Here is the first prayer for the Mass of 23 December, the last full day of Advent before the Vigil of Christmas. It is also Ember Saturday and the Roman Station is St. Peter’s Basilica.
COLLECT:
Omnipotens sempiterne Deus,
nativitatem Filii tui secundum carnem
propinquare cernentes,
quaesumus, ut nobis indignis famulis tuis
misericordiam praestet Verbum,
quod ex Virgine Maria dignatum est caro fieri,
et habitare in nobis.
This is an ancient prayer from Rotulus 24 published with the Veronese Sacramentary.
LITERAL VERSION:
Almightly eternal God,
we beseech you as we are discerning that
the Nativity of Your Son according to the flesh approaches,
that the Word grant mercy to us Your unworthy servants
for He deigned to be made flesh from the Virgin Mary
and the dwell amongst us.
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NLC translation: Almighty, eternal God, now that the birthday of Your Son made man is drawing near, we plead in our unworthiness for His mercy. This we do in confidence, for He accepted human nature from the Virgin Mary and came to dwell among us.
I very nearly cried this morning when I saw how the ICEL translation
of the Mass propers for today massacred the stunning imagery of the
original Latin – particularly the Postcommunio. Sigh.
So I used the Latin instead (bwaa-haa-haah!)
I just saw this post after praying Lauds from the Liturgy of the Hours. All I can say is “wow…”