Collect for Purity

Almighty God, to You all hearts are open, all desires known, and from You no secrets are hid: 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. (BCP, pg 355)

The Collect for Purity has been part of the public rite of the celebration of Holy Eucharist in the Church of England since 1552 and it has been carried into the Episcopal Church since the first Episcopal Book of Common Prayer in 1786-1789. In the 1979 version of the BCP, our current version, the Collect for Purity is still required in the Rite 1 service. However, in the Rite 2 service, the order our 8:30 and 10:30 liturgy follows at St. Boniface, the Collect for Purity is optional.

For some time, and for a variety of reasons including the length of the services, St. Boniface has exercised the option to not include the Collect for Purity in the 8:30 liturgy. At the same time, St. Boniface has exercised the option to include it in the 10:30 liturgy. In an effort to be true to the ancient worship of our Anglican tradition, while at the same time living into the cultural expectations and growth potential, we are going to reintroduce the Collect for Purity into the 8:30 service in its appropriate place. It will follow the opening hymn and opening acclamation where the Priest says (at least in Epiphany), “Blessed be God; Father, Son and Holy Spirit.” Then the congregation responds, “And Blessed be his kingdom, now and for ever. Amen.” Then I will say the Collect for Purity.

There are reasons to omit the Collect for Purity. Some people prefer that the Collect of the Day be the opening prayer of the service. Some would argue that it is just Anglican piety that we continue to use it. On the occasion of Baptism or Confirmation services, or services of a penitential nature using the forms found on page 319 or 351 of the Book of Common Prayer (usually used during Lent), we do not use the Collect for Purity.

However, I subscribe to the belief that God knows us, inside and out. It is when we admit God’s complete knowledge of us at the beginning of our worship (or day or devotional time or while we are just living our life); when we totally open ourselves up to the words that are written in the Collect for Purity, when we hear them and make them our own, that our worship will be much more intense, much more real, much more meaningful, much more forgiving both of ourselves and others. It is then that we will enter into a more full presence of the Divine. It is then that the hymns we sing will ring with a blessedness that strikes the innermost chords of our souls. It is then that the sermons we hear, no matter how ill prepared or ill delivered by the well-intentioned priest or clergy person in the pulpit, the words will echo in our heart of hearts and push our mortal minds to accept that we are God’s beloved children. It is then, that we will be able to say the confession with a pure heart, receive God’s absolution and KNOW we are forgiven. It is then that we can receive the sacrament of Holy Communion without fear and trembling, but with the knowledge that we share the welcoming and forgiving body and blood of Christ with all the saints of creation and that we ALL are welcome to eat from God’s table. It is then, that we can go into the world, rejoicing in the power of the Holy Spirit, knowing that because our hearts have been cleansed by the power of the Holy Spirit we are one step closer to more perfectly serving God and God’s creatures.

And then, when I return at the next appointed time for the next service of the Holy Eucharist, I will again say or hear the Collect for Purity. Again, I am reminded that I am God’s...that my heart, desires and secrets are all known to God. I am free again and reminded that by the Grace of God and love of Christ, we are made pure. And then, the liturgy continues...

The next time you have a chance to hear the Collect for Purity, listen to the words with an open heart, an open mind and an openness to allow God to touch every part of your being. Actually, say it now...slowly, deliberately and hear the words and what they mean. It will enrich your life!

Almighty God, to You all hearts are open, all desires known, and from You no secrets are hid: 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. (BCP, pg 355)


Resources consulted for this article:
The Book of Common Prayer published by Church Publishing Incorporated, New York, 1979 edition.

Hachett, Marion J., Commentary on the American Prayer Book San Francisco: HarperCollins, 1995, pg 318.

Service from 1/9/2011

Here is the video to the service at St. Boniface from Sunday, 1/9/2011. Beginning at about the 20:15 mark is the sermon where I speak of Baptism, its centrality to our being, and the Tucson shootings. This sermon is not polished nor printed, and there are a few places where it is very rough. However, it is from the heart, passionate and delivered in context of our life at St. Boniface.

So, some of you want to know what I read...

Several people have asked me what I have been reading recently. When I’m asked this question, my normal reply is, “well, scripture and related material, of course!” Of course that is my tongue and cheek response because I know that they don’t necessarily mean theological or Biblical tomes.

Over the past 2 months I have read four books for pure fun, and I have just started my fifth. I hope you have heard of Naomi Novik and her Temeraire Series?As it says on her website, temeraire.org, the novels are “a reimagining of the epic events of the Napoleonic Wars with an air force--an air force of dragons, manned by crews of aviators.”

I have found these books to be a quick, interesting, page-turning read. Quite frankly, on those nights following the long days when I just can’t seem to “turn my mind off” from either the events of the day or of the events that are coming up tomorrow, I can get lost in the stories of Temeraire, Captain Laurence, and the rest of aerial corps.

I have read His Majesty’s Dragon, Throne of Jade, Black Powder War, and Empire of Ivory. I just purchased Victory of Eagles. Then, I will be left with Tongues of Serpents until Ms. Novik releases the next installment of the Temeraire series.

For those that wanted to know...that’s what I’m reading. Have you read these books? What did you think?

New Year's Resolutions

This post was written for a contest to be a guest blogger at www.beekman1802.com and much to my surprise, it was one of the blog entries selected. In all honesty, I think they selected all that were submitted, so I won for the effort, but it is still great to be able to support these guys and be supported by them! You can find my guest blogging entry here. Thanks to Josh and Brent for selecting this entry.

New Year’s resolutions on January 1 haven’t formally been a tradition in our house for several years. However, as we walk by one another throughout the house, you may hear one of us say, “That should be one of my New Year’s resolutions.” Then we laugh, knowing that we are not likely to actually take on this “resolution”...at all. Usually, these are moments of self realization where one of us is in need of a change!

As I read the Huffington Posts’ “New Year’s Resolutions for 2011” article today, there were even more self revelations taking place. I noticed that each of the 70 plus resolutions were concerned with personal care, personal interactions, or care for our environment. All moments where someone was in need of a change.

New Year’s resolutions are our attempts to respond to these moments of self revelation of something that needs to be changed or adapted in our life. If we have taken time to reflect on our lives and our relationships with one another, and if we take our resolutions seriously, then we may actually have a chance to keep these resolutions. For all our sakes, I hope we all can make these resolutions a way of life.

If we can make them a way of life, our planet will be a cleaner place, our relationships will be friendlier, we will be loving our neighbor as much, if not more than our self, and we all will be living a healthier lifestyle...for more than just a week or two.

What are your New Year’s resolutions? Are you going to improve your personal health, the health of your relationships, or try to preserve this Island Home that we all share? For me, it is about the relationships: relationships with our God, relationships with our family, relationships with our neighbor and relationships with our selves whether they are made on January 1 or July 31.

Happy New Year and may your resolutions survive the next couple of weeks and for all of our sakes, become your new way of life!