Ordinary Time (Before Lent)

The Fifth Sunday before Lent
Green

This provision is always used from the day after the Presentation of Christ in the Temple until the first of the Sundays before Lent.

Collect

Almighty God,

by whose grace alone we are accepted and called to thy service:

strengthen us by thy Holy Spirit

and make us worthy of our calling;

through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord,

who liveth and reigneth with thee,

in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and for ever.

Post Communion

O God of truth,

by whose grace we have seen with our eyes

and touched with our hands the bread of life:

strengthen our faith

that we may grow in love for thee and for one another;

through Jesus Christ our Lord.

The Fourth Sunday before Lent
Green

Collect

O God,

who knowest us to be set

in the midst of so many and great dangers,

that by reason of the frailty of our nature

we cannot always stand upright:

grant to us such strength and protection

as may support us in all dangers

and carry us through all temptations;

through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord,

who liveth and reigneth with thee,

in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and for ever.

Post Communion

Go before us, O Lord, in all our doings

with thy most gracious favour,

and further us with thy continual help,

that in all our works

begun, continued and ended in thee,

we may glorify thy holy name,

and finally by thy mercy obtain everlasting life;

through Jesus Christ our Lord.

The Third Sunday before Lent
Green

Collect

O almighty God,

who alone canst order the unruly wills and affections of the sinful:

grant unto thy people

that they may love the thing which thou commandest

and desire that which thou dost promise,

that so, among the sundry and manifold changes of the world,

our hearts may surely there be fixed

where true joys are to be found;

through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord,

who liveth and reigneth with thee,

in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and for ever.

Post Communion

Merciful Father,

who didst give thine only Son Jesus Christ

to be for us the bread of life,

that those who come to him should never hunger:

draw us to him in faith and love,

that we may eat and drink with him

at his table in the kingdom,

where he liveth and reigneth, now and for ever.

The Second Sunday before Lent
Green

Collect

Almighty God,

who hast created the heavens and the earth

and hast made us in thine own image:

teach us to discern thy hand in all thy works

and thy likeness in all thy children;

through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord,

who liveth and reigneth with thee,

in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and for ever.

Post Communion

O God our creator,

by whose gift

the tree of life was set at the heart of the earthly paradise,

and the bread of life at the heart of thy Church:

may we who have been nourished at thy table on earth

be transformed by the glory of the Saviour’s cross

and enjoy the delights of eternity;

through Jesus Christ our Lord.

The Sunday next before Lent
Green

This provision is not used on or after Ash Wednesday.

Collect

Almighty Father,

whose Son was revealed in majesty

before he suffered death upon the cross:

give us grace to perceive his glory,

that we may be strengthened to suffer with him

and be changed into his likeness, from glory to glory;

who liveth and reigneth with thee,

in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and for ever.

Post Communion

O holy God,

we behold thy glory in the face of Jesus Christ:

grant that we who are partakers at his table

may reflect his life in word and deed,

that all the world may know his power to change and save;

through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Common Worship: Services and Prayers for the Church of England, material from which is included here,
is copyright © The Archbishops' Council 2000 and published by Church House Publishing.

Download the Common Worship Lectionary app