Daily readings and prayers for the nine days before Christmas. Visit all the stations in the Garden, or check back here for a virtual prayer time. The full list of daily links can be found here.
Today's prayers
O Radix Jesse (O Root of Jesse)
O Root of Jesse, standing as a sign among the peoples;
before you kings will shut their mouths,
to you the nations will make their prayer:
Come and deliver us, and delay no longer. (cf Isaiah 11.10; 45.14; 52.15; Romans 15.12)
Isaiah 11.1-9
A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse,
and a branch shall grow out of his roots.
The spirit of the LORD shall rest on him,
the spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the spirit of counsel and might,
the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.
His delight shall be in the fear of the LORD.
He shall not judge by what his eyes see,
or decide by what his ears hear;
but with righteousness he shall judge the poor,
and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;
he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,
and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.
Righteousness shall be the belt around his waist,
and faithfulness the belt around his loins.
The wolf shall live with the lamb,
the leopard shall lie down with the kid,
the calf and the lion and the fatling together,
and a little child shall lead them.
The cow and the bear shall graze,
their young shall lie down together;
and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp,
and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder’s den.
They will not hurt or destroy
on all my holy mountain;
for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD
as the waters cover the sea.
Prayer
O Lord, Word of God, You, whose glory is complete, came to us in perfect humility as a child in the womb. Your love for us and Your humility is unsurpassed and brings us to our knees in prayer and worship. Your incarnation forever changed the world.
O Lord, infant Jesus, bring us the Hope that saves! Your birth to the Virgin Mary brought a Hope to the world that continues to sustain us. We pray for a saving Hope this Christmas. We also pray for these intentions… (State your intentions here)
May Your Holy Will be done in my life and with these intentions.
We pray that the work of salvation that Your first coming began
will reach fulfillment in each of us.
All Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning, is now and forever shall be, world without end. Amen.
[artwork by linda witte henke]