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
Prayers

Week Starting May 8-14

Proper 1

O God, the strength of all who put their trust in you: Mercifully accept our prayers, and because, through the weakness of our mortal nature, we can do no good thing without you, grant us the help of your grace to keep your commandments, that we may please you in will and deed; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.  Amen.

Deus, in te sperantium fortitudo, invocantibus nostris adesto propitius, et, quia sine te nihil potest mortalis infirmitas, gratiae tuae praesta semper auxilium, ut, in exsequendis mandatis tuis, et voluntate tibi et actione placeamus.

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Original-language source · public domain

BCP 2019, p. 615

Provenance

Gelasian, c. 550–750

Draft — AI-assisted research under editorial review.

One of the oldest prayers in the Anglican tradition, this collect has been offered at the opening of summer worship since Cranmer's first prayer book in 1549. Its Latin original, drawn from the early medieval sacramentaries, voices a conviction the Church Fathers stamped on the liturgy: left to ourselves, we cannot do anything genuinely good; the grace of God is not a supplement to our goodness but its very source.