Commontide

For Guidance

O God, by whom the meek are guided in judgment, and light rises up in darkness for the godly: Grant us, in all our doubts and uncertainties, the grace to ask what you would have us do, that the Spirit of wisdom may save us from all false choices; that in your light we may see light, and in your straight path we may not stumble; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Touch screen to pause

Skip to main content
Commontide
Collect
Prayers

Palm Sunday

Almighty and everlasting God, in your tender love for us you sent your Son our Savior Jesus Christ to take upon himself our nature, and to suffer death upon the Cross, giving us the example of his great humility: Mercifully grant that we may walk in the way of his suffering, and come to share in his resurrection; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.  Amen.

Omnipotens sempiterne Deus, qui humano generi ad imitandum humilitatis exemplum, Salvatorem nostrum et carnem sumere et crucem subire fecisti, concede propitius ut et patientiae ipsius habere documenta et resurrectionis consortia mereamur.

↻Turn your device to see the Latin original

Original-language source · public domain

BCP 2019, p. 607

Proper Preface

Preface of Holy Week

Through Jesus Christ our Lord. For our sins he was lifted high upon the Cross, that he might draw the whole world to himself; and by his suffering and death he became the author of eternal salvation for all who put their trust in him.

Found in the Prayer Book

This prayer appears in more than one place in the 2019 Book of Common Prayer.

  • Collects of the Christian Year
  • Palm SundayLent & Holy Week

Provenance

Gelasian, 7th c.

Draft — AI-assisted research under editorial review.

One of the oldest prayers in the Christian year, this collect has been prayed on Palm Sunday since at least the seventh century, passing through the Sarum Missal into Cranmer's first prayer book in 1549. Its Latin original deliberately pivots the day's focus from the triumphal entry to the Passion: Christ's humility in taking our flesh and going to the cross is not merely an example to admire but a way to walk.