Orationes

Deus, qui nos in tantis periculis constitutos pro humana scis fragilitate non posse subsistere: da nobis salutem mentis et corporis; ut ea quae pro peccatis nostris patimur, te adiuvante vincamus.

"O God, who know that, amidst so many dangers, we are unable to stand firm on account of human weakness: grant us health of mind and body; that, with your help, we may overcome the things we suffer on account of our sins."

Remarks:
*This prayer displays that "negative view of the human condition" which the revisers were keen to eliminate from the Missal!
*Our condition is such that without God's help we simply cannot survive.
*Our sufferings are seen as the result of our actual sins.
*The prayer does not ask for victory over sin, but over the things which sin causes us to suffer. What things are in view? We note what we require to overcome these sufferings: health in mind and body. Presumably, then, the sufferings are both physical and mental.

Concede nobis, Domine Deus noster, ut te tota mente veneremur, et omnes homines rationabili diligamus affectu.

"Grant us, Lord our God, that we may venerate you with all our mind, and that we may love all men with a rational affection."

Remarks:
*This prayer responds to the twofold command to love God and neighbour.
*Note, however, that we ask for the grace to venerate God, not, in fact to love him. Our love finds concrete expression in our prayer and worship, in the respect we show him.
*There is an interesting balance between "tota mente" and "rationabili affectu". God gets our mind - all of it; men get our affection - but tempered by reason.
*Both petitions mention totality. We wish to approach God with all our mind; and we wish to love rationally all men. So whereas God gets our all, no one man gets our all, but rather all men get our tempered love.

Deus qui universum mundum beati Pauli Apostoli praedicatione docuisti; da nobis, quaesumus,
[old] ut qui eius hodie Conversionem colimus, per eius ad te exempla gradiamur.
[new] ut cuius conversionem hodie celebramus, per eius ad te exempla gradientes, tuae simus mundo testes veritatis.

"O God, who taught the whole world by the preaching of the Blessed Apostle Paul; grant us, we ask,
[old] that we who today revere his Conversion, may advance towards you by his example.
[new] that, advancing towards you by the example of him whose conversion we celebrate today, we may be witnesses of your truth to the world."

Remarks:
*The two versions of this prayer give us quite an insight into the process whereby the liturgy was "updated".
* The classsical oration is based on a simple contrast between the teaching of St Paul and the example of his life; we have received the former, may we imitate the latter. The bridge between the two is his Conversion, itself a moment of both intellectual and moral enlightenment. It is implied that the veneration of Paul's conversion will lead to our own.
* The revised prayer is overloaded by comparison.
* What God is asked to grant is now not that we should advance towards him, but that we should be his witnesses to the world. Advancing towards God is subordinated to witnessing to the world.
* The world thereby gets double attention; St Paul's preaching, and our witnessing to the truth. I can't help feeling that this takes from the force of the statement that God has already taught the whole world.
* Is the introduction of the notion of witness = martyr not out of place? We are commemorating the Conversion of St Paul, not his martyrdom. Surely the correct emphasis is on personal conversion, as in the classical oration?
* I find the "ut cuius...per eius" less elegant than "ut qui eius... per eius".

Omnipotens sempiterne Deus, infirmitatem nostram propitius respice: atque ad protegendum nos dexteram tuae maiestatis extende.

"Almighty, eternal God, look favourably on our weakness; and stretch out the right hand of your majesty to protect us."

Remarks:
*The contrast: we are weak, He is sovereign (maiestas).
*We need both his mercy/grace, and his protection.
*The extensio manus is the opposite of the breviatio manus (Is 50:2; 59:1)

Omnipotens sempiterne Deus, dirige actus nostros in beneplacito tuo, ut in nomine dilecti Filii tui mereamur bonis operibus abundare.

"Almighty, eternal God, direct our actions in your good pleasure, that in the name of your beloved Son we may merit to abound in good works."

Remarks
*Dirige...in beneplacito tuo may be taken either as "direct them so that they may be pleasing to you", or as "be pleased to direct them".
*There seems to be a reference to Matt 3:17: Hic est Filius meus dilectus in quo mihi complacui. As Jesus is the one in whom the Father is well pleased, we pray that in his name our actions also may be pleasing to God.
*Note the implicit theology of grace. We wish to abound in good works, but it is only if God directs our actions (prevenient grace) that we shall be worthy so to abound.

Omnipotens sempiterne Deus, qui caelestia simul et terrena moderaris, supplicationes populi tui clementer exaudi, et pacem tuam nostris concede temporibus.

"Almighty, eternal God, who govern the things both of heaven and of earth, in your goodness hear the prayers of your people, and grant your peace to our times."

Remarks:
*There is a pleasing parallel between heaven and peace, earth and time. May he who rules both heaven and earth give the peace of heaven in earthly time.

Deus, qui conspicis quia ex nostra pravitate affligimur: concede propitius; ut ex tua visitatione consolemur.

"O God, you see how we are cast down by our corruptness; mercifully grant that we may be consoled by your visitation."

Remarks:
* Does pravitas refer to actual sin, or simply to the fallen state? Probably it should be taken as both: the fallen state, in which we often fall.
* Affligimur is balanced by consolemur: a free translation might be "we are depressed".
* The sense: alone we are wretched, with God we find consolation.

Vota, quaesumus, Domine, supplicantis populi caelesti pietate prosequere;
ut et quae agenda sunt videant,
et ad implenda quae viderint convalescant.

"O Lord, we ask you to receive the prayers of your suppliant people with heavenly kindness;
that they may both see the things that are to be done
and have the strength to carry out what they have seen."

Remarks:
* For the construction with prosequor, see Lewis and Short s.v. II. A. A truly literal translation would run: "bestow heavenly piety on the prayers".
* Pietas is notoriously difficult to translate. Suggestions?
* The sense of the oration would seem to be: "Our prayer is already to know your will and to do it. But now, Lord, receive our prayer with kindness, so that we may indeed gain the insight we desire, and the strength to carry it out." Heavenly grace must come to the aid of human nature.

I have long admired the beauty of the Latin oration, especially the collect. In this blog I hope to record such prayers, in Latin and in a fairly literal English translation, with some remarks. I should be grateful for any comments which visitors might make. The orations will be taken from the Missals of both Bld Pope John XXIII and Paul VI, with cross-references.