke.
Help us always
To praise rather than to criticize,
To sympathize rather than to condemn,
To encourage rather than to discourage,
To build rather than to destroy,
And to think of people at their best rather than at their worst.
This we ask for thy name’s sake. William Barclay
O Lord God,
Suffer us not to lean on our own wisdom,
Nor to believe as blind faith fancieth,
Nor to seek salvation where superstition dreameth,
But let our faith be grounded only on thy word;
And give us grace truly to believe in thee,
And with all our heart to put our trust in thee,
To look for all good things of thee,
To call upon thy blessed Name in adversity,
And with joyful voices and more merry hearts to praise
and magnify it in prosperity. Thomas Becon
Take from us,O God,the care of earthly vanities;
Make us content with necessities.
Keep our hearts from delighting in honours,
treasures,and pleasures of this life,
And engender in us a desire to be with thee in thy eternal kingdom.
And give us such taste and feeling for thy unspeakable joys in heaven
that we may always long for them,
And with all thy people pray for the hastening of thy kingdom;
For the sake of Jesus Christ our Lord. Edmund Grindal
O Christ !
Who has shown us the beauty of eternal peace
and the duty of inseparable love,
Grant that we may ever think humbly of ourselves,
abounding in gentleness and pity towards all,
That following the example of your humility
and imitating you in all things,
We may live in you and never depart from you. Mozarabic Liturgy
O God,
Who in thy love hast bestowed upon us gifts such as our fathers never knew
nor dreamed of :
Mercifully grant that we be not so occupied with material things that we forget
the things which are spiritual;
Lest,having gained the whole world,we lose our own soul;
For thy mercy’s sake. Canon Briggs
Almighty God,
In times of doubt and questionings,
When our belief is perplexed by new learning,new teaching,new thought;
When our faith is strained by creeds,doctrines,
by mysteries beyond our understanding,
Give us the faithfulness of learners and courage of believers in thee.
Give us boldness to examine,and faith to trust all truth;
Patience and insight to master difficulties,
Stability to hold fast our traditions,
To admit all fresh truth made known to us,
And to combine it loyally and honestly with the old.
Save us and help us,we humbly beseech thee,O Lord.
George Ridding,Bishop of Southwell
Alone with none but thee,my God,
I journey on my way.
What need I fear,when thou art near
O King of night and day?
More safe am I within thy hand
Than if a host did round me stand. St. Columba
May the Holy Ghost show us favour,
and ever be our consolation.
My soul and spirit adore Him for all eternity !
I entreat Him always to be
Our wisdom and understanding,
Our counsel,
Our fortitude,
Our knowledge,
Our piety :
And may He fill us with the spirit of
the heart of the eternal Father. Francis de Sales
Jesus,Master Carpenter of Nazareth,
Who on the cross through wood and nails didst work man’s whole salvation :
Wield well thy tools in this thy workshop;
That we who came to thee rough hewn,
May by thy hand be fashioned to a truer beauty and a greater usefulness,
For the honour of thy name. Toc H prayers
O God of our life,whom we dimly apprehend and can never comprehend,
To whom nevertheless we justly ascribe all goodness as well as all greatness :
As a Father teaches his children,so teach us true thoughts of thee.
Help us to aspire,so far as man may lawfully aspire,to a knowledge of thee.
Thou art not only a God to be honoured in times of rest and ease.
Thou art also the refuge of the distressed,
The comforter of the afflicted,
The support of the unstable.
As we sympathise with those who are smitten by calamity,
wounded by sudden accident,
wrecked in the midst of security
So must we believe that thy mighty all-embracing heart
sympathises far more than we do.
Be thou our stay of all in life and death,
And teach us to know thee and trust thee fully;
Through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Professor Francis William Newman
