Today, as we continue working through prayers from Christian Eucharistic liturgies we come to one of the most venerable and beloved prayers from the Anglican tradition, known as the Collect for Purity. While its most early attestation is from continental Europe in the 10th century, the prayer is most strongly associated with England, appearing in the English Sarum Rite (ca. 11th C), the mystical text The Cloud of Unknowing (ca. 14th C), and in every major Anglican Eucharistic rite since the development of the Book of Common Prayer in 1549.
It goes like this:
Almighty God,
To you all hearts are open,
all desires known,
and from you 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.
I really don’t have words to express how much I love this prayer. For me it’s a prayer that feels like coming home. That may sound strange, considering it begins with an assertion of God’s omniscience — hardly a cozy sentiment. But to me at least, it means that there’s no need to put up fronts or to try to hide any part of myself as I ‘do my business’ with God in the liturgy. I think this was particularly important for me when for my teenage and early adult life was so governed by secrets and facades. It was, and remains, a relief to be able to drop all the pretense. And in that way, I think it is welcoming and warm!
After this preamble about God’s omniscience, the prayer’s lone petition is for cleansing of heart. This is the correct way to talk about ‘purity’. Too often this kind of talk gets bogged down in legalism, but Jesus rejected this way of thinking. Rather, he insisted that “it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but it is what comes out of the mouth that defiles,” later clarifying that “what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this is what defiles” (Matthew 15.11, 18). In other words, if we’re going to talk about purity, it’s not about a checklist of what to do or not to do, and something we can lord over others, but entirely about the state of our heart. Clean hearts are filled with love, grace, and compassion, and, as Paul teaches, produce actions that demonstrate true spiritual freedom and build up the community of faith. And so, we ask God to “cleanse the thoughts of our hearts.” This is the work of the Holy Spirit, which lives in, empowers, and inspires all of the faithful.
Finally, we ask this in order to love and worship God more faithfully, which is the goal of Christian life.
All this is “through” Christ our Lord. We are cleansed through Christ our Lord, we receive the Spirit through Christ our Lord, we love and worship God through Christ our Lord. And, as the intercessor and one mediator and advocate, we even pray through Christ our Lord.
This is a favourite prayer for a reason. It’s a beautiful prayer that expresses our desire to be cleansed from anything and everything that might stand in the way of living out faithful lives in love of God and neighbour.
Almighty God,
To you all hearts are open,
all desires known,
and from you 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.
Matthew Root 