St.Luke 1: 67 – 80

December 24, 2022

67 And his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Ghost, and prophesied, saying,

68 Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for he hath visited and redeemed his people,

69 And hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David;

70 As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the world began:

71 That we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us;

72 To perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant;

73 The oath which he sware to our father Abraham,

74 That he would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear,

75 In holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of our life.

76 And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest: for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways;

77 To give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins,

78 Through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us,

79 To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.

80 And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, and was in the deserts till the day of his shewing unto Israel.

Page 14 of the 1928 Book of Common Prayer calls verses 68-79 ‘Benedictus’. In Latin, that means ‘I speak well of’ – “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; …”

Did you know you could write your own Collects? You can. You can write your own Benedictus or your own rosary. I once created a rosary where each bead was a blessing that I was thankful for. Corporate prayer is powerful but your own conversations with God are precious to Him, too. There are lots of ways to increase or deepen your relationship with God – and nobody knows if you misspelled anything or if a line or two of your thought is a little awkward. God knows your heart.

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