Commontide
Almighty Father, whose most dear Son, on the night before he suffered, instituted the Sacrament of his Body and Blood: Mercifully grant that we may receive it in thankful remembrance of Jesus Christ our Savior, who in these holy mysteries gives us a pledge of eternal life; and who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
BCP 2019, p. 608
Preface of Maundy Thursday
Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end; and on the night before he suffered, he instituted these holy mysteries; that we, receiving the benefits of his passion and resurrection, might be made partakers of his divine nature.
This prayer appears in more than one place in the 2019 Book of Common Prayer.
Draft — AI-assisted research under editorial review.
Written for the 1928 American Book of Common Prayer, this is the first proper collect ever assigned to Maundy Thursday in any Anglican prayer book. Drawing on the words of institution in 1 Corinthians 11 and the Johannine teaching that the Eucharist is a pledge of eternal life, it has been refined twice: in the 1979 Episcopal BCP and the ACNA BCP 2019.