Let us pray (in silence) [that we may manifest God’s love for all]
pause
God,
by the leading of a star,
on this day you revealed your only begotten one
to the gentiles,
lead us,
who have already come to know you by faith,
all the way to the contemplation of the beauty of your glory,
through Jesus Christ, our Saviour,
who is alive with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God now and for ever.
Amen.
The above is my reworking of the collect shared by Roman Catholics and Episcopalians/Anglicans for Epiphany, January 6. I am very happy to receive comments and also suggestions for improvement.
The original was
Deus, qui hodierna die Unigenitum tuum gentibus stella duce revelasti: concede propitius; ut, qui jam te ex fide cognovimus, usque ad contemplandam speciem tuae celsitudinis perducamur. Per…
The collect originates from the Gregorian Sacramentary (#87).
Unigenitum is the accusative neuter or masculine singular of unigenitus – only begotten.
The usually excellent Fr. John Zuhlsdorf mistranslates it year by year by year as:
O God, who this very day revealed your Only-begotten, a star having been the guide,
graciously grant,
that we, who have already come to know You from faith,
may be led all the way unto the contemplation of the beauty of Your majesty.
He does not seem to correct his omission of gentibus/gentiles in spite of his ever-lauding the new Roman translation – which clearly has that.
Further commentary on this collect.
NZPB p. 560:
O God, by the leading of a star
you revealed your Son Jesus Christ to the gentiles;
grant that your Church may be a light to the nations,
so that the whole world may come to see
the splendour of your glory;
through Jesus Christ our Lord
who lives and reigns with you
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God now and for ever.
Amen.
Common Worship (Church of England):
O God,
who by the leading of a star
manifested your only Son to the peoples of the earth:
mercifully grant that we,
who know you now by faith,
may at last behold your glory face to face;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
BCP (USA) TEC p. 214:
O God,
by the leading of a star
you manifested your only Son to the Peoples of the earth:
Lead us, who know you now by faith,
to your presence, where we may see your glory face to face;
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Amen.
Roman Catholic:
O God, who on this day
revealed your Only Begotten Son to the nations
by the guidance of a star,
grant in your mercy
that we who know you already by faith
may be brought to behold
the beauty of your sublime glory.
Through…
God of all, who by the leading of a star revealed yourself to seekers from the nations:
Lead us today to so discern the signs of our times and follow the nudges of your Spirit that we share the joy of your gift of Jesus and help all peoples recognise you in each other and care for all that you have made.
Bless us in long journeys, burdens of care, and days of rest, as we worship together through Jesus Christ our Saviour and Lord, who is alive with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God now and for ever. AMEN
I like it John. Thanks. Blessings.
An idea for Epiphany I tried out this year: I made a (much simpler) version of a ‘rosca de reyes’ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosca_de_reyes) with a plastic baby inside it, explained the Spanish custom and invited the children in the morning service to have a piece & the one who found the baby was king (or queen) for the day. It went down well as part of the service.
It’s a great idea, James, and was mentioned here recently as a family practice – but with a bean or similar. How would one take care that the plastic baby wasn’t swallowed? Blessings.
a. by making the baby big enough!
b. by ‘cooking’ the results so I knew who ‘happened’ to choose that piece (coded jelly diamonds on top of the ring) and warned his dad!
🙂