Preces Quotidianae
Shelter from Noonday Terror
A prayer for protection from hidden dangers and the noonday demon, drawn from Psalm 91:5.
Psalm. 91. 5.✦ Keep us from the arrow that flies by day, from the assault, and from the noonday demon.✦1
Rescue from Enemies
A plea for deliverance from those who hunt us and from harsh words, echoing Psalm 90.
Deliver us from the hands of those who hunt us, and from harsh words and the malice of this day.
Mercy Heard in the Morning
A request that God make His mercy known, from Psalm 141:8.
Psalm 141.✦2 8. Let me hear of Your mercy, for I have hoped in You.3
Guidance for the Day
Asking God to show the way, rescue from enemies, teach obedience, and lead by the Spirit, from Psalm 143.
9. Show me the way I should walk, for I lift my soul to You. 10. Rescue me, Lord, from my enemies, for I take refuge in You. 11. Teach me to do what pleases You, for You are my God.4 12. May Your good Spirit lead me on level ground.5
Grace Upon Our Work
A prayer for God to look upon His servants and direct the work of their hands, from Psalm 90.
[Unintelligible in source]6 Look upon your servants and their works, and may the grace and splendor of the Lord our God rest upon us. Direct the work of our hands for us; yes, direct the work of our hands.
Seasoned Speech
A prayer that our speech be seasoned with grace, from Colossians 4:6.
a door of restraint upon my lips.✦7 Col. 4. 6. May my speech be seasoned with grace, sprinkled with salt, so that I may know how I ought to answer each person.8
Words and Meditation
A prayer that the words of the mouth and the meditation of the heart be pleasing to God, from Psalm 19:14.
(Ps.✦ 19.✦ 14.] May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart always be pleasing in Your sight, Lord, my Redeemer.
Closing Doxology
A concluding doxology and Amen sealing the prayers.
Ours from now and forever.9 Amen.
Read the original Latin
Psal. xci. 5. Serva nos a sagitta volante interdiu, ab incursu, et a d:mone meridiano.
Libera nos a manu venantium, et a verbo aspero, a malitia diei hujus.
Psal. cxli. 8. | Auditam fac mihi misericordiam "Tuam, quia in Te speravi.
9. Notam fac mihi viam in qua ambulem, quia ad Te attollo animam meam. 10. Eripe me, Domine, de inimicis meis, ad Te enim confugio. 11. Instrue me facere, quz & placita sunt in conspectu Tuo, quia Deus meus es Tu. 12. Spiritus Tuus bonus deducat me in terram rectam.
xe, dB. Respice in servos Tuos, et in opera ipsorum, et sit gratia ac splendor Domini Dei nostri super nos. Et opera manuum nostrarum dirige super nos; et opera manuum nostrarum dirige.
cireumstantive labius meis.
Col. iv. 6. Sermo meus sit in gratia sale conspersus, ut sciam quomodo oporteat unicuique respondere.
(Psal. xix. 14.] Complaceant colloquia oris mei, et meditatio cordis in conspectu Tuo semper, Domine, Redemptor meus.
nostrum ex hoc et in seculum. Amen.
Scripture echoes
- ↩Ps.91.5-Ps.91.6 — You will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day, Ps.91.6 — Nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness, nor of the destruction that ravages at midday.
- ↩Ps.91.5-Ps.91.6;Ps.91.5-Ps.91.6 — You will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day, Ps.91.6 — Nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness, nor of the destruction that ravages at midday. Ps.91.5 — You will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day, Ps.91.6 — Nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness, nor of the destruction that ravages at midday.
- ↩Ps.143.8 — Let me hear your steadfast love in the morning, for in you I trust. Make me know the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul.
- ↩Col.4.6 — Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each one.
- ↩Ps.19.14 — Also keep your servant from presumptuous sins; let them not rule over me. Then I shall be blameless, and I shall be innocent of great transgression.
- ↩Ps.19.14;Ps.19.15 — Also keep your servant from presumptuous sins; let them not rule over me. Then I shall be blameless, and I shall be innocent of great transgression. Ps.19.15 — May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable before you, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.
Notes
- 1 ↩Source reading `d:mone` is treated as corrupted `daemone` (daemon/demon), matching the traditional Vulgate phrase daemonio/daemone meridiano.
- 2 ↩Source gives Roman cxli (141). The following petition matches Vulgate Ps 142:8 (Hebrew 143:8); numbering may be off by one in this witness, or may follow a local psalter scheme.
- 3 ↩Normalized away print artifacts in the source line (leading '|', stray quotation mark before Tuam); sense is the standard psalm petition Auditam fac mihi misericordiam Tuam, quia in Te speravi.
- 4 ↩Normalized reading treats corrupt 'quz &' as intended 'quae' (what/the things which); the ampersand is read as typesetting noise rather than 'et'.
- 5 ↩'terram rectam' can mean level ground, a right path, or the land of uprightness; 'level ground' preserves the psalm image of sure footing under the Spirit's lead.
- 6 ↩Source reading 'xe, dB.' is not recoverable Latin; neighboring sentences are continuous psalm prayer (cf. Vulgate Ps 89:16–17).
- 7 ↩Source reads 'cireumstantive labius meis.' Treated as corrupt for Vulgate Ps 140:3 fragment 'circumstantiae labiis meis' (cf. 'ostium circumstantiae labiis meis').
- 8 ↩Latin has 'in gratia sale conspersus' (in grace, sprinkled with salt), a first-person adaptation of Colossians 4:6 (often 'sale sit conditus'). Rendered to keep both grace and the salt metaphor.
- 9 ↩The Latin is a bare fragment (nostrum ex hoc et in seculum). Rendered as a closed prayer formula; it may continue or complete the preceding psalm petition (PrecesPriv.1.288.8), but no missing noun is supplied in this section.
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