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
Collects

The First Sunday of Christmas

Almighty God, you have poured upon us the new light of your incarnate Word: Grant that this light, kindled in our hearts, may shine forth in our lives; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.  Amen.

Da nobis, quaesumus, omnipotens Deus, ut qui nova incarnati Verbi tui luce perfundimur, hoc in nostro resplendeat opere, quod per fidem fulget in mente.

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Original-language source · public domain

BCP 2019, p. 600

Proper Preface

Preface of Christmas

Because you gave Jesus Christ, your only Son, to be born for us; who, by the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary his mother, was made truly man, yet without the stain of sin, that we might be cleansed from sin and given the right to become your children.

Provenance

Gregorian, c.590–750

Draft — AI-assisted research under editorial review.

One of the oldest prayers in the Anglican inheritance, this collect began as the opening prayer of the Christmas dawn Mass in ancient Rome, celebrated at the Basilica of Sant'Anastasia as the first light of December 25 broke. Its central image – Christ as a new light suffusing the world – echoes the opening of John's Gospel, and it did not enter any English Prayer Book until the American revision of 1928.