Commontide

Preparation for Personal Prayer

Holy Spirit, breath of God and fire of love, I cannot pray without your aid: Kindle in me the fire of your love, and illumine me with your light; that with a steadfast will and holy thoughts I may approach the Father in spirit and in truth; through Jesus Christ my Lord, who reigns with you and the Father in eternal union. Amen.

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Commontide
Collect
Prayers

Ash Wednesday

Grant to your faithful people, merciful Lord, pardon and peace; that we may be cleansed from all our sins, and serve you with a quiet mind; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Found in the Prayer Book

This prayer appears in more than one place in the 2019 Book of Common Prayer.

  • Communion Of The Sick · as “Grant to your faithful people”Ministry to the Sick & Dying
  • Ash WednesdayLent & Holy Week

Provenance

Sarum, via Cranmer 1549

Draft — AI-assisted research under editorial review.

This little prayer has been quietly forgiving people since before England had a printed Bible. Born as a medieval Sarum collect and translated by Cranmer in 1549, it later became the words a deacon prays on Ash Wednesday in place of the priestly Absolution.