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 October 16-22

Proper 24

Set us free, loving Father, from the bondage of our sins, and in your goodness and mercy give us the liberty of that abundant life which you have made known to us in our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.  Amen.

BCP 2019, p. 621

Provenance

TEC 1979 / ACNA 2019

Draft — AI-assisted research under editorial review.

A modern English collect composed for the 1979 Episcopal Book of Common Prayer and lightly revised for the ACNA's 2019 prayer book. Drawing on Paul's language of freedom from sin (Galatians, Romans) and Jesus's promise of abundant life (John 10:10), it asks God to break the grip of sin and open the fullness of life revealed in Christ. It is most likely the work of the liturgist Massey H. Shepherd Jr., an attribution that rests on a published prayer-book commentary rather than on the Commission's working papers.