What is a Collect? A Rookie Anglican Guide
As you gather for worship on Sunday, you encounter the Collect for Purity and the Collect of the Day. At Morning or Evening Prayer, you encounter “the Collects.” What are these strange things called “Collects,” and how do you pronounce this word?
What is a Collect?
A collect is simply a prayer meant to combine the people’s intentions and the focus of worship into a succinct prayer. All of the collects more or less fit a pattern that Archbishop Thomas Cranmer developed, and some would say, perfected in the first Book of Common Prayer (1549). The form of collects is quite simple.
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- First, there is an address to God and to his character or actions in the world on our behalf.
- Second, there is a request.
- Third, there is an invocation and doxology.
- Finally, there is the Amen.
Example 1: The Collect for the Fifth Sunday of Easter
As an example, here is the Collect for the Fifth Sunday of Easter:
(1) Almighty God, whom truly to know is everlasting life:
2019 Book of Common Prayer, pg. 612
(2) Grant us so perfectly to know your Son Jesus Christ to be the way, the truth, and the life, that we may steadfastly follow his steps in the way that leads to eternal life;
(3) through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever.
(4) Amen.
In this prayer, first, we quickly find out that are praying to God, that he is the Almighty, and that to know him truly is everlasting life.
Second, we ask him for a petition based on John 14:6 in which Jesus says, “I am the way, the truth and the life”—and this is common. Many collects are based on Scriptural texts and themes. The request is also practical, in that it focuses on our steadfastness if following in his steps. It reflects Reformation theological concerns in its careful direction toward God as the source of our life and knowledge.
Third, we offer this prayer through Jesus Christ and is Trinitarian in the doxology of praise offered. Finally, the Amen is the whole people’s voice agreeing with the celebrant – “So be it!” or “We agree with you!”
Example 2: The Collect for Purity
The Collect for Purity is a special prayer, regularly used on Sundays. Cranmer adapted it from the old Latin rite of pre-Reformation England. We say this at the beginning of the Holy Communion service, especially if the Confession of Sin will come later. Here it is:
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. Amen.
This prayer is a compact confession of sin helping to remind worshippers of the need for penitence. It reminds too about the surety of forgiveness in Christ. It doesn’t ask for God’s presence, it assumes it. Also, it serves as an acknowledgment by the community that God cleanses the heart, through the Holy Spirit; it is he who turns us toward him in worship.
This prayer grounds human activity in worship on the previous action of God through the Holy Spirit, and not on the community effort itself. In other words, God is the one who turns us into worshippers. Our purpose in gathering is to worship the Almighty.
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
How Would You Pronounce “Collect“?
Usually, people emphasize the first syllable, “CO-llect.” This is different than the usual pronunciation of the word collect in American English as “co-LLECT”. Think, “I’m going to collect the rent.” However, I’m not an expert in pronunciation.
Image by James Coleman on Unsplash
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