TheCollect for Purity is the name traditionally given to thecollect prayed near the beginning of theEucharist in mostAnglican rites. Its oldest known sources areContinental, where it appears in Latin in the 10th centurySacramentarium Fuldense Saeculi X.[1]
Though it appeared inThe Cloud of Unknowing in English,Thomas Cranmer is credited as translating theprayer into English and from there it has entered almost everyAnglican prayer book in the world.
The original Latin prayer may be found in Continental sources in the 10th centurySacramentarium Fuldense Saeculi X[1] where it appears as the properCollect for aVotive Mass of theHoly SpiritAd Postulandum Spiritus Sancti Gratiam. It also appears as an alternateCollect forVotive Masses of the Holy Spirit in theMissale Romanum Mediolani, 1474.[2]
In England, the 11th centuryLeofric missal[3][4] and the laterSarum Rite include the Latin prayer as one of those said by the priest before Mass.[5][6]
A version appears as the introduction to the 14th-century anonymous contemplative treatise,The Cloud of Unknowing:
Cranmer's translation first appeared in theFirst Prayer Book of Edward VI (1549), and carried over unchanged (aside from modernisation of spelling) in theSecond Prayer Book of Edward VI (1552) andThe Book of Common Prayer (1559 and 1662),[7][8] and thence to all Anglican prayer books based on The Book of Common Prayer, includingJohn Wesley's recension for theMethodists inNorth America.[9] This translation is still used in many Anglican churches:
The Latin prayer can be found as a preparatory prayer in a 1577 edition of the Roman Missal, used by theTridentine Rite of theCatholic Church.[10] St.Philip Neri was also known to have prayed the collect during theMass whenever it was possible according to the rubrics.
In the 1970s, theLiturgy of St Tikhon was produced for use byEpiscopalians who wished to convert toOrthodoxy but retain the liturgy to which they were accustomed. It contains the version which appears in the 1892, 1928, and 1979 (Rite I) editions of the AmericanBook of Common Prayer:
The 1979Book of Common Prayer published byThe Episcopal Church includes a version in Rite Two with modern wording:
The 1978Lutheran Book of Worship and the 1980Alternative Service Book published by theChurch of England contain similar versions in contemporary English:[11]
The 1989United Methodist Hymnal contains the following version, which varies only slightly from that contained in the 1979 Book of Common Prayer:[12]
The 2015Divine Worship: The Missal published by theCatholic Church for thePersonal Ordinariates of former Anglicans contains the following version, which follows Cranmer's translation:
