Commontide
Almighty God, by whose providence your servant John the Baptist was wonderfully born, and sent to prepare the way of your Son our Savior by preaching repentance: Make us so to follow his teaching and holy life, that we may truly repent, boldly rebuke vice, patiently suffer for the sake of truth, and proclaim the coming of Jesus Christ our Lord; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
BCP 2019, p. 629
Preface of Advent
Because you sent your beloved Son to redeem us from sin and death, and to make us heirs in him of everlasting life; that when he shall come again in power and great glory to judge the world, we may without shame or fear rejoice to behold his appearing.
Draft — AI-assisted research under editorial review.
Cranmer composed this collect fresh for the first English Prayer Book of 1549, drawing on Luke's account of John's miraculous birth, the Old Testament forerunner prophecies, and John's fearless preaching and martyrdom. It passed through 1662 with one word changed and the American prayer books nearly intact, until ACNA 2019 added a new final petition to "proclaim the coming of Jesus Christ our Lord."