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Chapter 213PrecesPriv.1.213

Preces Quotidianae

The Humble Servant's Prayer

The speaker, acknowledging his unworthiness, wonders how he can address God, who knows his servant and has looked upon a dead dog like him.

And what more can I add so that I can speak to You? For You know Your servant, Lord, my Lord. Lord, who am I, Your servant, and what is my house, that You have looked upon a dead dog like me?1

Thanksgiving and Offering

The speaker reflects on God's love, asks what he can give in return, cites Psalm 116:12, and offers a spiritual sacrifice of praise and prayer for the Holy Spirit.

For even until now You have loved me?2 What can I give back to the Lord for all that He has given me?3 Ps. 116.4 12. What thanksgiving can we repay to God in all the joy with which we rejoice before Him? Lord, You have deigned on this holy day and at this hour to let me lift up my soul, praise You, and offer You the glory that is Your due. Receive from my soul this spiritual sacrifice, and as You accept it upon Your spiritual altar, deign to send back into me the grace of the Holy56 Your Spirit.7

Petition for Grace and Perseverance

The speaker asks God to visit in goodness, forgive all sins, deliver from punishment and affliction, sanctify spirit, mind, and body, and grant perseverance to the end of life.

Visit me in Your goodness; forgive me every sin, both voluntary and involuntary. Deliver me from eternal punishments, and also from all the afflictions of this world.8 Transform my thoughts into piety; sanctify my spirit, mind, and body; and grant that I may worship and please You in piety and holiness of life.✦910 right to the very end of life.11

Read the original Latin

Et quid addam adhuc ut loquar ad Te? Tu enim nosti servum Tuum, Domine, Domine mi.

Quis ego sum, Domine, servus Tuus, et qu: domus mea, quoniam respexisti super canem mortuum similem mei,

Quoniam adhue usque dilexisti me? Quid retribuam Domino pro omnibus qui tribuit mihi? Psal. exvi. 12. Quam gratiarum actionem possumus Deo retribuere in omni gaudio quo gaudemus coram Eo ? Qui dignatus es me, Domine, sancta hac die, et hora hac levare animam meam, et laudare Te, et offerre debitam "Tibi gloriam, Ipse, Domine, ab anima mea suscipe spirituale hoe sacrifidium : illudque recipiens ad Te in spirituale Tuum Altare, digneris vicem ejus mittere in me gratiam SS. Spiritus Tui.

Visita me in bonitate Tua, Ignosce mihi peccatum omne, tam voluntarium quam involuntarium. Libera me ab :seternis suppliciis, etiam et omnibus hujus mundi zrumnis. 'Transmuta cogitationes meas in pietatem, Sanctifica spiritum, animum et corpus meum, Et da mihi adorare et placere Tibi in pietate et sanctitate vitz

usque ad extremum vitz terminum.

Scripture echoes

  1. ↩1Thess.5.23 — Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Notes

  1. 1 ↩Source reads 'et qu: domus mea'; treated as intended 'et quae domus mea' (Davidic prayer formula: Who am I... and what is my house...).
  2. 2 ↩Reading adhue as adhuc ("still / even until now"); the printed form looks like OCR corruption.
  3. 3 ↩Supplied Latin has qui tribuit (sg.) after omnibus; sense taken as the standard thanksgiving question (all that the Lord has bestowed).
  4. 4 ↩Reading exvi. as cxvi. (Roman 116); c→e is a common OCR slip, and Psalm 116:12 is the usual locus for Quid retribuam Domino.
  5. 5 ↩Corrected hoe→hoc and sacrifidium→sacrificium; stray quotation mark before Tibi ignored as OCR noise. SS. taken as Sancti, completed by the next sentence (Spiritus Tui).
  6. 6 ↩vicem ejus rendered as "in return" (recompense for the sacrifice offered); could also be read as "in its place."
  7. 7 ↩Continues s7's gratiam SS. as Sancti Spiritus Tui — "the grace of Your Holy Spirit."
  8. 8 ↩Normalized reading takes :seternis as aeternis and zrumnis as aerumnis; the printed form is clearly OCR/type corruption.
  9. 9 ↩Normalized reading takes vitz as vitae; the section ends mid-clause (next section continues usque ad extremum vitae terminum).
  10. 10 ↩spiritum, animum et corpus rendered as spirit, mind, and body to keep animus distinct from anima (soul); animus here is the mind/inner disposition.
  11. 11 ↩Source surface 'vitz' is treated as corrupted 'vitae' (of life), matching the preceding petition ending 'in pietate et sanctitate vitae' and yielding the liturgical phrase 'usque ad extremum vitae terminum'.

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