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

Week Starting July 10-16

Proper 10

Let your merciful ears, O Lord, be open to the prayers of your humble servants; and, that we may receive what we ask, teach us by your Holy Spirit to ask only those things that are pleasing to you; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with you and the same Spirit lives and reigns for ever and ever.  Amen.

Pateant aures misericordiae, Domine, precibus supplicantium; et ut petentibus desiderata concedas, fac tibi eos, quaesumus, placita postulare. Per.

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Original-language source · public domain

BCP 2019, p. 617

Provenance

Gelasian, c. 600–750

Draft — AI-assisted research under editorial review.

One of the oldest surviving collects in Anglican use, this prayer asks God to open his ears to our petitions, and then, in a characteristic Gelasian turn, asks him to ensure we only ask for the right things. It has been prayed at Trinity X since Cranmer's first prayer book in 1549.