Commontide

For a Virtuous Heart

Give me, O Lord, a steadfast heart, which no unworthy thought can drag down; an unconquered heart, which no tribulation can wear out; an upright heart, which no unworthy purpose can tempt aside. Bestow upon me understanding to know you, diligence to seek you, wisdom to find you, and faithfulness that finally may embrace you. Amen.

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Commontide
Collect
Prayers

Christmas Eve

O God, you have caused this holy night to shine with the brightness of the true Light: Grant that we, who have known the mystery of that Light on earth, may also enjoy him perfectly in heaven; where with you and the Holy Spirit he lives and reigns, one God, in glory everlasting.  Amen.

Deus, qui hanc sacratissimam noctem veri luminis fecisti illustratione clarescere, da, quaesumus, ut, cuius in terra mysteria lucis agnovimus, eius quoque gaudiis perfruamur in caelo.

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Original-language source · public domain

BCP 2019, p. 599

Proper Preface

Preface of Christmas

Because you gave Jesus Christ, your only Son, to be born for us; who, by the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary his mother, was made truly man, yet without the stain of sin, that we might be cleansed from sin and given the right to become your children.

Provenance

Gelasian, c.750

Draft — AI-assisted research under editorial review.

One of the oldest surviving prayers in Western Christianity, this collect has been prayed at the Christmas midnight Mass since at least the eighth century. Absent from every Anglican prayer book until 1979, it was recovered by the US Episcopal revisers and given its historically fitting home on Christmas Eve itself by the ACNA 2019 BCP.