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.

St. Stephen of Hungary

Posted on by Father Albert
Collect taken from the feast of St. Stephen of Hungary. Collect: Grant your Church, we pray, almighty God, that she may have Saint Stephen of Hungary, who fostered her growth while a king on earth, as her glorious defender in heaven. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son... "Grant your Church, we pray, almighty God, that she may have Saint Stephen of Hungary, who fostered her growth while a king on earth, as her glorious defender in heaven" - This short collect is a great example and reminder of the fact that all holiness works for the benefit of the whole Church....Read More

Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Posted on by Father Albert
Collect taken from Nineteenth Week of Ordinary Time. Collect: Almighty ever-living God, whom, taught by the Holy Spirit, we dare to call our Father, bring, we pray, to perfection in our hearts the spirit of adoption as your sons and daughters, that we may merit to enter into the inheritance which you have promised. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son... "Almighty ever-living God, whom, taught by the Holy Spirit, we dare to call our Father," - Although we tend to think it's no big deal, calling God "Father" is a rather bold thing to do. God is infinitely beyond us and,...Read More

St. Clare of Assisi

Posted on by Father Albert
Collect taken from the feast of St. Clare of Assisi, virgin. Collect: O God, who in your mercy led Saint Clare to a love of poverty, grant, through her intercession, that, following Christ in poverty of spirit, we may merit to contemplate you one day in the heavenly Kingdom. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son... "O God, who in your mercy led Saint Clare to a love of poverty," - We take seriously Jesus' call to poverty. We see that in the fact that call it "mercy" when God leads someone, like Clare, to love poverty. How contrary to the world!...Read More

St. Lawrence

Posted on by Father Albert
Collect taken from the feast of St. Lawrence, deacon and martyr. Collect: O God, giver of that ardor of love for you by which Saint Lawrence was outstandingly faithful in service and glorious in martyrdom, grant that we may love what he loved and put into practice what he taught. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son... "O God, giver of that ardor of love for you by which Saint Lawrence was outstandingly faithful in service and glorious in martyrdom," - Always we begin with recognizing the goodness of God. With a touch of poetic expression, we do that in this prayer,...Read More

St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross

Posted on by Father Albert
Collect taken from the feast of St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, virgin and martyr. Collect: God of our Fathers, who brought the Martyr Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross to know your crucified Son and to imitate him even until death, grant, through her intercession, that the whole human race may acknowledge Christ as its Savior and through him come to behold you for eternity. Who lives and reigns... "God of our Fathers, who brought the Martyr Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross to know your crucified Son and to imitate him even until death," - We recognize that God's grace...Read More

St. Cajetan

Posted on by Father Albert
Collect taken from the feast of St. Cajetan, priest. Collect: O God, who endowed the Priest Saint Cajetan with the grace of imitating the apostolic way of life, grant us, through his example and intercession, to trust in you at all times and to seek unceasingly your Kingdom. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son... "O God, who endowed the Priest Saint Cajetan with the grace of imitating the apostolic way of life," - We acknowledge God's generosity particularly in the form of Cajetan's willingness to live in poverty and spend himself entirely in evangelization. Trust in the form of poverty and...Read More

Dedication of St. Mary Major

Posted on by Father Albert
Collect taken from the memorial of Dedication of St. Mary Major, priest. Collect: Pardon the faults of your servants, we pray, O Lord, that we, who cannot please you by our own deeds, may be saved through the intercession of the Mother of your Son and our Lord. Who lives and reigns... "Pardon the faults of your servants, we pray, O Lord," -A straightforward request for mercy that will end with an invocation of Mary's intercession. "that we, who cannot please you by our own deeds, may be saved through the intercession of the Mother of your Son and our Lord." -We...Read More

St. Jean Marie Vianney

Posted on by Father Albert
Collect taken from the feast of St. Jean Marie Vianney, priest. Collect: Almighty and merciful God, who made the Priest Saint John Vianney wonderful in his pastoral zeal, grant, we pray, that through his intercession and example we may in charity win brothers and sisters for Christ and attain with them eternal glory. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son... "Almighty and merciful God, who made the Priest Saint John Vianney wonderful in his pastoral zeal," -Especially with a saint son wondrous as John Vianney, it is important to recall that God's grace made him what he was, not his own abilities....Read More

St. Alphonsus Liguori

Posted on by Father Albert
Collect taken from the feast of St. Alphonsus Liguori, bishop and doctor. Collect: O God, who constantly raise up in your Church new examples of virtue, grant that we may follow so closely in the footsteps of the Bishop Saint Alphonsus in his zeal for souls as to attain the same rewards that are his in heaven. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son... "O God, who constantly raise up in your Church new examples of virtue," -Raising up examples of virtue is an extension of Christ's promise to be with us always, so we acknowledge this aspect of God's providence to...Read More

St. Ignatius of Loyola

Posted on by Father Albert
Collect taken from the feast of St. Ignatius of Loyola, priest. Collect: O God, who raised up Saint Ignatius of Loyola in your Church to further the greater glory of your name, grant that by his help we may imitate him in fighting the good fight on earth and merit to receive with him a crown in heaven. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son... "O God, who raised up Saint Ignatius of Loyola in your Church to further the greater glory of your name," - Ignatius in particular was converted from seeking glory in this life to seeking the glory of...Read More