Prayer book and breviary
GOD, who as at this time didst teach the hearts of thy faithful people, by the sending to them the light of thy Holy Spirit; Grant us by the same Spirit to have a right judgment in all things, and evermore to rejoice in his holy comfort; through the merits of Christ Jesus our Saviour, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the same Spirit, one God, world without end. Amen.
Reflection
Why teach the hearts of faithful people, why not the minds? One might think that this is a bit of a relic of Greek physiology where the heart is the seat of emotion and the brain an unknown organ which was thought to be primarily for cooling - an oversized sweat gland.Yet this collect still refers to the teaching of the heart and not the mind.
The trouble is that human physiology is very fragile. The mind can be ravaged by illnesses just as much as the body can. Perceptions can be warped, things misunderstood, forgotten, unaccessible to reason. Likewise the body itself can be wracked with many diseases. However, while the heart still pumps,the body still lives.
The heart is the centre of one's being. It is there that God teaches us, no matter what of health we're in so that it cannot decay away from us, or make us lose that righteousness from which we must make our judgement. This is God's holy comfort. In Him, we are equipped with the light of His love and in Him we receive an inseparable dignity.
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