We do not presume to come to this your table, O merciful Lord,
trusting in our own righteousness,
but in your manifold and great mercies.
We are not worthy so much as to gather up
the crumbs under your table;
but you are the same Lord
whose nature is always to have mercy.
Grant us, therefore, gracious Lord,
so to eat the flesh of your dear Son Jesus Christ,
and to drink his blood,
that our sinful bodies may be made clean by his body,
and our souls washed through his most precious blood,
and that we may evermore dwell in him, and he in us.  Amen.

for reflection:

What Biblical passages can you hear echoed in this prayer?

What do you think would happen if we did come to His table trusting in our own righteousness?  What would it look like for us to do this?  How would I know I was trusting in my own righteousness, rather than in His ‘manifold and great mercies’?

Do you think it is inappropriate (maybe even dangerous?) to talk of ourselves as ‘not worthy to gather up the crumbs under His table’?

How can we hold together such a view of ourselves alongside a sense of assurance and confidence in God’s love for us?  How would you help someone grow in that confidence and assurance if it was lacking?

Do you think that it is true that it is always the nature of God to have mercy? What do you make of Romans 9:18? …or Ex.34:7?

Why does Cranmer pick souls and bodies as those aspects of our being that need to be cleansed and washed? Why not hearts and minds? Do you think he is right to focus on these? Why / why not? (Matt.12:34-37; 15:16-20 & 22:34-40).