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 August 7-13

Proper 14

Almighty God, give us the increase of faith, hope, and love; and, that we may obtain what you have promised, make us love what you command; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.  Amen.

Omnipotens sempiterne Deus, da nobis fidei, spei et caritatis augmentum: et, ut mereamur assequi quod promittis, fac nos amare quod praecipis.

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Original-language source · public domain

BCP 2019, p. 618

Provenance

Leonine/Gelasian, 5th–6th c.

Draft — AI-assisted research under editorial review.

One of the oldest collects in the prayer book, this prayer goes back to a Roman liturgical booklet probably composed in the 5th or 6th century, preserved in the ancient Verona manuscript called the Leonianum. Archbishop Cranmer translated it for the first Book of Common Prayer in 1549, making one characteristic change: where the Latin asked that we might merit God's promises, Cranmer quietly removed the word, trusting the promises to grace alone.