WHAT IS A COLLECT?

We find in classic editions of The Book of Common Prayer that the word "Collect" is distinguished from both the Litany and the Eucharistic Prayer and appears to be used in two senses, a precise and also a general sense.

In the strict or precise sense, it may be said that only those are truly Collects which are used with the Epistle and Gospel in the Eucharistic Lectionary, and as the Collects of the Day in the Morning and Evening Prayer.

To these we may add (a) the last prayer in the Order for the Burial of the Dead (1662) which originally had an Epistle and Gospel attached to it, and
(b) the opening prayer of the Order for Holy Communion, the Collect for purity, which summarises the preparation of the people of God for this eucharistic service.

Then in a less precise sense we have the Collects in the Services of Holy Baptism being (a) the two prayers before the Gospel in The Ministration of the Publick Baptism of Infants (1662) and (b) the prayer before the Gospel in The Ministration of Holy Baptism (1928). Then in an even less precise
sense: (c) the two sets of two Collects, which follow the Collect of the Day in both Morning and Evening Prayer; (d) the prayers at the end of the Litany, introduced by "Let us pray" and (e) the "Collect or Prayer" for all Conditions of men.

Collecta is the original Latin word, meaning a gathering of any sort. So what does the Collect gather together? There are various possibilities and there appears to be a measure of truth in each of them:

1.The gathering together in a precise form certain aspects of the teaching in the Epistle and/or Gospel to which it is attached. 2.The gathering together of the thoughts (recollection) of the people of God, a collectedness of mind. 3.The prayer to be used when people actually assemble together for worship - oratio ad collectum.

The Collects, precisely so called, normally have a common structure, though sometimes one of the parts thereof is missing.

First, there is the Invocation where God (usually God the Father, but sometimes the Lord Jesus Christ) is addressed and invoked.

In the second place, there is the Recital and remembrance of some doctrine or else fact of a biblical topic or theme - e.g., of salvation, redemption, or providence.

Then, thirdly, there is the Petition, which constitutes the body of the short prayer.

In the fourth place, there is the Aspiration or devout wish.

Finally, there is the Pleading of the Name of Jesus, the Mediator, when the prayer is to the Father.

This structure may be illustrated from the long Collect appointed for the Burial of the Dead (1662).

"O Merciful God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the resurrection and the life; in whom whosoever believeth shall live, though he die; and whosoever liveth, and believeth in him, shall not die eternally; who also hath taught us, by his holy Apostle Saint Paul, not to be sorry, as men without hope, for them that sleep in him: We meekly beseech thee, O Father, to raise us up from the death of sin unto the life of righteousness; that when we shall depart this life, we may rest in him, as our hope is this our brother/sister doth; and that, at the general resurrection in the last day, we may be found acceptable in thy sight; and receive that blessing, which they well-beloved Son shall then pronounce to all that love and fear thee, saying, Come ye blessed children of my Father, receive the kingdom prepared for you from the beginning of the world. Grant this, we beseech thee, O Merciful Father, through Jesus Christ, our Mediator and Redeemer."

Invocation: "O Merciful God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ."
Recital: "who is the Resurrection and the Life.that sleep in him."
Petition: "We meekly beseech thee, O Father, to raise us up from the death of sin unto the life of righteousness."
Aspiration: "that when we shall depart this life, we may rest in him.world."
Pleading: "Grant this, we beseech thee, O Merciful Father, through Jesus Christ, our Mediator and Redeemer."

There are other ways of expressing the Structure of the Collect, e.g., "(i) an introductory address and commemoration, on which is based (ii) a single central prayer: from this in turn (iii) other clauses of petition or desire are developed, and (iv) the whole concludes with some fixed form of ending" the last usually being, if the prayer is addressed to the Father, a variant on "per Iesum Christum dominum nostrum" sometimes followed by a doxology.

The Rev'd Dr. Peter Toon