Category: The Daily Collection

The Daily Collection is a series of reflections based on the “Collect” of the Mass, which most people call the opening prayer. This section breaks down that prayer and provides a few points of reflection on that prayer. Maybe the reflection will be profound and helpful, maybe it will seem kind of hum-drum, and maybe you’ll have your own insights that are better than mine – great! The goal is to get you to notice the prayer in the first place. They are often beautiful, if not a little dense, and starting to recognize their existence and meaning is just one more way to achieve the “Full, Conscious, Active participation” at Mass called for by the Second Vatican Council. It’s a small way to help you on your way to ordinary holiness.

Twenty-Second Week in Ordinary Time

Posted on by Father Albert
Collect taken from Twenty-Second Week of Ordinary Time. Collect: God of might, giver of every good gift, put into our hearts the love of your name, so that, by deepening our sense of reverence, you may nurture in us what is good and, by your watchful care, keep safe what you have nurtured. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son... "God of might, giver of every good gift, put into our hearts the love of your name," - As always we recall some aspect of God's gift to stir up our faith before asking for something. In this case we recall His...Read More

The Sanctification of Human Labor

Posted on by Father Albert
Collect taken from the mass for the Sanctification of Human Labor. Collect: O God, who through human labor never cease to perfect and govern the vast work of creation, listen to the supplications of your people and grant that all men and women may find work that befits their dignity, joins them more closely to one another and enables them to serve their neighbor. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son... "O God, who through human labor never cease to perfect and govern the vast work of creation," - We here remember that God's creation was not a one-time event, but...Read More

Twenty-First Week of Ordinary Time

Posted on by Father Albert
Collect taken from Twenty-first Week of Ordinary Time. Collect: O God, who cause the minds of the faithful to unite in a single purpose, grant your people to love what you command and to desire what you promise, that, amid the uncertainties of this world, our hearts may be fixed on that place where true gladness is found. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son... "O God, who cause the minds of the faithful to unite in a single purpose" - Unity cannot come from worldly control or merely human efforts. We recall in this prayer that it is God, and God...Read More

Beheading of John the Baptist

Posted on by Father Albert
Collect taken from the memorial of the beheading of John the Baptist. Collect: O God, who willed that Saint John the Baptist should go ahead of your Son both in his birth and in his death, grant that, as he died a Martyr for truth and justice, we, too, may fight hard for the confession of what you teach. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son... " O God, who willed that Saint John the Baptist should go ahead of your Son both in his birth and in his death," - We recall the fitting design of God in order to evoke a...Read More

St. Augustine of Hippo

Posted on by Father Albert
Collect taken from the memorial of St. Augustine of Hippo, bishop, confessor, and doctor. Collect: Renew in your Church, we pray, O Lord, that spirit with which you endowed your Bishop Saint Augustine that, filled with the same spirit, we may thirst for you, the sole fount of true wisdom, and seek you, the author of heavenly love. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son... "Renew in your Church, we pray, O Lord, that spirit with which you endowed your Bishop Saint Augustine" - In each age, the Church needs men and women who are filled with the spirit of zeal and...Read More

St. Bartholomew

Posted on by Father Albert
Collect taken from the memorial of St. Bartholomew, Apostle. Collect: Strengthen in us, O Lord, the faith, by which the blessed Apostle Bartholomew clung wholeheartedly to your Son, and grant that through the help of his prayers your Church may become for all the nations the sacrament of salvation. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son... "Strengthen in us, O Lord, the faith, by which the blessed Apostle Bartholomew clung wholeheartedly to your Son," -Especially after Jesus' ascension into Heaven, Bartholomew could not rely on ordinary human perception to stay close to Christ. Instead, he had to rely upon a supernatural ability...Read More

St. Rose of Lima

Posted on by Father Albert
Collect taken from the memorial of St. Rose of Lima, virgin. Collect: O God, you set Saint Rose of Lima on fire with your love, so that, secluded from the world in the austerity of a life of penance, she might give herself to you alone; grant, we pray, that through her intercession, we may tread the paths of life on earth and drink at the stream of your delights in heaven. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,... "O God, you set Saint Rose of Lima on fire with your love, so that, secluded from the world in the austerity of...Read More

Queenship of Mary

Posted on by Father Albert
Collect taken from the memorial of the Queenship of Mary. Collect: O God, who made the Mother of your Son to be our Mother and our Queen, graciously grant that, sustained by her intercession, we may attain in the heavenly Kingdom the glory promised to your children. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son... "O God, who made the Mother of your Son to be our Mother and our Queen," - Just as the Israelite kingdom had a "Queen Mother," so does the kingdom of Heaven. This takes nothing away from God, of course, because it is precisely how He wants His...Read More

Pope St. Pius X

Posted on by Father Albert
Collect taken from the feast of St. Pius X, Pope. Collect: O God, who to safeguard the Catholic faith and to restore all things in Christ, filled Pope Saint Pius the Tenth with heavenly wisdom and apostolic fortitude, graciously grant that, following his teaching and example, we may gain an eternal prize. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son... "O God, who to safeguard the Catholic faith and to restore all things in Christ, filled Pope Saint Pius the Tenth with heavenly wisdom and apostolic fortitude," - "To restore all things in Christ" was Pius X's Papal motto. Invoking that motto, we...Read More

Twentieth Week of Ordinary Time

Posted on by Father Albert
Collect taken from Twentieth Week of Ordinary Time. Collect: O God, who have prepared for those who love you good things which no eye can see, fill our hearts, we pray, with the warmth of your love, so that, loving you in all things and above all things, we may attain your promises, which surpass every human desire. Through our Lord Jesus Christ... "O God, who have prepared for those who love you good things which no eye can see, fill our hearts, we pray, with the warmth of your love," - We make an act of faith in acknowledging that God...Read More