Anglican Liturgy – The Collect for Purity
In our previous article, we explored Anglican liturgy as an image and foretaste of the Kingdom of God. Beginning with the blessing of the Triune God and His Kingdom, worship draws the Church into a pilgrimage towards its heavenly home, guided by God’s Word and sustained by communion with Christ in the Eucharist. We saw how the gathered congregation participates in the Kingdom already present among us while awaiting its fulfilment when Christ returns in glory. We now turn to the Collect for Purity, considering how the Holy Spirit prepares our hearts to enter God’s presence, love Him perfectly, and worthily magnify His holy Name.
Read the previous article: Anglican Liturgy – An Image of the Kingdom of God
Anglican Liturgy – The Collect for Purity
The service then continues with the Collect for Purity.
Almighty God, unto whom all hearts are open, all desires known, and from whom no secrets are hid; Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of thy Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love Thee, and worthily magnify thy holy Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
This prayer, rooted in Psalm 51, in which David prays for a clean heart, formed part of the Sarum liturgy in the eleventh century. It was a prayer invoking the grace of the Holy Spirit, recited by the priest after Veni Creator Spiritus⁸¹ during his preparation for worship.⁸² The 1549 Book of Common Prayer retained the Lord’s Prayer and the Collect for Purity as part of the minister’s personal preparation, to be said while the Introit was being sung. In the 1552 Book of Common Prayer, the Lord’s Prayer and the Collect for Purity became part of the public service. The 1789 edition permitted the omission of the Lord’s Prayer at the beginning of the liturgy, but the Collect for Purity has remained a distinctive feature of Anglican worship in every edition of the Book of Common Prayer to the present day.
The Collect for Purity is Trinitarian in character. It is addressed to God the Father, through Christ, asking that the Holy Spirit may work within us. Liturgical prayers, particularly those originating in the earliest period, are also confessions of the true faith, standing against heresies that denied the divinity of Christ, the truth of the Holy Trinity, and other doctrines.⁸³ The truth of the Holy Trinity lies at the heart of many liturgical prayers and hymns, as we shall see in our further study of the liturgy.
In the Eastern liturgy, the ministers say a similar prayer at the beginning of the service:
O Heavenly King, the Comforter, the Spirit of Truth, Who art everywhere and fillest all things; Treasury of Blessings, and Giver of Life—come and abide in us, and cleanse us from every impurity, and save our souls, O Good One.⁸⁴
The prayer above follows the traditional English text used by the Orthodox Church in America. Orthodox Church in America
Isaiah chapter 6 describes Isaiah’s magnificent encounter with the glory of God. A sense of unworthiness overwhelmed him as he encountered the Holy God. Isaiah stood before the throne of the holy God, conscious that he was a wretched sinner whose lips were unclean. Through a seraph, God purified his lips, removed his guilt, and forgave his sin. He was now ready to go forth and serve the Lord.
In Revelation chapters 1 and 4, we read of John’s entry into the heavenly liturgy. He fell as though dead, feeling unworthy to stand before the Holy God. Yet God laid His right hand upon him and granted him the wonderful privilege of seeing, in the Spirit, and participating in the most magnificent liturgy recorded for us in God’s Word. John found himself before the throne of God and saw what Isaiah had seen hundreds of years earlier. God was exalted upon His throne, and the “living creatures” (angels) acclaimed Him: “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come” (Revelation 4:8). Notice here the heavenly worship of God—the heavenly liturgy—as King, the sovereign Lord of time: the King who was, who is, and who is to come. Once again, this wonderful image of the liturgy as the Kingdom of God presents itself to us.
When we enter into worship, we come before the holy God. We come as we are, to worship Him. The psalmist asks a question and also supplies the answer: “Who shall ascend into the hill of the LORD? or who shall stand in his holy place? He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart…” (Psalm 24:3–4). Yet our hands are not clean, nor are our hearts pure. Every encounter with God, whether in private prayer or in public worship, is an encounter between a sinner and the Holy One.
This is why we approach worship with the Collect for Purity. We ask God the Father, before whom nothing is secret or hidden, to cleanse by the Holy Spirit our innermost thoughts—expressed figuratively as “the thoughts of our hearts”—so that they may be pure and express perfect love for God. God requires a pure heart that will worthily magnify Him. Our hearts are not pure in themselves, but God purifies them through the Holy Spirit so that we may worthily magnify His Name—that is, serve Him.
Yet in this prayer we ask not only for spiritual readiness for the particular service before us, but also for a sanctified life. What does it actually mean to love the Lord perfectly? Love for God finds concrete expression in keeping His commandments. Jesus Himself says: “If ye love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15). Our nature, however, is not inclined to love God or our neighbours, nor is it inclined to keep God’s commandments. We therefore need help from heaven. Jesus knows our limitations. He goes on to say: “And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever” (John 14:16). Jesus is speaking of the Holy Spirit. In the Collect for Purity, we ask God to work through the Holy Spirit so that we may love Him perfectly. In doing so, we acknowledge that sanctification is the work of the Holy Spirit within us, rather than the result of our own efforts.
⁸¹ This hymn to the Holy Spirit originated in the ninth century and is sung in the liturgy of the Western Church, as well as during particular rites, such as ordinations, confirmations, and coronations. Luther adapted it for Pentecost under the title “Komm, Gott Schöpfer, heiliger Geist.” The Anglican tradition adopted it particularly for ordination services.
⁸² Cf. W. A. Snively, Parish Lectures on the Prayer Book. New York: Thomas Whittaker, 1888, pp. 101–103.
⁸³ For further discussion, see H. Jedin, Velika povijest crkve, vol. II. Zagreb: Kršćanska sadašnjost, 1995, pp. 18–169.
⁸⁴ Bizantsko-hrvatski liturgikon, p. 43.
Author: Bishop Jasmin Milić
This text is an excerpt from Jasmin Milić’s book, Blessed Be His Kingdom: An Exposition of Eucharistic Worship According to the Book of Common Prayer.
Read the latest newsletter of the Pannonian-Danubian Diocese: REFORMED EPISCOPAL PANNONIAN-DANUBIAN DIOCESE – NEWSLETTER 2/2026
