An Advent Prayer for December 4

A Byzantine Traditional Prayer

 

Christ is born; give him the glory!
Christ has come down from heaven; receive him!
Christ is now on earth; exalt him!
O you earth, sing to the Lord!
O you nations, praise him in joy,
for he has been glorified!

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever.

Amen.

 

            This ancient prayer has the feel of a psalm, as it trumpets the birth of Christ with an exhortation to praise and song on the part of the believer.  Perhaps it was a sung prayer as well, as its rhythms would suggest that a melody may have been a part of its expression.

            While I don’t know what notes (if any) may have accompanied its opening lines, its final line is the traditional Gloria Patri sung every Sunday of my childhood at the conclusion of the pastoral prayer.  As Presbyterians, we weren’t as strictly liturgical as some churches, but there was a pattern to our worship, and these words were included in that pattern.

            “Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost.”  We stood in the presence of God and affirmed our belief in the Trinity, one in three, and, as Salvation Army doctrine explains, “co-equal in power and glory.”  Present in the beginning, at the creation of the world.  Present in our day, as we walk in the Spirit, and present forever, infinitely God with us.

For this day, it will be the melody that echoes in my head. 

 

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost. 

As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end.

Amen.  Amen.

 

Prayer Focus:  in praise of the Trinity