After the Sign of the Cross and the greeting, the priest says, “Let us pray.”Then there’s a pause — a quiet moment easily overlooked. But in that silence, something profound happens: the whole congregation is invited to pray silently, offering up their personal intentions, gratitude, and needs to God. When the priest then prays the Collect (pronounced KAH-lekt), he “collects” all those individual prayers and unites them into one voice before the Father. That’s why it’s called the Collect: it gathers — or collects — the prayers of the faithful into a single, solemn petition. The Structure of the Collect Each Collect follows a classic, time-tested pattern: Address to God the Father – “O God, who…” A reason or attribute – recalling something about God’s nature or saving work The petition – asking for a specific grace or transformation Conclusion through Christ – “Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son…” This structure beautifully mirrors how we approach God in prayer: we acknowledge who He is, recall His goodness, ask for what we need, and present our prayer through Christ in the Holy Spirit. A Window into the Day’s Mystery Each Collect expresses the theme of the liturgical day or season.On a saint’s feast, it may ask for the grace to imitate that saint’s virtues.On a Sunday in Lent, it may ask for purification or strength against temptation.It’s the first major prayer of the Mass that truly focuses our hearts on what God is doing today in His Church. The Priest’s Role The priest prays the Collect with hands extended — a gesture of intercession, representing Christ the High Priest. The people respond “Amen,” making the prayer their own.In that moment, the Church prays as one body, united in heart and voice before God. Why We Say “KAH-lekt” The word Collect comes from the Latin collecta, meaning “gathering.”In Church usage, it kept its Latin pronunciation (KAH-lekt), while the everyday English verb “to collect” shifted to kuh-LEKT.Keeping the older pronunciation reminds us that this is not just an ordinary act of “collecting,” but a sacred gathering of prayer — a holy moment that unites us before God. In summary:The Collect is far more than an opening prayer — it’s the Church’s first great act of communal prayer at Mass, drawing all our hearts together and lifting them to God as one.