A Prayer to Remember

by the Revd Dr William Lamb

One of the prayers which we use each Sunday at the beginning of the Eucharist is the Collect for Purity. This prayer was incorporated by Thomas Cranmer in the Communion Service of the Book of Common Prayer in 1549. However, its origins are much earlier than that. It was translated from a prayer in the Sarum Rite, which the priest said while vesting before the Eucharist. The earliest instances of this prayer in Latin come from the 10th and 11th centuries. 

The prayer features in just about every Anglican Prayer Book since the Reformation. It is a prayer which betrays the genius of Anglicanism at almost every turn. Its language is passionate and yet restrained, formal and yet intimate, corporate and yet personal. It invites us to inhabit the language and imagery of the Church’s prayer in a way which enables us to give voice to the poetry of the soul. From the beginning, this prayer acknowledges the presence of God and describes the depth of the relationship between God and humanity. Our hearts are open to God, our desires known, nothing can be secret or hidden. We are known as we are - with all our devices and desires, our distractions and uncertainties, our pretences and projections. And while all that confusion and muddle may distract us from the beauty, the goodness and the truth of God, the prayer encourages us to open our hearts to the inspiration of the Holy Spirit that we may discover the gift of grace to love and praise God more profoundly every day.

Almighty God, to whom all hearts are open, all desires known, and from whom no secrets are hidden:
cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love you,
and worthily magnify your holy name;
through Christ our Lord.  Amen.