Once upon a time in Velletri, the main city of of the Suburbicarian Diocese of Velletri-Segni, at the Church of St. Anthony the Abbot, I did on this day stand outside the homonymous church in cassock, surplice, stole and biretta blessing pigs and horses.
I found a photo page of this event in Velletri.
The photos are not of the year I did this, but they are from Velletri, depicting the same event in another year.
COLLECT:
Deus, qui beato Antonio abbati
tribuisti mira tibi in deserto conversatione servire,
eius nobis interventione concede,
ut, abnegantes nosmetipsos,
te iugiter super omnia diligamus
Anyone want to take a crack at this?
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O God, who allowed Blessed Anthony the Abbot to serve You with a marvelous life in the desert, grant by his intercession that, denying ourselves, we may constantly love You above all things.
The phrase “mira conversatione” is not easy to translate accuratly. A “conversatio” can be a way of life, but it can also refer to intimacy between persons, making the phrase “in deserto conversatione” particularly ironic. I can’t think of any English word that can capture both senses.
O God, who allowed Blessed Anthony the Abbot to serve You with a marvelous life in the desert, grant by his intercession that, denying ourselves, we may constantly love You above all things.
The phrase “mira conversatione” is not easy to translate accuratly. A “conversatio” can be a way of life, but it can also refer to intimacy between persons, making the phrase “in deserto conversatione” particularly ironic. I can’t think of any English word that can capture both senses.
God, who granted Blessed Anthony the Abbot to (serve)perform(?) miracles in the desert for the conversion (of sinners?), grant to us by his intercession, by denying our very selves, that we may love you above all things all our days (continously).
I placed the literal in parantheses. That abnegantes part is very hard to capture in English.
This is my stab at it:
God, who gave to Blessed Anthony the Abbot
to serve You in the desert with a wonderful monastic way of life,
grant now to us, by his intercession,
that we, denying ourselves,
may always love you above everything.
I think that “conversatione” can refer to a monastic lifestyle.
Second attempt:
God, Who assigned to Blessed Abbot Anthony
to serve You with a wonderful monastic way of life in the desert,
grant now to us, by his intercession,
that we, denying ourselves,
may continuously love you above all things.
Here’s my crack at the translation:
O God, who you hast in awe bestowed through blessed Anthony the abbot for thee to serve a life in the desert, submit him for our intercession, that (in) denying ourselves, we may love you continuously above all things.
And if you all will pardon and allow me an indulgence to express what I teased out in my reading of the Latin: I see the strong current of Anthony\’s wondrously exemplary life in the desert – a life of near-complete denial. For a desert has scarce resources which, should we chose to enter, force us to abandon the comfortable excesses of the world at large with its many sinful trappings.
Should we not be in awe of his example? How many of us are willing to lead a life void of the material excesses of this world – i.e. live in a desert metaphorically speaking?
Mark
Here’s my stab at it:
O God, Who granted the blessed abbot Anthony to serve You by an amazing way of life in the desert, grant to us through his intervention, that, denying ourselves, we may constantly love You above all things.
I would say that the literal meaning of “conversatio” here is way of life, most especially as a life of conversion to God. Whenever I see this word it reminds me of the Benedictine vow of “conversatione” which has the same sense. It is indeed a difficult word to translate because it is so full of meaning.
I also noticed the word at the end is from “diligere” rather than a form of “amare.” If I’m correct, the word “diligere” usually connotes a more noble love (to the point of sacrificing oneself) than the more base or worldly connotations of “amare.”
“Mira” is also a bit difficult to translate. It’s just hard finding a word that reflects it’s meaning of amazing, miraculous, wonderful, etc., but it does describe Saint Anthony’s amazing life of austerity and prayer quite well.
Almighty God, who granted Blessed Abbot Anthony
through a remarkable exchange, to serve you in the desert
concede through his intervention,
that, denying ourselves,
we may always love you above all things.
O God, who hast granted to Blessed Anthony the Abbot to serve Thee in wonderful (strictness) in the desert, by his intercession grant to us that we, denying ourselves, may ever above all things love Thee.
Yeah, it’s hard to find a good word for “conversatione.”
O God, who granted to Blessed Antony the abbot the grace of serving You through a wonderful life lived in the solitude of the desert; grant that, through his intercession, we also may live a life of self-denial and always love You above all things.
O God, who allotted the blessed abbot Anthony
to serve you by a wonderful way of life in the desert;
grant to us by his assistance,
that, denying ourselves,
we may continually love you above all things.