Litany and Prayers for All Saints 2019

Litany and Prayers for All Saints 2019

This year, on All Saints Sunday, I will replace my sermon in our Lutheran church with a responsive litany, spoken with the congregation. We will follow with the Apostles’ Creed and then say special prayers for the day. May this be a day of profound and grateful remembrance for us all.

• • •

• Litany

We remember the great ancestors of our faith:
We remember Abraham and Sarah, Miriam and Moses,
David and Solomon, Isaiah and Jeremiah,
Peter, James, and John, Paul and Timothy,
Mary and Martha, Tabitha, Lydia, and Phoebe,
And all the people through whom God wrote the Story of our salvation.

Ancestors of the faith, we remember you.

We remember the saints of church history:
The early church fathers, bishops, and apologists who advanced and defended the faith,
The monastics and ascetics, who abandoned this world to seek a better one,
The reformers, who brought renewal and rebuilt your fallen church.
We especially remember Martin and Katie Luther,
Who restored God’s Word and opened a stream of tradition from which we still drink.
We remember that millions upon millions have responded in faith to your Word over the centuries, and now rest in your presence, awaiting the day of resurrection.

Saints of yesterday and today, we remember you.

We remember your church’s servants: pastors, teachers, and church musicians,
Our godparents and the faithful leaders of congregations,
Those who baptized us, catechized us, and walked with us through our lives,
The church members who came to the Table with us and passed God’s peace to us,
The neighbors and friends who have taught us to follow Jesus by their living examples.

Friends and examples of the faith, we remember you.

We remember our grandparents and parents, aunts and uncles,
Those who have gone before us in our lifetime:
We lift up the memories of children and grandchildren,
Brothers and sisters, husbands, wives, and parents whose lives ended too soon:

Family members ever precious our hearts, we remember you.

We lift up to You, O God, the names of others we are missing from our lives.
We trust that they are in your heart forever and rest in your care:
Friends and neighbors, coworkers, acquaintances, members of our communities.

Fellow pilgrims through this life, we remember you.

We celebrate the lives of those we have named, O God, and those left unnamed.
We give thanks, O God, for all who rest with you beyond this life.
We trust in the hope of resurrection and new creation in Christ,
Knowing that in our grief and celebration, nothing can separate us from your love.
In the name of Christ, in whom love lives forever, we remember and pray.

Amen.

• The Apostles’ Creed is said here.

• Prayers

As those who believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting, let us pray for God’s family and the world in which we live:

God our Life, we thank you that, because Jesus died and rose again, all your people are assured of being with Christ himself, in a glorious restful existence, until the day of resurrection when all is renewed, when heaven and earth at last become one, and we are given new bodies to live and love, celebrate and serve in your new creation.

May we live in faith, trusting in God who gives life, both now and forever.
May we live in hope, looking forward to the life of the age to come.
May we live in love, laying down our lives that others may live also.

God our Shepherd, walk with us through the valley of death’s dark shadow. Put your arms around us, dry our tears, reassure us that you are with us to sustain us, and may we hear your reassuring promise that nothing – not even death itself – can ever separate us from your love.

May we live in faith, trusting in God who gives life, both now and forever.
May we live in hope, looking forward to the life of the age to come.
May we live in love, laying down our lives that others may live also.

Trusting in your great and precious promises, we pray for these, your saints.

May the faithful departed, through God’s mercy, rest in the peace of Christ and rise in the glory of the new creation.

God our Faithful Friend, walk with us as we continue our journey through this life. May we trust in your presence, know the power and fruit of the Holy Spirit in our lives, bear one another’s burdens, rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep.

Today, we especially pray for these who are struggling on the journey…

You may now name those you know to be in need of prayer.

Together we pray:

May we live in faith, trusting in God who gives life, both now and forever.
May we live in hope, looking forward to the life of the age to come.
May we live in love, laying down our lives that others may live also.

All these things we pray, that your name might be honored, your Kingdom come, and your will be done on earth as in heaven.

Amen and amen.