Preces Quotidianae
Joy in Finding the Messiah
The prayer opens with a plea for joy in discovering Christ, mirroring the finding of the Messiah and asking for continued keeping.
with great joy, And make us likewise find that same Messiah, and, when we have found Him, likewise rejoice; and keep us.
The Eleventh Hour Grace
Drawing on the parable of the eleventh-hour laborers, the prayer asks for grace and merciful reception despite lateness in returning to God.
You who still graciously, even at the eleventh hour of the day, sent into Your vineyard those who had stood idle all day, when a wage had been agreed—Matt.1 20. 6. Grant us that same grace, and though it is late, as if at the eleventh hour, kindly receive us as we return to You; and keep us.✦2
Institution of the Eucharist
The prayer recalls Christ's institution of the Eucharist at the Last Supper and asks for faithful participation leading to forgiveness and covenant blessings.
You who at the hour of the Supper chose to institute the most holy mysteries of Your Body and Blood—34 12. 2. Make us mindful of these same mysteries and participants in them—never for judgment, but for the forgiveness of sin, and for obtaining the bequests of the New Testament, 1 Cor.✦5 11. 29.✦ And keep us.
Burial of Sin with Christ
Meditating on Christ's evening burial, the prayer entreats God to remove and bury sins, covering faults with good works.
You who in the evening willed to be taken down from the cross and buried in a tomb, Mark6 15. 42.✦ Take our sins away from us, and bury them in Your tomb, covering with good works whatever wrong we have done; and keep us.7
The Power of Forgiveness
The prayer turns to Christ's gift of the keys to the Apostles deep in the night, asking for a share in that power only for forgiveness and concluding with 'keep us'.
You who, already deep in the night, by Your breath conferred on Your Apostles the power both to forgive sin and to retain it, John. 20. Lord, make us partakers of that power, but only for forgiveness, not for retention.8 And keep us.
Read the original Latin
cum ingenti gaudio,
Et nos eundem Messiam similiter invenire, Et invento similiter gaudere fac, Et serva nos. Qui stantes toto die otiosos dignatus es tamen etiam undecima diei hora, pacta mercede, in vineam Tuam mittere, Maíf. xx. 6. Eandem gratiam fac nobis, Et, sero licet, quasi cirea undecimam, — ad Te revertentes benigne suscipe, Et serva nos. Qui hora Con:, sacrosancta Corporis et Sanguinis "Tui mysteria instituere voluisti, o. xii. 2.
Eorundem nos memores et participes redde, nec ad judicium unquam, sed ad peccati remissionem, et legata Novi Testamenti acquirenda, 1 Cor. xi. 29. Et serva nos. Qui vespere de cruce tolli, e£ monumento sepelim voluisti, Mar. xv. 42. Tolle de nobis, et sepeli in sepulero Tuo, peccata nostra, tegens bonis operibus quicquid male admisimus, Et serva nos.
Qui multa jam nocte Apostolis Tuis afflatu Tuo potestatem peccati tum remittendi, tum retinendi, contulisti, Jo. xx. 225: Illius nos potestatis participes redde, sed quoad remissionem, ne ad retentionem, Domine,
Et serva nos.
Scripture echoes
- ↩Matt.20.6 — And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing around, and he said to them, 'Why are you standing here all day idle?'
- ↩1Cor.11.29 — For the one who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself.
- ↩1Cor.11.29 — For the one who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself.
- ↩Mark.15.42 — And when evening had already come, since it was the Preparation, that is, the day before the Sabbath,
Notes
- 1 ↩Source ends with 'Maíf.'; treated as the abbreviation Matt. (Matthew), matching the following chapter/verse numerals and the vineyard parable.
- 2 ↩Normalized 'cirea' read as 'circa' ('about/around'); the sense 'about the eleventh hour' is required by context.
- 3 ↩'hora Con:' read as 'hora Coenae' (at the hour of the Supper / Lord's Supper), a common liturgical abbreviation in this prayer cycle.
- 4 ↩Trailing source 'o.' is unclear: possible incomplete vocative, or a corrupt start of a scripture abbreviation before s7–s8 ('xii. 2.').
- 5 ↩Eorundem points back to the sacred mysteries of Christ’s Body and Blood just named; legata Novi Testamenti are the covenant bequests sealed in that institution, not a generic inheritance.
- 6 ↩Normalized corrupt reading e£ monumento sepelim as et monumento sepeliri (and to be buried in a tomb).
- 7 ↩sepulero read as sepulcro (tomb).
- 8 ↩Leading '225:' is almost certainly not part of the prayer: John 20 has no verse 225. Most plausible readings are a leaked page/line number, or a corrupt verse cue for 22–23. Rendered from the clear petition after that token.
Preces Privatae (Private Devotions) companion
A prayer for every moment, already on your phone
Chosen Portion puts a curated historic prayer in front of you each day — so the words are there before the moment arrives.
Chosen Portion is the digital descendant of the carried prayer book: the short daily prayers this collection preserves, delivered one a day to your pocket.
- One short, memorable prayer delivered daily — build your repertoire a card at a time
- Prayers matched to real situations: fear, gratitude, decisions, grief, sleep
- Save favourites into your personal pocket collection you can open anywhere