From my book A Calendar of Classic Prayer, a short but powerful celebration of God’s forgiveness and new life, offered to all.
Background
Our prayer today comes from Thomas Ken (1637–1711), Anglican bishop, poet and celebrated hymnwriter. Ordained in 1662, he served parishes in Essex, the Isle of Wight and Hampshire before later being appointed by Charles II as chaplain to Princess Mary. Subsequently made Bishop of Bath and Wells, one of his first duties in that office was to minister to King Charles as he lay on his deathbed. Later, during the reign of James II, he was imprisoned in the Tower of London for refusing to accept the Declaration of Indulgence, also known as the Declaration for the Liberty of Conscience, which suspended laws punishing Catholics and Protestant dissenters, but he was acquitted in the same year. He died at Longleat House, the home of his friend, Lord Weymouth. The following prayer, one of several you’ll find in this book written by Ken, celebrates the forgiveness and new life won for us through Christ’s suffering and death.
Prayer
To God the Father,
who first loved us,
and made us accepted in the beloved Son;
to God the Son,
who loved us
and washed us from our sins in his own blood;
to God the Holy Spirit,
who sheds abroad the love of God in our hearts;
to the one true God
be all love and all glory for time and eternity.
Amen.