What Does The Prayer Really Say?
W D T P R S

 

COLLECT:
Praesta, quaesumus, omnipotens Deus,
ut nullis nos permittas perturbationibus concuti,
quos in apostolicae confessionis petra solidasti.

There is nothing especially difficult about the grammar and vocabulary of this prayer, though it is theologically profound.  NB: the solidasti is really solidavisti, a "syncopated" form.

SUPER OBLATA:
Ecclesiae tuae, quaesumus, Domine,
preces et hostias benignus admitte,
ut, beato Petro pastore,
ad aeternam perveniat hereditatem,
quo docente fidei tenet integritatem.

This is a good deal harder than the Collect.   From the point of view of vocabulary, trying to get the right sense of admitto helps to establish the "mood" of the prayer.  Admitto carries the weight of "suffering" or "allowing" something to enter into one’s presence.  "Admit" is more eloquent than just "receive".  Admitto immediately lends a sense of God’s highness and our needy lowliness, waiting upon God’s good pleasure.  Grammatically, you have to get that quo docente right, or nothing else works.  I think the trick here is to avoid taking quo docente as an ablative absolute (which is what beato Petro pastore clearly is) and instead see it as an ablative of "agent".

LITERAL TRANSLATION:
O Lord, we beseech Thee,
kindly suffer to receive the prayers and sacrificial offerings of Thy Church,
so that, blessed Peter being Her shepherd,
and, by whom as he is teaching holds fast to the integritry of the Faith,
She may attain to the eternal inheritance.

POST COMMUNION:
Deus, qui nos,
beati Petri apostoli festivitatem celebrantes,
Christi Corporis et Sanguinis communione vegetasti,
praesta, quaesumus,
ut hoc redemptionis commercium
sit sacramentum nobis unitatis et pacis.

Commercium is a loaded word.  It means "exchange".  It has a theological, not a mercantile sense, of course.  Bread and wine were chosen by God, from all gifts He gave us, to be transformed into His Body and Blood. 

LITERAL TRANSLATION:
O God, who with the Communion of the Body and Blood of Christ,
has nourished us celebrating the feast of the blessed Apostle Peter,
grant, we beseech Thee,
that this sacred exchange of redemption
be for us a sacramental sign of unity and peace.

We chose from among those gifts of bread and wine, those concrete gifts which we offered at this particular Mass.  They were a symbol of something from to be offered ourselves, to be returned to the one who gave them.  God accepted them, and transformed them through His Spirit into the Body and Blood of Christ.  Then gave them back to us, so that we, through them might be transformed more and more into what they are.  This is an amazing interchange of gifts, God always having logical prioroty over the giving and the given.  Thus, in the process, we are united to God and each other in a marvelous sacred "exchange". 

"Do not wish to be slaves of powerful people!"*
Bp. Zen at Victoria Park, Hong Kong, 1 July 2003

I am delighted that the great Bishop Joseph Ze-kiun Zen (陳日君主教) bishop of Hong Kong and a great fighter for human rights has been named Cardinal by His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI during His Holiness’ General Audience just a few minutes ago.  I am thrilled.

I have been concerned that the Bishop of Hong Kong might be passed over because of a new version of Ostpolitik regarding the People’s Republic of China.   He was thought o have been made a Cardinal in pectore (secret Cardinal) by the late Pope John Paul II, but the Pope died before he could be revealed as such.  So, he has had to wait.

Be sure to pray for Bishop Zen.

When he became Bishop of Hong Kong in 2002, he voiced opposition to the imposition on Hong Kong, in violation of the concord, of the "anti-subversion laws" which are in Article 23 "Basic Law". These laws would ahve for sure lead to violations of basic civil rights of the people of Hong Kong, interferring with freedom of the press and expression, even reading and research.  Article 23 would have undercut the role of the Church in Hong Kong, which is very strongly represented there through hospitals and especially schools. 

On 1 July 2003 Bp. Zen lead a prayer gathering at Victoria Park before a huge protest march began.  On 3 June 2004, he held a pray service called "Democratize China".  Bp. Zen was part of a faction who wanted direct election of Hong Kong’s chief executive.  He was strongly criticized by the Finance Minister of the PCR in the press. On 1 July 2004, many Catholics joined thousands of other citizens in an anti-government march, certainly the largest peaceful protest since Tiananmen Square.  

*唔好甘心做強權者嘅奴隸 !

 

Early in the morning on the Feast of the Cathedra of St. Peter, 2006.

Additional comment. My friend Fabrizio reminds me of the Carmen Saeculare of Q. Horatius Flacus – Horace, one of my favorites:

 

Alme Sol, curru nitido diem qui
promis et celas aliusque et idem
nasceris, possis nihil urbe Roma
visere maius.

This is a wonderful and timely citation! Thanks, Fabrizio!