Omnipotent and merciful God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, in Your most wise judgment in addition to the ministry of the Church and the rule of government, You instituted the household estate. I praise You and beg You with my whole heart that You guard this holy nursery of Church and Republic. Grant to virgins, widows, and those married, true holiness of soul and pure chastity of body. May virgins depend completely upon You [1 Cor. 7:34]. May widows continue in prayers day and night [1 Tim. 5:5]. May husband and wife highly esteem one another with sincere love [Eph. 5:25]. May all serve You in righteousness and holiness with their whole heart. May the marriage bed be undefiled [Heb. 13:4] and every soul unstained. May they be violets of humility and lilies of chastity. May they be roses of charity and balms of sanctity.

Bind together the hearts of the pious who are married, with the bond of a chaste love, so that they embrace each other willingly and continue in Your holy service. Guard them from the plots of Asmodeus [Tobit 3:8], lest they burn with hatred, one for the other. May the wife be a helper for the man and supply comfort in adversity [Gen. 2:18]. May the indissoluble bond of marriage be for us all a holy mystery of the love between Christ and the Church [Eph. 5:32]. The closer the fellowship of husband and wife, still more fervent may their zeal in prayer be. The more they are subject to greater perils and misfortunes, with souls more closely joined, the more may they be engaged in piety and prayers. (Continued on Sexagesima)  (from The Daily Exercise of Piety by Johann Gerhard, Repristination Press, p.85-87)

(Continued)  Send forth into Your harvest faithful workers [Mat. 9:38], so that they may gather a great harvest of saints. Open the hearts of the hearers, so that they may receive the seed of the Word with the holy obedience of faith [Act 16:14]. Grant to them Your grace, so that they may guard the holy deposit of the Word with a pure heart, and with patience bring forth abundant fruit [Luke 8:15]. May they hear attentively, may they hear carefully, may they hear fruitfully! Otherwise the Word which is preached to them, not having been mixed with faith, will judge them on the last day [John 12:48]. Show forth the express promise of Your grace, that Your Word will not return to You void [Isa. 55:11]. I am mindful of this Your promise, grant that the labor of the one who plants and the one who waters may be blessed [1 Cor. 3:7]. Grant Your protection, I ask, that the infernal raven may not dig up the holy seed of Your Word from the field of the hearts of men, nor the thorn of worldly pleasures and riches constrain it, nor the hardness of stone prevent it from bearing fruit [Mat. 13:4 ff., Luke 8:12 ff.]. Water that seed with the heavenly dew of Your grace, poured out from above, so that then the most abundant harvest of good works may spring forth. Bind together the hearts of pastors and hearers alike in the closest bond of love, so that they contend at the same time for one another in prayers, and encourage each other by their care for one another, Amen.  (The Daily Exercise of Piety by Johann Gerhard, Repristination Press, p.81-83)