Preces Quotidianae
A Bitter Recollection of Sin
The soul recalls its sins in bitterness, pleads for correction and life, and begs for mercy.
I will recall all my sins before you in the bitterness of my soul. Oh, if only it were in the bitterest bitterness!✦1 Fers.2 .3 17.]4 Lord, if this is how life is lived, and in such things is the life of my spirit, you will correct me and give me life.✦5 See, for in my peace my bitterness has become most bitter.✦ But I will twitter like a young swallow; I will moan like a dove.✦6 But I beg you, Lord, by all your mercy, that your most just indignation and your wrath may be turned away from me, because I have sinned, and that severely; I have sinned against you; severely and often I have sinned against you.7
A Plea for the Father's Merciful Gaze
Invoking the Father of mercies, the penitent asks not to be despised but to be looked upon as Christ looked on Magdalene, Peter, and the thief, and to respond with tears, confession, and love.
II. O Father of mercies, I beg the fatherly heart of Your compassion: do not despise me, an unclean worm and a dead dog.8 A rotting corpse—rather, look upon me, Lord. Look on me with those eyes with which You looked on Magdalene at the banquet, on Peter in the courtyard, and on the thief on the cross. Let me weep with Peter, confess with the thief, and love with Magdalene. Let me love You much—very much—as one to whom so much has been forgiven.910
A Final Cry for Spare Mercy
The penitent cries out for the Lord to spare the repentant.
Spare, I beg you, Lord; spare, spare the one who repents.11
Read the original Latin
Recogitabo "Tibi omnia peccata mea In amaritudine anim: mee: O utinam in amaritudine amarissima. Fers. . 17.] Domine, si sic vivitur, et in talibus est vita spiritus mel, corriples me et vivificabis me. Ecce enim in pace mea amaritudo mea facta est amarissima. At ego sicut pullus hirundinis trinsabo, Gemam velut columba. Deprecor autem Te, Domine, in omnem misericordiam Tuam, Ut avertatur a me justissima indignatio, et furor Tuus, Quia peccavi, idque graviter, peccavi Tibi, Graviter et sepe peccavi Tibi.
II. O Pater misericordiarum, Obsecro paterna viscera miserationum Tuarum, Vermem immundum, Et ne 4 Canem mortuum, ne me despice. Cadaver putridum, Quin respice me, Domine, Oculis illis respice Magdalenam in convivio, quibus 4 Petrum in atrio, Latronem in patibulo; Petro defleam, Ut cum 4 Latrone confitear, Magdalena diligam ; Dilhgam Te multum, Plurimum, ut cui remissa sunt plurima.
Parce, quaeso, Domine; parce, parce panitenti ;
Scripture echoes
- ↩Isa.38.15 — What shall I say? He has spoken to me, and He Himself has done it. I will walk softly all my years in the bitterness of my soul.
- ↩Isa.38.16 — O Lord, by these things men live, and in all of them is the life of my spirit; so restore me to health and make me live.
- ↩Isa.38.17 — Behold, it was for my peace that I had great bitterness; but you have held fast to my soul, rescuing it from the pit of destruction, for you have cast all my sins behind your back.
- ↩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.
Notes
- 1 ↩Normalized corrupt "anim: mee" as animae meae ("of my soul").
- 2 ↩Standalone "Fers." looks like OCR debris (likely from a scripture citation apparatus), not a complete Latin sentence.
- 3 ↩Sentence is only a period; treated as non-text print/OCR debris.
- 4 ↩"17.]" is almost certainly a broken citation close (e.g. Isa. 38:15–17), not prayer text.
- 5 ↩Read "spiritus mel" as spiritus mei and "corriples" as corripies (Isa 38:16 pattern).
- 6 ↩"trinsabo" is nonstandard/corrupt; rendered as bird-twitter sense (trinabo/tinnio), parallel to Isaiah 38:14 swallow/dove imagery.
- 7 ↩Read "sepe" as saepe ("often").
- 8 ↩Source has 'Et ne 4 Canem mortuum'; the '4' is treated as a footnote/print artifact, not part of the Latin.
- 9 ↩Normalized out printed '4' markers after quibus/cum, and read 'Dilhgam' as 'Diligam'.
- 10 ↩'Oculis illis respice Magdalenam... quibus Petrum...' is compressed; rendered as a single petition to be looked on with the same merciful gaze Christ turned on Magdalene, Peter, and the good thief.
- 11 ↩Source reads panitenti; translated as poenitenti (the penitent / the one who repents), the intended form in this prayer context.
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