16 February 2010

This Ash Wednesday. . .declare war!

Fr. Z. (always a good read!) offers the indispensable service of translating the Latin prayers of the Church  into English.

Today, he offers us a translation of the Collect for the Ash Wednesday Mass from the '62 Missale Romanum:

COLLECT:
 
Concede nobis, Domine, praesidia militiae christianae
sanctis inchoare ieiuniis,
ut, contra spiritales nequitias pugnaturi,
continentiae muniamur auxiliis.

[. . .]

LITERAL TRANSLATION:
 
Grant us, O Lord, to commence the defenses of the Christian 
field campaign by means of holy fasts, so that, we who are about
to do battle against spiritual negligences,
may be fortified by the support of continence.

Martial imagery in prayer, long out of fashion in the post-VC2 Church, has its appeal for those of us who must do more than merely struggle with temptation.  

May today mark a declaration of war on the Arch-Terrorist.

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2 comments:

  1. This is the collect for the Novus Ordo Ash Wednesday Mass. It is in the 1962 missal as the prayer after the imposition of ashes.
    Charles Merrill

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  2. Ephesians 6:10-18 comes to mind........



    but honestly, I quit reading Fr Z a long time ago...back when I got pounced upon for refusing to put a tablecloth on my head.......

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