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Chapter 135PrecesPriv.1.135

Preces Quotidianae

Guard My Steps

The petitioner asks for angelic protection, divine guidance, and grace in speech and conduct.

Put your angels in charge of me, so they may guard me in your ways. Show me your ways and teach me your paths thoroughly. Direct my steps according to your word, and do not let any injustice rule over me.1 Direct my steps in your paths, so that my footsteps will not slip. (Ps.2 17.3 5.]4 Put a right word in my mouth, one that sounds good, so that all my words, my face, my bearing, and all my works may be pleasing to all people who see and hear me, so that I may find favor in all my speech and petitions—56 my petitions.7

Cries for Mercy

Invoking God's tender mercies, the petitioner confesses unworthiness and pleads for help in repentance.

Lover of humankind, φιλάνθρωπε. Abundant in tender mercies, πολυεύσπλαγχνος.8 Father of mercies, 2 Cor. 1.✦9 3.✦ Rich in mercy toward all who call on you. I have sinned against heaven and before you, and I am not worthy to be called a son. Luke10 15. 19. Nor am I worthy to become a hired servant—not even the lowest.✦ Yet I repent. Alas! I repent; help my impenitence, Mark✦1112 9.✦13 24.✦14

Pleadings of Grace

The petitioner appeals to God's comfort, tender mercies, and riches of grace for mercy.

And if any comfort of love, PAZ.✦1516 1.17 1.18 Because of the tender mercies,✦19 Because of the multitude, Because of the riches of your grace, Eph.✦20 1.21 7.22

Read the original Latin

Angelis Tuis manda de me, ut custodiant me in viis tuis.

Vias Tuas demonstra mihi, et semitas Tuas edoce me. Gressus meos dirige secundum eloquium Tuum, et non dominetur mihi omnis injustitia. Dirige gressus meos in semitis Tuis, ut non moveantur vestigia mea. (Psal. xvii. 5.] Mitte sermonem rectum in os meum, et bene sonantem, ut placita sint omnia verba mea, et vultus, et gestus, et omnia opera mea, omnibus hominibus, me videntibus et audientibus, ut inveniam gratiam in omnibus sermonibus et peti-

tionibus meis.

Amator hominum, φιλάνθρωπε. Multorum bonorum viscerum, πολυεύσπλαγχνος. Pater misericordiarum, 2 Cor. 1i. 3. Dives misericordia erga omnes qui invocant Te. Peccavi in colum, et coram Te, nec sum dignus vocari fihus, Lwc. xv.

19. nec sum dignus fieri mercenarius, ne infimus quidem.

Verum poenitet. Heu! poenitet ; Adjuva Tu impeenitentiam meam, Marc. ix. 24.

Et si quod solatium charitatis, PAZ. i. 1.

Propter viscera miserationum,

Propter multitudinem,

Propter divitias gratiw€ "Tus, Eph. i. 7.

Scripture echoes

  1. ↩2Cor.1.3 — Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort,
  2. ↩2Cor.1.3 — Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort,
  3. ↩Luke.15.19 — I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me as one of your hired servants.
  4. ↩Mark.9.24 — Immediately the father of the child cried out, 'I believe; help my unbelief!'
  5. ↩Mark.9.24 — Immediately the father of the child cried out, 'I believe; help my unbelief!'
  6. ↩Mark.9.24 — Immediately the father of the child cried out, 'I believe; help my unbelief!'
  7. ↩Phil.2.1 — So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any sharing in the Spirit, any compassion and mercy,
  8. ↩Luke.1.78 — because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will come to us from on high
  9. ↩Eph.1.7 — In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace,

Notes

  1. 1 ↩eloquium rendered as 'word' (divine utterance/Scripture); injustitia as moral wrongdoing ('injustice'), not mere unfair treatment by others.
  2. 2 ↩Citation apparatus fragment opening a parenthetical Psalm reference, not a prayer clause.
  3. 3 ↩Roman numeral 'xvii' treated as Psalm chapter number 17 within the citation fragment.
  4. 4 ↩Verse number and closing bracket of the parenthetical Psalm citation, not prayer text.
  5. 5 ↩Source ends mid-word at 'peti-'; neighboring next section supplies 'tionibus meis' (= petitionibus meis). Translation completes the intended word 'petitions' and keeps a trailing dash for the section break.
  6. 6 ↩gratiam rendered as 'favor' (with people who see and hear), not divine 'grace'; allowed by gratia policy for non-gift contexts.
  7. 7 ↩Printed fragment continues the previous section’s hyphenated peti-; full form is petitionibus meis (‘my petitions’), completing ut inveniam gratiam in omnibus sermonibus et petitionibus meis.
  8. 8 ↩Latin multorum bonorum viscerum uses the biblical idiom of viscera for deep, inward compassion ('tender mercies'), not physical entrails.
  9. 9 ↩Source fragment 1i. is treated as the chapter marker 1 / i in the citation chain 2 Cor. 1:3.
  10. 10 ↩Normalized corrupt forms colum → caelum, fihus → filius, and Lwc → Luc. (Luke) before translating.
  11. 11 ↩Source surface 'impeenitentiam' read as intended 'impoenitentiam' (impenitence); typographical/orthographic corruption is highly likely.
  12. 12 ↩Adjuva Tu impeenitentiam meam adapts the cadence of Mark 9:24 (adjuva incredulitatem meam), replacing unbelief with impenitence; rendered as a direct petition with solemn second-person address.
  13. 13 ↩Citation fragment completing Mark 9:24 with the following verse number; not prose narrative.
  14. 14 ↩Verse number completing the Mark 9:24 citation; not prose narrative.
  15. 15 ↩Trailing 'PAZ.' is treated as a printed book abbreviation opening a citation continued in s2–s3 (i. 1). The Latin wording matches Vulgate Philippians 2:1 (si quod solatium caritatis), but the surface abbreviation is not expanded, because PAZ is not a standard recognized form and the printed chapter is i, not ii.
  16. 16 ↩charitatis rendered as 'love' per default charitas policy; 'charity' remains possible if the theological-virtue sense is preferred.
  17. 17 ↩Citation fragment: Roman chapter numeral in the PAZ. i. 1. reference chain; not prose narrative.
  18. 18 ↩Verse number completing the PAZ. i. 1. citation; not prose narrative.
  19. 19 ↩Latin viscera miserationum is the biblical idiom for deep, heartfelt compassion (literally “bowels of mercies”). Rendered as “tender mercies” to keep the familiar devotional cadence without archaism.
  20. 20 ↩Source reading 'Propter divitias gratiw€ "Tus, Eph.' is corrupt. Reconstructed as 'Propter divitias gratiæ Tuæ, Eph.' (Because of the riches of your grace, Eph.), with the citation continued in s2–s3 as i. 7 = Eph. 1:7. 'Tuæ' is preferred as prayer address; Vulgate Eph. 1:7 has 'gratiae eius'.
  21. 21 ↩Isolated citation fragment: chapter numeral 'i.' belonging with 'Eph. ... 7' as Ephesians 1:7.
  22. 22 ↩Isolated citation fragment: verse numeral '7.' completing 'Eph. i. 7' as Ephesians 1:7.

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