Let us pray (in silence) [that God makes us more Christ-like]
Pause
Grant, O God,
that with our hearts contemplating all that is good and true
we may please you by word and deed in the way we live;
through Jesus Christ
who is alive with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Amen.
NZ RC Te Reo Māori version:
E te Atua kaha rawa, ka inoi nei mãtou, whakaae mai
i a matou e whakaaroaro ana ki ngã taonga wairua,
ka tutuki i a mãtou mã te kupu, mã te mahi,
nga mea e manawareka ana ki a koe.
Mã to matou Ariki mã Hehu Karaiti, tau Tamaiti,
e ora nei, e rangatira tahi nei kora i te kotahitanga o te Wairua Tapu,
Atua kotahi, mo ake ke.
Amine.
I have been working on these prayers for 12 years. A previous rendition of mine was:
Let us pray (in silence) [that through our wisdom and love God is revealed]
Pause
Almighty God,
grant that we, meditating always on what is right and true,
may please you in word and deed;
through Jesus Christ, our Saviour
who is alive with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Amen.
I would be interested in opinions about which is better and why, and any improvements on this or any others in my Book of Prayers in Common.
The original was
Praesta, quaesumus, omnipotens Deus, ut, semper rationabilia meditantes, quae tibi sunt placita, et dictis exsequamur et factis.
This was a daily prayer in the Hadrianum (8th Century). In the Gelasian Sacramentary it was used in time of strife. From the eighth century until the Roman Missal of 1962 it moved between the fifth and sixth Sunday after Epiphany. It has been used as the collect in the Gathering rite, as a prayer after Communion, and as a prayer over the people at the end of the Eucharist. I cannot locate it in the Sarum Rite, and nor can I find it in any Anglican revision. It is the current collect for the Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time in the Roman Rite.
What we pursue is also our motivation for pursuing those things that are pleasing to God. These are the focus of our meditation.
ICEL translation (1973):
Father,
keep before us the wisdom and love
you have revealed in your Son.
Help us to be like him
in word and deed.
In the failed 1998 English Missal translation:
Almighty God,
fix our hearts on what is right and true,
that we may please you always
by observing your will in both word and deed.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God for ever and ever.
Current ICEL translation (2011):
Grant, we pray, almighty God,
that, always pondering spiritual things,
we may carry out in both word and deed
that which is pleasing to you.