Below is the litany I’m praying this week from the daily devotional I use, and have shared before, published in 1965 by Concordia Publishing House titled, The Daily Office. I am inviting you to pray it with me on this anniversary of the presentation of the Augsburg Confession.

Litany for the Holy Christian Church

O God, the Father of glory, who didst give Jesus Christ Thy Son to be the chief Cornerstone of the church:

Have mercy upon us.

O Christ, Head of Thy body, the church, which Thou didst purchase with Thy blood:

Have mercy upon us.

O Spirit of holiness and truth, who wast given to be the Sanctifier and Guide of the church:

Have mercy upon us.

O holy, blessed, and glorious Trinity, who ordainest Thy church to be one, even as Thou art one:

Have mercy upon us.

Remember not, Lord, our offenses nor the offenses of our forefathers, neither forsake us for our sins; spare us, good Lord, spare Thy people, whom Thou hast redeemed with Thy precious blood, and take not Thy Holy Spirit from us.

Spare us, good Lord. 

By the building of Thy church upon the rock; by Thy promise that the gates of hell should not prevail against it; by Thy purchase of the church with Thy precious blood; and by Thy gift of the Holy Ghost and the keys of the kingdom of heaven:

Good Lord, deliver us.

From friendship with the world, from lust of power, and from the worship of mammon:

Lord, save Thy church. 

From discord, disunion, and division, from the guilt of schism and the sin of separation:

Good Lord, deliver us. 

From envy and strife, from pride and prejudice, from sectarianism and stubbornness, and from whatever may hinder godly union and concord:

Lord, save Thy church. 

From forsaking our first love, from unfaithfulness in tribulation, from toleration of untruth and uncleanness, from failing to hold fast the things Thou has committed to us, from having only a name that we live, when we are dead, from falling in the hour of temptation, and from being neither hot nor cold:

Good Lord, deliver us. 

We, Thy humble servants, do beseech Thee, O Lord, that it may please Thee to receive our supplications for Thy church that it may be truly one, holy, and catholic:

We beseech Thee to hear us, good Lord. 

That it may please Thee to purge the church from all error, unbelief, and want of faith; that it may be the pillar and ground of the truth:

We beseech Thee to hear us, good Lord. 

That Thy church may be delivered from all scandal, sin, and shame, from complicity with wrong and compromise with evil, from inconsistency, wavering, and fear; that it may shine as a light in the world and be as a city set on a hill:

We beseech Thee to hear us, good Lord. 

That Thy church may preach the Gospel to every creature, set forth the truth that makes men free, and so lift up the cross of Christ that all mankind may be drawn together unto Him:

We beseech Thee to hear us, good Lord. 

That Thy church may remember the sheep that are not of the fold, seek out the wandering and the lost, proclaim the forgiveness of sins to the penitent, keep a heart of compassion for all mankind, and defend the cause of the poor and the oppressed:

We beseech Thee to hear us, good Lord. 

That Thy church may remember to hear what the Spirit saith, so that it may teach only as it learns; to follow Christ, as it would lead mankind; to be itself the example of what it would commend to all societies and conditions of men:

We beseech Thee to hear us, good Lord.

Amen. 

The Daily Office (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1965), 316–318.