knowing and doing God's will
Hatchett says* today's Collect (a collect is a short prayer with 1. an address to God, 2. a petition, and 3. a closing, generally in the name of the Trinity - - this collect is atypical in that the address is only "O Lord" instead of the usual theological assertion about God) was in the 10th century Gregorian Sacramentary for a Sunday after Christmas. Prayer books since then have assigned it various spots in the liturgy, currently the collect for Proper 10.
He says "It summarizes succinctly the two-fold meaning and purpose of prayer: to perceive God's will and to see the strength which is necessary for the accomplishment of it."
My inclination when saying it as the Celebrant is to change "they" to "we" in both instances.
* Marion J. Hatchett, "Commentary on the American Prayer Book" - Seabury, 1981, page 188.
art: a frontispiece from the Gregorian Sacramentary in the Vatican Library.
Happy Sunday to all.
RSF&PTL
T
The Collect of the Day
The Celebrant says to the people
The Lord be with you.
People And also with you.
Celebrant Let us pray.
O Lord, mercifully receive the prayers of your people who call upon you, and grant that they may know and understand what things they ought to do, and also may have grace and power faithfully to accomplish them; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.