A Journey through the Mass
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After we have turned our hearts from selfish love to love of God and neighbor and are now prepared to enter the mysteries of the Word and Eucharist, the priest proclaims, Let us pray. With stretched out hands the priest collects the prayers of the faithful. All the individual, diverse thoughts come together into one succinctly expressed address to God the Father. The Collect or Opening Prayer addresses God the Father first by one of His many titles e.g., all-knowing, almighty, Creator, etc. Then, in gratitude, we recall what He has done for us. This remembrance of God’s action in our lives gives us the hope to form the basis for our petitions in the present. We ask for something for ourselves, for the church and for the whole world. Typically this prayer is consistent with the feast of the day. The Collect speaks to God the Father through the Son, in the Holy Spirit. This is affirmed by the congregation with the Amen. Thus, the Collect sets the pattern for all the prayers throughout the mass. When the Collect’s Amen, the congregation sits and listens to the Word of God proclaimed.