For cantor, SATB mixed voices, congregation, organ, and handbells (optional). The organ has five solo improvisatory interludes. Originally composed in December 1990 using text written by Carl Carlozzi.
Lyrics
God the Father, Creator of heaven and earth, have mercy on us.
God the Son, Redeemer of the world, have mercy on us.
God the Holy Spirit, Sanctifier of the faithful, have mercy on us.
Holy, blessed, and glorious Trinity, One God, have mercy on us.
We confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done and by what we have left undone. Forgive us, O Lord.
We have not loved you with all our heart, and mind, and strength. We have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We have not forgiven others as we have been forgiven. Forgive us, O Lord.
We have squandered the resources of your creation and been insensitive to the needs of generations yet to come. Forgive us, O Lord.
Forgive what we have been, amend what we are, direct what we shall be, that we may delight in your will and walk in your ways. Forgive us, O Lord.
Help us to prepare your way, opening our hearts to the transforming grace of your Word. Prepare us, O Lord.
Lead us in the way of John the Baptist, that our hearts may be open to receive the gift of the One who is to come. Prepare us, O Lord.
Let us hear again the message of Gabriel and ponder anew the miracle of life. Prepare us, O Lord.
Like Mary, let us sing with joy as we give thanks for the coming of the Savior. Prepare us, O Lord.
Fill us, O Lord, with the desire to observe this holy season, so that we might come to the birth of your Son in joy and expectation. Prepare us, O Lord.
Your will is justice and respect for the dignity of all people. Remind us, O Lord.
Your will is empowering love, giving us courage to bear the burdens of life. Remind us, O Lord.
Your will is peace, comfort to the troubled conscience and hope for new beginnings. Remind us, O Lord.
In all our life, O Lord, enliven our hopes, inspire our dreams, that we may delight in your will and walk in your ways. Lord, hear our prayer.
Keep us expectant, O Lord, to see new possibilities for life and ministry through the eyes of your Son. Lord, hear our prayer.
Empower us to reach out in love to the forsaken, the destitute, and the oppressed. Lord, hear our prayer.
We pray for direction in our community of faith, for the ministry of laity and clergy, and all in authority in the nations of the world. Lord, hear our prayer.
We pray for all humanity, for peace, for good will among nations, and for your spirit of love in our hearts. Lord, hear our prayer.
We pray for all who are ill and those in trouble and adversity. Lord, hear our prayer.
We pray for those who have died and all who are the vessels of God’s grace in every generation. Lord, hear our prayer.
Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.
Almighty God, give us grace to cast away the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light, now in the time of this mortal life in which your Son Jesus came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the living and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal; through him who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
—The Rev. Carl G. Carlozzi
