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 Father, we pray for your holy catholic Church. Fill it with all truth, in all truth, with all peace. Where it is corrupt, purify it; where it is in error, direct it; where in anything it is amiss, reform it; where it is right, strengthen it; where it is in want, provide for it; where it is divided, reunite it; for the sake of Jesus Christ your Son our Savior. Amen.

Found in the Prayer Book

  • Good FridayLent & Holy Week

Provenance

Laud, c.1640

Draft — AI-assisted research under editorial review.

A short, plainspoken prayer asking God to mend the Church wherever it's broken: purify what's corrupt, correct what's in error, strengthen what's right. It began as the private prayer of a 17th-century English archbishop, William Laud, and was later added to the American Prayer Book in 1928. The ACNA's 2019 prayer book moved it into the Good Friday service as the very first of the day's great intercessions for the Church.