This Advent and Christmastide, as we await and welcome the coming of our Savior, we invite you to join us in praying with a series of new seasonal Collects. These seven prayers, newly authored by the Brothers, draw on the richness of both scriptural language and imagery and the Christian tradition. Accompanying the prayer book Collects for the seasons, these new prayers form a part of our community’s intentional experiment with inclusive and expansive language in our liturgies this coming year.
We invite you to watch recorded conversations between Brothers as they discuss the themes that informed their compositions. Prayers, reflection questions, and additional materials will be released weekly.
Prayer in Preparation
for Worship
O God of mystery, you are always greater than our thoughts can comprehend, and always more than our words can contain. Give us humble minds and open hearts, that the language of our praise may be new every morning, and our silence pregnant with your Word; through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Brs. Keith Nelson and Lain Wilson discuss the paradox of revelation and mystery, and the invitation to experience silence as a creative presence.
Questions for Reflection
• What language for or images of God do you draw on or return to in your own prayer?
• What does contemplating the mystery of God invite in you?
• How have you experienced silence? How can you pray with silence as “creative foment”?
Brs. Lucas Hall and Geoffrey Tristram discuss the Advent theme of vigilance in Christian discipleship, reflect on the tenderness of God's love, and meditate on the invitation to be still.
Advent I
Almighty God, by whom all heaven and earth are held, we pray, give us vigilance in heart and mind and body, that we may discern the signs of your coming, and ever cooperate with your will for all to dwell in just peace in your presence, through Jesus Christ, the Wisdom in whom all have their being. Amen.
Questions for Reflection
• How have you heard the call to “keep awake” and to be vigilant, “in heart and mind and body,” in your own following of Jesus?
• Where have you experienced the tenderness and comfort of being held in God’s love?
• How can you “dwell in just peace” in God’s presence during a time of instability and uncertainty?
God of healing judgment, your merciful kindness is like a refining fire, your gentle touch a purging salve: Confront us with your tender and fierce love, that we, made whole and sound by your cleansing justice, may reach out to a troubled world with your reconciling peace; through Jesus our Lord. Amen.
Brs. Jonathan Maury and Luke Ditewig discuss the paradoxes of God’s gentle touch and fierce love as we come to God for both justice and healing.
Questions for Reflection
• How are you praying this season for divine justice and for divine mercy?
• How are you invited to feel fierce love in confronting situations that may initially unsettle you?
• Where do you need to break yourself open to receive the love of God’s purging salve?
Brs. Jamie Nelson and David Vryhof discuss how biblical agrarian imagery invites us to pray for patience and discern how God is calling us to be co-laborers in nourishing the kingdom of God.
Advent III
Gracious Creator, who causes both early and late rains to fall for the flourishing of the world: Grant us the patience of the farmer and quench the thirst of all who wait, that we may nourish the seeds of justice, mercy, and peace, until they bloom in the fullness of your time, through Christ, the Renewer of all things, who abides with you and the sustaining Spirit, one God, now and everlasting. Amen.
Questions for Reflection
• Where is God calling you to be patient for later rains that will bring to fruition seeds that have been planted in you?
• What role is God inviting you to as a co-laborer in bringing about peace, justice, and mercy?
• How does the flower of Christ’s mercy bloom in your heart? What does that image evoke in you today?
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of Woman and Child of the Most High: Be born in us, and make us midwives of your birth in others. Speak to us through signs and dreams, prophets and angels, that we may trust and proclaim your coming as Emmanuel, God with us, even now; for you live and reign with the Creator and the life-giving Spirit, one God, to ages of ages. Amen.
Brs. Keith Nelson and Curtis Almquist discuss the surprising language and images that invite us to be attentive to how God communicates to us.
Questions for Reflection
• How do you hear the phrase “Son of Woman”? Do you receive it or push back against it? What feelings arise in you?
• What other cultural roles, like midwives, are you aware of that can reveal new ways of being present to others and their relationship with God?
• In what new or unfamiliar ways, such as the imagination and dreams, is God inviting you to hear God’s voice?
Brs. James Koester and Jack Crowley discuss how the voice of God is speaking now to each of us, and how we are called to listen.
Christmas I
Bountiful God, your voice is never silent. You speak and creation springs to life. You send your Word, and creation is healed. Open the ears of our hearts so that by the sound of your Word and the Breath of your mouth, we and all creation may be healed and made new. Amen.
Questions for Reflection
• How do you feel called to listen for God’s voice today?
• Where have you noticed God speaking to you without words—in feelings, images, creation, or in other ways?
• Can you imagine yourself holding your ear to the heart of Jesus? What arises in you?
Christmas II
O God, Giver of life, who in the Incarnation has alighted in glory upon the children of Eve, grant us to behold and honor that glory in all people, that we may adore your image and proclaim your reign throughout the world, through the same Incarnate Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.
Brs. Lucas Hall and Jamie Nelson discuss images of light, dig deep into Scripture, and reflect on our common calling to adore Christ.
Questions for Reflection
• Where is the Spirit of God alighting on you in your own life?
• How are you called to pass on your own light to others, like passing on the flame of a candle?
• What word, image, or story in Scripture is attracting your attention and curiosity today and inviting you to dig deeper?