A Prayer of S. Wulfstan

I happened across a really lovely prayer of S. Wulfstan (whose feast it is today), and I thought I'd share it with you:


O Lord, have mercy on me a sinner.  
Stablish my heart in your will.  
Grant me true repentance for my sins; 
right faith and true charity, 
patience in adversity and moderation in prosperity.  
Help me and all my friends and kinsmen, all who desire and trust in my prayers.  
Show mercy to all who have done me good and shown me the knowledge of good, 
and grant everlasting forgiveness to all who have spoken or thought evil against me.  
To you, my God, and to all your holy ones, 
be praise and glory forever for all the benefits you have given me, 
and for all your mercies to me a sinner. 


For your name’s sake.  Amen.

It's curious that hardly anyone talks about Old English spirituality; I suppose it's because (a) the Norman conquest acts as such a mental barrier that it doesn't feel as connected to later developments in the church (or indeed history in general) as later mediaeval stuff does and (b) unlike Celtic spirituality, there's been no equivalent of George McLeod.  It's distant enough to feel foreign, but too close to be exotic, perhaps?  And possibly the terms "Anglo-Saxon" and "Old English" don't help...

At any rate, there's some very good stuff out there; it's got a grace and strength to it, and although it doesn't lack emotion, it's much more accessible than much of the later mediaeval stuff, which, wonderful though it is, can seem off-puttingly overwrought, till you're used to it.