O God,
you have caused this holy night to shine with the brightness of the true Light:
Grant that we, who have known the mystery of that Light on earth,
may also enjoy him perfectly in heaven;
where with you and the Holy Spirit he lives and reigns,
one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.
(BCP 212)
Historical Introduction
This Collect is the second of the three Collects listed in the 1979 BCP for use on Christmas Day. Our current BCP offers the first use of this particular Collect in an edition of the BCP.[1] Earlier uses of this Collect are found in the mid-8th century Gelasian sacramentary for use during the Christmas Eve service (the Christmas vigil), the late 8th century Gregorian sacramentary for use at the midnight mass at the church of St. Mary Major in Rome, and the 11th century Sarum missal for use at the eucharist celebrated at cockcrow.[2]
The Preamble
The Preamble, “O God,” doesn’t provide us with much information about the God whom we address in this Collect.
The Acknowledgement
The Acknowledgement, “you have caused this holy night to shine with the brightness of the true Light,” references John 1:9 and John 8:12—Jesus, the true light come into the world, is the reason that this particular night is holy.
The Petition
The Petition, “Grant that we, who have known the mystery of that Light on earth, may also enjoy him perfectly in heaven,” begins with an affirmation about us, as the Church—we are the ones to whom the mystery of Jesus Christ as the Light of the World, True Light from True Light, fully divine and yet, mysteriously, fully human (Nicene Creed, Holy Eucharist, BCP 327-8, 358-9) has been revealed.
This Collect continues the tension developed in the Advent Collects. This Collect, like those of Advent, invites us to live in the tension of our current location in history – the time between Jesus’ first and second comings. In The Collect for the First Sunday of Advent, we ask for “grace to cast away the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light” which is another way of describing Baptism—of putting off all that “draw[s] us from the love of God” in order to turn to Jesus as our Lord and Savior (Holy Baptism, BCP 302). Knowing the mystery of Christ on earth, after his Ascension, is knowing Christ through the Body of Christ, the Church, by the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives (“The Church,” Catechism, BCP 854). As we seek and serve Christ in each other and in all persons (Holy Baptism, BCP 305), we live into the mystery of Christ being formed in us (Colossians 1:27), and as we are being conformed to the image of Christ (Romans 8:29-30), we come to know the mystery of Christ, our Light, on earth.
Knowing who Jesus is and enjoying our relationship with him in this life through our relationships with our Triune God and each other as the Body of Christ, is the foretaste of our relationship with Jesus in the next life (heaven). Enjoying Jesus “perfectly” in heaven most likely means “completely”–the experience of enjoying the fullness of relationship with him without the effects of sin and without our inability to know him as he desires to be known.[3]
The Pleading
The Pleading: “where with you and the Holy Spirit he lives and reigns [that is, heaven], one God, in glory everlasting. Amen” keeps the tension of the first coming with the second coming, lest we focus too much on the past. While we consider Jesus in the crèche, coming in humility, our Advent Collect reminds us to keep an eye on the second coming when he will come again in glory. When we are with him in heaven, we affirm that we will also be with the Father and the Spirit as they live and reign together with Christ.
For your consideration
As we rejoice in the appearance of the Light of the world in his first coming, what does it mean to you to know the mystery of that Light on earth? How have we experienced the Light of Christ as a parish, as a diocese, and as a denomination?
O God,
you have caused this holy night to shine with the brightness of the true Light:
Grant that we, who have known the mystery of that Light on earth,
may also enjoy him perfectly in heaven;
where with you and the Holy Spirit he lives and reigns,
one God, in glory everlasting. Amen
© 2022 Donna Hawk-Reinhard, edited by Kate McCormick
Want to know more about the Collect format or this series of meditations? You can find that information here.
[1] Marion J. Hatchett, Commentary on the American Prayer Book, (New York: Harper Collins, 1995), 168.
[2] Hatchett, 168.
[3] See also the use of “perfect” in the Collect for the Fifth Sunday after Easter.