Christ before us. Christ in us. Christ over us.
May the strength of God pilot us. May the power of God preserve us. May the wisdom of God instruct us. May the hand of God protect us. May the way of God direct us. May the shield of God defend us.
May the host of God guard us against the snares of the Evil One and the temptations of the world.
May Christ be with us. Christ before us. Christ in us. Christ over us. May Thy salvation, O Lord, be always ours this day and for evermore. Amen.
St. Patrick
For Courage
Teach me, O Master, the courage with which Thou didst face Thy every duty and trial, the consecration with which Thou didst make Thy every sacrifice, that heartened by Thy blessed example, I may never waver in duty, danger or sacrifice, but as a good soldier of the Cross be enabled the better to serve the Country that I love: Who livest and reignest, Amen
Prayer from 1917
For Our Enemies
O God, the father of all, whose Son commanded us to love our enemies: Lead them and us from prejudice to truth; deliver them and us from hatred, cruelty, and revenge; and in your good time enable us all to stand reconciled before you; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
A Prayer Book for the Armed Forces, 1988
Give Him Comfort, and Sure Confidence in Thee
O Lord, look down from heaven, behold, visit, and relieve this they servant. Look upon him with the eyes of thy mercy; give him comfort, and sure confidence in thee; support him under all trials of his present sickness, relieve his pains, if it seem good unto thee, and keep him in perpetual peace and safety. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Book of Common Prayer 1785, for King’s Chapel
King’s Chapel was founded by Royal Governor Sir Edmund Andros in 1686 as the first Anglican Church in New England during the reign of King James II. The original King’s Chapel was a wooden church built in 1688 at the corner of Tremont and School Streets, where the church stands today. It was situated on the public burying ground because no resident would sell land for a non-Puritan church.
In 1749, construction began on the current stone structure, which was designed by Peter Harrison and completed in 1754. The stone church was built around the wooden church. When the stone church was complete, the wooden church was disassembled and removed through the windows of the new church. The wood was then shipped to Lunenburg, Nova Scotia where it was used to construct St. John’s Anglican Church. That church was destroyed by fire on Halloween night, 2001. It has since been rebuilt.
During the American Revolution, the chapel sat vacant and was referred to as the “Stone Chapel.” The loyalist families left for Canada, and those who remained reopened the church in 1782. It became Unitarianunder the ministry of James Freeman, who revised the Book of Common Prayer along Unitarian lines in 1785. Although Freeman still considered King’s Chapel to be Episcopalian, the Anglican Church refused to ordain him. The church still follows its own Anglican/Unitarian hybrid liturgy today. It is a member congregation of the Unitarian Universalist Association.
A Prayer for a Person Bound to Sea
O Eternal Lord God, who alone spreads out the haves, and rules the raging of the sea; Be pleased to receive into thine protection the person of thy servant, for whom our prayers are deferred. Preserve him from the dangers of the sea, (*and from the violence of the enemy;) and may he return in safety to enjoy the blessings of the land, with the fruits of his labours; and with a thankfully remembrance of thy mercies, to praise and glorify they holy name, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
*These words to be said in time of war.
Book of Common Prayer 1785, for King’s Chapel
King’s Chapel was housed in what was formerly called “Stone Chapel”, an 18th century structure at the corner of Tremont Street and School Street in Boston, Massachusetts.