'A type of heaven': on the Second Collect, for Peace, at Matins

Continuing with extracts from John Shepherd's A Critical and Practical Elucidation of the Morning and Evening Prayer of the Church of England (1796), we turn to the Second Collect, for Peace, at Mattins. Shepherd provides a pithy introduction to the collect:

This Collect, copied with some little variation from a form in the Sacramentary of Gregory, is not more remarkable for its antiquity, than for its piety and comprehensive brevity.

Having noted the antiquity of the collect - reminding us how its place in Matins draws us into an ancient Christian prayer - Shepherd then provides a beautiful reflection on the collect's meaning:

The title of this prayer is a Collect for peace. Peace is the happiness of the earth, and a type of heaven. All earthly blessings are nothing without it, and in it all heavenly blessings are comprehended. Peace was the first legacy bequeathed to the world, through our blessed Redeemer, and peace was the last bequest of our dying Lord to his disciples. That the world might be in peace was part of the daily prayer of the primitive Christians. What they practised in their lives, they petitioned at the throne of grace, and this for the Heathens, among whom they lived, as well as for the church of God. Thrice a day they prayed for peace, and in imitation of their example, we are directed by our church to implore this blessing in both our morning and evening services. Let our lives be conformable to our prayers; let us endeavour as much as possible to live peaceably with all men. In our prayers we claim our relation to the Almighty as sons of the God of peace. And woe to us, if our actions invalidate the title, and manifest us to be the children of variance and strife.

Part of the joy of Shepherd's commentary is how he unveils the rich meaning of those aspects of Matins and Evensong that we repeat daily. Such is certainly the case with his words regarding the Second Collect at Morning Prayer. To pray this collect is not only a call to the peaceable life; it sets before us the gift of peace as an icon of the heavenly kingdom, unto which we are called in hope.

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