The Collect for the Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ (3 of 3) - The Episcopal Church of the Transfiguration

Almighty God,
you have given your only-begotten Son to take our nature upon him,
and to be born [this day] of a pure virgin:
Grant that we, who have been born again and made your children by adoption and grace,
may daily be renewed by your Holy Spirit; through our Lord Jesus Christ,
to whom with you and the same Spirit be honor and glory, now and for ever. Amen.
(BCP 213)

Historical and Theological Introduction:

The third of the three Collects for use on Christmas Day was composed for the 1549 BCP for use at the second celebration of the eucharist on Christmas Day.[1] Massey H. Shepherd, Jr, in his commentary on the 1928 BCP, succinctly lists three theological statements found within this Collect:

“the birth of the Only-Begotten Son of God in the substance of our human nature is linked with the idea of our rebirth in Baptism by ‘pure water’ … and the Holy Spirit;

The eternal Sonship of Christ is contrasted with our adoption as [children] by the free grace of God; and

The historic birth of our Lord at a specific time and place is spiritually renewed in the hearts of his followers daily.”[2]

In this list, four important connections and contrasts provide a lens through which to explore foundational elements of our understanding of who Christ is, who we are as members of the church, and how we are being transformed through the work of all three persons of the Holy Trinity.

Taking Shepherd’s theological themes as a starting point, this Collect invites us to contemplate all three of the great mysteries of our faith: the Incarnation, our salvation, and the Holy Trinity.

The Preamble

The Preamble, “Almighty God,” invites us to consider what mighty works of God on our behalf that we are remembering and for which we are asking in this Collect.

The Acknowledgement

The Acknowledgement, “you have given your only-begotten Son to take our nature upon him, and to be born [this day] of a pure virgin” begins with the mystery of the Trinity and then lingers over the mystery of the Incarnation which, insightfully, Shepherd connects with the mystery of our salvation through what I find to be a delightful and unexpected reference.

With the phrase “you have given your only-begotten Son,” the Acknowledgment begins with part of the mystery of the Holy Trinity by naming the eternal relationship between God the Father and God the Son. The Greek word that we translate as only-begotten carries within it both this relational quality and the distinctive characteristic of this relationship (“unique” or “one and only”). As Shepherd highlights, the way that Jesus is God’s son is unique and this uniqueness is put in contrast with our relationship with God in the Petition. God the Father and God the Son are of the same divine nature (John 1:1, 1:14; see also the Apostles’ Creed, the Nicene Creed, and the Athanasian Creed) and their relationship as parent and child is without beginning or end).[3] The rest of the mystery of the Holy Trinity is in the Petition and the Pleading.

The Acknowledgement then shifts our focus from the mystery of the Holy Trinity and the first of the four contrasts to the second contrast and the mystery of the Incarnation with the phrase “to take our nature upon himself.” By taking on our nature, the Son becomes both fully God and fully human (Philippians 2:5-8). The Incarnation is the means by which salvation is accomplished: he became what we are (human) in order for us to be made like him (partakers of the divine nature) (Hebrews 2:14 and 2 Peter 1:4).

The Acknowledgement continues with “and to be born [this day] of a pure virgin.” The bracketed portion is for use on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. While the reference to Mary as a virgin is not unusual (see the Apostles’ and Nicene Creeds, BCP 96, 120, and 304; and 358-9, respectively), the addition of the modifier “pure” is invites us to pause and consider. In an age where the miracle of the virgin birth is difficult for some of us, it might be easy to roll right past this phrase as merely a repeat of a line in the Creeds that some of us stumble over. Yet, with the terse Collect form, the economy of words invites us to linger over word choices, even uncomfortable additions. Shepherd provides the key for understanding this choice of modifier when he wrote that “the birth of the Only-Begotten Son of God in the substance of our human nature is linked with the idea of our rebirth in Baptism by ‘pure water’ … and the Holy Spirit.” Through this statement, Shepherd has read this phrase of the Acknowledgment as an allusion to Hebrews 10:22 that connects the Acknowledgement with the beginning of the Petition, “we, who have been born again.” In Hebrews 10:19-23, baptism is described as being washed with pure water. The metaphor of the baptismal font as the womb of the Church is ancient and implicit in the first of his three theological statements of this Collect: Jesus was born of a pure virgin; we are born as Christians through the pure water of the baptismal font. The work of the Holy Spirit is made explicit in the Petition.

The Petition

The first half of the Petition contains what could be considered a second Acknowledgement: “… we, who have been born again and made your children by adoption and grace,” continues the baptismal theme. We refer to Holy Baptism as “the Sacrament of new birth” (BCP, 305) through which we “are reborn by the Holy Spirit” (BCP 306, see also 307-8). We are “received into the household of God” (BCP 308) by grace (John 1:12-13). While Jesus is God’s child by nature and has always been God’s Son (the eternality of Jesus’ Sonship), we are children not by natural descent nor from eternity, but by adoption in time (Romans 8:14-16). As our Catechism succinctly states, “The divine Son became human, so that in him human beings might be adopted as children of God, and be made heirs of God’s kingdom” (Catechism: God the Son, BCP 850).

The second half of the Petition, “Grant that we … may daily be renewed by your Holy Spirit; through our Lord Jesus Christ,” contains the contrast in time that Shepherd pointed out: while Jesus’ birth was an event in time that occurred at one particular moment on a particular day, we ask the Holy Spirit to renew daily our familial relationships with God our Father and God the Son who is our brother (Luke 8:21, Hebrews 2:11-13). While Jesus’ baptism was a one-time event, our experience of the Holy Spirit transforming us through our baptism is an ongoing event. Being daily renewed by the Holy Spirit is another way of describing what it means to ask that the Holy Spirit make our baptism real in us.

This Collect does not contain the optional Aspiration which leads us, by its absence, to ask what we should do with this confidence in our familial relationship with God and this daily renewal of baptismal grace for the sake of the world.

The Pleading

The Pleading: “to whom with you and the same Spirit be honor and glory, now and for ever,” concludes the prayer with a criterion for exploring what we ought to do as a result of God’s answer to this Collect: we ask that the Holy Trinity be given honor and glory for ever and ever for the mighty act of salvation made possible by the Incarnation.

For your consideration

How do you experience having the graces given in baptism being renewed by the Holy Spirit daily? For a list of some of the baptismal graces, see the prayer at the top of BCP 308.

How have we as a parish, as a diocese, and as a denomination experienced the graces given in baptism being renewed by the Holy Spirit daily?

For what purpose do we ask for this daily renewal of baptismal grace? What is God inviting us to do with this grace for the life of the world? How might we use this baptismal grace to glorify and honor our Triune God?

[1] Marion J. Hatchett, Commentary on the American Prayer Book, (New York: Harper Collins, 1995), 168.

[2] Massey H. Shepherd, Jr. The Oxford American Prayer Book Commentary (New York: Oxford University Press, 1950), 96-7.

[3] We declare this every time we say the Lesser Doxology in the Daily Office: Glory to the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit; as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. See Morning Prayer: BCP 80, 84; An Order of Service for Noonday: BCP 103; Evening Prayer: BCP 117, 118; Compline: BCP 128, 131, 135; and after some of the Canticles in Morning and Evening Prayer.

This doxology (praise of God) is also referred to as the Gloria Patri (the first words of the doxology in Latin; these first words are referred to as the incipit) and is called the “Lesser Doxology” to distinguish it from the “Greater Doxology” which we typically refer to as Glory to God (Canticle 20, BCP 94 in Morning Prayer and in The Holy Eucharist, BCP 356) or by its Latin incipit, Gloria in Excelsis Deo.

Want to know more about the Collect format or this series of meditations? You can find that information here.