Thecollect (/ˈkɒlɛkt/KOL-ekt) is a short generalprayer of a particular structure used inChristian liturgy.
Collects come up in the liturgies ofCatholic,Lutheran, orAnglican churches, among others.[1]
The word is first seen asLatincollēcta, the term used in Rome in the 5th century[2] and the 10th,[3] although in theTridentine version of theRoman Missal the more generic termoratio (prayer) was used instead.[3]
The Latin wordcollēcta meant the gathering of people together (fromcolligō, "to gather") and may have been applied to this prayer as said before the procession to the church in whichMass was celebrated. It may also have been used to mean a prayer that collected into one the prayers of the individual members of the congregation.[2][3]
A collect generally has five parts:[2][4]: 250
In some contemporary liturgical texts, this structure has been obscured by sentence constructions that depart from the straightforwardness of a single sentence.
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Initially, only one collect was said at Mass, but the Tridentine version of the Roman Missal allowed and often prescribed the use of more than one collect, all but the first being recited under a single conclusion. This custom, which began north of theAlps, had reached Rome by about the 12th century.[4]: 248
In the1973 translation of the Roman Missal by theICEL, the wordcollecta was rendered as "Opening Prayer". This was a misnomer, since the collect ends—rather than opens—the introductory rites of the Mass.[5] This prayer is said immediately before the Epistle.[6]
Lutheran liturgies typically retain traditional collects for each Sunday of the liturgical year.[1] In theEvangelical Lutheran Worship hymnal of theELCA, however, the set of prayers has been expanded to incorporate different Sunday collects for each year of the lectionary cycle, so that the prayers more closely coordinate with the lectionary scripture readings for the day. To achieve this expansion from one year's worth of Sunday collects to three years', modern prayer texts have been added.
The collects in theBook of Common Prayer are mainly translations byThomas Cranmer (d. 1556) from the Latin prayers for each Sunday of the year. AtMorning Prayer, theCollect of the Day is followed by aCollect for Peace and aCollect for Grace.[7] AtEvening Prayer theCollect of the Day is followed by aCollect for Peace which differs from the version used at Morning Prayer, and aCollect for Aid against Perils, which starts with the well known phrase; "Lighten our darkness, we beseech thee, O Lord; and by thy great mercy defend us from all perils and dangers of this night ...".[8]
AtHoly Communion, theCollect of the Day is followed by a reading from theEpistles.[9] In more modern Anglican versions of the Communion service, such asCommon Worship[10] used in theChurch of England or the 1979Book of Common Prayer[11] used in theEpiscopal Church in the United States, theCollect of the Day follows theGloria and precedes readings from the Bible.
TheHuguenots used collects derived from the Psalms and published in the Psalter in 1563.[12]
The "Oraisons" of the French Psalter were translated by and published in the Scottish Metrical Psalter in 1595.[13] Over time the use of written prayers fell out of favor in theChurch of Scotland.[14]
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