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

Almighty and everlasting God, by whose Spirit the whole body of your faithful people is governed and sanctified: Receive our supplications and prayers which we offer before you for all members of your holy Church, that in their vocation and ministry they may truly and devoutly serve you; through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

Omnipotens sempiterne Deus, cuius spiritu totum corpus Ecclesiae sanctificatur et regitur: exaudi nos pro universis ordinibus supplicantes; ut gratiae tuae munere, ab omnibus tibi gradibus fideliter serviatur.

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Original-language source

Found in the Prayer Book

  • Good FridayLent & Holy Week

Provenance

Gelasian, c.750

Draft — AI-assisted research under editorial review.

This is one of the ancient prayers for \"all orders\" of the Church prayed every Good Friday, asking that the Holy Spirit, who holds the whole Church together, would help bishops, clergy, and every ordinary believer alike serve God faithfully in whatever role they hold. Thomas Cranmer put it into English for the very first Book of Common Prayer in 1549, translating a much older Latin prayer the Western Church had already been praying on Good Friday for centuries.