St. Paul Miki was the son of the Miki Handayu, a military leader. He joined the Jesuits in 1580 and was educated by them. He was successful a propgating the Faith. Even when the persecutions of Christians began, he continued his work. He was arrested. Miki and the those imprisoned with him were then marched 600 miles to their death. Along the way they were terribly abused. As they marched they they sang the Te Deum. He was crucified with his companions on 5 February 1597 at Nagasaki, Japan
COLLECT:
Deus, omnium fortitudo sanctorum,
qui beatos martyres Paulum eiusque socios
per crucem ad vitam vocare dignatus es,
praesta, quaesumus,
ut, eorum intercessione, fidem quam profitemur
usque ad mortem fortiter teneamus.
The is a connection, obviously, between fortitudo and fortiter. Fortitude is the cardinal virtue, contrary to sloth (acedia) which resists the fear that would deter a person from strenuous action under difficulties. It also checks the excesses of foolhardy audacity, and prevents, for example, someone from gratuitously courting martylrdom in a time of persecution.
LITERAL TRANSLATION:
O God, might of all the saints,
who deigned to call the blessed martyrs Paul and his companions
to Life through the Cross,
grant, we beg You, that, through their intercession,
we may mightily grasp all the way unto death the Faith which we profess.
May we all pray for the virtue of fortitude in these difficult times.
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LITERAL TRANSLATION:
O God, might of all the saints,
who deigned to call the blessed martyrs Paul and his companions
to Life through the Cross,
grant, we beg You, that, through their intercession,
we may mightily grasp all the way unto death the Faith which we profess.
This doesn’t sound at all like the opening prayer I heard at Mass this morning. Are you sure you got it from the Novus Ordo missal?
Yep, I got it straight from my Missal.
And this is my rendering of the same prayer:
O God, strength of all the saints,
who deigned to call the blessed martyrs Paul and his companions
to life through the Cross,
grant us, we beseech you, by their intercession,
strongly to hold fast to the faith we profess, even unto death.
P.S. Have you started work on tomorrow’s magnificent new collect for Saint Josephine Bakhita?
Well done and, no, I have not yet started on that. Now that I think of it, I don’t believe I have handy the Latin Collect for that great saint. Feel free to jump in or… in lieu of that, send me the Latin by e-mail! Thanks for participating!
February 7
The last line of this was difficult to translate with fidelity and elegance. At this point, I would submit this rendering of the text.
Saint Josephine Bakhita, Virgin
Collect
O God, who led Saint Josephine
from abject slavery
to the dignity of being your daughter and the bride of Christ,
give us, we beseech you, by her example,
to follow after Jesus the Crucified Lord with unremitting love
and, in charity, to persevere in a ready mercy.
Deus, qui beatam Iosephinam a servitute abiecta,
ad dignitatem filiae tuae et Christi sponsae adduxisti,
da nobis, quaesumus, eius exemplo,
Dominum Iesum crucifixum constanti dilectione prosequi
et in caritate ad misericordiam propensos perseverare.
For comparison, the Breviary translation for the UK and Ireland has:
Lord God,
source of strength to all the saints,
you called your martyrs Paul and his companions,
to undergo the cross that they might enter into life.
Let their prayers help us to keep the faith
to the end of our days