Let us pray (in silence) [that God’s love strengthen us to do God’s will]
Pause
Ever-living God,
increase within us your gifts of faith, hope, and love,
and make us cherish what you command,
so that we may obtain what you promise;
through Jesus Christ
who is alive with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Amen.
The above is part of my attempt to provide a set of collects with history and commentary.
The original is:
Omnipotens sempiterne Deus, da nobis fidei, spei, et caritatis augmentum:
et ut mereamur assequi quod promittis, fac nos amare quod praecipis.
Once again Episcopalians (Anglicans) and Roman Catholics now pray the same prayer on the same day. It was used at Vespers in the Leonine sacramentary (#598). The Gelasian sacramentary had sixteen Sunday Masses (#1209) where this is the initial prayer of the eighth mass. By the Gregorian supplement this has settled as the collect (#1168) for the fourteenth Sunday after the Pentecost octave – in other words Trinity XIV where the Sarum missal and English prayer books from 1549-1928 had it. Pre-Vatican II Roman Catholic Missals had it for the thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost. After Vatican II Roman Catholics pray this on the Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Episcopalians pray it on the equivalent Proper 25 – the Sunday closest to October 26.
The Latin has God’s commands as the objects of faith, and God’s promises the objects of hope. It has “that we may be worthy to obtain what you promise” – Cranmer has removed any concept of merit. The original was clear that our being worthy is dependent on our loving which is dependent on God’s action.
Archbishop Thomas Cranmer translated this for the 1549 Book of Common Prayer as:
ALMIGHTYE and everlastyng God, geve unto us the increase of faythe, hope, and charitie; and that we may obteine that whiche thou doest promise; make us to love that whiche thou doest commaunde, through Jesus Christe our Lorde.
ICEL 1973 translated this for Roman Catholics as:
Almighty and ever-living God,
strengthen our faith, hope, and love.
May we do with loving hearts what you ask of us and come to share the life you promise.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
In the failed 1998 English Missal translation:
God of holiness,
increase within us your gifts of faith, hope, and love, and enable us to cherish whatever you command, that we may come to possess all that you promise.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God for ever and ever.
The current Roman Catholic ICEL translation (2011):
Almighty ever-living God,
increase our faith, hope and charity,
and make us love what you command,
so that we may merit what you promise.
The Book of Common Prayer (TEC) p.235:
Almighty and everlasting God,
increase in us the gifts of faith, hope, and charity;
and, that we may obtain what you promise,
make us love what you command;
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.
St Augustine of Hippo wrote a classic work, The Enchiridion on Faith, Hope and Love.
There is no love without hope, no hope without love, and neither love nor hope without faith. (Chapter 8)