O Lord, our heavenly Father, keep your household the Church continually in your true religion, that we who trust in the hope of your heavenly grace may always be defended by your mighty power; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, now and for ever. Amen.
Familiam tuam, quaesumus, Domine, continua pietate custodi, ut, quae in sola spe gratiae caelestis innititur, tua semper protectione muniatur.
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Preface of the Lord’s Day, or of the Epiphany
Through Jesus Christ our Lord, who on the first day of the week overcame death and the grave, and by his glorious resurrection opened to us the way of everlasting life.
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An early medieval Latin oration attested in eighth-century Frankish service books, this collect asks God to keep his household sheltered by continual care while it rests on the hope of heavenly grace alone. Cranmer gave it its enduring English form in 1549, and it has anchored the Fifth Sunday of Epiphany across more than four centuries of Anglican worship.