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Chapter 73PrecesPriv.1.73

Preces Quotidianae

Morning Prayer and the Blessing of Creation

The morning prayer opens with a declaration of prayer before God, followed by a blessing for the creation of animals and humanity, and concludes with a verse from Psalm 98.

In the morning my prayer will come before you. Blessed are you, Lord, who brought forth from the earth beasts and cattle, and every creeping thing. Gen. 1. 25. as food, for clothing, and as help; and you created man in your image. Gen.1 1. 26. so that he might rule the earth,2 and you blessed him.✦ — Verse3 98.4

Divine Counsel and Creative Work

The pericope reflects on God's prior deliberation in creation and the divine hand at work, culminating in the breath of life.

Prior deliberation (Gen.✦5 1. 26.] The divine hand set to work, Ps. 138.6 8.✦ The breath of life,✦7

The Image of God and Angelic Guardianship

This section moves from the image of God in humanity to the ordinance over works and angelic protection, ending with the promise of paradise.

Image of God,✦ Ordinance concerning works, Psalm8 7. 6. A charge to the angels concerning him, Psalm9 91. 11. Paradise.

The Inner Sanctuary: Heart, Life, and Knowledge of God

A brief but profound reflection on the heart, life, and knowledge of God as the core of devotion.

Heart. Life. Knowledge of God.✦10

Faculties of Body and Spirit in Prayer

A litany of human faculties—kidneys, senses, the Law, eyes, reason, prophetic oracles, ears, and spirit—offered as channels for prayer.

The kidneys.✦11 The senses. The writing of the Law.12 The eyes.13 Reason. The oracles of the prophets. The ears. The spirit.14

The Voice of Praise and Prudence

The chapter concludes with the melody of the Psalms, the tongue, free will, and the prudence of Proverbs as instruments of worship and wisdom.

The melody of the Psalms. The tongue. Free will. The prudence of Proverbs.

Read the original Latin

MANE Oratio mea preveniet te. Benedictus es, Domine, Qui produxisti ex terra bestias et jumenta, et omne reptile, Gen. i. 25. alimentum, ad 4 indumentum, adjumentum ; et creasti hominem ad imaginem tuam, Gen». 1. 26. Ut dominaretur terrz,

et benedixisti illi. — Vers. 98.

Prahabita delberatio, (Gen. i. 26.]

Divina manus operi admota, Psal. cxxxviu. 8. Spiratio vite,

Imago Dei,

Constitutio super opera, Psal. vii. 6. Praeceptum Angelis de illo, Psa/. xci. 11.

Paradisus.

Cor. Vita. Notum Doi.

Renes. Sensus. Seriptum Legis. Ocuh. Ratio. Oracula Prophetarum. Aures. Spiritus.

Melodia Psalmorum.

Lingua. Liberum arbitrium. — Prudentia Proverbiorum.

Scripture echoes

  1. ↩Gen.1.28 — And God blessed them, and God said to them, 'Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.'
  2. ↩Gen.1.26 — Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth."
  3. ↩Ps.138.8 — The LORD will accomplish what concerns me. O LORD, your steadfast love endures forever; do not forsake the work of your hands.
  4. ↩Gen.2.7 — Then the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.
  5. ↩Gen.1.26-Gen.1.27 — Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." Gen.1.27 — So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.
  6. ↩Rom.1.19 — because what can be known about God is plain among them, for God made it plain to them.
  7. ↩Ps.7.10;Jer.11.20;Rev.2.23 — Let the evil of the wicked come to an end, and establish the righteous one — the One who tests hearts and kidneys, O righteous God. Jer.11.20 — But you, O LORD of Hosts, who judge righteously, who test the kidneys and the heart—let me see your vengeance upon them, for to you I have committed my cause. Rev.2.23 — And I will put her children to death, and all the churches will know that I am the one who searches minds and hearts, and I will give to each of you according to your works.

Notes

  1. 1 ↩Source has 'ad 4 indumentum'; the numeral '4' looks like OCR/print corruption and was not translated. Sense taken as alimentum / ad indumentum / adjumentum (food, clothing, help).
  2. 2 ↩Source 'terrz' read as terrae (of the earth / the earth).
  3. 3 ↩Latin 'Vers.' is a printed apparatus label (Versus/Versicle), not prose; rendered as the English liturgical cue 'Verse'.
  4. 4 ↩Bare number after 'Vers.' most likely points to a psalm/versicle reference (candidate Psalm 98 / Vulgate numbering), not narrative content.
  5. 5 ↩Source reading delberatio taken as deliberatio (deliberation); prahabita as praehabita, ‘held beforehand’ / prior.
  6. 6 ↩Source reads 'cxxxviu.'—almost certainly a corruption of Roman 'cxxxviii.' (138). Rendered as 138.
  7. 7 ↩Source 'vite' is classical/late-Latin orthography for 'vitae'.
  8. 8 ↩Constitutio can mean ordinance, statute, or appointment; rendered as 'ordinance' for a psalm-title style heading.
  9. 9 ↩Source 'Psa/.' treated as truncated/corrupt 'Psal.' (Psalm).
  10. 10 ↩Source reads 'Notum Doi.'; taken as the intended 'Notum Dei.' ('knowledge of God' / 'what is known of God'), fitting the surrounding single-term prayer headings.
  11. 11 ↩Latin renes can mean the physical kidneys or, in biblical anthropology, the inmost seat of desire and conscience (the traditional English ‘reins’). Rendered here as a terse anatomical/devotional heading parallel to neighboring Cor. / Heart.
  12. 12 ↩Source reads Seriptum Legis; most plausible intended form is Scriptum Legis (‘the writing/Scripture of the Law’).
  13. 13 ↩Source reads Ocuh; most plausible intended form is Oculi (‘eyes’), matching the body-faculty headings around it (Renes, Aures, etc.).
  14. 14 ↩Bare Spiritus could mean human spirit, spiritual life, or the Holy Spirit. As a terse heading parallel to body and faculty labels, rendered as ‘the spirit’; capitalize as Holy Spirit only if surrounding office context fixes that sense.

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