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

The Great Vigil of Easter — The Creation

O God, who wonderfully created, and yet more wonderfully restored, the dignity of human nature: Grant that we may share the divine life of him who humbled himself to share our humanity, your Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Deus, qui humanae substantiae dignitatem et mirabiliter condidisti, et mirabilius reformasti, da, quaesumus, ut ejus efficiamur in divina consortes, qui nostrae humanitatis fieri dignatus est particeps, Christus Filius tuus.

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Original-language source · public domain

Found in the Prayer Book

  • Great Vigil Of EasterLent & Holy Week

Provenance

Gelasian, c.750

Draft — AI-assisted research under editorial review.

An ancient Roman prayer pairing God's two great works, the creation of humanity and its restoration in Christ, first given to Anglican worshippers in the 1979 Book of Common Prayer and now heard at the Great Vigil of Easter after the reading from Genesis.