The Collect for Mass

[kdsj]

Who writes the Collect for the Mass? This question was asked during our Biblical Walk through the Mass session and I didn’t have an answer.

Thanks,
Kim

 

[FAB]

Who writes the Collect for the Mass? This question was asked during our Biblical Walk through the Mass session and I didn’t have an answer.

Thanks,
Kim

The Collect (previously called the opening prayer) written as the whole missal is, by the Church and the committees of the Vatican for these matters.

 

[Ottoviani]

The Collect (previously called the opening prayer) written as the whole missal is, by the Church and the committees of the Vatican for these matters.

The Collect was actually previously called the “Collect”

 

[japhy]

The various collects have been written by many people over the centuries. After Vatican II, some were newly composed (they never existed before), some were pieced together from other older collects, and some were adopted from older missals (whether the 1962 Missal or ancient sources like the Leonine and Gelasian sacramentaries). It’s quite thrilling (to me, at least) to know that a certain prayer used in the Mass today is over 1000 years old.

Here’s a recent prayer that was pieced together from two texts in the Veronese (Leonine) sacramentary:

Saturday after Ash Wednesday, Prayer over the Offerings
Accept, we pray, O Lord,
the sacrifice of conciliation and praise,
and grant that, cleansed by its working,
we may offer minds well pleasing to you.

Here are the two source texts:

Suscipe, domine,
sacrificium placationis et laudis,
quod nos interuenientibus sanctis et perducat ad ueniam,
et in perpetua gratiarum constituat actione. (Veronese 33)

Suscipe, domine, sacrificium,
cuius te uoluisti dignanter immolatione placari,
et presta, quaesumus, ut huius operatione mundati
bene placitum tibi nostrae mentis offeramus affectum. (Veronese 1302)

 

[Evan]

Collects are being constantly written. Every time a new saint is beatified, or canonized the collect for the saint would be written.

For example, for the Great Blessed John Paul II

O God, who are rich in mercy [a reference to *Dives in misericordia

]
and who willed that the Blessed John Paul II
should preside as Pope over your universal Church, [like the classic collect for a Pope]
grant, we pray, that instructed by his teaching,
we may open our hearts to the saving grace of Christ, [Echoing his “*Be not afraid” sermon.]
the sole Redeemer of mankind. [reference to *Redemptor hominis, 1st encyclical]
Who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

 

[ProVobis]

Collects are being constantly written. Every time a new saint is beatified, or canonized the collect for the saint would be written.

Not necessarily the entire collect need be written. There are forms for martyrs, for confessors, for bishops not martyrs, etc., where all the priests would have to do is to insert a name. I’m not sure how exactly this is done in the English altar missal.

 

[kdsj]

Thanks for all the information. I appreciate it!!

 

[Mark1970]

Not necessarily the entire collect need be written. There are forms for martyrs, for confessors, for bishops not martyrs, etc., where all the priests would have to do is to insert a name. I’m not sure how exactly this is done in the English altar missal.

The English altar missal has a section of “Common Masses”, which are meant to be used on feasts of Saints that don’t have their own set of prayers. For example, there are Masses for One or Many Martyrs, etc. If a new saint’s feast is to be celebrated at Mass, the priest uses the appropriate Mass from this section. Also, some feast days don’t have the full set of prayers, they may only have the Collect/Opening Prayer - in this case the rest may be taken from one of the Common Masses. There is a similar arrangement for the Lectionary, the books containing the readings.