Collect for St. Philip and St. James (1928 BCP)

Collect for St. Philip and St. James (1928 BCP) is the proper collect appointed for Saint Philip and Saint James, Apostles, May 1, in the 1928 American Book of Common Prayer. The prayer asks that the Church may truly know Christ as "the way, the truth, and the life," and that such knowledge may become steadfast walking in the way that leads to eternal life.

Text of the Collect

O ALMIGHTY God, whom truly to know is everlasting life; Grant us perfectly to know thy Son Jesus Christ to be the way, the truth, and the life; that, following the steps of thy holy Apostles, Saint Philip and Saint James, we may stedfastly walk in the way that leadeth to eternal life; through the same thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The collect has four clauses. "O Almighty God" addresses the Father as the one able to give the knowledge for which the Church prays. "Whom truly to know is everlasting life" states the theological ground of the prayer: eternal life is not mere duration, but communion with God. The petition then narrows that knowledge christologically, asking "perfectly to know thy Son Jesus Christ to be the way, the truth, and the life." The final purpose clause makes knowledge practical: those who know Christ must "stedfastly walk" after the apostolic pattern.

Appointed Epistle and Gospel

The Epistle appointed in the 1928 BCP is St. James i. 1. It fits the collect by joining apostolic authorship, patience under trial, wisdom asked from God, and the promise of the "crown of life."

JAMES, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting. My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.

The Epistle prevents the collect from becoming a merely contemplative prayer. To know the Son as the way is to ask for wisdom in trial, to endure temptation, and to let patience become complete. The collect's word "perfectly" therefore belongs with James's "perfect and entire": Christian knowledge matures as obedient perseverance.

The appointed Gospel is St. John xiv. 1. It gives the direct scriptural source for the collect's petition and names Philip within the scene:

Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way? Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father but by me. If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him. Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us. Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip?

The Gospel explains why the collect asks to know Christ "to be" the way, truth, and life. Philip asks to see the Father; Jesus answers that knowledge of the Father is given in the Son. The collect therefore moves from the knowledge of God to the knowledge of Jesus Christ without separating them. The Son is not only a teacher of the way but the way himself.

Prayer Book History

The collect first entered the English Prayer Book tradition in 1549. The Parker Society edition of the Edwardian books prints the earlier form:

Almighty God, whom truly to know is everlasting life: Grant us perfectly to know thy Son Jesus Christ, to be the way, the truth, and the life, as thou hast taught Saint Philip, and other the Apostles: Through Jesus Christ our Lord.

The later English and American form keeps the Johannine opening but adds the clause about following the apostles' steps and walking in the way of eternal life. Evan Daniel summarizes the history and identifies the theme:

ST. PHILIP AND ST. JAMES'S DAY. (May 1.) Subject: "The Way, the Truth, and the Life." The Collect was composed in 1549, but was considerably altered and improved in 1662.

Daniel also describes the collect's internal structure:

It consists of - 1. An invocation, setting forth the blessedness of truly knowing God; 2. A prayer that we, knowing Christ to be the Way, the Truth, and the Life, may follow the steps of St. Philip and St. James, and steadfastly walk in the way that leads to eternal life.

Daniel's account is useful because it confirms that the final clause is not decorative. The 1662 alteration makes the prayer more fully moral and ecclesial: knowing Christ is ordered toward walking after the apostles.

Theological Interpretation

The first theological claim is that "truly to know" God is covenantal and relational, not only intellectual. A modern Episcopal meditation by Sister Donna Ruth explains the same clause in those terms:

God desires to be known-and God invites us to know God's self through relationship with God. According to the Gospel of John, we come to know the Father, who is un-seeable with our physical eyes, through the Son who is made visible through the Incarnation.

The petition "Grant us perfectly to know thy Son Jesus Christ" therefore asks for grace, not for unaided religious insight. The Son is known as "the way" when the faithful walk in him, as "the truth" when their thought and confession are governed by him, and as "the life" when they receive eternal life as gift. Sister Donna Ruth draws out the moral consequence:

The Aspiration, "that we may steadfastly follow his steps in the way that leads to eternal life," provides us with details about the journey and its destination. Our journey of following Jesus together calls us, as church, to love God and neighbor with our whole heart in thought, word, and deed.

Geoff Little, writing for Anglican Compass on Easter 5A, makes the same point from the Gospel reading: the collect's knowledge is not idle speculation but action shaped by Christ's lead.

The appointed collect, originally attached to the feast of the apostles St. Philip and St. James in earlier prayer books but moved to Easter 5 with the development of three-year Sunday lectionaries, picks up on the language of Jesus' "I am" statement in the Gospel reading.

Little continues by interpreting the collect's end:

As in many collects, we find the end of such knowledge is never idle speculation but the stirring up of the will to follow Jesus as he leads his people through mortal life and "to eternal glory."

Saint Philip and Saint James

The feast joins two apostolic witnesses. Daniel notes that the appointed Epistle is drawn from one of the saints commemorated:

The Epistle (St. James i. 1-12) is taken from the writings of one of the saints commemorated. It is an exhortation to patience under temptation.

He also explains the Gospel's connection with Philip:

The Gospel (St. John xiv. 1-14) contains the discourse of our Lord that was suggested by the remark of Philip, "Lord, show us the Father and it sufficeth us." It also contains the memorable words on which the Collect is based, "I am the way," &c.

The collect thus uses the two saints without reducing the day to biography. James supplies the Epistle's call to steadfastness; Philip supplies the Gospel question that draws out Christ's revelation of himself. The Church prays to know the answer not as an abstraction, but as a way to walk.

Use in Worship

In the 1928 BCP, this collect is appointed for Saint Philip and Saint James, Apostles, May 1. It may be used at Morning Prayer, Evening Prayer, and Holy Communion when the proper is observed according to the rubrics governing holy days and collects. Devotionally, the collect is especially fitting when praying for faithful endurance, the grace to ask wisdom from God, and a fuller knowledge of Jesus Christ as the way to the Father.

See Also

• Book of Common Prayer (1928)
• Collects Epistles and Gospels (1928 BCP)
• Church Calendar (1928 BCP)
• Holy Communion (1928 BCP)
• Saints' Days in the 1928 BCP

External Links

• 1928 Common Prayer: The 1928 Book of Common Prayer, Standard Book
• Society of Archbishop Justus: comparative propers, including Saint Philip and Saint James
• Evan Daniel, The Prayer-book: Its History, Language, and Contents
• The Two Liturgies, A.D. 1549, and A.D. 1552
• Sister Donna Ruth, "The Collect for the Fifth Sunday of Easter"
• Anglican Compass, "Today in the Spirit: Easter 5A"