Be Gracious to All
SATB Choir. Collect for the Second Sunday of Lent. Not for the faint of heart, this fine setting of these supplicant words from The Book of Common Prayer is dissonant yet extremely satisfying. The harmonic movement is unpredictable and will require work, but it is well worth the effort! Its use should by no means be confined to the Second Sunday of Lent; it is eminently appropriate for any occasion where forgiveness is the theme. It also works very well as a response to the confession at Evensong.
O God, whose glory it is always to have mercy:
Be gracious to all who have gone astray from thy ways,
and bring them again with penitent hearts and steadfast faith
to embrace and hold fast the unchangeable truth of thy Word,
Jesus Christ thy Son. Amen.