Typical Lutheran Worship – 2 “What is a Collect?”

Wednesday after Pentecost 15
September 16, 2009

The Lord be with you

A collect is a short prayer that follows a very specific format. It begins with an invocation of God, e.g. “Almighty Father,” “Lord Jesus,” O Holy Spirit.” Then some attribute is ascribed to the Deity, e.g. “Creator of heaven and earth,” “our Savior and Redeemer,” “You who calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian Church on earth.” Then follows a petition, typically only one, e.g. “grant success to our labors,” “grant that we may ever cling to You in true faith,” “grant that through the Word and Sacraments You may call many to faith in Christ in our city.” After this a desired result can be named, e.g. “that all may give you thanks for your bounty,” “that we may endure secure in Your grace unto life everlasting,” “that the kingdom of our Lord may grow.” Finally a Trinitarian conclusion is prayed, e.g. “Through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever,” “we ask this in Your name, who lives and reigns with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever,” “through Jesus Christ, who together with You and the Father are one Lord, one God.”

Everything is tied together, so the attribute relates to the request, etc. Put together the three prayers above would go as follows:

Almighty Father, Creator of heaven and earth, grant success to our labors that all may give you thanks for your bounty through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

Lord Jesus, our Savior and Redeemer, grant that we may ever cling to You in true faith that we may endure secure in Your grace unto life everlasting, we ask this in Your name, who lives and reigns with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

O Holy Spirit, You who calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian Church on earth, grant that through the Word and Sacraments You may call many to faith in Christ in our city that the kingdom of our Lord may grow through Jesus Christ, who together with You and the Father are one Lord, one God.

I just made up these prayers, which shows that the collect-format can be a wonderful guide in our own prayer life. It is not uncommon to have one or two of these elements modified.

The “Collect for the Day” is a prayer that collects the themes of the day in the Scripture lessons and other propers, boils them down, and sums them up. Many of these are quite ancient, dating back many, many centuries.

Blessings in Christ,
Pastor John Rickert