Commontide
O God, by the preaching of your apostle Paul you have caused the light of the Gospel to shine throughout the world: Grant, we pray, that having his wonderful conversion in remembrance, we may show ourselves thankful to you by following his holy teaching; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
↻Turn your device to see the Latin original
Original-language source · public domain
BCP 2019, p. 626
Preface of Apostles
Through the great shepherd of your flock, Jesus Christ our Lord, who after his resurrection sent forth his apostles to preach the Gospel and to teach all nations, and promised to be with them always, even to the end of the ages.
Draft — AI-assisted research under editorial review.
A prayer with deep medieval roots, this collect has accompanied the feast of Paul's conversion since Cranmer translated it for the first English Prayer Book in 1549. Its Latin original circulated in eighth-century Frankish service books and passed into the Sarum Missal, and the English text has barely changed across five centuries of prayer books.