Lucis Dei ad eos cavendos necessitas. Diaboli versutia.
The Necessity of Divine Light
The soul prays for God's light to see and avoid the hidden snares of the devil, recognizing that without divine illumination the darkness of sin blinds and entraps.
And indeed, Lord, my light, open my eyes so that I may see the light, walk in your light, and not stumble into its snares.✦ For who will escape these many snares unless they see them? And who will see them unless you have illuminated them with your light? For the father of darkness has hidden his snares in his own darkness, so that all who are in their own darkness — who are sons of these darknesses, not seeing your light, in which whoever walks will not fear — may be caught in them.✦ For whoever walks in the day does not stumble, but whoever walks in the night stumbles, because there is no light in them (John).✦ XI, 9 and 10).1 You are the light, Lord; you are the light of the children of light; you are the day that knows no setting, in which your children walk without stumbling — and without which all who walk are in darkness, because they do not have you, the light of the world.✦✦✦ Look, every day we see that the farther someone drifts from you, the true light, the more they are wrapped in the darkness of sin; and the deeper they are in darkness, the less they see the snares along their path — and so they recognize them less, and for that reason they are caught more often and fall into them. And what is more horrible still: they do not even know they have fallen.2
The Enemy's Hatred and Our Need for Protection
The soul reflects on the devil's envy and relentless pursuit of God's children, and prays for divine protection and enlightenment against his attacks.
But whoever does not know he has fallen cares that much less about getting up, precisely because he still thinks he is standing. You, Lord my God, are the light of the mind—now illuminate my eyes, so that I may see and know, and not fall before the gaze of my adversaries. For our enemy labors for our destruction—the one we ask you to make melt away from our presence, just as wax melts before the face of fire (Psal. 67, 3). Because, Lord, he is the first and last thief, who formed a plan to seize your glory—when, puffed up and exalted, he burst and fell into his own pit; and you cast him out from your holy mountain, and from the midst of the burning stones in whose midst he had walked. And now, my life, my God, from the moment he fell he has never stopped pursuing your children. And out of hatred for you, O great king, he longs to destroy this creature of yours, which your almighty goodness created in your image—so that it might not possess the glory which he himself lost through his own pride. But crush him, our strong one, before us your lambs; and enlighten us so that we may see the snares he has set, and escape to you, O joy of Israel.
The Devil's Craft and Shape-Shifting Deceptions
The soul brings its complaint before God, describing the devil's inscrutable cunning and his ability to adapt his temptations to every circumstance and person.
And you, Lord, know all of this even better — you who know his stubborn resistance and his iron-hard neck. I do not say this to prove anything to you, who see all things and from whom no thought is hidden. But before the feet of your majesty I bring my complaint against my enemy, eternal Judge — so that you may both condemn him and save us, your children, whose strength you are. This enemy is crafty, Lord, and full of twists: the winding paths of his way cannot easily be tracked down, and the look on his face cannot be recognized — unless you shine your light. For now here, now there — now a lamb, now a wolf; now darkness, now light — he shows himself; but to each person, according to whatever qualities, places, and times, he displays various temptations suited to the changing circumstances. To deceive the sorrowful, he himself grows sad; to mock those who rejoice, he pretends that he too is rejoicing; to defraud the spiritual, he transforms himself into an angel of light; to crush the strong, he appears as a lamb; to devour the gentle, he appears as a wolf.✦ All these things are destined to come about in likeness to the various temptations — just as some are struck by a fear of the night, others by an arrow flying in broad daylight, others by a business stalking through the darkness, others by a sudden assault, others by a demon of midday —✦ Psalm 90, verses 5 and 6).✦
Hidden Snares and Final Prayer for Rescue
The soul marvels at the devil's most subtle disguises—even cloaking vice in the appearance of virtue—and ends with a prayer for God's rescue and praise.
And who is even fit to recognize these things? Who will uncover the outward look of his garments, and who has ever grasped the full circle of his teeth? Look: he has hidden his arrows in a quiver, and he has even hidden snares under the appearance of light, and this is harder to weigh rightly unless we take up the light from you, Lord, our hope, so that we may see. For he hides his subtle snares not only in the works of the flesh, which are easily recognized, and not only in the vices themselves, but even in the spiritual exercises themselves; and under the color of virtues he clothes the vices themselves, and transforms himself into an angel of light. These things, and many others, the son of Belial strives against us, that Satan, Lord our God. And now like a lion, now like a dragon, openly and in secret, within and without, by day and by night, he lies in wait to snatch away our souls. But you, rescue us, Lord, you who save those who hope in you, so that he himself may grieve over us, and you may be praised in us, Lord our God.
Read the original Latin
Et quidem, Domine lux mea, revela oculos meos, ut videam lumen, et ambulem in lumine tuo, et non impingam in laqueos ejus. Quis enim evadet laqueos istos multos, nisi videat eos? Et quis videbit, nisi quem tu illuminaveris lumine tuo? Ipse enim pater tenebrarum laqueos suos abscondit in tenebris suis, ut capiantur in eis omnes qui sunt in tenebris suis, qui sunt filii tenebrarum harum, non videntes lumen tuum, in quo qui ambulat, non timebit. Qui enim ambulat in die, non offendit: qui autem in nocte ambulat, offendit, quia lux non est in eo (Joan. XI, 9 et 10). Tu lux, Domine, tu lux filiorum lucis, tu dies qui nescis occasum, in quo ambulant filii tui sine offensione et sine quo omnes qui ambulant, in tenebris sunt, quia te lucem mundi non habent. Ecce quotidie cernimus, quia quo magis a te vero lumine quis elongatur, eo magis peccatorum involvitur tenebris; et quo magis est in tenebris, eo minus videt laqueos in via sua; et ideo minus cognoscit, et idcirco saepius capitur, et cadit in eis; et quod est horribilius, etiam se cecidisse ignorat.
Qui vero suum casum ignorat, eo minus curat surgere, quanto se existimat adhuc stare. Tu vero, lux mentis, Domine Deus meus, nunc illumina oculos meos, ut videam et cognoscam, ne corruam in conspectu adversariorum meorum. Etenim in exterminium nostrum laborat inimicus noster, quem petimus ut facias liquefieri a facie nostra, sicut cera liquescit a facie ignis (Psal. LXVII, 3). Quoniam, Domine, ipse est latro primus et ultimus, qui consilium fecit ut raperet gloriam tuam, quando inflatus et elatus crepuit et cecidit in foveam suam, et ejecisti eum de monte sancto tuo, et de medio lapidum ignitorum, in quorum medio ambulavit. Et nunc, vita mea, Deus meus, ex quo cecidit, non cessat persequi filios tuos. Et in odium tuum, o rex magne, cupit perdere hanc creaturam tuam, quam creavit omnipotens bonitas tua ad imaginem tuam; ut non possideat gloriam tuam, quam ipse perdidit per superbiam suam. Sed contere eum, fortis noster, ante nos agnos tuos: et illumina nos ut videamus laqueos quos ipse paravit, et evadamus ad te, laetitia Israel.
Et haec omnia tu, Domine, melius nosti, qui nosti contentionem ejus, et cervicem ejus durissimam. Nec hoc dico ut ostendam tibi, qui omnia vides, et nulla te latet cogitatio. Sed ante pedes tuae majestatis de inimico meo querimoniam facio, judex aeterne, ut et ipsum damnes, et nos filios tuos salves, quorum fortitudo tu es. Versutus est, Domine, iste hostis et tortuosus: nec facile deprehendi possunt circuitus viae ejus, nec cognosci species vultus ejus, nisi tu illumines. Nam nunc hic, nunc illic; nunc agnum, nunc lupum; nunc tenebras, nunc lucem se ostendit; sed singulis quibuslibet qualitatibus, locis et temporibus, secundum varias rerum mutationes, varias exhibet tentationes. Nam ut tristes decipiat, tristatur et ipse; ut gaudentes illudat, fingit se et ipse gaudere; ut spirituales defraudet, in angelum lucis se transfigurat; ut fortes comprimat, apparet ut agnus; ut mites devoret, apparet ut lupus. Haec quidem omnia secundum similitudinem variarum tentationum effici habent, sicut alios a timore nocturno, alios a sagitta volante in die, alios a negotio perambulante in tenebris, alios ab incursu, alios a daemonio meridiano (Psal. XC, 5 et 6).
Et ad haec quis idoneus ut cognoscat? Quis revelabit speciem indumenti ejus, et gyrum dentium ejus quis agnovit? En abscondit sagittas suas in pharetra, et laqueos etiam abscondit sub specie lucis, et hoc difficilius perpenditur, nisi a te, Domine spes nostra, lumen assumamus, ut videamus. Nam non solum in carnis operibus quae de facili agnoscuntur, non tantum in ipsis vitiis, sed in ipsis quoque spiritualibus exercitiis laqueos abscondit subtiles; et sub virtutum colore ipsa vitia induit, et transmutat se in angelum lucis. Haec et multa alia nititur contra nos filius Belial, iste Satan, Domine Deus noster. Et nunc ut leo, nunc ut draco, manifeste et occulte, intus et extra, die ac nocte insidiatur, ut rapiat animas nostras. Et tu eripe nos, Domine, qui salvas sperantes in te: ut ipse de nobis doleat, et tu lauderis in nobis, Domine Deus noster.
Scripture echoes
- ↩Ps.13.3;Ps.14.3 — How long shall I bear plans within my soul, sorrow in my heart all day? How long shall my enemy be exalted over me? Ps.14.3 — Everyone has turned aside; together they have become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one.
- ↩John.12.35 — Jesus said to them, "The light is among you for a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, so that darkness does not overtake you. The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going."
- ↩John.11.9-John.11.10 — Jesus answered, "Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world." John.11.10 — But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.
- ↩John.8.12 — Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, 'I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.'
- ↩1Thess.5.5 — For you are all sons of light and sons of day. We are not of the night nor of darkness.
- ↩Zech.14.7 — There will be one day — it will be known to the LORD — not day and not night; but at evening time there will be light.
- ↩2Cor.11.14 — And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.
- ↩Ps.90.5-Ps.90.6;Ps.92.5-Ps.92.6 — You sweep them away in sleep; by morning they are like grass that sprouts anew. Ps.90.6 — In the morning it flourishes and fades; by evening it withers and dries up. Ps.92.5 — For you have made me glad, LORD, by your deeds; at the works of your hands I sing for joy. Ps.92.6 — How great are your works, O LORD, how deep are your thoughts!
- ↩Ps.90.5-Ps.90.6 — You sweep them away in sleep; by morning they are like grass that sprouts anew. Ps.90.6 — In the morning it flourishes and fades; by evening it withers and dries up.
Notes
- 1 ↩Citation reference to John chapter 11, verses 9 and 10, completing the scriptural quotation begun in the previous sentence.
- 2 ↩The correlative construction 'quo magis... eo magis' (the more... the more) is rendered with 'the farther... the more' and 'the deeper... the less' to preserve the proportional logic in natural English.
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