Collect for Purity

Almighty God,

to whom all hearts are open, all desires known,

and from whom no secrets are hidden.

Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts

by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit,

that we may perfectly love you,

and worthily magnify you holy Name;

through Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Collect for Purity has an especially Anglican heritage. When it made it's appearance in the 1549 Book of Common Prayer, it was not new, however what was new was that it became a congregational prayer, or at the very least spoken in the hearing of the congregation. In the Stowe Missal which predates the the Norman Conquest (1066), and indeed the Danish Conquest (1014), it was a Vesting Prayer - said in the vestry, by the priest and the sanctuary party before the public liturgy began in Latin. It's origins are thought to lie in the Sarum Rite, predating the arrival in England of Augustine around 600.