Preces Quotidianae

The Divine Example of Daily Review

God Himself closes each day of creation by reviewing His works and seeing that they are good.

We see God Himself closing each of the first days of creation in no other way than by reviewing the works of each day.¹ And he saw that they were good.

Classical Witnesses to Self-Examination

Cicero, Cato, and Pythagoras all practiced reviewing the day's actions before sleep.

Cicero. Cato demanded an account of the day's business from himself, and so did Pythagoras. Ausonius. Ev.² Pythagoras:³ And don't let your eyes sink into sweet sleep until you've gone back over everything you did through the long day.

The Biblical Model of Nightly Meditation

King David meditated at the end of the day, and this is called the Areopagite and nightly examination.

King David, when the day was done, would meditate,^✦ In this Areopagite and nightly examination,⁴

The Tribunal of Conscience

In the nightly examination, one must act as a judge, not an advocate, and with sorrow and indignation confess sins.

See that you don't present yourself as an advocate for sins, but⁵ a judge.⁶ And in the tribunal of your mind say (say it with sorrow and indignation)⁷

Confession of Iniquity

The penitent acknowledges iniquity, citing Psalm 51:3.

I acknowledge my iniquity, Lord. Ps.⁸ 51.⁹ 3.¹⁰

Self-Judgment and Divine Mercy

The soul desires scourges for its sins, recalling that if we judged ourselves we would not be judged.

O who will give my mind scourges that will not spare my sins?¹¹ If we judged ourselves, we would not be judged.^✦¹²

Prayer as Guardian

Prayer guards those who sleep and gives confidence to those who keep watch, as Gregory of Nyssa taught.

Prayer is the guardian of those who sleep, the confidence of those who keep watch.¹³ Gregory¹⁴ of Nyssa.¹⁵

Fortified by Prayer

No one is considered safe who is not fortified with the arms and protection of prayer.

Nor do we consider him safe who has not been¹⁶ fortified by the armor and protection of prayer.¹⁷

Repentance Not Deferred

Rightly, then, from J. concerning repentance, not until tomorrow to be put off.

It is right, then, from¹⁸ J.¹⁹ regarding repentance, not until tomorrow²⁰ to be put off,²¹

Read the original Latin

Deum Ipsum videmus singulos prim:ze creationis dies non aliter claudentem, quam per recognitionem operum cujusque diei.

Et vidit quod bona essent.

Cicero. Cato diurni negotii a se rationem exigebat, et Pythagoras etiam.

Ausonius ev. Pythagora :

Nec prius in dulcem declinent lumina somnum, Omnia quam longi repetiveris acta diei. Rex David, exacto die, meditabatur,

In hoc Areopagitico et nocturno examine,

Vide ne patronum te ostendas peccatorum, sed

judicem. Et in tribunali mentis tuz dic, (Die cum dolore et indignatione)

Iniquitatem meam agnosco, Domine, Psal. li. 3.

O quis dabit menti me: flagella, Quze peccatis meis non parcant? Ei ἑαυτοὺς διεκρίνομεν, οὐκ ἂν ἐκρινόμεθα.

κοιμωμένων φύλαξ, dormientium custos, Oratio est «4 ἐγρηγορότων θάρσος, vigilantium fiducia. Gr. Nyss.

Neque eum tutum arbitramur, qui non fuerit

Orationis armis przsidioque munitus. Recte igitur ab. J. de poenitentia non in crastinum

differenda,

Scripture echoes

↩Ps.63.6;Ps.62.7 — Like fat and rich fare my soul is satisfied, and with lips of joyful singing I praise you. Ps.62.7 — He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken.
↩1Cor.11.31 — But if we examined ourselves, we would not be judged.

Notes

1 ↩Source reading prim:ze is corrupt; translated as primos/primæ (first) with dies creationis, i.e. the successive first days of creation. Neighboring Et vidit quod bona essent supports a Genesis 1 day-close sense.
2 ↩Source is a brief attribution/rubric label, not continuous prose. 'ev.' is left unresolved; it may mark an evening (Ev.) heading or a work abbreviation, but the supplied text alone does not secure either reading.
3 ↩Latin surface 'Pythagora' is treated as the classical name Pythagoras in modern English; the colon is kept as a heading/attribution mark.
4 ↩Areopagitico evokes the Areopagus, the severe Athenian high court: a strict, judicial review of conscience, not a casual glance at the day.
5 ↩patronum...peccatorum is rendered in the legal-court sense suggested by the neighboring examine / judicem / tribunali frame: not a protector of sinners in general, but counsel defending one's own sins under self-examination.
6 ↩Completes the prior clause: 'Vide ne patronum te ostendas peccatorum, sed judicem' — 'See that you do not show yourself a defender of sins, but a judge.'
7 ↩Normalized 'tuz' as 'tuae' (your). Parenthetical 'Die' treated as rubric/directive 'Dic' (say), parallel to the main-clause 'dic'; if 'Die' is meant as another reading, re-check the witness.
8 ↩Printed line break splits the citation: this sentence ends mid-reference at 'Psal.'; the full citation continues in s2–s3 as 'li. 3.' (Psalm 51:3).
9 ↩Latin 'li.' is the Roman numeral for 51 in the citation 'Psal. li. 3.' (Psalm 51:3).
10 ↩Verse number completing the citation 'Psal. li. 3.' (Psalm 51:3).
11 ↩Normalized from corrupt print: 'menti me:' read as menti meae; 'Quze' read as Quae. Sense: a plea for interior discipline that does not excuse sin.
12 ↩Latin 'Ei' is treated as Greek Εἰ ('if'), introducing the following Greek clause; not as Latin dative ei.
13 ↩Source interleaves Greek and Latin glosses of the same maxim (κοιμωμένων φύλαξ = dormientium custos; ἐγρηγορότων θάρσος = vigilantium fiducia). The stray «4 before the second Greek pair looks like a print/OCR artifact and is not rendered.
14 ↩Source abbreviation Gr. taken with following Nyss. as attribution to Gregory of Nyssa (Gregorius Nyssenus), not as Graece.
15 ↩Source abbreviation Nyss. = Nyssenus; with Gr. yields Gregory of Nyssa.
16 ↩Source sentence ends mid-clause at fuerit; the relative predicate continues in the next section (orationis armis praesidioque munitus).
17 ↩Normalized source has 'przsidioque'; translated as intended 'praesidioque' (protection/defense).
18 ↩Fragment appears to open a citation formula (Recte igitur ab…); author or work is cut off at the section break.
19 ↩Bare 'J.' is almost certainly an author/work abbreviation in a citation line, not a freestanding English sentence; left unresolved.
20 ↩poenitentia may mean repentance or penance; modern 'repentance' fits the maxim against delay. The following section's 'differenda' completes the sense as 'not to be put off until tomorrow.'
21 ↩Fragmentary gerundive of differō (defer/postpone). Neighboring Latin supplies the governing phrase: 'de poenitentia non in crastinum differenda' — penance is not to be put off until tomorrow. This section holds only the final word of that construction.

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