Commontide

For the Acceptance of Prayer

O Lord our God, accept the fervent prayers of your people; in the multitude of your mercies, look with compassion upon us and all who turn to you for help; for you are gracious, O lover of souls, and to you we give glory, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, now and for ever. Amen.

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Commontide
Collect
Collects

Compline

Be present, O merciful God, and protect us through the hours of this night, so that we who are wearied by the changes and chances of this life may rest in your eternal changelessness; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Provenance

Sixth century (trad.); US BCP 1979

Draft — AI-assisted research under editorial review.

A night prayer traditionally reckoned a sixth-century collect, carried into Anglican use through the modern Compline revival and first printed in an official prayer book at the US BCP 1979. It sets the weariness of human life, caught in the "changes and chances" of this world, against God's eternal changelessness.