Anglican General Confession
The Anglican Communion, which includes the Church of England, The Episcopal Church (in the United States) and other member churches, has its own act of contrition, referred to in the Prayer Book as the General Confession. This is said by the Congregation en masse during regular worship services. The original form in the 1662 Book of Common Prayer is:
- ALMIGHTY and most merciful Father;
- We have erred, and strayed from thy ways like lost sheep.
- We have followed too much the devices and desires of our own hearts.
- We have offended against thy holy laws.
- We have left undone those things which we ought to have done;
- And we have done those things which we ought not to have done;
- And there is no health in us.
- But thou, O Lord, have mercy upon us, miserable offenders.
- Spare thou them, O God, which confess their faults.
- Restore thou them that are penitent; According to thy promises declared unto mankind in Christ Jesu our Lord.
- And grant, O most merciful Father, for his sake; That we may hereafter live a godly, righteous, and sober life, To the glory of thy holy Name. Amen.
Modernized forms can be found in other Anglican Prayer Books.
Read more about this topic: Act Of Contrition
Famous quotes containing the words anglican, general and/or confession:
“The Anglican Church is marked by the grace and good sense of its forms, by the manly grace of its clergy. The gospel it preaches is, “By taste are ye saved.” ... It is not in ordinary a persecuting church; it is not inquisitorial, not even inquisitive, is perfectly well bred and can shut its eyes on all proper occasions. If you let it alone, it will let you alone. But its instinct is hostile to all change in politics, literature, or social arts.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“There is a mortifying experience in particular, which does not fail to wreak itself also in the general history; I mean “the foolish face of praise,” the forced smile which we put on in company where we do not feel at ease, in answer to conversation which does not interest us. The muscles, not spontaneously moved but moved, by a low usurping wilfulness, grow tight about the outline of the face, with the most disagreeable sensation.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“Modesty is the lowest of the virtues, and is a real confession of the deficiency it indicates. He who undervalues himself is justly undervalued by others.”
—William Hazlitt (1778–1830)