In its widest sense, the word “Collect” may be used as the name of one of the three primary forms of liturgical prayer, the other two being “litany,” which is prayer in dialogue, and “eucharistic prayer,” which is a solemn act of praise (not necessarily connected with the Holy Eucharist). In its original form, the Collect seems to have been the closing act of a stereotyped devotional form. First, the presiding minister, whether bishop or priest, would suggest a subject for prayer or, at least, call on the people to pray. This was followed by a time of silent individual prayer. If it were a Sunday, all would stand; but, if it were a penitential occasion, the deacon would bid them kneel. If the latter case, he (not the subdeacon, as in later times) would announce the end of the silent period by commanding them to stand. Finally, the officiant recited the Collect, putting into public and corporate form the petitions of the people.
This very primitive form has not survived in any document, but the earliest formularies come very near to it, and can only be explained as survivals. Thus, in the Gallican rites, there are constant examples of the opening call to prayer, followed immediately by the Collect. In the Roman Mass of the Pre-Sanctified, on Good Friday, the same feature occurs in connection with the solemn prayers which are thought to be the one survival of the primitive “Prayer of the Faithful.”…
From: “Collects, Epistles, and Gospels” by K. D. Mackenzie, in Liturgy and Worship: A Companion to the Prayer Books of the Anglican Communion, edited by W. K. Lowther Clarke (London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1932), p. 374.
