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

Good Friday — The Solemn Collects

O God of unchangeable power and eternal light: Look favorably on your whole Church, that wonderful and sacred mystery; by the effectual working of your providence, carry out in tranquility the plan of salvation; let the whole world see and know that things which were cast down are being raised up, and things which had grown old are being made new, and that all things are being brought to their perfection by him through whom all things were made, your Son 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.

  • Good FridayLent & Holy Week
  • Great Vigil Of EasterLent & Holy Week

Provenance

Gelasian, c.750

Draft — AI-assisted research under editorial review.

An eighth-century Roman prayer from the ancient Easter Vigil, unused by Anglicans for over four centuries until the 1979 American Book of Common Prayer finally brought it in.