ORATIO XXXIII. AD IDEM FACIENDUM.
The Weight of Unworthy Approach
The speaker acknowledges the gravity of approaching God's table with an impure heart and the greater peril of withholding sacrifice out of fear.
If we only consider, Lord, the guilt of our transgression, and do not fulfill the service of observance assigned to us: it is serious, for we do not come to your table with a pure heart and innocent hands; but it is more serious if, while we fear our sins, we also do not offer sacrifice.
A Fivefold Plea for Grace
The speaker petitions God to stand before Him despite disobedience, and to strengthen, heal, reconcile, cleanse, and humble the inner self.
Let it be permitted, therefore, for the sake of disobedience, to stand before you; for the sake of pardon, to ask; for the sake of duty, to serve; for the sake of healing, to offer sacrifice; for the sake of the people, to intercede.1 I ask you, therefore, strengthen in me what trembles, heal what wearies, reconcile what is at odds, drain away what corrupts, humble what is proud.
Merciful Justice and Saving Discipline
The speaker asks that God's justice correct gently rather than destroy, and that discipline serve salvation rather than condemnation.
Let merciful justice be a gentle correction; let it never swallow up the sinner, but rather reconcile the penitent.2 Grant discipline for salvation, not a sentence of death: hear the prayer of the sinner who groans under the grief you visit upon them.3
Closing in Christ
The prayer concludes with a doxological closing through Christ and a final Amen.
Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Read the original Latin
Si tantum, Domine, reatum nostrae delinquentiae cogitamus, deputatum observationis ministerium non implemus: grave est enim, quod ad mensam tuam mundo corde et innocentibus manibus non venimus; sed gravius est, si dum peccata metuimus, etiam sacrificium non reddamus. Liceat igitur pro inobedientia assistere, pro indulgentia petere, pro officio ministrare, pro remedio immolare, pro populo obsecrare. Quaeso ergo conforta in me quod trepidat, cura quod taedet, reconcilia quod discordat, evacua quod corrumpit, humilia quod superbit. Sit pia justitia clemens correctio; nunquam absorbeat peccatorem, imo reconciliet poenitentem. Da in salutem disciplinam, non in mortem sententiam: exaudi peccatoris precem, qui visitas in dolore gementem. Per Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen.
Notes
- 1 ↩The repeated 'pro' phrases are rendered with 'for the sake of' to capture the substitutionary logic — each infinitive is offered in exchange for or on behalf of something. 'Obsequium' would be the expected term for obedience; 'inobedientia' here grounds the plea in acknowledged failure.
- 2 ↩'Pia justitia clemens correctio' is compressed: justice that is both devout and merciful, rendered as 'merciful justice' with 'gentle correction' to unpack the full phrase. 'Imo' is adversative-corrective, rendered as 'but rather' to signal the turn from destruction to restoration.
- 3 ↩'Disciplina in salutem' versus 'sententia in mortem' sets up a purpose contrast: discipline that leads to salvation versus a sentence that leads to death. 'Qui visitas in dolore gementem' — the relative clause describes God's visitation of the sinner in their suffering; rendered as 'who groans under the grief you visit upon them' to preserve both the divine action and the human response.
Orationes sive Meditationes — Collection for Princess Adeliza of Normandy companion
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