Prayer library

Prayer · Anglican · Book of Common Prayer

The General Thanksgiving (Book of Common Prayer)

The Book of Common Prayer's General Thanksgiving, added to the Prayer Book in 1662, as printed in the 1928 American Book of Common Prayer.

Almighty God, Father of all mercies, we, thine unworthy servants, do give thee most humble and hearty thanks for all thy goodness and loving-kindness to us, and to all men; [particularly to those who desire now to offer up their praises and thanksgivings for thy late mercies vouchsafed unto them.] We bless thee for our creation, preservation, and all the blessings of this life; but above all, for thine inestimable love in the redemption of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ; for the means of grace, and for the hope of glory. And, we beseech thee, give us that due sense of all thy mercies, that our hearts may be unfeignedly thankful; and that we show forth thy praise, not only with our lips, but in our lives, by giving up our selves to thy service, and by walking before thee in holiness and righteousness all our days; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with thee and the Holy Ghost, be all honour and glory, world without end. Amen.

Editorial reflection

Edward Reynolds, bishop of Norwich, presented this prayer to the bishops in Convocation in December 1661, while they were revising the Prayer Book, and it entered the 1662 book. It thanks God first for creation and the blessings of this life, then for redemption, and asks that thanks show in how we live. The words in brackets are said only when someone gives thanks for a particular mercy.

gratitude

Text: The Book of Common Prayer (Protestant Episcopal Church in the U.S.A., 1928; James Pott & Company printing, 1929), Morning Prayer, p. 19. Source page: archive.org · The General Thanksgiving (Book of Common Prayer) ↗.