Collects in Homage of The Collect for Purity

The Collect for Purity, which we often pray at the start of the liturgy, contains in a few short words an amazing lesson on the tension between continuity and tradition in worship, versus the impulse to celebrate the realities of our relationship with the Eternal in this time and this place:

Almighty God, to you all hearts are open, all desires known, and from you no secrets are hid: Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love you, and worthily magnify your holy Name; through Christ our Lord.

The prayer goes back as far as the 10th century, and from the 11th century was used as part of the Catholic mass in England. It was said by the priest silently at the start of the mass, “in secret” in Catholic liturgical parlance.

Cranmer is credited with translating it to English, and saying it publicly, in the language of the assembly; not secretly in Latin. I think this reuse of the prayer to say something new is a delightful lesson in how liturgical change happens. Liturgy evolves as our relationship with the Eternal evolves.

So let’s consider today’s realities. The Collect for Purity reflects a particular relationship with the Eternal, in which God is a being beyond us, above, the maker of rules, the arbiter of sin and forgiveness, the power who would be worshiped and obeyed. 

This is not the only way to encounter the Eternal, not the only way to engage with God.

The following Collects reflect different paths of engagement with God; just a sampling of the paths that Christianity is pursuing nowadays.

December 2022

Collect for The Oneing of God and Us

With love and respect for Julian of Norwich

God, dancing in delight in all creation,
From you nothing is distant or separate,
Nothing is other than you.
In prayer our souls, our selves,
Are one with creation, one with you.
Give us the grace, ecstatic grace,
To experience this. 
To be whole in you.

Collect for Presence

Eternal Lover, present in every time, every place, every heart:
Grant us wonder at your infinite extravagance,
Grant us comfort in your tender nearness,
Grant us courage to take our part in making your passions real.
Bring to life in us compassion, justice, and peace.

Collect for Process

Attributed to St. Teresa of Avila

Christ has no body but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which He looks
Compassion on this world,
Yours are the feet with which He walks to do good,
Yours are the hands, with which He blesses all the world.
Yours are the hands, yours are the feet,
Yours are the eyes, you are His body.
Christ has no body now on earth but yours.

Collect for Liberation

Liberating God, it is not your will that anyone live
In oppression, poverty, or slavery of any kind.
You freed your people from slavery,
Saved your people at the Red Sea,
And brought them home from exile.
Free us, save us, bring us home.
Make us models and instruments
Of a world free, saved, and homed.