O Glorious Lord, your servant Stephen looked up to heaven and prayed for his persecutors: Grant that in all our sufferings here upon earth we may love and forgive our enemies, looking steadfastly to Jesus Christ our Lord, who sits at your right hand and intercedes for us; and who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Da nobis, quaesumus, Domine, imitari quod colimus: ut discamus et inimicos diligere; quia ejus inventionem celebramus, qui novit etiam pro persecutoribus exorare Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum Filium tuum.
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Preface of Christmas
Because you gave Jesus Christ, your only Son, to be born for us; who, by the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary his mother, was made truly man, yet without the stain of sin, that we might be cleansed from sin and given the right to become your children.
Draft — AI-assisted research under editorial review.
This collect for the feast of Saint Stephen traces from a Latin oration in the Gregorian tradition, condensed by Cranmer in 1549 and substantially expanded by Bishop Cosin in 1662; the ACNA 2019 prayer book carries Cosin's form forward with light modernization.