Pour your grace into our hearts, O Lord, that we who have known the incarnation of your Son Jesus Christ, announced by an angel to the Virgin Mary, may by his Cross and passion be brought to the glory of his resurrection; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Grátiam tuam, quǽsumus, Dómine, méntibus nostris infúnde: ut qui, Angelo nuntiánte, Christi Fílii tui incarnatiónem cognóvimus; per passiónem ejus et crucem, ad resurrectiónis glóriam perducámur.
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Preface of the Annunciation
Because in the mystery of the Word made flesh, you have caused a new light to shine in our hearts, to give the knowledge of your glory in the face of your Son Jesus Christ our Lord.
Draft — AI-assisted research under editorial review.
A prayer spoken over altars since the eighth century, this collect for the Annunciation began its life not as an opening prayer but as a post-communion oration. Thomas Cranmer, compiling the first English prayer book in 1549, recognized its theological precision and gave it a new role: the collect of the day.