Collect

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The name now used only for shortprayers before the Epistle in the Mass, which occur again atLauds,Terce, Sext, None, andVespers. The wordcollecta corresponds to the Greeksynaxis. It is a noun, a late form forcollectio (somissa formissio,oblata foroblatio,ascensa, in the Gelasian Sacramentary, forascensio, etc.). The original meaning seems to have been this: it was used for the service held at a certain church on the days when there was a station somewhere else. The people gathered together and became a "collection" at this first church; after certainprayers had been said they went in procession to the station-church. Just before they started the celebrant said aprayer, theoratio ad collectam (ad collectionem populi); the name would then be the same asoratio super populum, a title that still remains in ourMissal, inLent for instance after the Post-Communion. Thisprayer, the collect, would be repeated at the beginning of the Mass at the station itself (Bona, Rer. liturg., II, 5). Later writers find other meanings for the name.Innocent III says that in thisprayer thepriest collects together theprayers of all the people (De Sacr. altaris myst., II, 27; see alsoBenedict XIV, De SS. Missæ sacr., II, 5). The Secret and Post-Communion are also collects, formed on the same model as the one before the Epistle. Now the name is only used for the first of the three. Originally there was only one collect (and one Secret and Post-Communion) for each Mass. The oldersacramentaries never provide more than one.Amalarius of Metz (d. 857) says (De officiis eccl., in P.L., CV, 985 sqq.) that in his time somepriests began to say more than one collect, but that atRome only one was used. Micrologus [De eccl. observ., probably byBernold of Constance (d. 1100), in P.L., CLI, 973 sqq.] defends the old custom and says that "onePrayer should be said, as one Epistle and one Gospel". However, the number of collects was multiplied till gradually our present rule was evolved.

The way in which our collects are now said at Mass is the fragment of a more elaborate rite. Of this longer rite we still have a vestige onGood Friday. The celebrant, after greeting the people (Dominus vobiscum), invited them topray for some intention:Oremus, dilectissimi nobis, etc. Thedeacon said:Flectamus genua, and allknelt for a time in silentprayer. Thesubdeacon then told them to stand up again (Levate), and, all standing, the celebrant closed the privateprayers with the short form that is the collect. Of this rite — except onGood Friday — the shortening of the Mass, which has affected all its parts, has only left the greetingOremus and the collect itself. Here, as always, it is inHoly Week that we find the older form. It should be noted, then, that theOremus did not refer immediately to the collect, but rather to the silentprayer that went before it. This also explains the shortness of the older collects. They are not theprayer itself, but its conclusion. One short sentence summed up the petitions of the people. It is only since the original meaning of the collect has been forgotten that it has become itself a long petition with various references and clauses (compare the collects for theSundays after Pentecost with those for the modern feasts). On all feast-days the collect naturally contains a reference to the event whose memory we celebrate. Its preparation is thekissing of the altar and theDominus vobiscum. Before inviting the people to make thisprayer the celebrant greets them, and, before turning his back to the altar in order to do so, he salutes it in the usual way bykissing it. The formDominus vobiscum is the common greeting in the West. It occurs in the Gallican,Milanese, and Mozarabic Liturgies under the form:Dominus sit semper vobiscum. Germanus ofParis notes it as thepriest's (notbishop's) greeting (P.L., LXXVII, 89). It is taken from theBible. When Booz came from Bethlehem he said, "The Spirit be with you", to the reapers (Ruth 2:4), andSt. Gabriel used the same form toOur Lady at the Annunciation (Luke 1:28; cf.2 Thessalonians 3:16). Abishop here says,Pax vobis, unless the Mass has no Gloria, in which case his greeting is the same as that of thepriest (Ritus celebr., V, I). This distinction is as old as the tenth century (Ordo Rom., XIV, 79, notes it). The Pax is a joyful and solemn greeting to be left out on days of penance. Its connection with the Gloria, that has just gone before (et in terra pax hominibus), is obvious. The greeting of peace (eirene pasin) is the common one in the Easternliturgies. In either case the answer is:Et cum spiritu tuo. This is a Hebraism that occurs constantly in both the Old and theNew Testament. "Thy spirit" simply means "thee" (Cf. e.g.Daniel 3:86;Galatians 6:18;Philippians 4:23;Philemon 25).Nefesh (Heb.),Nafs (Ar.), with a pronominal suffix, in allSemitic languages means simply theperson in question. The Easternliturgies have the same answer,kai meta tou pneumatos sou (and with thy spirit), as in the Apostolic Constitutions (Brightman, Eastern Lit. 3, 13), orkai to pneumati sou (ibid., 49, 137, etc.).

At theDominus vobiscum the celebrant, facing the people, extends and then again joins his hands. It is here a gesture of greeting. With folded hands he turns back to the altar and goes to theMissal at the Epistle side. Here, again extending and joining the hands and bowing towards the cross, he sings or saysOremus, and then, with uplifted hands (not above the shoulder, Ritus Celebr., V, 1), goes on at once with the collect or collects. The present rule about the collects is this: on doubles only one collect is said (that of the feast), unless any other feast be commemorated, or thepope orbishop order anoratio imperata. Theimperata is, moreover, omitted on doubles of the first class,Palm Sunday,Maundy Thursday, the eves ofChristmas,Easter, andWhitsunday, in Requiems, and solemn votive Masses. On doubles of the second class it is left out in high and sung Masses, and may be said at the others or not, at the celebrant's discretion. For a very grave cause animperata may be ordered to be said always, even on these occasions. It always comes last (De Herdt, I, 72). The collect of theBlessed Sacrament, to be said when it is exposed, and that for thepope orbishop on the anniversary of their election,coronation, orconsecration, are particular cases ofimperatæ. The rules for commemoration of feasts, octaves,ember days, andferias ofAdvent andLent are given in therubrics of theMissal (Rubr. Gen., VII; cf. De Herdt, I, 70-71). On semi-doubles,Sundays, and days within an octave, three collects must be said; but onPassion Sunday, onSundays within an octave and throughout the octaves ofEaster andWhitsunday there are only two (Rubr. Gen., IX; De Herdt, I, 75, where the rules for these collects will found). But in these cases the number may be greater, if there are commemorations. On simples,ferias, and in Requiems and (not solemn) votive Masses, the celebrant may also add collects, as he chooses, provided the total number be an uneven one and do not exceed seven (Rubr. Gen., IX, 12; De Herdt, I, 83).

The rule about the uneven numbers, on which the S. Congr. Rit, has insisted several times (2 December, 1684; 2 September, 1741; 30 June, 1896), is a curious one. The limit of seven prevents the Mass from being too long. In any case the collect of the day always comes first. It hasOremus before it and the long conclusion (Per Dominum, etc.). The second collect has a secondOremus, and all that follow are joined together without intermediate ending norOremus till the last, which again has the long conclusion. This separates the collect of the day from the others and gives it a special dignity, as a remnant of the old principle that it alone should be said. The conclusions of the collects vary according to their form and references (Rubr. Gen., IX, 17). The people (choir or server) answerAmen. During the conclusions the celebrant folds his hands and bows towards the cross at the wordsDominum nostrum Jesum Christum. It should be noted that the great majority of the collects are addressed toGod the Father (so all the old ones; the common form is to begin:Deus, qui); a few later ones (as onCorpus Christi, for example) are addressed toGod the Son, none to the Holy Ghost. At lowMass collects are said aloud so that they can be heard by the people, at high (or sung) Mass they are sung to the festive tone on doubles, semi-doubles, andSundays. On simples,ferias, and in Masses for the dead, they have the simpleferial tone (entirely on one note,fa). The rules of the tones, with examples, are in the"Cæremoniale Episcoporum" I, xxvii. At high Mass thedeacon andsubdeacon stand in a straight line behind the celebrant (thedeacon on the top step, thesubdeaconin plano) with joined hands. At the collects, in high Mass, the people should stand. This is the old position for publicprayer; originally thesubdeacon explicitly told them to do so (Levate). The custom of standing during the collects, long neglected, is now being happily revived. At lowMass they kneel all the time except during the Gospel (Rubr. Gen., XVII, 2).

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