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Chapter 194PrecesPriv.1.194

Preces Quotidianae

Turning to God and Ordering the Will

A series of numbered petitions expressing a deliberate turn toward God, a reordering of feet, hands, will, and path to set aside crookedness and establish holy boundaries.

1.1 I will turn to You.2 Lamentations3 2. 40.4 9.5 I will turn my feet.6 3. I will lift up my hands. 2. What [4 4].7 I will turn aside — to turn aside.8 I will scatter the will.9 the crooked into the straight.10 I will set a hedge.

Confession of Inner Weakness

An honest acknowledgment of human failure, internal conflict, and spiritual oppression, echoing Romans 7 and Lamentations, as the speaker confesses weakness, the divided will, and the assault of intrusive thoughts and desires.

I am weak. . I don't do what I want,✦ I do what I don't want.✦ (11 . The children are coming to birth. . Thoughts rising into my heart won't leave me alone.✦12 xxiv. 38.] . Waves come in upon my soul.13 . The law of my members takes me captive.✦14 (Rom. 6. 29.]15 .

Cries for Deliverance and Divine Help

A litany of urgent petitions for rescue, help, and salvation, drawing on Psalm verses and repeated invocations that call upon God to arise, aid, and deliver the suffering petitioner.

Lord, I am suffering violence; answer for me.✦ . Who will free me?✦ Bring help. " . Help; help.16 O God, come to my help.✦17 . Give aid; take me up.18 Save me, O God.✦ . Come to my aid; take hold of me.19 Let God arise.✦ . Turn; turn back.20 Arise, Lord.✦ . [Uncertain: Quire, Gre.]21 — Come to my aid.22 Ps.23 LXX.24 1.25

Petitions for God’s Attentive Presence and Strength

A series of requests asking God to open eyes, turn ears, incline the heart, open ears, enlighten eyes, and strengthen hands, seeking divine attention and empowerment for the worshiper.

. Open your eyes, and see, . Turn your ears and listen. . Incline the heart.✦26 . Open the ears.27 . Enlighten my eyes.✦ . Strengthen my hands.✦ (

Read the original Latin

( 1. convertar ad Te, ἐπιστρέψω. | Thren. ii. 40. ] 9. convertam pedes meos. 3.

attollam manus meas. 2. Quod 4 4. declinabo, ἐκκλίνειν. dissipabo voluntatem. curva in recta.

ponam sepem.

Infirmus sum.

. Non facio quod volo,

Facio quod nolo. (

. Veniunt filii ad partum.

. Non sinunt me cogitationes ascendentes in cor.

xxiv. 38.]

. Fluetus intrant ad animam meam. . Lex membrorum captivat. (Rom. vi. 29.] .

Domine, vim patior, responde pro me.

. Quis me liberabit?

Fer opem. "

. Succurre, βοήθει. Deus in adjutorium. . Opitulare, ἀνάληψαι. Salva me, Deus. . Subveni, ἀντιλαβοῦ.

Exurgat Deus. . Converte, ἐπίστρεψον. Exurge, Domine. . Quire, Gre. —

In adjutorium intende. |Psa/. lxx. 1.]

. Aperi oculos, et vide,

. Inclina aures, et audi.

. Inclina cor, Κλῖνον καρδίαν. . Revela aures.

. Illumina oculos.

. Confirma manus. (

Scripture echoes

  1. ↩Rom.7.15 — For I do not understand what I do. For I do not do what I want, but what I hate, that I do.
  2. ↩Rom.7.15 — For I do not understand what I do. For I do not do what I want, but what I hate, that I do.
  3. ↩Gen.6.5 — And the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
  4. ↩Rom.7.23 — But I see another law in my members, waging war against the law of my mind, and making me captive to the law of sin which is in my members.
  5. ↩Isa.38.14 — Like a crane or a swallow, so I chattered; I moaned like a dove. My eyes grew weak looking upward. O Lord, I am oppressed; be my security.
  6. ↩Rom.7.24 — Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?
  7. ↩Ps.70.2;Ps.71.1 — O God, come quickly to save me; O LORD, hurry to help me. Ps.71.1 — In you, LORD, I have taken refuge; let me never be put to shame.
  8. ↩Ps.69.2;Ps.70.1 — Save me, O God, for the waters have come up to my neck. Ps.70.1 — To the choirmaster. Of David. For remembrance.
  9. ↩Ps.68.2;Ps.69.1 — Let God arise; let his enemies be scattered, and let those who hate him flee before him. Ps.69.1 — To the choirmaster. According to Shoshannim. Of David.
  10. ↩Ps.3.8 — Rise up, O LORD; save me, O my God, for You have struck all my enemies on the jaw; You have broken the teeth of the wicked.
  11. ↩Ps.119.36 — Incline my heart to your testimonies, and not to unjust gain.
  12. ↩Ps.13.4 — Look at me, answer me, O LORD my God; give light to my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death.
  13. ↩Job.4.3;Isa.35.3;Neh.6.9 — Look, you have instructed many, and you have strengthened weak hands. Isa.35.3 — Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees. Neh.6.9 — For they all were trying to frighten us, saying, 'Their hands will grow weak from the work, and it will not be completed.' But now, O God, strengthen my hands.

Notes

  1. 1 ↩Source reads '( 1.' — treated as a section/item numeral with stray opening parenthesis from print or OCR debris.
  2. 2 ↩convertar may be future or hortatory subjunctive ('I will turn' / 'let me turn'); Greek ἐπιστρέψω parallels the same sense of turning back. Te is capitalized as address to God.
  3. 3 ↩Thren. is the traditional abbreviation for Threni (Lamentations); leading pipe '|' treated as print/OCR debris.
  4. 4 ↩If this continues Thren. ii., Lamentations 2 has only 22 verses; intended reference may be Lam 3:40 (revertamur ad Dominum) or another locus. Left as printed numeral.
  5. 5 ↩Source reads '] 9.' — closing bracket treated as markup/print debris; numeral retained.
  6. 6 ↩convertam may be future indicative or present subjunctive; parallel to convertar in s2. Pedes keeps the bodily image of redirecting one's steps.
  7. 7 ↩Latin 'Quod 4 4.' looks fragmentary/corrupt (possibly a broken citation or note header). Rendered as a provisional marker rather than inventing continuous sense.
  8. 8 ↩Latin declinabo (I will turn aside/away) is paired with Greek ἐκκλίνειν (to turn aside). The Greek is treated as a gloss parallel, not a second independent clause.
  9. 9 ↩voluntatem has no possessive (meam). In this conversion-prayer sequence it most naturally means the speaker's self-will, but the bare Latin is kept as 'the will'.
  10. 10 ↩Elliptical note: neuter plurals curva…recta most naturally mean 'crooked things into straight things' (make the crooked straight). Less likely as an imperative of curvare.
  11. 11 ↩Source sentence is only an opening parenthesis; likely a section-split artifact around a citation or aside. No independent propositional content to translate.
  12. 12 ↩Latin has no complementary infinitive after non sinunt me; rendered idiomatic 'will not leave me alone' from sino = allow/leave. A more skeletal alternative is 'do not allow me' / 'will not let me,' if a following complement is missing from the witness.
  13. 13 ↩Printed 'Fluetus' is almost certainly 'Fluctus' (waves); translated on that reading.
  14. 14 ↩Latin captivat has no expressed object; English supplies 'me' from the Pauline sense of the law in the members taking the person captive.
  15. 15 ↩Printed citation appears to assemble as Rom. 6:29, but Romans 6 has only 23 verses; the content of s4 more closely matches Rom. 7:23. Left as printed for later reference resolution.
  16. 16 ↩Latin Succurre and Greek βοήθει are parallel imperatives meaning 'help' / 'come to the aid of'.
  17. 17 ↩Incipit of the Office versicle Deus in adjutorium (meum intende); meum intende is understood though not printed here.
  18. 18 ↩Opitulare = help/aid; Greek ἀνάληψαι (from ἀναλαμβάνω) can mean take up, restore, or take in hand. Parallel bilingual petition style favors a help/lift-up sense.
  19. 19 ↩Subveni = come to help; Greek ἀντιλαβοῦ (from ἀντιλαμβάνομαι) means take hold of / support / help.
  20. 20 ↩Bilingual petition: Latin Converte and Greek ἐπίστρεψον are parallel imperatives ('turn / turn back / return'). Rendered as a paired English petition rather than left untranslated.
  21. 21 ↩Reading 'Quire, Gre.' does not yield intelligible Latin (or clear bilingual Latin/Greek) in the surrounding petition pattern. Possible corrupt/OCR residue of labels or truncated text; left bracketed rather than silently invented.
  22. 22 ↩Fragment of the office/psalm petition (cf. Deus, in adjutorium meum intende). Source has no explicit Deus or meum; English supplies the natural petition sense of the versicle.
  23. 23 ↩Apparatus/citation marker (|Psa/.), not continuous prose; rendered as a Psalm reference label.
  24. 24 ↩Version/numbering label for the Septuagint, not prose to paraphrase.
  25. 25 ↩Verse/reference bracket (1.]), not continuous prose.
  26. 26 ↩Latin Inclina cor is paired with synonymous Greek Κλῖνον καρδίαν; rendered once as a single petition. No possessive is expressed in either language; private-devotion sense is the heart before God.
  27. 27 ↩Revela is literally uncover/unveil; in this petition for hearing, open is the natural modern English equivalent.

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