Ascension Day

Grant, we beseech thee, almighty God,
that like as we do believe thy only-begotten Son our Lord Jesus Christ
to have ascended into the heavens;
so we may also in heart and mind thither ascend
and with him continually dwell,
who liveth and reigneth with thee,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen.

A Pure Virgin

The Collect for Christmas Day speaks of the Lord Jesus "born of a pure virgin".

Almighty God,you have given us your only-begotten Sont o take our
nature upon himand as at this time to be born of a pure virgin:grant that we,
who have been born againand made your children by adoption and grace,may daily
be renewed by your Holy Spirit;through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,who is
alive and reigns with you,in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for
ever.

You shouldn't take this to mean that Mary was absolutely pure: she was a sinner saved by grace just like the rest of us.

And nor should you think that virginity is necessarily or especially pure. You can be a slutty virgin or a pure husband. In life-long heterosexual marriage (the only kind of marriage there is, by the way) one can enjoy pure sex.

William Tyndale

The Common Worship collect for the Lesser Festival of William Tyndale, translator of the Scriptures, Reformation Martyr, 1536.

Lord, give to your people grace to hear and keep your word
that, after the example of your servant William Tyndale,
we may not only profess your gospel
but also be ready to suffer and die for it,
to the honour of your name;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

CW Daily Prayer, p505

Collect for Good Friday (Updated)

Will you be using the 3rd BCP Collect for Good Friday?

O Merciful God, who hast made all men, and hatest nothing that thou hast made, nor wouldst the death of a sinner, but rather that he should be converted and live: Have mercy upon all Jews, Turks, Infidels, and Heretics, and take from them all ignorance, hardness of heart, and contempt of thy word; and so fetch them home, blessed Lord, to thy flock, that they may be saved among the remnant of the true Israelites, and be made one fold under one shepherd, Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, world without end. Amen.

The second and third collects seem to have disappeared from Common Worship.

The second Collect can be found in Daily Prayer, p542, the Collect for the ministry of all Christian people.

The prayers of intercession for the liturgy of Good Friday in Times and Seasons (pp316-8) seem partly to be based on the collects for Good Friday, though you may detect a change of emphasis:

Let us pray for God’s ancient people, the Jews,
the first to hear his word:
for greater understanding between Christian and Jew,
for the removal of our blindness and bitterness of heart,
that God will grant us grace to be faithful to his covenant
and to grow in the love of his name.

Lord God of Abraham,
bless the children of your covenant, both Jew and Christian;
take from us all blindness and bitterness of heart,
and hasten the coming of your kingdom,
when the Gentiles shall be gathered in,
all Israel shall be saved,
and we shall dwell together in mutual love and peace
under the one God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Let us pray for those who do not believe the gospel of Christ:
for those who have not heard the message of salvation,
for all who have lost faith,
for the contemptuous and scornful,
for those who are enemies of Christ and persecute those who follow him,
for all who deny the faith of Christ crucified,
that God will open their hearts to the truth
and lead them to faith and obedience.

Merciful God,
creator of all the people of the earth,
have compassion on all who do not know you,
and by the preaching of your gospel with grace and power,
gather them into the one fold of the one Shepherd;
Christ our Lord.

Here's an attempt at a modern language version of the third collect for Good Friday from the BCP:

Merciful God,

who made all people,

and who hates nothing that you have made,

nor desires the death of a sinner,

but rather that they should be converted and live,

have mercy upon all Jews, Muslims, unbelievers and heretics,

and take from them all ignorance,

hardness of heart,

and contempt for your word;

and so bring them home, blessed Lord, to your flock,

that they may be saved among the remnant of the true Israel,

and be made one fold under one shepherd, Jesus Christ our Lord,

who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,

one God, world without end. Amen.

Prayers for Reformation Sunday

As Reformation Sunday is only a lesser whatnot in the C of E, there is no Collect for it. Some of these 15 collect-length prayers look pretty good to me. Set prayers and special days are not entirely against the spirit or letter of the Protestant Reformation, of course, though some seem to think they are and it is true that some of the hotter sort of Protestants might have fumed against this sort of thing, perhasp with more heat than light.

George Herbert Day tip

I feel slightly ashamed (though it might be thought a good thing by some around here) that Revd Dr David Field (independat pastor) just had to inform me (Anglican ordinand) that tommorow is George Herbert day. Or rather, the lesser festival of George Herbert, Priest, Poet, 1633 (White) according to the Church of England.

Dr Field had to further tell me that this prayer can be found on p456 of the red Common Worship: Daily Prayer.

(What do they teach you at theological college? What is Cert Min for? Sorry, Marrian, you probbaly did teach me this. I may have been trying to learn Hebrew from flash cards at the time.)

Collect:

King of glory, king of peace,
who called your servant George Herbert
from the pursuit of worldly honours
to be a priest in the temple of his God and king:
grant us also the grace to offer ourselves
with singleness of heart in humble obedience to your service;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Apparently the optional canticles and refrains: Common of Bishops and other pastors (page 530) may also be used, but I don't think we'll bother. How's that for Reformed and free from the law and under grace and all that? Sausages for supper.

What does one do if a lesser festival falls in Lent, by the way? Which takes priority: the fast or the feast? Can we get off the fasting by observing the feast? What colour alb should David be wearing?

This must call for an outbreak of Herbert poems in the blogosphere from the erudite, please?