Sovereign Lord,
We thank you for being our Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace.
In the fullness of time you, the Word, became flesh and dwelt among us …
full of grace and truth.
Open our eyes to the great significance of the Incarnation,
for you have visited and redeemed your people.
You have tented among us.
You have come that we might have life!
O Come, Thou Day-Spring,
Come and cheer our spirits by thine advent here,
And drive away the shades of night,
And pierce the clouds and bring us light.
Yes, Lord, pierce the clouds that dim our trust in you:
the clouds of grief,
the clouds of loss,
the clouds of disappointment,
the clouds that make us wonder in our difficulties,
Where are you?
O blessed Savior, light of my life,
Holy Ghost, with light divine,
Shine upon this heart of mine.
Chase the shades of night away,
Turn my darkness into day.
In doing this, Lord, I ask that you enable me
to henceforth walk in the light.
Sun of Righteousness, we do not yet know what we shall be,
but we do believe that when Jesus shall appear,
we shall be like him.
So in between these two Advents,
may our longing,
our expectation,
our hope in him
make us pure even as he is pure.
We pray in Jesus’ name.
The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light;
those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone.
prayer & verse 