A Prayer of Thanksgiving for the Holy Angels
It might be that I’ve said it, oh, a hundred thousand times before. But YOU NEED TO OWN LUTHERAN PRAYER COMPANION. You can order it right here: https://www.cph.org/p-31645-lutheran-prayer-companion.aspx
And here’s why. So you can offer your thanks and praise to God in such wondrous words as these:
(p. 280)
O faithful God, lover, protector, and preserver of mankind, Lord of hosts, before whom stand a thousand times a thousand, and ten times a hundred thousand which minister unto You, through whom were made all things, visible and invisible, the thrones and dominions: how dearly You love mankind, that You should set over them from childhood Your holy angels—those steadfast, humble, friendly, God-praising angels; those obedient, chaste, lovely, true, good spirits; those beautiful, gleaming, heavenly flames of fire; those mighty champions, the host of God, the holy watchers who encamp round about those who fear Your name!
These angels always behold the face of our Father in heaven as they stand before Your throne, some of whose names You have revealed to us, such as the archangel Gabriel, which means “the power of God”; Michael, which is “who is like God?”; and Raphael, “physician of God.”* With these holy angels You defend the three estates You Yourself established on earth. For the archangel Gabriel, who stands before God, as the glorious angel of the Church brought greetings to the Virgin Mary, and announced the birth of John the Baptist to the holy priest Zechariah, and revealed to the holy prophet Daniel the time of the coming of the Messiah; the high prince Michael, as an angel of rulers and defense, protects both lord and land and fights for the people of God; and the angel Raphael, who is appointed as the angel of the home, binds the devil and household demon in the wilderness.
O dear, faithful God, what is man that You are mindful of him? I give You everlasting praise and thanks for this benefit, that You have sent out these ministering spirits to serve those who are heirs of salvation. And I beseech You to give Your angels charge over me, to keep me in all my ways; that they may bear me up by their hands, lest I dash my foot against a stone; that I may tread on the lions and adder, and trample the young lion and dragon underfoot. Drive far from me all wicked spirits, which are liars and murderers from the beginning. Defend me from their wrath and fury, from their lying and slander, from their crafts and assaults, that they may not sow their tares in among the wheat of my heart. Curb the lying spirits in the mouths of all false prophets, the spirit of murder in all tyrants, the devil of pride and covetousness in the domestic estate.
Let Your holy angels always accompany me like Jacob, protect me with fiery chariots and horses like the prophet Elisha, and bring me bread and water, that is, counsel and comfort, like Elijah. Let them be with me in my cross like the three young men in the fiery furnace and the prophet Daniel in the lion’s den; let them deliver and bring me out of all my distresses like Lot from the burning of Sodom, Peter from prison, and Paul from shipwreck. Let my house and home, children, and all I have, be watched over by Your holy angels like the house of Job, that the enemy may not gain entry. Let me live in Your fear and love Your Word and Gospel, into which things even the angels long to look. Put true repentance in my heart, that the angels in heaven may rejoice over me. Kindle in me fervent prayer and praise for Your name, that I may fulfill the office of an angel and with them sing, “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of Sabaoth,” and that my soul may at last be carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. Then on the day of the resurrection, make me like your holy angels, and in their fellowship may I dwell forever. Amen. (Johann Arndt)
*Read Tobit, if you want to learn more about Raphael. The old Lutherans in Magdeburg were still reading that book in the Daily Office in the early 17th century!
