Commontide
The Consecration and Dedication of a Place of Worship
Father, on the night that he was betrayed, your Son Jesus Christ instituted for us the banquet of our salvation. Accept here our sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving, in union with the one perfect sacrifice of your Son. Grant that all who eat and drink at this Holy Table may be fed and refreshed by the Sacrament of his Body and Blood. May they come with penitent hearts, lively faith, and perfect charity; and, being filled with your grace and heavenly benediction, obtain remission of their sins, and all other benefits of his passion.
Draft — AI-assisted research under editorial review.
Said by the bishop at the altar during the ACNA rite for dedicating a new church, this 2019 prayer is freshly composed but built from old stones: its closing line borrows Cranmer's 1662 wording almost verbatim, and its language of being "filled with heavenly benediction" echoes the ancient Roman Canon.