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.

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Commontide
Collect
Prayers

The Epiphany

O God, by the leading of a star you manifested your only Son to the peoples of the earth: Lead us, who know you now by faith, to your presence, where we may see your glory face to face; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.  Amen.

Deus, qui hodierna die Unigenitum tuum gentibus stella duce revelasti: concede propitius; ut, qui iam te ex fide cognovimus, usque ad contemplandam speciem tuae celsitudinis perducamur.

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Original-language source · public domain

BCP 2019, p. 601

Proper Preface

Preface of the Epiphany

Through Jesus Christ our Lord, who took on our mortal flesh to reveal his glory; that he might bring us out of darkness and into his own glorious light.

Provenance

Gregorian, c.700-800

Draft — AI-assisted research under editorial review.

One of the oldest prayers still in Anglican use, this collect traces from a Latin oration of the seventh or eighth century through the medieval Sarum Missal, Cranmer's 1549 revision, and a 1979 re-translation that restored the original's vision of seeing God face to face. The star that led the Magi becomes, in the prayer's logic, a figure for the life of faith itself.