Christ as the good shepherd, by Lucas Cranach the Younger, via Wikimedia Commons
O Good Shepherd Jesus, good, gentle tender Shepherd,
behold a shepherd, poor and pitiful,
a shepherd of your sheep indeed,
but weak and clumsy and of little use,
cries out to you.
To you, I say, Good Shepherd,
this shepherd, who is not good, makes his prayer.
He cries to you,
troubled on his own account,
and troubled for your sheep.
Aelred of Rievault, 1109 – 1167, Abbot of Rievaulx in northern England
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Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.
prayer & verse 
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