Preces Quotidianae
The Dread of Judgment and Hell
The soul contemplates the terrifying scene of the Last Judgment, the opening of books, the scrutiny of thoughts, and the horrors of hell.
Books opened, works examined, thoughts searched out, the secrets of darkness laid bare.✦✦ What kind of judgment will there be against me? An incorruptible Judge, a dreadful tribunal,✦1 A defense that leaves no excuse, arguments that cannot be escaped, Harsh torment, everlasting hell Cruel angels, hell opening wide its mouth,✦ A hissing river of fire, fire that is never put out, a dark prison, darkness utterly without light, couches of burning coals, a worm that never rests,2 Bonds that can never be broken, chaos without measure, A wall we cannot cross, an inconsolable cry, no one to stand by us, no one to plead for us or set us free.3
I Judge Myself: Confession of Desert
The soul turns inward, acknowledging its own guilt and deserving of punishment, and confesses its liability before God.
Look, Lord, I myself judge myself.✦ deserving, liable, guilty4 of harsh punishment, and also of all the hardships of this world.5 I have deserved death from You — from You, who are just. .)6
Appeal from Justice to Grace
The soul appeals from the seat of justice to the throne of grace, pleading for mercy and acknowledging that without God's intervention, we perish.
Lord,7 But I still appeal to You, from the seat of justice to the throne of grace,✦8 to You who are merciful. Admit, Lord, this appeal; unless You admit it, we perish.910 And, Lord, doesn't it concern You if we perish?
Read the original Latin
Apertis libris, Investigatis operibus, Indagatis cogitationibus, Manifestatis tenebrarum occultis. Quale judicium erit in me? Judex incorruptus, "Tribunal horrendum,
Defensio sine excusatione, Argumenta inevitabilia,
Supplicium asperum, Gehenna sempiterna,
Angeli immites, Infernum dilatans os,
Flumen ignis stridens, Ignis qui non exstinguitur, Carcer tenebrosus, Tenebr: prorsus exsortes luminis, Reclinatoria e prunis, Vermiculus irrequietus,
Vincula indissolubilia, Chaos immensurabile,
Murus quem transgredi non Clamor inconsolabilis, possumus, assistat, Nullus qui 4 patrocinetur, liberet.
Ecce, Domine,
Dijudico egomet me
dignum, obnoxium, reum
sterni supplicii, » Etiam et omnium difficultatum hujus mundi. Meritus sum mortem a Te, : a Te justo.
.) Domine, 1
Sed adhuc appello ad Te,
a solio justitiie ad thronum gratiz.
ad Te misericordem,
Admitte, Domine, provocationem hane; Ni admiseris, perimus.
Et, O Domine, non ad Te pertinet, si perimus ?
Scripture echoes
- ↩Dan.7.10;Rev.20.12 — A river of fire flowed and poured out before him. A thousand thousands served him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him. The court sat in judgment, and the books were opened. Rev.20.12 — And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to their works.
- ↩1Cor.4.5;Luke.12.2-Luke.12.3 — Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the purposes of the hearts; and then each one's praise will come from God. Luke.12.2 — But there is nothing concealed that will not be revealed, and nothing hidden that will not be made known. Luke.12.3 — Therefore, whatever you have said in the darkness will be heard in the light, and what you have spoken in the ear in private rooms will be proclaimed upon the housetops.
- ↩2Cor.5.10;Rom.14.10 — For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what has been done through the body, whether good or evil. Rom.14.10 — But you, why do you judge your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God.
- ↩Isa.5.14 — Therefore Sheol has enlarged its throat and opened its mouth beyond measure; and down go her splendor, her multitude, her tumult, and the one who exults in her.
- ↩1Cor.11.31 — But if we examined ourselves, we would not be judged.
- ↩Heb.4.16 — Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
Notes
- 1 ↩Fragment continues into the next section (PrecesPriv.1.201.2); the opening quotation mark in the source appears incomplete.
- 2 ↩Source reads truncated 'Tenebr:'; rendered as Tenebrae ('darkness') with the following phrase prorsus exsortes luminis ('utterly without share of light').
- 3 ↩Source word order is scrambled and includes a stray numeral “4” (likely a page-number artifact). Translated from the most plausible hell-catalogue reconstruction: “Murus quem transgredi non possumus, Clamor inconsolabilis, Nullus qui assistat, Nullus qui patrocinetur, liberet,” supported by the parallel run at PrecesPriv.1.127.1 and the preceding phrases “Vincula indissolubilia, Chaos immensurabile.”
- 4 ↩A bare asyndetic triad continuing the previous self-judgment (Dijudico egomet me). dignum = deserving/worthy (of penalty); obnoxium = liable/answerable/exposed; reum = guilty. The following section supplies the genitive of the penalty (sterni supplicii).
- 5 ↩sterni is read as modifying supplicii (harsh/severe punishment). The sentence continues the prior list (dignum, obnoxium, reum).
- 6 ↩Source is only residual punctuation (.) with no lexical content; likely a segmentation artifact from a prior clause or editorial mark.
- 7 ↩Trailing '1' treated as non-lexical debris (editorial/page/section marker or OCR fragment), not as spoken content.
- 8 ↩Source reads justitiie and gratiz; translated as the intended justitiae and gratiae (of justice / of grace).
- 9 ↩Source reads 'hane'; translated as 'hanc' (this), agreeing with 'provocationem'.
- 10 ↩'provocatio' here is taken in the legal/devotional sense 'appeal' (a calling upon God's mercy), not modern English 'provocation'.
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