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 31-August 6

Proper 13

Almighty and merciful God, it is only by your grace that your faithful people offer you true and laudable service: Grant that we may run without stumbling to obtain your heavenly promises; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.  Amen.

Omnipotens et misericors Deus, de cuius munere venit, ut tibi a fidelibus tuis digne et laudabiliter serviatur: tribue, quaesumus, nobis; ut ad promissiones tuas sine offensione curramus.

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Original-language source · public domain

BCP 2019, p. 618

Provenance

Leonine / Verona, c. 500–700

Draft — AI-assisted research under editorial review.

One of the oldest surviving Western collects, this prayer traces a straight line from an anonymous Roman liturgist through the Sarum Missal, every Book of Common Prayer since 1549, and into the ACNA 2019. One word changed from 1979 to 2019: "gift" became "grace." But the plea to run without stumbling toward God's promises has been on Christian lips for fifteen centuries.