The Latin Collect
Dirigat corda nostra, quaesumus, Domine, tuae miserationis operatio; quia tibi sine te placere non possumus.
The Collect 1549
O GOD, for asmuche as without thee, we are not able to please thee; Graunte that the workyng of thy mercie maye in all thynges directe and rule our heartes; Through Jesus Christ our Lorde
The Collect 1662
O GOD, forasmuch as without thee we are not able to please thee; Mercifully grant, that thy Holy Spirit may in all things direct and rule our hearts; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Commentary
The Latin Collect, from the Gelasian Sacramentary of about AD 750, and likely written in response to the Pelagian heresy, appeared in the Sarum Missal for the 19th after Trinity, and on the Continent for the 18th after Pentecost, where it still appears in the Tridentine Missal. Cranmer translated it quite literally, but it was altered somewhat for the Book of 1662, a more significant change than the editors may have realized, as it removes the direct petition for the working of God's mercy in favor of an invocation of the Holy Spirit, theologically correct, but rather different in emphasis.
Meditation
We regularly try to fool ourselves into believing that we are actually pretty much good people, on the whole, and that, if we live a reasonably good life we're acceptable to God. We aren't. We are fallen creatures, forever making resolves and forever failing our own commitments, to say nothing of the abiding sins we are not even willing to give up. We can't atone for our past misdeeds and we prove ourselves unable to start afresh and keep ourselves clean, and, if we are honest with ourselves, we know it. God, in His mercy knows it also, and that is why, before the foundation of the earth He made provision for our deep need. He sent His Son, who died and rose for us, and left us the inestimable gift of sacraments and Scripture, and He sent His Holy Spirit to lead and guide us in the difficult road to salvation. We ask in this prayer that He continue the operation of His great mercy among us, and continue top mold us into His true image. May this be our true desire, and may this be reality in our lives.
---------------------------------ed pacht
Showing posts with label The Collect. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Collect. Show all posts
Friday, October 12, 2007
Saturday, September 29, 2007
The Collect - Trinity 17
The Collect (a literal translation from the Latin first found in the 8th century Gregorian Sacramentary)
Lord, we pray thee that thy grace may always prevent and follow us, and make us continually to be given to all good works; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
While we recognize that salvation doesn’t come by doing good works, yet in this collect we pray that the Lord might “make us continually to be given to all good works.” The more we observe the good works of God on our behalf, the more we desire to do as God does; to be charitable, merciful, tender-hearted and forgiving. The more we hope in Christ, the more we desire HIS grace to go before us and to follow us, so that we might “walk worthy of the vocation to which we are called” (Eph. 4). No small task! It is possible only as HIS grace makes us able.
And what can we do to receive a greater measure of God’s grace? The Gospel reading assigned for this Sunday points us in the right direction: “For whoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.” (Luke 14)
Humility must go hand in hand with good works or else everything is overthrown! St. Mark the Ascetic reminds us that we are not to rejoice when we do good to someone, but when we endure with humility and “without rancor the hostility that follows. For just as night follows day, so acts of malice follow acts of kindness.” That is why we urgently need the Lord’s grace to go before us and after us.
------------------Alice C. Linsley
Lord, we pray thee that thy grace may always prevent and follow us, and make us continually to be given to all good works; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
While we recognize that salvation doesn’t come by doing good works, yet in this collect we pray that the Lord might “make us continually to be given to all good works.” The more we observe the good works of God on our behalf, the more we desire to do as God does; to be charitable, merciful, tender-hearted and forgiving. The more we hope in Christ, the more we desire HIS grace to go before us and to follow us, so that we might “walk worthy of the vocation to which we are called” (Eph. 4). No small task! It is possible only as HIS grace makes us able.
And what can we do to receive a greater measure of God’s grace? The Gospel reading assigned for this Sunday points us in the right direction: “For whoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.” (Luke 14)
Humility must go hand in hand with good works or else everything is overthrown! St. Mark the Ascetic reminds us that we are not to rejoice when we do good to someone, but when we endure with humility and “without rancor the hostility that follows. For just as night follows day, so acts of malice follow acts of kindness.” That is why we urgently need the Lord’s grace to go before us and after us.
------------------Alice C. Linsley
Thursday, September 27, 2007
The Collect - Saint Michael and all Angels (sept 29)
The Latin Collect
Deus, qui miro ordine Angelorum ministeria hominumque dispensas: concede propitius; ut a quibus tibi ministrantibus in caelo semper assistitur, ab his in terra vita nostra muniatur,
The Collect 1549
EVERLASTYNG God, which haste ordayned and constituted the services of all Angels and men in a wonderfull ordre: mercifully graunt, that they whiche alwaye doe thee service in heaven, may by thy appoyntment succour and defende us in earth: through Jesus Christe our Lorde, &c.
The Collect 1662
O EVERLASTING God, who hast ordained and constituted the services of Angels and men in a wonderful order; Mercifully grant, that as thy holy Angels alway do thee service in heaven, so by thy appointment they may succour and defend us on earth; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Commentary
Cranmer’s masterful translation of this ancient collect, first found in the Gregorian Sacramentary, preserves all the depth of content of the original, and clothes it in a truly elegant English.
Meditation
How remarkable it is that the cloud of angels that worship God ceaselessly in Heaven are also sent, by His mercy, as messengers of His Word and as defenders of His people. Jacob saw them ascending and descending as on a mighty ladder, when Elisha’s servant’s eyes were opened, he saw them surrounding the city in which they were besieged, Mary heard by the message of an angel that she was to become Mother of God, angels announced the resurrection of the Lord, St. Peter was freed by an angel, and so it has been and will ever be. St. Michael and all angels, defend us.
----------------------------ed pacht
Deus, qui miro ordine Angelorum ministeria hominumque dispensas: concede propitius; ut a quibus tibi ministrantibus in caelo semper assistitur, ab his in terra vita nostra muniatur,
The Collect 1549
EVERLASTYNG God, which haste ordayned and constituted the services of all Angels and men in a wonderfull ordre: mercifully graunt, that they whiche alwaye doe thee service in heaven, may by thy appoyntment succour and defende us in earth: through Jesus Christe our Lorde, &c.
The Collect 1662
O EVERLASTING God, who hast ordained and constituted the services of Angels and men in a wonderful order; Mercifully grant, that as thy holy Angels alway do thee service in heaven, so by thy appointment they may succour and defend us on earth; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Commentary
Cranmer’s masterful translation of this ancient collect, first found in the Gregorian Sacramentary, preserves all the depth of content of the original, and clothes it in a truly elegant English.
Meditation
How remarkable it is that the cloud of angels that worship God ceaselessly in Heaven are also sent, by His mercy, as messengers of His Word and as defenders of His people. Jacob saw them ascending and descending as on a mighty ladder, when Elisha’s servant’s eyes were opened, he saw them surrounding the city in which they were besieged, Mary heard by the message of an angel that she was to become Mother of God, angels announced the resurrection of the Lord, St. Peter was freed by an angel, and so it has been and will ever be. St. Michael and all angels, defend us.
----------------------------ed pacht
Saturday, September 22, 2007
The Collect - Trinity 16
Latin Original
Ecclesiam tuam, Dimine, miseratio continuata mundet et muniat: et, quia sine te non potest salva consistere, tuo semper munere gubernetur.
This collect is appointed in the Tridentine Missal for 15th after Pentecost.
1549 Version
LORD, we beseche thee, let thy continual pitie clense and defende thy congregacion; and, because it cannot continue in safetie without thy succoure, preserve it evermore by thy helpe and goodnes; through Jesus Christ our Lorde.
1662 Version
O LORD, we beseech thee, let thy continual pity cleanse and defend thy Church; and, because it cannot continue in safety without thy succour, preserve it evermore by thy help and goodness; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Meditation
The thing that strikes me most about this Collect is its reminder of our helplessness without God and His grace. One of the dangers for the Catholic Christian is to so identify Christ and the Church that he or she forgets that the Church has come into being and retained its essential characteristics of Unity, Universality Holiness and Apostolicity wholly sola gratia. From the earthly side we see a group of humans who must truly appeal to God’s “continual pity”: for are we not often, both individually and corporately, so very pitiful?
We appeal for cleansing of many sins, knowing we have no righteousness of our own. We appeal for defence against temptations and persecutions, knowing our terrible fleshly weakness in the face of both, the enemy without and the enemy within.
But it is not merely the undoing of evil and protection against it that we need. We are incapable even of continuing to exist as Christ’s Body without God’s “help and goodness” “evermore” preserving us. Help AND goodness. Not only does He help us with his powerful, effectual activity, He helps us with His very self, His goodness becoming ours.
Western theologians have thought upon this amazing last fact of our salvation and speculated about what sort of “causality” God exercises in giving us Sanctifying Grace. (Sanctifying Grace is defined as the grace that makes the Christian righteous and holy within, the result of the inner transformation wrought by God.) The most common answer today perhaps is that Sanctifying Grace is the effect of God acting as a “quasi-formal cause”, following the scholastic terminology of Karl Rahner. This sounds ridiculously academic and esoteric, but in fact implies something very powerful.
It means that God does not merely perform some spiritual operation on us as an outside agent. That would mean He was just an “efficient cause”, like the surgeon who cuts out a tumour or the bricklayer who builds a wall. He does not give us a part of Himself, as He has no parts, and so He is not a “material cause”, like the bricks in that wall I just mentioned would be. No, God is to us as shaped seal to wax imprint, which was the analogy used by the ancient Fathers. This analogy is based on the old practice of using, for example, a ring with a family emblem to imprint the image of that emblem upon the molten wax that was used to seal an official document closed and show its provenance. The metaphor is applied in a special way to Christ in Hebrews 1.3, where He is said to be the “express image” (Gk: χαρακτηρ) of God. The Greek word here refers both to the source shape of a seal and the imprint it makes in the wax. Similarly, in Ephesians 1.13 Christians are said to be sealed (Gk: εσφραγίσθητε) by the Holy Spirit.
This makes God more like a “formal cause”, like the set of plans is to a house or a circuit diagram to a computer. Such inadequate comparisons may seem irreverent, but they point to the wonderful truth that we take on, in some mysterious sense, the "pattern" or properties of God's very Being. Our souls are the material cause, the thing given a new spiritual “shape” or quality or activity. But since we do not become God and our finite natures cannot fully or properly take on God’s infinite nature, God is described as a quasi-formal cause to remind us that He remains transcendent and we remain creatures dependent on Him. Interestingly, parents, through their DNA, are to some extent “formal causes” for their children. Truly, we are “sons in the Son”.
Ecclesiam tuam, Dimine, miseratio continuata mundet et muniat: et, quia sine te non potest salva consistere, tuo semper munere gubernetur.
This collect is appointed in the Tridentine Missal for 15th after Pentecost.
1549 Version
LORD, we beseche thee, let thy continual pitie clense and defende thy congregacion; and, because it cannot continue in safetie without thy succoure, preserve it evermore by thy helpe and goodnes; through Jesus Christ our Lorde.
1662 Version
O LORD, we beseech thee, let thy continual pity cleanse and defend thy Church; and, because it cannot continue in safety without thy succour, preserve it evermore by thy help and goodness; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Meditation
The thing that strikes me most about this Collect is its reminder of our helplessness without God and His grace. One of the dangers for the Catholic Christian is to so identify Christ and the Church that he or she forgets that the Church has come into being and retained its essential characteristics of Unity, Universality Holiness and Apostolicity wholly sola gratia. From the earthly side we see a group of humans who must truly appeal to God’s “continual pity”: for are we not often, both individually and corporately, so very pitiful?
We appeal for cleansing of many sins, knowing we have no righteousness of our own. We appeal for defence against temptations and persecutions, knowing our terrible fleshly weakness in the face of both, the enemy without and the enemy within.
But it is not merely the undoing of evil and protection against it that we need. We are incapable even of continuing to exist as Christ’s Body without God’s “help and goodness” “evermore” preserving us. Help AND goodness. Not only does He help us with his powerful, effectual activity, He helps us with His very self, His goodness becoming ours.
Western theologians have thought upon this amazing last fact of our salvation and speculated about what sort of “causality” God exercises in giving us Sanctifying Grace. (Sanctifying Grace is defined as the grace that makes the Christian righteous and holy within, the result of the inner transformation wrought by God.) The most common answer today perhaps is that Sanctifying Grace is the effect of God acting as a “quasi-formal cause”, following the scholastic terminology of Karl Rahner. This sounds ridiculously academic and esoteric, but in fact implies something very powerful.
It means that God does not merely perform some spiritual operation on us as an outside agent. That would mean He was just an “efficient cause”, like the surgeon who cuts out a tumour or the bricklayer who builds a wall. He does not give us a part of Himself, as He has no parts, and so He is not a “material cause”, like the bricks in that wall I just mentioned would be. No, God is to us as shaped seal to wax imprint, which was the analogy used by the ancient Fathers. This analogy is based on the old practice of using, for example, a ring with a family emblem to imprint the image of that emblem upon the molten wax that was used to seal an official document closed and show its provenance. The metaphor is applied in a special way to Christ in Hebrews 1.3, where He is said to be the “express image” (Gk: χαρακτηρ) of God. The Greek word here refers both to the source shape of a seal and the imprint it makes in the wax. Similarly, in Ephesians 1.13 Christians are said to be sealed (Gk: εσφραγίσθητε) by the Holy Spirit.
This makes God more like a “formal cause”, like the set of plans is to a house or a circuit diagram to a computer. Such inadequate comparisons may seem irreverent, but they point to the wonderful truth that we take on, in some mysterious sense, the "pattern" or properties of God's very Being. Our souls are the material cause, the thing given a new spiritual “shape” or quality or activity. But since we do not become God and our finite natures cannot fully or properly take on God’s infinite nature, God is described as a quasi-formal cause to remind us that He remains transcendent and we remain creatures dependent on Him. Interestingly, parents, through their DNA, are to some extent “formal causes” for their children. Truly, we are “sons in the Son”.
And that brings us back to the Collect. For all the wonder and glory of our salvation, what God does in us and to us, the gifts we are given are utterly and perpetually dependent upon His ongoing indwelling, initiative, protection and forgiveness. That is why we should also constantly resort to God in prayer, daily, hourly, consciously dedicating our efforts to Christ and trusting in his might. For all our works are sad and sorry without him. This does not mean God abandons us if we forget to pray or are much distracted. No, we are and remain in grace. But the more we deliberately “sow to the Spirit”, the more we will “reap of the Spirit” (Galatians 6.8). And the more we pray for the Church and for God’s mercy upon it, the more it will become what it is meant to be, the living Temple of His Presence.
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Collect - St. Matthew (September 21)
The Latin Collect
Beati Apostoli et Evangelistae Matthaei, Domine, precibus adjuvemur: ut, quod possibilitas nostra non obtinet, ejus nobis intercessione donetur.
May we be assisted, O Lord, by the prayers of the blessed apostle and evangelist Matthew; that what of ourselves we are not able to obtain, may be given us by his intercession.
Collect, 1549
Almightie God, whiche by thy blessed sonne dyddest call Matthewe from the receipte of custome to be an Apostle and Euangelist; Graunt us grace to forsake all couetous desires, and inordinate loue of riches, and to folowe thy sayed son Jesus Christ.
Commentary
As may be seen, Archbishop Cranmer replaced the Latin Collect with a new composition, intending, rather than ringing the changes on the intercession of the Saints, as many of the old saints' day collects did, to extract an incident from the life of Matthew and to pray that we might be touched by his example as well as by his prayers.
Meditation
Our daily lives are spent, as was Matthew's, in the pursuit of material needs and wants. There it is that Jesus finds us, day by day, and summons us to follow. May we hear Him as clearly as did the Apostle, and turn our backs on anything that would keep us from His service. Let us not be as the rich young ruler who clung to what he had and sadly turned away from God.
Beati Apostoli et Evangelistae Matthaei, Domine, precibus adjuvemur: ut, quod possibilitas nostra non obtinet, ejus nobis intercessione donetur.
May we be assisted, O Lord, by the prayers of the blessed apostle and evangelist Matthew; that what of ourselves we are not able to obtain, may be given us by his intercession.
Collect, 1549
Almightie God, whiche by thy blessed sonne dyddest call Matthewe from the receipte of custome to be an Apostle and Euangelist; Graunt us grace to forsake all couetous desires, and inordinate loue of riches, and to folowe thy sayed son Jesus Christ.
Commentary
As may be seen, Archbishop Cranmer replaced the Latin Collect with a new composition, intending, rather than ringing the changes on the intercession of the Saints, as many of the old saints' day collects did, to extract an incident from the life of Matthew and to pray that we might be touched by his example as well as by his prayers.
Meditation
Our daily lives are spent, as was Matthew's, in the pursuit of material needs and wants. There it is that Jesus finds us, day by day, and summons us to follow. May we hear Him as clearly as did the Apostle, and turn our backs on anything that would keep us from His service. Let us not be as the rich young ruler who clung to what he had and sadly turned away from God.
Friday, September 14, 2007
The Collect - Trinity 15
Latin collect
Custodi, Domine, quaesumus, Ecclesiam tuam propitatione perpetua: et quia sine te labitur humana mortalitas, tuis semper auxiliis et abstrahatur a noxiis, et ad salutaria dirigatur.
The Collect 1549
KEPE we beseche thee, O Lorde, thy Churche with thy perpetuall mercye: and because the frailtie of man without thee, cannot but fall: Kepe us ever by thy helpe, and leade us to al thynges profitable to our salvacion; through Jesus Christe our Lorde. Amen.
The Collect 1662
KEEP, we beseech thee, O Lord, thy Church with thy perpetual mercy: and, because the frailty of man without thee cannot but fall, keep us ever by thy help from all things hurtful, and lead us to all things profitable to our salvation; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
The Commentary
Cranmer did a quite literal translation of this collect, appointed in the Sarum Missal for Trinity 15, and in the Tridentine Missal for 14th after Pentecost, which was originally taken from the Gelasian Sacramentary of about AD 750.
The Meditation
What a prayer for these days! Though it is over 1200 years old, it crackles with immediacy today. The Enemy of our souls has marshalled an impressive array of troops to oppose the Church of God. The secular society in which we live loathes the Gospel of Christ and would either oppose it directly or confine it to a hidden corner of obscurity, quaintness, and irrelevance. There are many enemies from without, but, far worse in God's sight, there are bitter enemies of truth within the company of those called 'Christian' who would discard and change the teaching and practice entrusted to the saints. The frailty of man is incapable of overcoming all these forces. In fact, we, each of us individually, and sometimes even as we gather in churches, are all too often led to take our eyes off Jesus Christ and Him crucified. and to substitute our own desires and fears for the following of His complete will. Keep us, we pray, protect us, shield us, step in with thy mighty power when we are about to fail. Deliver us from evil, lead us not into temptation, but into holiness; not into error, but into truth, and, in our weakness, fill us with thy strength. Lead us to salvation, and use us so to lead others.
----------------------------ed pacht
Custodi, Domine, quaesumus, Ecclesiam tuam propitatione perpetua: et quia sine te labitur humana mortalitas, tuis semper auxiliis et abstrahatur a noxiis, et ad salutaria dirigatur.
The Collect 1549
KEPE we beseche thee, O Lorde, thy Churche with thy perpetuall mercye: and because the frailtie of man without thee, cannot but fall: Kepe us ever by thy helpe, and leade us to al thynges profitable to our salvacion; through Jesus Christe our Lorde. Amen.
The Collect 1662
KEEP, we beseech thee, O Lord, thy Church with thy perpetual mercy: and, because the frailty of man without thee cannot but fall, keep us ever by thy help from all things hurtful, and lead us to all things profitable to our salvation; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
The Commentary
Cranmer did a quite literal translation of this collect, appointed in the Sarum Missal for Trinity 15, and in the Tridentine Missal for 14th after Pentecost, which was originally taken from the Gelasian Sacramentary of about AD 750.
The Meditation
What a prayer for these days! Though it is over 1200 years old, it crackles with immediacy today. The Enemy of our souls has marshalled an impressive array of troops to oppose the Church of God. The secular society in which we live loathes the Gospel of Christ and would either oppose it directly or confine it to a hidden corner of obscurity, quaintness, and irrelevance. There are many enemies from without, but, far worse in God's sight, there are bitter enemies of truth within the company of those called 'Christian' who would discard and change the teaching and practice entrusted to the saints. The frailty of man is incapable of overcoming all these forces. In fact, we, each of us individually, and sometimes even as we gather in churches, are all too often led to take our eyes off Jesus Christ and Him crucified. and to substitute our own desires and fears for the following of His complete will. Keep us, we pray, protect us, shield us, step in with thy mighty power when we are about to fail. Deliver us from evil, lead us not into temptation, but into holiness; not into error, but into truth, and, in our weakness, fill us with thy strength. Lead us to salvation, and use us so to lead others.
----------------------------ed pacht
Friday, September 07, 2007
The Collect - Trinity 14
The Latin Collect
Omnipotens sempiterne Deus, da nobis fidei, spei, et caritatis augmentum: et ut mereamur assequi quop promittis, fac nos amare quod praecipis.
The Collect of 1549
ALMIGHTYE and everlastyng God, geve unto us the increase of faythe, hope, and charitie; and that we may obteine that whiche thou doest promise; make us to love that whiche thou doest commaunde, through Jesus Christe our Lorde.
The Collect of 1662
ALMIGHTY and everlasting God, give unto us the increase of faith, hope, and charity; and, that we may obtain that which thou dost promise, make us to love that which thou dost command; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Commentary
Like as for the 13th Sunday after Trinity, Cranmer translates the collect from the Leonine Sacramentary. This Collect is used in the Noon prayer for adults as compiled by the Rev'd Dr. Charles Henry in the Nashotah Mission Manual for Sunday schools.
The Reflection.
A wander around museums of Palaeontology will present you with the skeletons of many an ancient creature arranged in a supposedly life-like pose. In the past, the arrangement of these bones was a largely hit and miss affair. Until a more complete skeleton was unearthed the iguanadon's characteristic pointed thumb was assumed to be a horn on its nose. it is only since our studies of animals have become more and more detailed that we have been able to get a more accurate picture of these gigantic beasts through the fragments of the skeletons. Until a more powerful technique comes along, we will never really know what colours they were or whether they had arrangments of feathers or fur.
Yet if we examine these dinosaur bones more closely, we find that they are not made of bone at all but the bone has been replaced with minerals. It is only because of this process that the bones actually remain for us to see today.
But even rock and minerals disappear in time. This is why skeletons are only partially found. Any longer and they too would disappear into dust. Nothing lasts for ever, does it? "And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three." The more that these become part of us, the more we that we will abide because we take in more of the Divine Substance.
We are meant to become like God through faith, hope and charity. How far have we got?
------------------------Jonathan Munn
Omnipotens sempiterne Deus, da nobis fidei, spei, et caritatis augmentum: et ut mereamur assequi quop promittis, fac nos amare quod praecipis.
The Collect of 1549
ALMIGHTYE and everlastyng God, geve unto us the increase of faythe, hope, and charitie; and that we may obteine that whiche thou doest promise; make us to love that whiche thou doest commaunde, through Jesus Christe our Lorde.
The Collect of 1662
ALMIGHTY and everlasting God, give unto us the increase of faith, hope, and charity; and, that we may obtain that which thou dost promise, make us to love that which thou dost command; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Commentary
Like as for the 13th Sunday after Trinity, Cranmer translates the collect from the Leonine Sacramentary. This Collect is used in the Noon prayer for adults as compiled by the Rev'd Dr. Charles Henry in the Nashotah Mission Manual for Sunday schools.
The Reflection.
A wander around museums of Palaeontology will present you with the skeletons of many an ancient creature arranged in a supposedly life-like pose. In the past, the arrangement of these bones was a largely hit and miss affair. Until a more complete skeleton was unearthed the iguanadon's characteristic pointed thumb was assumed to be a horn on its nose. it is only since our studies of animals have become more and more detailed that we have been able to get a more accurate picture of these gigantic beasts through the fragments of the skeletons. Until a more powerful technique comes along, we will never really know what colours they were or whether they had arrangments of feathers or fur.
Yet if we examine these dinosaur bones more closely, we find that they are not made of bone at all but the bone has been replaced with minerals. It is only because of this process that the bones actually remain for us to see today.
But even rock and minerals disappear in time. This is why skeletons are only partially found. Any longer and they too would disappear into dust. Nothing lasts for ever, does it? "And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three." The more that these become part of us, the more we that we will abide because we take in more of the Divine Substance.
We are meant to become like God through faith, hope and charity. How far have we got?
------------------------Jonathan Munn
Saturday, August 25, 2007
The Collect - Trinity XII
Latin Collect (this collect is appointed in the Tridentine Missal for 11th after Pentecost)
Omnipotens sempiterne Deus, qui, abundantia pietatis tuae, et merita supplicum excedia et vota: effunde super nos misericordiam tuam; ut dimittas que conscientia metuit, et adjicias quod oratio non praesumit.
1549 Collect
ALMIGHTIE and everlastyng God, which art alwayes more ready to heare then we to praye, and art wont to geve more than eyther we desyre or deserve; Powre downe upon us the aboundance of thy mercy; forgeving us those thynges wherof our conscience is afrayde, and gevyng unto us that that our prayer dare not presume to aske, through Jesus Christe our Lorde.
ALMIGHTIE and everlastyng God, which art alwayes more ready to heare then we to praye, and art wont to geve more than eyther we desyre or deserve; Powre downe upon us the aboundance of thy mercy; forgeving us those thynges wherof our conscience is afrayde, and gevyng unto us that that our prayer dare not presume to aske, through Jesus Christe our Lorde.
1662 Collect
ALMIGHTY and everlasting God, who art always more ready to hear than we are to pray, and art wont to give more than either we desire, or deserve; Pour down upon us the abundance of thy mercy; forgiving us those things whereof our conscience is afraid, and giving us those good things which we are not worthy to ask, but through the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ, thy Son, our Lord. Amen.
ALMIGHTY and everlasting God, who art always more ready to hear than we are to pray, and art wont to give more than either we desire, or deserve; Pour down upon us the abundance of thy mercy; forgiving us those things whereof our conscience is afraid, and giving us those good things which we are not worthy to ask, but through the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ, thy Son, our Lord. Amen.
Commentary and Meditation
This prayer reminds us of God's astonishing generosity. It is so abundant that he will not only give us what we ask for in prayer whenever that is best for us, but often what we could have asked for, but didn't. Or he will do things for us that surpass even what we might have imagined for ourselves.
I know this from experience. For some like myself, the initial reaction to a problem is often, unfortunately, not to pray but to allow anger to dominate in the heat of the moment. More than once I have found myself ashamed when, after losing my temper, Divine Providence has arranged a quick solution to the problem that was frustrating me. I have then remembered how small my difficulties are and how gracious God has been to me throughout my circumstances in life. Also, some of the greatest blessings in my life, especially my present ministry and teaching position, have far surpassed what I had originally prayed for.
As for a specific example of God answering the prayer that should have been spoken but wasn't, I will give one example from my life that some might find amusing. (Amazing how some events are funny only some time after their occurence, isn't it?)
One Holy Saturday I was working away at preparing the church for Easter Day, helping with the polishing of brass. I was polishing the thurible. Now, polishing the chain-links on a thurible definitely comes into the category of "no fun", in my opinion. (Everything's nooks and crannies!) But when you manage to get the three chains hopelessly tangled it becomes much worse. You might think, "Three chains, firmly connected at both ends, how can you get that tangled by polishing and, even if you did, how hard could it be to untangle?" All I can suggest is that you keep those thoughts to yourself around thurible-polishers.
Anyway, I had the thing tangled. And my attempts to untangle it were remarkably unsuccessful. Indeed, they appeared to be making things worse, contributing to a rising tide of panic and, eventually, rage. Did I mention my bishop was there doing other jobs to prepare for the next day? No? Well, he was, and at some point I asked him for help. His response was along the lines of, "Oh no, I've done the same thing myself and I know what it's like -- so the rule is, he who tangles it untangles it." He said it with a smile. I wasn't smiling.
It got to the point where I was internally swearing like a trooper and pretty much going nuts. I was genuinely giving serious consideration to hurling that thing out the nearest window. With the window still closed. No, I'm not kidding. And, yes, I realise it was rather pathetic and silly. (Strangely, it has generally been inanimate objects that have brought out my worst temper. Especially computers -- but that's another story.) Given that I was still training for the priesthood and, well, you remember the bishop was there, the aforementioned action probably would have had some impact on my vocation. :-)
Just before I was about to completely lose it, I decided to stand up from the table I was sitting at, and turn away from the cause of my temporary insanity. Nobody was nearby to see me take some breaths and try to calm myself down, as the bishop was in another part of the building.
Then I turned back and felt I could try one more time. So I picked it up from exactly where I had left it and ... it was untangled. There was nothing wrong with it. I stared at it in shock. Then came the quiet prayers of mingled thanksgiving and penitence. I knew I didn't deserve this after all the cursing and wrath -- and lack of prayer for help. I felt like God must have been gazing down at me with a patient but parental "Have you quite finished?" look.
Was this some kind of miracle? Did an angel sort things out while I wasn't looking? I have no idea. But I do know God taught me something that night: He loves me even when I am being an idiot, but He'd prefer it if I didn't succumb to ungrateful foolishness as often as I do.
It's experiences like these that help me to understand both this Collect and that powerful verse in Psalm 130.4, "But there is forgiveness with thee; therefore shalt thou be feared".
Friday, August 17, 2007
The Collect - Trinity XI
The Latin Collect
Deus, qui omnipotentiam tuam parcendo maxime, et miserando manifestas: multiplica super nos misericordiam tuam; ut ad tua promissa currentes, caelestium bonorum facias esse consortes.
The Collect 1549
GOD, which declarest thy almighty power, most chiefly in shewyng mercy and pitie; Geve unto us abundauntly thy grace, that we, running to thy promises, may be made partakers of thy heavenly treasure; through Jesus Christe our Lorde.
The Collect 1662
O GOD, who declarest thy almighty power most chiefly in shewing mercy and pity; Mercifully grant unto us such a measure of thy grace, that we, running the way of thy commandments, may obtain thy gracious promises, and be made partakers of thy heavenly treasure; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Commentary
This collect originates from the Gelasian Sacramentary of about AD 750, being assigned, in the Sarum Missal to this Sunday, and in the Tridentine to the 10th after Pentecost. Archbishop Cranmer’s translation of 1549 is quite literal and preserves the poetic imagery of the original. The compilers of 1662, apparently reaching for more elegant language, managed to change the emphasis subtly from God’s promise to our obedience, which seems a pity, inasmuch as this latter theme is very common among other collects, and this one prayer seems to stand almost alone in content. It is the 1662 version that has come down to Americans in the 1928 BCP.
Meditation
God, who created the heavens and the earth, to whom all the laws of nature are subject, in whose hands are held the awesome powers of the elements, shows His almighty power in many ways, but chiefly and most importantly in the apparent weakness of a Cross whereon mercy and pity and grace are dramatically revealed. In our awe at this counter-intuitive manifestation of divinity, we ask His grace, not that we may do better and thus earn his favor, but that we may run to his promises, that we may accept what He so freely offers us by that Cross, that by those promises we may receive the great treasure that He has prepared for us sinners. May we ever run with all our effort into His everlasting arms.
----------------------ed pacht
Deus, qui omnipotentiam tuam parcendo maxime, et miserando manifestas: multiplica super nos misericordiam tuam; ut ad tua promissa currentes, caelestium bonorum facias esse consortes.
The Collect 1549
GOD, which declarest thy almighty power, most chiefly in shewyng mercy and pitie; Geve unto us abundauntly thy grace, that we, running to thy promises, may be made partakers of thy heavenly treasure; through Jesus Christe our Lorde.
The Collect 1662
O GOD, who declarest thy almighty power most chiefly in shewing mercy and pity; Mercifully grant unto us such a measure of thy grace, that we, running the way of thy commandments, may obtain thy gracious promises, and be made partakers of thy heavenly treasure; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Commentary
This collect originates from the Gelasian Sacramentary of about AD 750, being assigned, in the Sarum Missal to this Sunday, and in the Tridentine to the 10th after Pentecost. Archbishop Cranmer’s translation of 1549 is quite literal and preserves the poetic imagery of the original. The compilers of 1662, apparently reaching for more elegant language, managed to change the emphasis subtly from God’s promise to our obedience, which seems a pity, inasmuch as this latter theme is very common among other collects, and this one prayer seems to stand almost alone in content. It is the 1662 version that has come down to Americans in the 1928 BCP.
Meditation
God, who created the heavens and the earth, to whom all the laws of nature are subject, in whose hands are held the awesome powers of the elements, shows His almighty power in many ways, but chiefly and most importantly in the apparent weakness of a Cross whereon mercy and pity and grace are dramatically revealed. In our awe at this counter-intuitive manifestation of divinity, we ask His grace, not that we may do better and thus earn his favor, but that we may run to his promises, that we may accept what He so freely offers us by that Cross, that by those promises we may receive the great treasure that He has prepared for us sinners. May we ever run with all our effort into His everlasting arms.
----------------------ed pacht
Saturday, August 11, 2007
The Collect - Trinity 10
From the Tridentine Missal
Pateant aures misericordiae tuae, Domine, precibus supplicantium: et, ut petentibus desiderata concedas; fac eos, quae tibi sunt placita, postulare.
From The 1549 prayer book
LET thy merciful eares, O Lord, be open to the praiers of thy humble servauntes; and that they may obteine their peticions, make them to aske suche thinges as shal please thee; Through Jesus Christe our Lorde.
Commentary
Cranmer translates the Collect from the Gelasian Sacramentary which appears as the Collect for the Ninth Sunday after Pentecost. This notable collect has been set to music by the Tudor composers Thomas Weelkes and Thomas Mudd.
Reflection
According to the collect, we can only guarantee that our prayers will be answered if we only pray the prayers that God wants us to pray. This means that if we pray for a brand new Cadillac, a lottery win, or a giant ice-cream sundae, we're 100% guaranteed that we won't get it. Why not? Well, God doesn't want us to have a new car, lot of money, or indigestion, does he?
But does this mean that when we pray for our friend to be relieved of some painful or even terminal illness, and nothing happens, does this mean that God doesn't want our friend to get better? Does it not please Him to relieve our suffering? Do what we want, what we care about, mean nothing to of God?
It is here that we begin to walk into the unknown regions in trying to know the mind of God. But listen to Him through Jeremiah: "I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." (Jer xxix.11) We can rest assured that He wants only our good.
However, this Collect is telling us something more than just how God gets around to answering prayer. We are being invited to pray for and to seek the things that please God, things that will not only please Him, but give us joy and pleasure as well. Our true happiness can be found only in the pleasure of God, and this excludes no-one. In the pleasure of God, all our illnesses, fears, troubles and sins pale into insignificance, even though they might not be removed. It is when we want what God wants that we find ourselves closest to Him, and surely that is true happiness.
------------------------Jonathan Munn
Pateant aures misericordiae tuae, Domine, precibus supplicantium: et, ut petentibus desiderata concedas; fac eos, quae tibi sunt placita, postulare.
From The 1549 prayer book
LET thy merciful eares, O Lord, be open to the praiers of thy humble servauntes; and that they may obteine their peticions, make them to aske suche thinges as shal please thee; Through Jesus Christe our Lorde.
Commentary
Cranmer translates the Collect from the Gelasian Sacramentary which appears as the Collect for the Ninth Sunday after Pentecost. This notable collect has been set to music by the Tudor composers Thomas Weelkes and Thomas Mudd.
Reflection
According to the collect, we can only guarantee that our prayers will be answered if we only pray the prayers that God wants us to pray. This means that if we pray for a brand new Cadillac, a lottery win, or a giant ice-cream sundae, we're 100% guaranteed that we won't get it. Why not? Well, God doesn't want us to have a new car, lot of money, or indigestion, does he?
But does this mean that when we pray for our friend to be relieved of some painful or even terminal illness, and nothing happens, does this mean that God doesn't want our friend to get better? Does it not please Him to relieve our suffering? Do what we want, what we care about, mean nothing to of God?
It is here that we begin to walk into the unknown regions in trying to know the mind of God. But listen to Him through Jeremiah: "I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." (Jer xxix.11) We can rest assured that He wants only our good.
However, this Collect is telling us something more than just how God gets around to answering prayer. We are being invited to pray for and to seek the things that please God, things that will not only please Him, but give us joy and pleasure as well. Our true happiness can be found only in the pleasure of God, and this excludes no-one. In the pleasure of God, all our illnesses, fears, troubles and sins pale into insignificance, even though they might not be removed. It is when we want what God wants that we find ourselves closest to Him, and surely that is true happiness.
------------------------Jonathan Munn
Thursday, August 02, 2007
The Collect - Trinity IX
The Collect
Largire nobis, quaesumus, Domine, semper spiritum cogitandi quae recta sunt, propitius et agendi: ut qui sine te esse non possumus, secundum te vivere valeamus. (From the Leonine Sacramentary appointed for the 8th Sunday after Trinity)
GRAUNT to us Lorde we beseche thee, the spirite to thinke and doe alwayes suche thynges as be rightfull; that we, which cannot be without thee, may by thee be able to live accordyng to thy wyll; Through Jesus Christe our Lorde. (1549 BCP)
GRANT to us, Lord, we beseech thee, the spirit to think and do always such things as be rightful; that we, who cannot do any thing that is good without thee, may by thee be enabled to live according to thy will; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (1662 BCP)
The Commentary
This collect asks for the spirit of right thought and right action, which spirit reflects the will of the Triune God. I’m struck that the Latin is “spiritum cogitandi” and not “Spiritui Sancto” which would refer to the third Person of the Trinity. Are we asking for other than the Holy Spirit in this prayer? It appears so. The Scholasticism of the medieval church is apparent in this spiritum cogitandi, yet Cranmer refocuses the prayer on the Triune God by adding these words: “by thee”.
Perhaps Philippians 4:8, with emphasis on thinking virtuous thoughts, is the backdrop of “spiritum cogitandi” while Cranmer sees as a necessary backdrop Ephesians 1:3-14. By adding “by thee” Cranmer strengthens the allusion to the Trinitarian action described in Ephesians.
The 1662 wording: “cannot do any thing that is good without thee”, reflects the Enlightenment and the Philippians reference more than the Ephesians reference. The ECUSA 1979 prayer book follows Cranmer, with these words: “who cannot exist without thee.” (Here is a rare instance of the Standing Liturgical Commission getting it right!)
The Meditation
Right thoughts and actions, those that are according to God’s will, are prompted and empowered by grace. More than that, our very existence is by that same grace which fills all things. Paul teaches that those who have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ and our lives are hidden in Christ. This being so, every virtuous thought and every good thing is to the praise of Christ Jesus, our Lord.
We do well to remember this when we feel proud of being good, for only as we give credit fully to God’s grace at work in and through all things, do we as Christians have an authentic witness.
--------------------------Alice C. Linsley
Largire nobis, quaesumus, Domine, semper spiritum cogitandi quae recta sunt, propitius et agendi: ut qui sine te esse non possumus, secundum te vivere valeamus. (From the Leonine Sacramentary appointed for the 8th Sunday after Trinity)
GRAUNT to us Lorde we beseche thee, the spirite to thinke and doe alwayes suche thynges as be rightfull; that we, which cannot be without thee, may by thee be able to live accordyng to thy wyll; Through Jesus Christe our Lorde. (1549 BCP)
GRANT to us, Lord, we beseech thee, the spirit to think and do always such things as be rightful; that we, who cannot do any thing that is good without thee, may by thee be enabled to live according to thy will; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (1662 BCP)
The Commentary
This collect asks for the spirit of right thought and right action, which spirit reflects the will of the Triune God. I’m struck that the Latin is “spiritum cogitandi” and not “Spiritui Sancto” which would refer to the third Person of the Trinity. Are we asking for other than the Holy Spirit in this prayer? It appears so. The Scholasticism of the medieval church is apparent in this spiritum cogitandi, yet Cranmer refocuses the prayer on the Triune God by adding these words: “by thee”.
Perhaps Philippians 4:8, with emphasis on thinking virtuous thoughts, is the backdrop of “spiritum cogitandi” while Cranmer sees as a necessary backdrop Ephesians 1:3-14. By adding “by thee” Cranmer strengthens the allusion to the Trinitarian action described in Ephesians.
The 1662 wording: “cannot do any thing that is good without thee”, reflects the Enlightenment and the Philippians reference more than the Ephesians reference. The ECUSA 1979 prayer book follows Cranmer, with these words: “who cannot exist without thee.” (Here is a rare instance of the Standing Liturgical Commission getting it right!)
The Meditation
Right thoughts and actions, those that are according to God’s will, are prompted and empowered by grace. More than that, our very existence is by that same grace which fills all things. Paul teaches that those who have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ and our lives are hidden in Christ. This being so, every virtuous thought and every good thing is to the praise of Christ Jesus, our Lord.
We do well to remember this when we feel proud of being good, for only as we give credit fully to God’s grace at work in and through all things, do we as Christians have an authentic witness.
--------------------------Alice C. Linsley
Saturday, July 28, 2007
The Collect, Trinity VIII
The Latin Collect
(this collect is appointed in the Tridentine Missal for 7th after Pentecost)
Deus, cujus providentua in sui dispisitione non falitur: te supplices exoramus; ut noxia cincta submoveas, et omnia nobis profutura concedas.
The 1549 Collect
GOD, whose providence is never deceived, we humbly beseche thee that thou wilt put away from us al hurtfull thinges, and geve [us]* those thinges whiche be profitable for us; through Jesus Christe our Lorde.
The 1662 Collect
O GOD, whose never-failing providence ordereth all things both in heaven and earth; We humbly beseech thee to put away from us all hurtful things, and to give us those things which be profitable for us; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Meditation
The first clause of this collect reminds us of God's providence, which has a two-fold completeness. It is "never-failing", that is without limit in time (or ongoing effectiveness), and "ordereth all things both in heaven and earth", and so extends throughout the universe. Providence refers to God's ongoing care, preservation, and ordering (according to His overarching wisdom and plan) of Creation. It is seen as mainly expressed through everyday, natural causes rather than overtly supernatural miracles, which are often put in a different category. Because God sees the end from the beginning He has been able to do a great deal of "ordering" of what happens through setting up the natural conditions and laws in such a way as to achieve certain outcomes. It is good to know that our infinitely wise God is in final control, but there a number of things that we need to remember that Divine Providence does not mean.
It does not mean God directly causes or chooses everything, including evil. Instead, He allows room for angelic and human free will to choose and produce good or evil, and then is able to, in the long term, bring good even out of evil. It does not mean all justice is done within this universe. Divine Providence within this Creation does not "tie up all loose ends" because it never intended to. And providence does not mean we will get everything we want or even seem to need, though God does provide for us. We cannot see the bigger picture like He can, and we have trouble understanding (and believing) that what is best for eternal life may appear sub-standard here and now!
This brings us to the second part of the collect, the supplication. We ask God to "put away from us all hurtful things" and "give us those things which be profitable". Our first instinct is to see this as a prayer for avoidance of pain and provision of happiness. And I'm sure God doesn't mind us asking for that. But what is painful can sometimes be profitable, and outward happiness can in some circumstances be hurtful to the soul. "Be careful what you ask for" the saying goes! In the end, while God loves to bless people and does not willingly afflict us (Lam. 3.33), what He wants most for us is the eternal joy of union with Him. Sometimes that may involve difficult journeys. May we trust Him and His loving Providence throughout.
(this collect is appointed in the Tridentine Missal for 7th after Pentecost)
Deus, cujus providentua in sui dispisitione non falitur: te supplices exoramus; ut noxia cincta submoveas, et omnia nobis profutura concedas.
The 1549 Collect
GOD, whose providence is never deceived, we humbly beseche thee that thou wilt put away from us al hurtfull thinges, and geve [us]* those thinges whiche be profitable for us; through Jesus Christe our Lorde.
The 1662 Collect
O GOD, whose never-failing providence ordereth all things both in heaven and earth; We humbly beseech thee to put away from us all hurtful things, and to give us those things which be profitable for us; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Meditation
The first clause of this collect reminds us of God's providence, which has a two-fold completeness. It is "never-failing", that is without limit in time (or ongoing effectiveness), and "ordereth all things both in heaven and earth", and so extends throughout the universe. Providence refers to God's ongoing care, preservation, and ordering (according to His overarching wisdom and plan) of Creation. It is seen as mainly expressed through everyday, natural causes rather than overtly supernatural miracles, which are often put in a different category. Because God sees the end from the beginning He has been able to do a great deal of "ordering" of what happens through setting up the natural conditions and laws in such a way as to achieve certain outcomes. It is good to know that our infinitely wise God is in final control, but there a number of things that we need to remember that Divine Providence does not mean.
It does not mean God directly causes or chooses everything, including evil. Instead, He allows room for angelic and human free will to choose and produce good or evil, and then is able to, in the long term, bring good even out of evil. It does not mean all justice is done within this universe. Divine Providence within this Creation does not "tie up all loose ends" because it never intended to. And providence does not mean we will get everything we want or even seem to need, though God does provide for us. We cannot see the bigger picture like He can, and we have trouble understanding (and believing) that what is best for eternal life may appear sub-standard here and now!
This brings us to the second part of the collect, the supplication. We ask God to "put away from us all hurtful things" and "give us those things which be profitable". Our first instinct is to see this as a prayer for avoidance of pain and provision of happiness. And I'm sure God doesn't mind us asking for that. But what is painful can sometimes be profitable, and outward happiness can in some circumstances be hurtful to the soul. "Be careful what you ask for" the saying goes! In the end, while God loves to bless people and does not willingly afflict us (Lam. 3.33), what He wants most for us is the eternal joy of union with Him. Sometimes that may involve difficult journeys. May we trust Him and His loving Providence throughout.
Monday, July 23, 2007
The Collect - Trinity VII
a little late. This is yesterday's collect
The Latin Collect
Deus virtutum, cujus est totum quod est optimum: insere pectoribus nostris amorem tui nominis, et praesta in nobis religionis augmentum; ut quae sunt bona, nutrias, ac pietatis studiom quae synt nutrita, custodias.
The Collect (1549)
LORDE of all power and might, whiche art the author and gever of all good thynges; graffe in our hartes the love of thy name, increase in us true religion, norishe us with all goodnes, and of thy great mercy kepe us in the same; Through Jesus Christe our Lorde.
The Collect (1662)
LORD of all power and might, who art the author and giver of all good things; Graft in our hearts the love of thy Name, increase in us true religion, nourish us with all goodness, and of thy great mercy keep us in the same; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Commentary
Cranmer here translated the collect for this Sunday from the Sarum Missal (which appears in the Tridentine Missal for the Sixth after Pentecost). The Sarum Missal, in turn, received this prayer from the Gelasian Sacramentary of about AD 750.
Meditation
In today’s Gospel we remember the feeding of the hungry bodies of four thousand listeners. In this collect we are reminded that God is indeed the giver of all good things, but we are further reminded (in the words we ourselves pray) that these good things are not primarily things at all, but the love of God, the truth of the Christian faith and practice, and the living out of goodness, none of which can endure without His mercy. Without these things we cannot endure. Without these things we cannot enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. God grant them to us all.
--------------------ed pacht
The Latin Collect
Deus virtutum, cujus est totum quod est optimum: insere pectoribus nostris amorem tui nominis, et praesta in nobis religionis augmentum; ut quae sunt bona, nutrias, ac pietatis studiom quae synt nutrita, custodias.
The Collect (1549)
LORDE of all power and might, whiche art the author and gever of all good thynges; graffe in our hartes the love of thy name, increase in us true religion, norishe us with all goodnes, and of thy great mercy kepe us in the same; Through Jesus Christe our Lorde.
The Collect (1662)
LORD of all power and might, who art the author and giver of all good things; Graft in our hearts the love of thy Name, increase in us true religion, nourish us with all goodness, and of thy great mercy keep us in the same; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Commentary
Cranmer here translated the collect for this Sunday from the Sarum Missal (which appears in the Tridentine Missal for the Sixth after Pentecost). The Sarum Missal, in turn, received this prayer from the Gelasian Sacramentary of about AD 750.
Meditation
In today’s Gospel we remember the feeding of the hungry bodies of four thousand listeners. In this collect we are reminded that God is indeed the giver of all good things, but we are further reminded (in the words we ourselves pray) that these good things are not primarily things at all, but the love of God, the truth of the Christian faith and practice, and the living out of goodness, none of which can endure without His mercy. Without these things we cannot endure. Without these things we cannot enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. God grant them to us all.
--------------------ed pacht
Friday, July 13, 2007
The Collect - Trinity VI
The Latin Collect from the Tridentine Missal
Deus, qui diligentibus te bona invisibilia praeparasti: infunde cordibus nostris tui amoris affectum; ut te in omnibus, et super omnia diligentes, promissiones tuas, quae omne desiderium superant, consequamur.
The Collect of 1549
GOD, whiche haste prepared to them that love thee suche good thynges as passe all mannes understanding; Powre into our hartes such love toward thee, that we lovyng thee in al thinges, may obteine thy promises, whiche excede all that we canne desyre; Through Jesus Christe our Lorde.
The Collect of 1662
O GOD, who hast prepared for them that love thee such good things as pass man's understanding; Pour into our hearts such love toward thee, that we, loving thee above all things, may obtain thy promises, which exceed all that we can desire; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Commentary
Again Cranmer translates the collect from the Gelasian Sacramentary. The Tridentine Missal uses this collect for the 5th Sunday after Pentecost. This well-known collect is referenced in, amongst other places, Newman's Sermon "Miracles no Remedy for Unbelief".
Reflection
Why is this one of the most familiar of collects? We've all heard it and it is so memorable, but why? While all the collects of the Church are worthy elements of our conversation with Our Lord, this particular prayer speaks of the very reason for our Creation. We are created to be loved by God, and we know this because of the myriad, myriad blessings that He lavishes upon us.
And yet here is the tragedy, Man does not always reciprocate! Indeed Man often sems oblivious to this whole idea of Love. The Creature made for love fails to do so.
As Christians, we feel both the warmth of the love of God and His pain at our decisions to do that which snubs that love. We need Love to show us how to love and our Sacraments give us the awareness of this pain and even permit us to suffer a fragment of it through Divine Grace. As Christians we pray for the Paraclete to make us aware of just how to respond approprately to Divine Charity and attempt to make that response to such perfect paternal devotion.
We fail.
However there is always hope - that trust in the fidelity of God to keep to His promises even when we are faithless. To develop sensitivity to the love of God is surely the beginning of our acquisition of a true and eternal life, but developing that sensitivity is painful!
How often should we be praying this prayer?
-------------------------------------------Jonathan Munn
Deus, qui diligentibus te bona invisibilia praeparasti: infunde cordibus nostris tui amoris affectum; ut te in omnibus, et super omnia diligentes, promissiones tuas, quae omne desiderium superant, consequamur.
The Collect of 1549
GOD, whiche haste prepared to them that love thee suche good thynges as passe all mannes understanding; Powre into our hartes such love toward thee, that we lovyng thee in al thinges, may obteine thy promises, whiche excede all that we canne desyre; Through Jesus Christe our Lorde.
The Collect of 1662
O GOD, who hast prepared for them that love thee such good things as pass man's understanding; Pour into our hearts such love toward thee, that we, loving thee above all things, may obtain thy promises, which exceed all that we can desire; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Commentary
Again Cranmer translates the collect from the Gelasian Sacramentary. The Tridentine Missal uses this collect for the 5th Sunday after Pentecost. This well-known collect is referenced in, amongst other places, Newman's Sermon "Miracles no Remedy for Unbelief".
Reflection
Why is this one of the most familiar of collects? We've all heard it and it is so memorable, but why? While all the collects of the Church are worthy elements of our conversation with Our Lord, this particular prayer speaks of the very reason for our Creation. We are created to be loved by God, and we know this because of the myriad, myriad blessings that He lavishes upon us.
And yet here is the tragedy, Man does not always reciprocate! Indeed Man often sems oblivious to this whole idea of Love. The Creature made for love fails to do so.
As Christians, we feel both the warmth of the love of God and His pain at our decisions to do that which snubs that love. We need Love to show us how to love and our Sacraments give us the awareness of this pain and even permit us to suffer a fragment of it through Divine Grace. As Christians we pray for the Paraclete to make us aware of just how to respond approprately to Divine Charity and attempt to make that response to such perfect paternal devotion.
We fail.
However there is always hope - that trust in the fidelity of God to keep to His promises even when we are faithless. To develop sensitivity to the love of God is surely the beginning of our acquisition of a true and eternal life, but developing that sensitivity is painful!
How often should we be praying this prayer?
-------------------------------------------Jonathan Munn
Thursday, July 05, 2007
The Collect - Trinity 5
The Latin Collect
Da nobis, quaesumus, Domine: ut et mundi cureue pacifice nobis tuo ordine dirigatur; et Ecclesia tua tranquilla devotione laetetur.
The Collect (1549)
GRAUNTE Lorde, wee beseche thee, that the course of thys worlde maye bee so peaceably ordred by thy governaunce, that thy congregacion may joyfully serve thee in all godly quietnes; thoroughe Jesus Christe oure Lorde.
The Collect (1662)
Grant, O Lord, we beseech thee, that the course of this world may be so peaceably ordered by thy governance, that thy Church may joyfully serve thee in all godly quietness; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Commentary
Cranmer translated this, pretty much literally, from the Sarum Missal. The collect (originally from the 7th Century Leonine Sacramentary) and its attendant readings were appointed there for this day, but, due to calendar differences, appear in the Tridentine Missal for the 4th after Pentecost. Cranmer’s choice of ‘congregacion’ to translate ‘Ecclesia’ was, perhaps, not the best, seeming to restrict the prayer to the local church only. This was remedied in 1662 by the substitution of ‘Church’.
Meditation
Why are we here? What is the purpose of this world? There are many ways to answer those questions, but what we are led to pray this week is, for the Christian, at the heart of them all. We are here to serve God. The world exists as a place for that to occur. We pray for peace, not necessarily the kind of peace that makes us comfortable, not necessarily the kind of peace that brings earthly comfort to others. Both of these are good, but they are secondary goods. We pray for peace under God’s governance, and chiefly that the Church might be free to serve Him with inner quietness and with joy. What a marvelous and mindbending prayer this is, deceptively simple words, but words that, if we truly pray them, will redirect our thoughts and our attention for eternity.
---------------------------ed pacht
Da nobis, quaesumus, Domine: ut et mundi cureue pacifice nobis tuo ordine dirigatur; et Ecclesia tua tranquilla devotione laetetur.
The Collect (1549)
GRAUNTE Lorde, wee beseche thee, that the course of thys worlde maye bee so peaceably ordred by thy governaunce, that thy congregacion may joyfully serve thee in all godly quietnes; thoroughe Jesus Christe oure Lorde.
The Collect (1662)
Grant, O Lord, we beseech thee, that the course of this world may be so peaceably ordered by thy governance, that thy Church may joyfully serve thee in all godly quietness; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Commentary
Cranmer translated this, pretty much literally, from the Sarum Missal. The collect (originally from the 7th Century Leonine Sacramentary) and its attendant readings were appointed there for this day, but, due to calendar differences, appear in the Tridentine Missal for the 4th after Pentecost. Cranmer’s choice of ‘congregacion’ to translate ‘Ecclesia’ was, perhaps, not the best, seeming to restrict the prayer to the local church only. This was remedied in 1662 by the substitution of ‘Church’.
Meditation
Why are we here? What is the purpose of this world? There are many ways to answer those questions, but what we are led to pray this week is, for the Christian, at the heart of them all. We are here to serve God. The world exists as a place for that to occur. We pray for peace, not necessarily the kind of peace that makes us comfortable, not necessarily the kind of peace that brings earthly comfort to others. Both of these are good, but they are secondary goods. We pray for peace under God’s governance, and chiefly that the Church might be free to serve Him with inner quietness and with joy. What a marvelous and mindbending prayer this is, deceptively simple words, but words that, if we truly pray them, will redirect our thoughts and our attention for eternity.
---------------------------ed pacht
Sunday, June 24, 2007
The Collect: Third Sunday after Trinity.
The Collect 1549:
Lorde, we beseche thee mercifully to heare us, and unto whom thou hast geuen an heartie desyre to pray; graunt that by thy mightie ayde we may be defended; through Jesus Christ our Lorde.
The Collect 1662:
O Lord, we beseech thee mercifully to hear us; and grant that we, to whom thou hast given an hearty desire to pray, may by thy mighty aid be defended and comforted in all dangers and adversities, Through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Commentary:
This collect, from the Gregorian Sacramentary, was appointed for this day in the Sarum Missal, and translated from there by Cranmer. The translation was recast and improved for the BCP of 1662. The continental use embodied in the Missal of Trent knew this as the Fourth Sunday after Pentecost and appointed an entirely different collect.
Meditation
The Twelve, observing their Master at prayer, were made acutely conscious of the poverty of their own prayer lives. They said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray.” We truly have neither the desire nor the ability to pray on our own, but become cold and formal, our words seeming to bounce from the ceiling, but He, at our request, stirs our hearts to reach toward Him, gives life to our prayers and deigns to answer. So we receive both protection and comfort in all times of need.
---------------------------------------ed pacht.
Lorde, we beseche thee mercifully to heare us, and unto whom thou hast geuen an heartie desyre to pray; graunt that by thy mightie ayde we may be defended; through Jesus Christ our Lorde.
The Collect 1662:
O Lord, we beseech thee mercifully to hear us; and grant that we, to whom thou hast given an hearty desire to pray, may by thy mighty aid be defended and comforted in all dangers and adversities, Through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Commentary:
This collect, from the Gregorian Sacramentary, was appointed for this day in the Sarum Missal, and translated from there by Cranmer. The translation was recast and improved for the BCP of 1662. The continental use embodied in the Missal of Trent knew this as the Fourth Sunday after Pentecost and appointed an entirely different collect.
Meditation
The Twelve, observing their Master at prayer, were made acutely conscious of the poverty of their own prayer lives. They said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray.” We truly have neither the desire nor the ability to pray on our own, but become cold and formal, our words seeming to bounce from the ceiling, but He, at our request, stirs our hearts to reach toward Him, gives life to our prayers and deigns to answer. So we receive both protection and comfort in all times of need.
---------------------------------------ed pacht.
Sunday, June 17, 2007
The Collect: Trinity II
The Collect 1549:
Lord, make us to haue a perpetuall feare and loue of thy holy name: for thou neuer faillest to helpe and gouerne them whom thou doest bryng up in thy steadfast loue. Graunt this, &c.
The Collect 1662:
O Lord, who never failest to help and govern them whom thou dost bring up in thy stedfast fear and love: Keep us, we beseech thee, under the protection of thy good providence, and make us to have a perpetual fear and love of thy holy Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Commentary:
The original Latin collect (whose text I do not have) came from the Gelasian Sacramentary and was prescribed for Trinity 2 in the Sarum Missal. It is not the same collect prescribed for this Sunday (known as Pentecost 3) in the Tridentine Missal. Archbishop Cranmer made a very literal translation of the Sarum Collect for the first BCP of 1549, which was used until 1662, when it was reworked extensively by Bishop Cosin for the new Prayer Book. Cosin managed to improve the form of the prayer greatly without disturbing its content.
Meditation
“… he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: …” (Ephesians 1:4)
It is God who has chosen us and brought us along to the place where we stand. Today’s Epistle and Gospel both speak of His choosing, of His invitation. Therefore, knowing already his intent toward us, and having already tasted His grace and His mercy, we can come to Him with boldness and confidence to ask that he keep us in His hand and His protection, and thus stir up in us the awe and the love that are due Him. And thus it is that we “… know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8.28)
----------------------------------------ed pacht
Lord, make us to haue a perpetuall feare and loue of thy holy name: for thou neuer faillest to helpe and gouerne them whom thou doest bryng up in thy steadfast loue. Graunt this, &c.
The Collect 1662:
O Lord, who never failest to help and govern them whom thou dost bring up in thy stedfast fear and love: Keep us, we beseech thee, under the protection of thy good providence, and make us to have a perpetual fear and love of thy holy Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Commentary:
The original Latin collect (whose text I do not have) came from the Gelasian Sacramentary and was prescribed for Trinity 2 in the Sarum Missal. It is not the same collect prescribed for this Sunday (known as Pentecost 3) in the Tridentine Missal. Archbishop Cranmer made a very literal translation of the Sarum Collect for the first BCP of 1549, which was used until 1662, when it was reworked extensively by Bishop Cosin for the new Prayer Book. Cosin managed to improve the form of the prayer greatly without disturbing its content.
Meditation
“… he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: …” (Ephesians 1:4)
It is God who has chosen us and brought us along to the place where we stand. Today’s Epistle and Gospel both speak of His choosing, of His invitation. Therefore, knowing already his intent toward us, and having already tasted His grace and His mercy, we can come to Him with boldness and confidence to ask that he keep us in His hand and His protection, and thus stir up in us the awe and the love that are due Him. And thus it is that we “… know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8.28)
----------------------------------------ed pacht
Saturday, June 09, 2007
The Collect - Trinity I
The Collect
GOD, the strength of all theym that trust in thee, mercifully accept our prayers; and because the weakenes of oure mortall nature can do no good thyng without thee, graunt us the helpe of thy grace, that in kepyng of thy commaundementes we may please thee, both in will and dede; through Jesus Christ our lorde.
The Commentary
The First Sunday after Trinity is the Sunday in the Octave of Corpus Christi. Modern revisions in the year made by the Holy See have now transferred the feast of Corpus Christi to the Sunday. Cranmer here translated the collect from Sunday in the Gelasian Sacramentary as prescribed in the Sarum Missal.
The Reflection
In his story The Great Divorce, C.S.Lewis has a vision of inhabitants of Hell on a daytrip to Heaven. These folk find themselves to be utterly insubstantial in the blessed realm. Although we are not in Hell, we are perhaps at our most insubstantial now - imperfect, incomplete, merely shades of what God created us to be, and it is now that we have the opportunity to rectify this. At the moment, we try to please God, but, through the flimsiness of our being, the works of goodness slip through the vapour that constitutes our fingers. We need substance in order to serve God.
It is therefore a great comfort to us that God offers us that substance in the Eucharist. As we consume the Body of Christ, we are provided with the substance of God which fleshes out our being with His flesh. It is only through His presence completing us that we can grasp hold of the goodness and love that need to be spread abroad into the world.
It doesn't matter which way we view this Sunday, because in some sense we are praying for the same thing - to become more like God in Christ. But if we examine our lives honestly, just how far have we got in this endeavour?
Jonathan Munn
GOD, the strength of all theym that trust in thee, mercifully accept our prayers; and because the weakenes of oure mortall nature can do no good thyng without thee, graunt us the helpe of thy grace, that in kepyng of thy commaundementes we may please thee, both in will and dede; through Jesus Christ our lorde.
The Commentary
The First Sunday after Trinity is the Sunday in the Octave of Corpus Christi. Modern revisions in the year made by the Holy See have now transferred the feast of Corpus Christi to the Sunday. Cranmer here translated the collect from Sunday in the Gelasian Sacramentary as prescribed in the Sarum Missal.
The Reflection
In his story The Great Divorce, C.S.Lewis has a vision of inhabitants of Hell on a daytrip to Heaven. These folk find themselves to be utterly insubstantial in the blessed realm. Although we are not in Hell, we are perhaps at our most insubstantial now - imperfect, incomplete, merely shades of what God created us to be, and it is now that we have the opportunity to rectify this. At the moment, we try to please God, but, through the flimsiness of our being, the works of goodness slip through the vapour that constitutes our fingers. We need substance in order to serve God.
It is therefore a great comfort to us that God offers us that substance in the Eucharist. As we consume the Body of Christ, we are provided with the substance of God which fleshes out our being with His flesh. It is only through His presence completing us that we can grasp hold of the goodness and love that need to be spread abroad into the world.
It doesn't matter which way we view this Sunday, because in some sense we are praying for the same thing - to become more like God in Christ. But if we examine our lives honestly, just how far have we got in this endeavour?
Jonathan Munn
Friday, June 01, 2007
The Collect - Trinity Sunday
The Latin Collect
Omnipotens sempiterne Deus, qui dedisti famulis tuis in confessione verae fidei, aeternae Trinitatis gloriam agnoscere, et in potentia majestatis adorare unitatem: quaesumus; ut, ejusdem fidei firmitate, ab omnibus semper muniamue adversis; per dominum nostrum Jesum Christum …
The Collect (1549)
Almightye and euerlastyng God, whiche haste geuen unto us thy seruantes grace by the confession of a true fayth to acknowledge the glorye of the eternall trinitie, and in the power of the diuyne maiestie to wurshippe the unitie: we beseche thee, that through the stedfastnes of thys faith, we may euermore be defended from all aduersitie, whiche liueste and reignest, one God, worlde without end..
The Collect (1662 and later)
Almighty and everlasting God, who hast given unto us thy servants grace, by the confession of a true faith, to acknowledge the glory of the eternal Trinity, and in the power of the Divine Majesty to worship the unity;
We beseech thee that thou wouldest keep us stedfast in this faith, and evermore defend us from all adversities, who livest and reignest, one God, world without end.
Commentary
The Latin Collect is ancient, probably originating at the same time as the feast itself, perhaps even before the Fall of Rome. It harmonizes well, both in content and in style, with the ancient propers as given in the Sarum Missal and in the Missale Romanum. Archbishop Cranmer produced a very literal translation of this ancient prayer, but with one rather interesting change in the conclusion. The old prayer was addressed to the Father, thus concluding ‘through Jesus Christ our Lord, who livest …’ Cranmer, in eliminating the phrase about Christ, converted it into a less usual form: a collect directed to the Trinity. Other than that, Cranmer left the content alone, but the compilers of 1662 made one further change, which has come down to us in later Prayer Books. Instead of praying that our faith may enable us to be defended from adversity, we pray that we be kept in the faith and thus defended. A subtle but interesting change.
This collect is so precise and detailed, and so rich in content, that it seemed appropriate in the following mediation to examine it phrase by phrase.
Meditation
[Almighty and everlasting God, who hast given unto us thy servants grace, ]
We begin our prayer, knowing that, but for the grace He so freely gives, we could not do even this.
[by the confession of a true faith, ]
We have received this grace when, also by His gift, we have been able to accept what He has spoken,
[to acknowledge the glory of the eternal Trinity, ]
to recognize God not according to what men have imagined, but, according to His revelation of Himself as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, distinct from all other conceptions of godhead.
[and in the power of the Divine Majesty to worship the unity;]
and, by the power of that revelation and that grace, to worship him in Spirit and in Truth, One in three and Three in One, in glory everlasting
[we beseche thee, that through the stedfastnes of thys faith, we may euermore be defended from all aduersitie, (1549)
We beseech thee that thou wouldest keep us stedfast in this faith, and evermore defend us from all adversities, (1662)]
and, holding this truth in steadfastness, which we cannot do without His grace, we thus approach the True God and boldly call upon Him for protection and support, in the assurance that the God we confess is the God who visits us in His love, whop hears and answers prayer.
[who livest and reignest, one God, world without end.]
Grant it unto us, O lord.
---------------------------------------ed pacht
Omnipotens sempiterne Deus, qui dedisti famulis tuis in confessione verae fidei, aeternae Trinitatis gloriam agnoscere, et in potentia majestatis adorare unitatem: quaesumus; ut, ejusdem fidei firmitate, ab omnibus semper muniamue adversis; per dominum nostrum Jesum Christum …
The Collect (1549)
Almightye and euerlastyng God, whiche haste geuen unto us thy seruantes grace by the confession of a true fayth to acknowledge the glorye of the eternall trinitie, and in the power of the diuyne maiestie to wurshippe the unitie: we beseche thee, that through the stedfastnes of thys faith, we may euermore be defended from all aduersitie, whiche liueste and reignest, one God, worlde without end..
The Collect (1662 and later)
Almighty and everlasting God, who hast given unto us thy servants grace, by the confession of a true faith, to acknowledge the glory of the eternal Trinity, and in the power of the Divine Majesty to worship the unity;
We beseech thee that thou wouldest keep us stedfast in this faith, and evermore defend us from all adversities, who livest and reignest, one God, world without end.
Commentary
The Latin Collect is ancient, probably originating at the same time as the feast itself, perhaps even before the Fall of Rome. It harmonizes well, both in content and in style, with the ancient propers as given in the Sarum Missal and in the Missale Romanum. Archbishop Cranmer produced a very literal translation of this ancient prayer, but with one rather interesting change in the conclusion. The old prayer was addressed to the Father, thus concluding ‘through Jesus Christ our Lord, who livest …’ Cranmer, in eliminating the phrase about Christ, converted it into a less usual form: a collect directed to the Trinity. Other than that, Cranmer left the content alone, but the compilers of 1662 made one further change, which has come down to us in later Prayer Books. Instead of praying that our faith may enable us to be defended from adversity, we pray that we be kept in the faith and thus defended. A subtle but interesting change.
This collect is so precise and detailed, and so rich in content, that it seemed appropriate in the following mediation to examine it phrase by phrase.
Meditation
[Almighty and everlasting God, who hast given unto us thy servants grace, ]
We begin our prayer, knowing that, but for the grace He so freely gives, we could not do even this.
[by the confession of a true faith, ]
We have received this grace when, also by His gift, we have been able to accept what He has spoken,
[to acknowledge the glory of the eternal Trinity, ]
to recognize God not according to what men have imagined, but, according to His revelation of Himself as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, distinct from all other conceptions of godhead.
[and in the power of the Divine Majesty to worship the unity;]
and, by the power of that revelation and that grace, to worship him in Spirit and in Truth, One in three and Three in One, in glory everlasting
[we beseche thee, that through the stedfastnes of thys faith, we may euermore be defended from all aduersitie, (1549)
We beseech thee that thou wouldest keep us stedfast in this faith, and evermore defend us from all adversities, (1662)]
and, holding this truth in steadfastness, which we cannot do without His grace, we thus approach the True God and boldly call upon Him for protection and support, in the assurance that the God we confess is the God who visits us in His love, whop hears and answers prayer.
[who livest and reignest, one God, world without end.]
Grant it unto us, O lord.
---------------------------------------ed pacht
Saturday, May 26, 2007
The Collect - Whitsunday
The Prayer
O God, who as at this time didst teach the hearts of thy faithful people, by sending to them the light of thy Holy Spirit; Grant us by the same Spirit to have a right judgment in all things, and evermore to rejoice in his holy comfort; through the merits of Christ Jesus our Saviour, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the same Spirit, one God, world without end. Amen.
The Commentary
The Collect for Pentecost appeared in the first Book of Common Prayer (1549) and prior to that in the Sarum missal and in the Gregorian sacramentary.
The 1979 ECUSA prayer book substitutes “through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord” for the traditional words: “through the merits of Christ Jesus our Savior” (p. 227). Marion Hatchett’s Commentary on the American Prayer Book does not give an explanation. It may be that Hatchett didn’t consider the change significant, but given ECUSA’s decades-long slide in apostasy, the change suggests that the traditional words posed a problem for the Standing Liturgical Commission. One wonders how it is possible to call Jesus Christ “Lord” without first acclaiming Him “Savior”?
Note that the traditional Collect is addressed to the Father who sends the Spirit to teach and illumine the hearts of the faithful. It petitions the Father that, through the same Spirit, we might have right judgment and rejoice in his holy comfort. The fundamental teachings of the Church are all here: The Father sends the Spirit. The Spirit teaches, illumines, comforts and makes right judgment possible. All is accomplished through the merits of our Savior Jesus Christ, who is one with the Father and the Spirit forever. The Collect focuses less on the signs and wonders of Pentecost than on the nature of the relationship between the Persons of the Trinity. This prayer, like so many in the Book of Common Prayer, has the quality of catechesis.
Now compare the Collect to this contemporary Church of England Collect, which is addressed to the Holy Spirit:
Holy Spirit, sent by the Father,
ignite in us your holy fire;
strengthen your children with the gift of faith,
revive your Church with the breath of love,
and renew the face of the earth,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
In the Church of England, those who favor traditional language continue to use the 1549 Collect, but it largely has been supplanted by this contemporary option which stresses signs of the Spirit with these verbs: ignite, strengthen, revive and renew. There is nothing theologically amiss with this contemporary Collect. It simply lacks depth. It fails to take up to the greater Trinitarian mystery concerning the will of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
The Meditation
There is great wisdom in the old prayers. Here is yet another example of the superiority of the old to the new. The Church is founded on the reality that God has sent both the Incarnate Word and the Holy Spirit. There can be no separation of the two because They form a single divine mystery which is akin to the mystery of creation, but much greater.
The working of the Spirit after Pentecost is distinct from the work of the Spirit before Pentecost because the Spirit now works in a new reality, the Church. This great Collect reminds us that the Holy Spirit is sent to the Church, not the world, because just as the world received Him not, neither does the world receive the Spirit, the Giver of Life. But those who receive Him, receive the Spirit, and to such are given the power to become the sons of God.
Alice Linsley
O God, who as at this time didst teach the hearts of thy faithful people, by sending to them the light of thy Holy Spirit; Grant us by the same Spirit to have a right judgment in all things, and evermore to rejoice in his holy comfort; through the merits of Christ Jesus our Saviour, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the same Spirit, one God, world without end. Amen.
The Commentary
The Collect for Pentecost appeared in the first Book of Common Prayer (1549) and prior to that in the Sarum missal and in the Gregorian sacramentary.
The 1979 ECUSA prayer book substitutes “through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord” for the traditional words: “through the merits of Christ Jesus our Savior” (p. 227). Marion Hatchett’s Commentary on the American Prayer Book does not give an explanation. It may be that Hatchett didn’t consider the change significant, but given ECUSA’s decades-long slide in apostasy, the change suggests that the traditional words posed a problem for the Standing Liturgical Commission. One wonders how it is possible to call Jesus Christ “Lord” without first acclaiming Him “Savior”?
Note that the traditional Collect is addressed to the Father who sends the Spirit to teach and illumine the hearts of the faithful. It petitions the Father that, through the same Spirit, we might have right judgment and rejoice in his holy comfort. The fundamental teachings of the Church are all here: The Father sends the Spirit. The Spirit teaches, illumines, comforts and makes right judgment possible. All is accomplished through the merits of our Savior Jesus Christ, who is one with the Father and the Spirit forever. The Collect focuses less on the signs and wonders of Pentecost than on the nature of the relationship between the Persons of the Trinity. This prayer, like so many in the Book of Common Prayer, has the quality of catechesis.
Now compare the Collect to this contemporary Church of England Collect, which is addressed to the Holy Spirit:
Holy Spirit, sent by the Father,
ignite in us your holy fire;
strengthen your children with the gift of faith,
revive your Church with the breath of love,
and renew the face of the earth,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
In the Church of England, those who favor traditional language continue to use the 1549 Collect, but it largely has been supplanted by this contemporary option which stresses signs of the Spirit with these verbs: ignite, strengthen, revive and renew. There is nothing theologically amiss with this contemporary Collect. It simply lacks depth. It fails to take up to the greater Trinitarian mystery concerning the will of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
The Meditation
There is great wisdom in the old prayers. Here is yet another example of the superiority of the old to the new. The Church is founded on the reality that God has sent both the Incarnate Word and the Holy Spirit. There can be no separation of the two because They form a single divine mystery which is akin to the mystery of creation, but much greater.
The working of the Spirit after Pentecost is distinct from the work of the Spirit before Pentecost because the Spirit now works in a new reality, the Church. This great Collect reminds us that the Holy Spirit is sent to the Church, not the world, because just as the world received Him not, neither does the world receive the Spirit, the Giver of Life. But those who receive Him, receive the Spirit, and to such are given the power to become the sons of God.
Alice Linsley
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)