A short prayer. In the liturgy of the church of England, and the mass of the Romanists, it denotes a prayer accommodated to any particular day, occasion, or the like. In general, all the prayers in each office are called collects, either because the priest speaks in the name of the whole assembly, whose sentiments and desires he sums up by the word "Oremus." "Let us pray, " or because those prayers are offered when the people are assembled together. The popes Gelasius and Gregory are said to have been the first who established collects. Dr. Despence, of Paris, wrote a treatise on collects, their origin antiquity, &c.