Commontide

For the Acceptance of Prayer

O Lord our God, accept the fervent prayers of your people; in the multitude of your mercies, look with compassion upon us and all who turn to you for help; for you are gracious, O lover of souls, and to you we give glory, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, now and for ever. Amen.

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Commontide
Collect
Worship & the Office

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.