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
Collects

Look Down, O Lord

Compline

Look down, O Lord, from your heavenly throne, illumine this night with your celestial brightness, and from the children of light banish the deeds of darkness; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Provenance

Ambrosian, early medieval

Draft — AI-assisted research under editorial review.

An ancient night prayer from the Ambrosian liturgical tradition of Milan, asking God to look down from his heavenly throne, illumine the darkness with celestial brightness, and drive away the works of evil from his people. It entered Anglican Compline through the Anglo-Catholic liturgical revival, first appeared in a prayer book in the 1979 US BCP with a revised ending, and was restored to its older form in the ACNA BCP 2019.