By tradition the pudding mixture is stirred from East to West in honor of the three wise men who visited the baby Jesus.

Excita, quæsumus, Domine, tuorum fidelium voluntates: ut divini operis fructum propensius exsequentes, pietatis tuæ remedia maiora percipiant: Per Christum Dominum nostrum.

[citation needed] Popular attachment to the "Stir up" collect has, however, caused it to be retained (in contemporary language) in the liturgies of several provinces.

In the Catholic Ordinariates for former Anglicans, Divine Worship: The Missal appoints the "stir up" collect for use on any of the weekdays between the Solemnity of Christ the King which are not themselves Feasts or Obligatory Memorials.

In addition, one of the two choices in Divine Worship: The Missal for the collect for the Second Sunday in Advent begins with the words, "Stir up our hearts, O Lord."

In the Episcopal Church in the United States, the collect designated for the Third Sunday of Advent in the Book of Common Prayer (1979) commences with the invocation, "stir up your power, O Lord."

Marion J. Hatchett in his definitive work "Commentary on the American Prayer Book," notes that in the Pre-Reformation English Sarum Rite, the collects for four of the last five Sundays preceding Christmas commenced with the words excita, or 'stir up'.