SR
← Orationes sive Meditationes — Collection for Princess Adeliza of Normandy/Book 1 · Orationes sive Meditationes
Chapter 18Ansl.1.18

ORATIO XVIII. AD CHRISTUM. Quem unum esurit et sitit anima Christiana.

Raised with Christ from the Grave of Sin

The soul begs the risen and ascended Christ to draw it upward from sin into the living fountain of his love, to drink deeply and be inebriated with holy delight.

Jesus, Lord, Jesus most merciful, who deigned to die for our sins and rose again for our justification, I ask you by your glorious resurrection: raise me from the grave of my vices and all my sins, and grant me each day a share in the first resurrection, so that in your resurrection I may truly deserve to receive my portion.✦✦ Most sweet, most kind, most loving, most dear, most precious, most desired, most lovable, most beautiful — you ascended into heaven with the triumph of your glory, and you sit at the right hand of the Father; most powerful King, draw me upward to you, so that I may run after you into the fragrance of your ointments, run and not fail, with you drawing me, you leading me as I run — draw the mouth of my soul, thirsting for you, into the heavenly streams of eternal satisfaction; nay, rather, draw me to you, the living fountain, so that from there, as my capacity allows, I may drink, and from there live forever, my God, my life.✦✦✦ For you yourself said with your holy and blessed mouth: 'If anyone thirsts, let them come to me and drink.'✦ Fountain of life, grant the thirsting soul always to drink from you, so that according to your holy and true promise, waters of life may flow from my womb.✦ Fountain of life, fill my mind with the torrent of your delight, and inebriate my heart with the sober intoxication of your love, so that I may forget what is vain and earthly, and hold you alone continually in my memory, as it is written: 'I have been mindful of God, and I have been delighted.'✦✦

The Weary Soul in the Flood of This Life

The soul, torn and impoverished in the storms of the present world, pleads for the Holy Spirit and for Christ to open the door of mercy and feed it with heavenly bread.

Give me your Holy Spirit, which those waters signified — the waters you promised to give to those who thirst.✦ Grant, I beg you, that with all my desire and every effort I may strive toward the place where you ascended after your resurrection, on the fortieth day as we believe — so that in this present misery I may be held in body alone, but may be with you always in thought and longing; so that my heart may be there, where you are my treasure, so desirable and incomparable, and deeply, deeply lovable.✦✦ For in this great flood of this life, where we are tossed about by surrounding storms, no safe anchorage can be found, no higher ground where the foot of a dove might find some rest: nowhere is there safe peace, nowhere secure rest; everywhere wars and strife, everywhere enemies, battles without, fears within.✦ And because we belong partly to heaven and partly to earth — the body, which is corrupted, weighs down the soul. And so my soul — my companion and my friend, weary from the road, coming from the way — grows faint and lies torn apart and mangled by the vanities it passed through: it hungers and thirsts greatly, and I have nothing to set before it, because I am poor and a beggar. You, Lord my God, rich in all goods and most abundantly generous with the feasts of heavenly satisfaction — give food to the weary, gather the scattered, restore the torn.✦ Look — he stands at the door and knocks. I beg you, through the depths of your mercy, by which you visited us rising from on high, open your hand of compassion to this wretched one who knocks, and by your gracious condescension command that he enter to you, rest in you, and be refreshed by you, the living and heavenly bread: that, satisfied by it and with strength recovered, he may ascend to higher things, and from this valley of tears, carried on the wing of holy desire, he may fly to the heavenly kingdoms.✦✦✦✦

Wings of the Soul Toward Heavenly Rest

The soul asks to soar like an eagle to God's house, to find Christ walking on the waves of its heart, and to rest in the shadow of his wings.

Lord, I beg you, let my soul take up wings like an eagle's, and fly without faltering; let it fly and make its way all the way to the beauty of your house and the place where your glory dwells, so that there, at the table of refreshment for the citizens of heaven, it may feed on your hidden gifts in your own pastures, beside the most abundant streams: may my heart find its rest in you, my God — my heart, a great sea, swelling with waves. You who commanded the winds and the sea, and a great calm came to be — come now, and walk upon the waves of my heart, so that all my inner life may become tranquil and serene, and I may embrace you, my one true good, and gaze upon you, the sweet light of my eyes, free from the blind darkness of restless thoughts. Lord, may my mind take refuge in the shadow of your wings from the scorching heat of this age's thoughts, so that, hidden in the cooling shelter of your refreshment, it may sing for joy and say: In peace — in that same peace — I will sleep and rest.

Sleeping to the World, Watching for God

The soul asks its memory to sleep from all earthly things while keeping watch for God, to rest under his protection, and to find comfort in the promise of eternal peace and vision.

May my memory, I beg you, Lord my God, may it sleep away from all the things that are under heaven, keeping watch for you, as it is written: I sleep, but my heart keeps watch.1 May my soul be safe, may it always be settled firm under the wings of your protection, my God.2 Let it rest in you, and be cherished always by you. Let it contemplate you in the mind's ecstasy, and sing your praises in jubilation; and until I come to you, true peace — where there is no bow, shield, sword, or war, but only supreme and upright security, secure tranquility, tranquil delight, delightful happiness, happy eternity, eternal blessedness, the blessed vision of you, and praise forever and ever — let these sweet blessings of yours be my comfort in the midst of these storms all the while.3 Amen.

Read the original Latin

Jesu Domine, Jesu pie, qui mori dignatus es propter peccata nostra, et resurrexisti propter justificationem nostri, rogo te per gloriosam resurrectionem tuam, resuscita me de sepulcro vitiorum et peccatorum meorum omnium, et da mihi quotidie partem in resurrectione prima, ut in resurrectione tua merear veraciter percipere portionem. Dulcissime, benignissime, amantissime, charissime, pretiosissime, desideratissime, amabilissime, pulcherrime, ascendisti in coelum cum triumpho gloriae tuae, et sedes ad dexteram Patris; rex potentissime, trahe me sursum ad te, ut curram post te in odorem unguentorum tuorum, curram et non deficiam, te trahente, te ducente me currentem, trahe os sitientis te animae in superna fluenta aeternae satietatis: imo trahe me ad te fontem vivum, ut inde pro captu meo bibam unde semper vivam, Deus meus, vita mea. Tu enim dixisti ore tuo sancto et benedicto: Si quis sitit, veniat ad me et bibat. Fons vitae, da sitienti animae semper bibere ex te, ut secundum sanctam et veridicam promissionem tuam, de ventre meo fluant aquae vitae. Fons vitae, reple mentem meam torrente voluptatis tuae, et inebria cor meum sobria ebrietate amoris tui; ut obliviscar quae vana sunt et terrena, et te solum jugiter habeam in memoria mea, sicut scriptum est: Memor fui Dei, et delectatus sum.

Da mihi Spiritum sanctum tuum, quem significabant illae aquae, quas sitientibus daturum te promiseras. Da, quaeso, toto desiderio et omni studio tendere quo te ascendisse post resurrectionem die quadragesimo credimus, ut in praesenti quidem miseria solo tenear corpore, tecum autem sim cogitatione semper et aviditate; ut ibi sit cor meum, ubi tu es thesaurus meus desiderabilis et incomparabilis, multumque amabilis. In hoc enim magno hujus vitae diluvio, ubi circumstantibus agitamur procellis, et non invenietur fida statio, et locus eminentior, ubi pes columbae valeat aliquatenus requiescere: nusquam tuta pax, nusquam secura quies; ubique bella et lites, ubique hostes, foris pugnae, intus timores. Et quia altera pars sumus coeli, altera terrae; corpus quod corrumpitur, aggravat animam. Idcirco animus meus, socius et amicus meus, fatigatus de via veniens languet, et jacet discissus atque laceratus ab iis, quas pertransierat, vanitatibus: esurit et sitit valde, et non habeo quid ponam ante illum, quia pauper sum et mendicus. Tu, Domine Deus meus, dives omnium bonorum et dapum supernae satietatis opulentissime largitor, da lasso cibum, collige dispersum, redintegra scissum. En stat ad ostium, et pulsat: obsecro per viscera misericordiae tuae, quibus visitasti nos oriens ex alto, aperi pulsanti misero manum pietatis tuae, et jube propitiabili dignatione ut ingrediatur ad te, requiescat in te, reficiatur de te vivo coelestique pane: quo satiatus, resumptisque viribus ad superiora conscendat, et de hac valle lacrymarum penna sancti desiderii raptus, ad coelestia regna volitet.

Assumat, Domine, assumat, rogo, spiritus meus pennas, ut aquilae, et volitet et non deficiat; volet et perveniat usque ad decorem domus tuae, et locum habitationis gloriae tuae, ut ibi super mensam refectionis civium supernorum pascatur de occultis tuis in loco pascuae tuae, juxta fluenta plenissima: requiescat in te, Deus meus, cor meum, cor mare magnum, tumens fluctibus. Tu qui imperasti ventis et mari, et facta est tranquillitas magna, veni et gradere super fluctus cordis mei; ut tranquilla et serena fiant omnia mea, quatenus unum bonum meum amplectar te, et dulce lumen oculorum meorum contempler te sine tumultuantium cogitationum caeca caligine. Confugiat, Domine, mens mea sub umbra alarum tuarum ab aestibus cogitationum hujus saeculi, ut in tui refrigerii temperamento absconsa, laetabunda cantet et dicat: In pace in idipsum dormiam et requiescam.

Dormiat, obsecro, Domine Deus meus, dormiat memoria mea ab omnibus quae sub coelo sunt, vigilans te, sicut scriptum est; Ego dormio, et cor meum vigilat. Sit tuta, sit semper sedura sub pennis protectionis tuae anima mea, Deus meus. Maneat in te, et foveatur semper a te. Contempletur te in mentis excessu, et cantet laudes tuas in jubilatione; et haec dulcia bona tua sint inter hos turbines consolatio mea interim, donec veniam ad te pacem veram, ubi non est arcus, scutum, gladius et bellum, sed est summa et recta securitas, et secura tranquillitas, tranquilla jucunditas, et jucunda felicitas, et felix aeternitas, et aeterna beatitudo, et beata tui visio, et laudatio in saecula saeculorum. Amen.

Scripture echoes

  1. ↩Rev.20.5-Rev.20.6 — The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed. This is the first resurrection. Rev.20.6 — Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection. Over these the second death has no authority, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for the thousand years.
  2. ↩Rom.4.25 — who was handed over because of our trespasses and was raised because of our justification.
  3. ↩Ps.45.4 — Gird your sword on your thigh, O mighty one, in your glory and majesty.
  4. ↩Ps.36.9 — They drink their fill of the abundance of your house, and from your river of delights you give them drink.
  5. ↩John.4.14 — but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never thirst forever; rather, the water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life
  6. ↩John.7.37 — On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, saying, 'If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.'
  7. ↩John.7.38 — The one who believes in me, just as the Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within him.
  8. ↩Ps.77.3 — In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord; my hand was stretched out by night and did not grow numb; my soul refused to be comforted.
  9. ↩Ps.36.8 — How precious is your steadfast love, O God! And the children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings.
  10. ↩John.7.37-John.7.39 — On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, saying, 'If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.' John.7.38 — The one who believes in me, just as the Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within him. John.7.39 — Now he said this about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were about to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus had not yet been glorified.
  11. ↩Acts.1.3 — To these he also presented himself alive after his suffering, by many proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days, and speaking about the kingdom of God.
  12. ↩Phil.1.23 — But I am hard-pressed between the two, having the desire to depart and be with Christ, for it is far better;
  13. ↩Gen.8.9 — But the dove found no resting place for the sole of her foot, and she returned to him into the ark, for the waters were over the face of all the earth. So he put out his hand and took her, and brought her to himself into the ark.
  14. ↩Ezek.34.16 — I will seek the lost, and bring back the scattered, and bind up the broken, and strengthen the sick; but the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will shepherd them with justice.
  15. ↩Rev.3.20 — Look, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to them and eat with them, and they with me.
  16. ↩Luke.1.78 — because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will come to us from on high
  17. ↩John.6.51 — I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.
  18. ↩Ps.84.6 — Blessed is the person whose strength is in you, whose heart is set on pilgrimage.

Notes

  1. 1 ↩The clause 'Ego dormio, et cor meum vigilat' echoes Song of Solomon 5:2, though the source span is not confirmed by Moses resolution here.
  2. 2 ↩Rare form sedura; rendered 'settled firm' as the most plausible intended sense of a tranquil, stable resting.
  3. 3 ↩The long chain of et connectives is rendered with natural English phrasing and punctuation rather than a mechanical string of 'and's, preserving the cumulative rhetorical force.

Orationes sive Meditationes — Collection for Princess Adeliza of Normandy companion

There are 90 more prayers where these came from

Chosen Portion delivers the full Anselm collection — and the wider royal devotional archive — one daily prayer at a time, free.

Anselm told Adeliza to take these prayers a little at a time, and Chosen Portion does exactly that — serving the collection as paced daily portions rather than a book to skim.

  • Pray through all 97 of Anselm's prayers and meditations, one portion each day
  • Each prayer is broken into short sections so a 100-sentence meditation fits a 10-minute sitting
  • Morning reminder at your chosen time, so the day starts with a written prayer instead of a blank
Chosen Portion — Daily Prayer (free iOS app) →