Last week, I mentioned that I will spend a few weeks talking about parts of the Mass so that I have a little more time to prepare for the next section of the Creed. I thought that it might be best to start at the beginning of Mass. After the sign of the Cross, we move very quickly into the Penitential Rites which have the Confiteor (“I Confess”) prayer and the Kyrie eleison. (“Lord, have mercy!”) After these rites, we sing or recite the Gloria on festive days. I could probably write an article on each of these, but I want to focus on the final prayer we prayer before moving into the Readings, a prayer that we call the “Collect.”

This “collect” prayer has been a part of the Mass even longer than the Creed: many of these prayers are over a thousand years old. Prior to the changes in the liturgy that took effect in 1969, there would often be more than one of these prayers. If more than one feast happened on the same day, for example, you could say the prayers for both feasts. You could also sometimes add additional prayers for various needs at this point too. For example, a prayer for favorable weather could be added to a Mass here.

It’s not entirely clear where the name “collect” originates, but it points to several things. First, that it was for many centuries a place where prayers were “collected” and offered to God. Second, it is also a time for the people of God to add their own prayers, prayed silently in their hearts, to those of the priest. Third, because there is a little bit of silence before the prayer, it can allow us to collect ourselves to prepare to hear the Word of God in the readings that will soon follow. Finally, some have suggested that long ago (some time between the 400s and the 900s) it was nearly the first prayer of Mass, so it was said during the time when people were collecting within the churches.

Whatever the meaning behind the name, the collect remains an ancient prayer that helps us to open our ears and our hearts as we prepare ourselves to listen to the Word of God.

Fr. Matt