The Collect
O LORD, we beseech thee mercifully to receive the prayers of thy people who call upon thee; and grant that they may both perceive and know what things they ought to do, and also may have grace and power faithfully to fulfil the same; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Latin original Collect:
Voto, quaesumus Domine, supplicantis populi tui coelesti pietate prosequere ut et quea agenda sunt, videant et ad
implenda auae viderit, convalescat, per Dominnum.
--Gelesian Sacramentary
Introit: I saw the Lord, sitting upon a throne: high and lifted up….
Epistle: Romans 12: 1-5 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God…
Gradual: Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel, who only doeth wonders…
Gospel: Luke 2:41-52 Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast …
See it all here
This English translation of the proper collect that is used in the Lutheran worship manual is the same as Cranmer's translation found in the Book of Common Prayer.
I offer below a translation which I hope serves to bring it closer to the original Latin, and to include some of the interpretation offered by Strodach.
Vow, we beseech thee O Lord, to receive the humble and celestial supplications of thy people who sincerely call upon thee, so that the things that should be done may be seen, and strength may be given to perform the same; through our Lord…
Consider this prayer in the light of the historic epistle of Paul to the Romans, which has traditionally accompanied it on the 1st Sunday after the Epiphany. Paul calls on his listeners to a reasonable service to God. But how? "By the mercies of God". In other words, it is only by God's grace that man can see clearly the way ahead,--to know what things he ought to do, and then through the power of God's grace strengthening him, to do those things. Paul says "therefore" meaning because of what I told you. In the chapter preceding Paul wrote of the great gift of the calling and election that had been extended to the Gentiles not on account of their works, but by grace. He said, "And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work"
I have mentioned before the writing of Augustine that so much is akin to this collect and Paul's epistles. Augustine wrote: "Give, O Lord, what thou commandest, and then command what thou wilt." [Confessions:] and of his defense of the faith against the heretic Pelagius.
This past week was the Sacrementarum of the Order. Some of us rehearsed the Vow of the Order, which acknowledges
that it is through the aid of the Holy Ghost that we will be able to obey the Commandments and the Summary of the Law, follow the Rule of the Order, and fear God and do what is right. That vow, this collect, and the Gospel preached by our Lord and his Apostle are in one accord. On the Order's Vow page, today's collect has stood for many years:
O LORD, we beseech thee mercifully to receive the prayers of thy people who call upon thee; and grant that they may both perceive and know what things they ought to do, and also may have grace and power faithfully to fulfil the same; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Homily and propers from the OC here
Finis
(Portions were paraphrased and passages cited from The Collect of the Day, by Paul Zeller Strodach, 1939, The United
Lutheran Press, Philadelphia) http://www.cyberhymnal.org/bio/s/t/r/strodach_pz.htm
The Ancient Collect: Its history and form
[1] Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895) Quotes reported in Josiah Hotchkiss Gilbert, Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895).
Also: "Pelagianism quickly spread, especially around Carthage, which is one reason the opponents acted so promptly and firmly. Augustine wrote four letters specifically on Pelagianism, "De peccatorum meritis et remissione libri III" (Three Books on the Merits and Forgiveness of Sins) in 412, "De spiritu et litera" (On the Spirit and the Letter) and "Definitiones Caelestii" (Caelestius's Definitions) in 414, and "De natura et gratia" (On Nature and Grace) in 415. In these he strongly affirmed the existence of original sin, the need for infant baptism, the impossibility of a sinless life without Christ, and the necessity of Christ's grace. Augustine's works are intended in part for the common people and thus do not address Pelagius or his disciple Caelestius (except for the Definitiones Caelestii) by name..." [Wiki]
Legio Christi-Ecclesia Militans
"Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another" [St. Paul's Epistle to the Romans 14:19]
* ORDO CENTURIONUM * IN HOC SIGNO VINCES * TIME DEUM ET OPERARE IUSTITIAM
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