Tuesday of the 1st Week of Advent
Here is the Collect for Tuesday of the 1st Week of Advent:
COLLECT:
Propitiare, Domine Deus, supplicationibus nostris,
et tribulantibus, quaesumus, tuae concede pietatis auxilium,
ut, de Filii tui venientis praesentia consolati,
nullis iam polluamur contagiis vetustatis.
This prayer has ancient origins in Rotulus 3 which is published in the edition of the Veronese Sacramentary by Mohlberg.
Remember that propitiare looks like an infinitive, but it is really a passive imperative of propitio. Another interesting point is that tribulo is transitive. So, tribulantes would refer to the things inflicting tribulation rather than those undergoing tribulation. We could probably fudge this a little, but I double checked tribulo even in Blaise/Dumas.
REALLY LITERAL VERSION:
Render our supplications favorable, O Lord God,
and, we entreat You, grant to our tribulations the aid of Your mercy,
so that, having been consoled from the presence of Your Son who is coming,
we may indeed be fouled by no contaminations of the sinful state of the old man.
That "tribulantibus tuae concede pietatis auxilium" is intriguing.
Notice that the priest does not ask God to remove the tribulations.
He prays God to put His mercy into the mix.
Pietas, when referring to God, his the impact of "mercy". Pietas for man is our "dutifulness", what we owe God in our relationship. But when pietas is applied to God, the sense of duty, that is, obligation, fades into mercy.
His mercy protects us as we are involved in the mucky details of this world.
Someone sent me what he says in the version from the proposed draft translation now being prepared:
Be moved by our pleading, Lord God, we pray,
and in our trials
grant us the help of your compassion,
that, consoled by the presence of your Son who is
coming,
we may be sullied no more
by the taint of former ways.
Well? What do you think?

































ssue Date: December 7, 2007