L’Anima tentata conforta se medesima
The Soul's Struggle and Divine Help
The soul acknowledges its vulnerability to temptation but finds strength in free will, prayer to the Crucified, and the power of grace.
My soul is going down the wrong path; if she doesn't get help, she'll soon be dead. The devil deceives her with his lies, and the senses promise her every pleasure they have.✦1 The world still invites her to do evil; my tempted soul—who will help her now? Help yourself, poor soul, with the gift God gives you. You have free will, and that makes you capable of merit.2 Turn to Jesus Christ; he is nailed to the cross. If you pray to him humbly, he will give you grace. Have faith and hope—they'll make you strong.✦ You can't be overcome without your own consent.3 Grace is more powerful than any adversity.✦
Contemplation as the Path to Union
By meditating on the last things and kindling divine love, the soul is prepared for the embrace of Christ and eternal joy.
Think carefully about death, which will soon arrive. Take a moment to contemplate hell, with all its torment. Look upon paradise with its joy. Kindle yourself with fervor, full of every charity, and then every hardship will seem lighter to you. Then Jesus, your sweet Bridegroom, will embrace you and give you his kiss, full of sweetness. Your mind will taste the pledge of eternal life; your heart will feel rejoicing, song, and feast, singing: Love, love—Love, supreme goodness.✦4 So follow the road God has shown you, praising one God alone in the holy Trinity.
Read the original Latin
Giù per la mala via L’anima mia ne va; S’ella non ha soccorso, Presto morta sarà. El demonio la ’nganna Con la sua falsità, El senso le promette Ogne piacer che ha. El mondo ancor la ’nvita A far la iniquità; L’anima mia tentata Or chi l’aiuterà? Aiùtate, meschina, Col don che Dio ti dà; Tu hai libero arbitrio, Che meritar ti fa. Ricorri a Iesù Cristo; Confitto in croce sta: Se tu ’l preghi umilmente, La grazia ti darà. Abbi fede e speranza, Che forte ti farà. Tu non puoi esser vinta Senza tua voluntà. Più potente è la grazia Che ogne adversità.
Pensa ben de la morte, Che presto ne verrà. Contempla un po’ l’inferno Pien de penalità. Risguarda el paradiso Con sua giocundità. Accenditi in fervore Pien d’ogne carità, E poi ogne fatica Più lieve ti parrà. Iesù tuo dolce sposo Allor t’abraccierà, Daràti il bacio suo Pien di suavità. L’arra di vita eterna La mente gusterà; Giubilo, canto e festa Il tuo cor sentirà; Cantando: Amor, amore, Amor somma bontà. Va dunque per la strada Che Dio monstrato t’ha, Laudando un solo Dio In santa Trinità.
Scripture echoes
- ↩1John.2.16 — For all that is in the world—the desire of the flesh and the desire of the eyes and the pride of life—is not from the Father, but is from the world.
- ↩1Cor.13.13 — And now faith, hope, and love remain, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
- ↩2Cor.12.9;Rom.5.20 — And he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness." So most gladly I will rather boast in my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Rom.5.20 — The law came in alongside so that the trespass might increase; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more.
- ↩2Cor.1.22;Eph.1.14 — who also sealed us and gave the guarantee of the Spirit in our hearts Eph.1.14 — who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the possession, to the praise of his glory.
Notes
- 1 ↩El senso can mean the senses or the sensual appetite/flesh as opposed to reason; rendered as 'the senses' for the pleasure-promising faculty.
- 2 ↩meritar ti fa: free will enables meriting (theological merit), not mere worldly earning; kept as 'merit'.
- 3 ↩voluntà rendered as consent to capture moral agency in temptation: defeat requires the will's cooperation, not mere exposure to trial.
- 4 ↩arra (arrha) is the earnest/down payment; rendered as 'pledge' for the foretaste guarantee of eternal life, not a casual deposit.
Lauds companion
Never lose the rhythm again
Chosen Portion delivers your morning, midday and night office to your phone — the Hours, without the bells.
Chosen Portion is a modern Book of Hours: it turns the fixed-hour structure this collection preserves into scheduled, tappable daily prayer on your phone.
- Three daily prayer moments scheduled around your real calendar, not a monastery's
- Psalms and historic prayers sequenced for you — no page-flipping or decision fatigue
- A visible streak of completed offices, so the rhythm compounds instead of collapsing