The 1962MR places today’s Collect at the 3rd Sunday after Pentecost though it is a little different from the newer version, to wit: sic transeamus per bona temporalia, ut non amittamus aeterna.
Historically the prayer has roots in the ancient “Leonine” or better the Veronese Sacramentary used during the month of July in which we find: sic bonis praetereuntibus nunc utimur, ut iam possimus inherere perpetuis.
This historical digging shows us WDTPRSers that the Novus Ordo version returned to a more ancient form of the prayer.
That inherere for the more regular inhaerere shows how the ae was pronounced when the manuscript was made. The eminent paleographer E.A. Lowe dated the earliest manuscript of the Veronese to the first quarter of the 7th century.
COLLECT – (2002MR):
Protector in te sperantium, Deus,
sine quo nihil est validum, nihil sanctum,
multiplica super nos misericordiam tuam,
ut, te rectore, te duce,
sic bonis transeuntibus nunc utamur,
ut iam possimus inhaerere mansuris.
There is a very pleasant humming “m” alliteration in lines 2-3. A nice pair of pairs present themselves: nihil validum, nihil sanctum and some exemplary ablative absolutes te rectore, te duce.
Protector is from protego fundamentally meaning “to cover before, or in front, cover over” and obviously also “to shield from danger” as well as things like “put a protecting roof over”. A protector is also “one of the lifeguard or body – guard”.
Last week we heard in last week’s Collect “vigili custodia … vigilant restraint/guarding.” Both words refer to protection.
Remember how with last week’s Collect the priest prayed to God: clementer gratiae tuae super eos dona multiplica, (indulgently multiply upon/over them the gifts of Your grace) while this week we ask multiplica super nos misericordiam tuam. In this and last week’s prayer we have the image of a people asking to cover them over abundantly, last week with the theological virtues, this week with mercy. God is our shield. In His mercy He guards us from the attacks we face as soldiers in the Church Militant.
Validus, a, um (from the verb valeo) is “strong, stout, able, powerful, robust, vigorous” and also “well in body, in good health, sound, healthy”. “Vale!” is one Latin way to say “Farewell!”
The verb inhaereo means “to stick in, to stick, hang, or cleave to, to adhere to, inhere in”. Inhaereo is construed with either dative or ablative and it is very hard to know which case is mansuris, the future participle from maneo, “to remain, last, endure, continue”. Without going into details, St. Augustine (+430) used a similar combination of words, but to different effect, in a sermon about the love of God and love of the world (s. 344.2 in PL 39:1512).
ICEL (1973 translation of the 1970MR):
God our Father and protector,
without you nothing is holy,
nothing has value.
Guide us to everlasting life
by helping us to use wisely
the blessings you have given to the world.
Last week I referred to the Association For English Worship’s volume The Prayers of the Roman Missal comparing two different English versions, ICEL and their own. For your enjoyment and opportune knowledge here is the AEW version of today’s Collect: “O God, the protector of all who trust in you, without whom nothing is strong, nothing is holy, in your abundant mercy so guide and govern us that in using the good things of this passing world we may yet hold fast to things eternal.”
LITERAL TRANSLATION:
O God, protector of those believing in you,
without whom nothing is efficacious, nothing holy,
multiply your mercy upon us,
so that, you being our helmsman, our commander,
we may so make use of things that pass away
as to be able to cleave to those that will endure.
We can also render rector and dux as “guide” and “leader” but I think in our times we need a bolder tone.
We are members of the Church Militant and we must never forget it. We must not permit ourselves complacency. We must not be softened into spiritual acedia by the coos and lullabies of those who deny the existence of evil and the devil and personal sin.
Some people today think that any “evil”, if it is really evil after all and not merely a difference of perspective, can be reduced to mere social ills stemming from a societal lack of tolerance and diversity.
This is a deception of the enemy of the soul, the devil.
In reality, our personal sins are the foundation of every societal ill. When people do not believe in the devil and in sin, then the enemy has already won. Our enemy Satan and his fallen angels desire our everlasting damnation and agony with them in hell. This world has a fell prince, a spiritual being, a mighty fallen angel (cf. John 14:30).
Jesus is our King, our great Captain in our battle against all that is wicked in this world. Christ Jesus has broken hell’s power over us, but for a time we are still in this world and the devil dominates it – but only to the extent that omnipotent God permits in His providence. We are living in a state of “already, but not yet.”
As soldiers traveling through enemy territory we need strong shields, a sure leader to set our feet on the right path out of the danger zone, a sturdy roof over us when we rest, some way to identify what is holy and what is deception. Without God nothing is worthwhile or holy. He must pour out and multiply upon us all that we need simply in order to live.
Today we are asking for a protection, sin-Teflon, so that the passing things of this world can’t stick to us, distract us, and hold us back from heaven. May God give us demon-Kevlar, so that the enemy cannot penetrate our minds and hearts with the darts of temptation and the provocations of doubts. Instead we want God to make us sticky only for the things that endure forever and not the things that are under control of this world’s prince, who is a liar and a murderer from the beginning (cf. John 8:44).
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Wise words Fatheer. Just the thing to start the day. It’s 6.53 here, as I type. What gets me, about myself that is, is that I know and believe in my heart all that you write about the world’s ways belonging to the devil and I do have moments of feeling close to God and Our Lady and only wanting their will and intention for mankind. But! There are times when the world srill seems attractive and sin lures me with it’s temptations to turn some defective character trait into an action, be it anger based or in my case to pick up a drink ( which I shouldn’t). I don’t seem to reach a point where I’m cured and can move on to the next thing. Still, it stops me getting carried away with myself, I suppose. Golly! I just had a terriblw thought. Maybe if I was an instant success at being holy and set apart for God’s purposes alone, I would have got very proud of that, and have an even bigger sin to deal with!! But one that looks better on the outside, than the sins I do struggle with. Oh no! It is even now, partly pride making me upset about my own failings, I have just discovered that whilst typing this comment.
Oh well, God knows what to do with me, I hope it doesn’t hurt too much, as I’m a coward as well. Let’s be honest, it’s not looking too good, just at the minute. Put me down fo a double coat of teflon please.
I like it when you give a translation of the latin Father, it’s very interesting learning these words.
PS. What’s teflon, in Latin, I mean?
Teflon.
I need a big dosage of teflon; epecially in these troubling times.
“Some people today think that any “evil”, if it is really evil after all and not merely a difference of perspective, can be reduced to mere social ills stemming from a societal lack of tolerance and diversity. “
“Tolerance” is being thrown around a lot these days. And the word has taken on a different meaning from what it used to be. (Another proof that languages change over a period of time). Obviously it is derived from the Latin “tolerantia” which means the ability to bear some difficulty, some physical or moral evil, that cannot be avoided. But in current usage “tolerance” has acquired the sense of “open mindedness”, or the ability to accept cultural and even moral differences. The ideal for those who subscribe to this sort of “tolerance” is to become morally blind, and thus, according to them, to fulfill the precept of “do not judge”. An amazing inversion of common sense!
Thank you, Father, I needed this. Have a blessed Sunday.
Thanks, Father. I needed this, too. These translations and your comments do me immense good. I’m sorry I don’t tell you in the comments. I remember once you commented that you think about changing the name of the blog since it seems to have taken such a different direction from your original purpose. You said that people don’t comment much on your translations, that the comments are more on the other things. Maybe people are just like me and don’t feel qualified to add to what you’ve said. We still profit from it though. I just don’t comment often because I rarely get a moment to myself to compose an intelligent one, plus I don’t have much to add to the conversation. But I certainly appreciate what you and your commenters have to say. I learn so much and derive the courage and grace to persevere.
The Monastic Diurnal has a similar translation:
O God, the protector of all who trust in Thee;
without Whom nothing is strong, nothing is holy,
multiply Thy mercies upon us,
that having Thee for our ruler and guide,
we may so pass through things temporal
as never to lose those which are eternal.
Per Dominum nostrum.
It loses some of its Augustinian references to the proper ordering of use/enjoyment, but its scores better than the ICEL translation.
I said my Office of Readings from the LoTH today, on a lark. I think I’ll be sticking to Matins.
Thus the 1662 BCP:
O GOD, the protector of all that trust in thee, without whom nothing is strong, nothing is holy; Increase and multiply upon us thy mercy; that, thou being our ruler and guide, we may so pass through things temporal, that we finally lose not the things eternal: Grant this, O heavenly Father, for Jesus Christ’s sake our Lord. Amen.
I second Cathy’s observation. We need these explanations and ‘openings of the word’ . . . even if we don’t feel qualified to comment on them.
At the risk of being silly, “Captain and Commander” would keep something of the alliteration of the Latin. “Master and Commander” is of course right out, given more recent developments . . . . :-D
“What’s teflon, in Latin, I mean?”
When I lived in Hawaii, Japanese tourism was really taking off. There was some discussion as to the best way to let the tourists know in a way that they understood that a tsunami was coming and they needed to seek high ground.
Then people remembered the provenance of the word “tsunami”.
“teflon” sounds kind of Greek. Maybe it’s just the ending.
I love the image of omniscience and power conjured by the phrase “helmsman and commander” here that is so ingeniously followed up with the tender image of God in today’s collect (9th Sunday after Pent.) & that ultra-lovely passage you provided for it by Augustine. God is so endlessly fascinating and wonder-full! Master and Commander of time, dimensions, elements, worlds, ships, violins, relationships–all!
I also second Cathy’s entry above; silence in the combox on these type of entries (like congregational silence during the EF) does not necessarily denote a lack of appreciation, activity, or participation! What you say here often acts as a quiet compass for me, too! Whether you know it or not from your “feedback,” you are laying up quite an inheritance in heaven, Father–even as readers like me check into your blog in the rapids of our lives.
Stay the course.
AnAmericanMother – polytetrafluorethylene doesn’t sound all that friendly and marketable, so the original owner named it Teflon. Since at least the te- part was Greek, and a Greek ending like -on sounds nice and scientific (and it was invented in 1938, when Chemistry wasn’t so potentially controversial), I’d bet it sounds Greek on purpose.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polytetrafluoroethylene
Father – I agree with Cathy and q7swallows.
‘course now you’ve got me thinking of the Mass as a platoon or company-sized element taking an objective…
S. Murphy,
Thanks for the info!
“Onward Christian Soldiers” or “Soldiers of Christ, Arise!” or “Rejoice Ye Pure In Heart” . . . sounds like a battalion to me! :-D
The inclusion of “duce” or “dux” and its translation as “leader” always reminds me of Mussolini, who was not a good leader for the Catholics of Italy. God should be our Duce or Dux, not man. (Our term “Duke” comes from this word as well.)
Inhaereo is construed with either dative or ablative and it is very hard to know which case is mansuris, the future participle from maneo, “to remain, last, endure, continue”.
Hmm. So, how does one proceed?