Saturday, May 31, 2008

The Αἴτησις - II

Yesterday I was just exhausted after work; it was all I could manage to come into presence of Our Lord ethroned upon the altar, and during the Holy Hour (and Low Mass following) finish off the Hours for the Feast of the Most Sacred Heart of our Jesus, He Who loves and saves us, and comes to us in the Sacrament and Sacrifice, that He may give us rest.


Today has been a lazy day; must still say Matins of the Queenship of Our Lady (I tend to allow myself the modern help of treating this as an Office of Readings, to be said pro opportunitate, as else its length tends to scare me off and takes away from my devotion to the Office, especially since I rarely have time to fit in Matins AND Lauds and Prime in the morning), and then her Vespers (I was surprised to find, consulting the Ordo, that one only commemorates the Sunday tonight). What is nice about this is that tonight's Compline will have its traditional Psalms - 4, 90, and 133 - which I far prefer to the variable weekday ones; if only the Roman Breviary had kept these invariable!

BTW, I think the Novus Ordo is much more sensible (!) in that it places the feast of the Queenship of Our Lady on the octave day of the Assumption, and moves the feast of her Immaculate Heart from that day to this, that is, to the Saturday following the feast of Our Lord's Sacred Heart on Friday.

But to return to my perusing of the Byzantine Liturgy: here is the Litany of Supplication (Αἴτησις), both in its original Greek, and in the Latin translation made long years past by Erasmus (slightly edited, to match the Greek):

Πληρώσωμεν τὴν [ἑωθινὴν / ἑσπερινὴν] δέησιν ἡμῶν τῷ Κυρίῳ.

Κύριε, ἐλέησον.

Ἀντιλαβοῦ, σῶσον, ἐλέησον καὶ διαφύλαξον ἡμᾶς ὁ Θεὸς τῇ Σῇ χάριτι.

Κύριε, ἐλέησον.

Τὴν ἡμέραν [or, ἑσπέραν] πᾶσαν τελείαν, ἁγίαν, εἰρηνικὴν καὶ ἀναμάρτητον παρὰ τοῦ Κυρίου αἰτησώμεθα.

Παράσχου, Κύριε.

Ἄγγελον εἰρήνης, πιστὸν ὁδηγόν, φύλακα τῶν ψυχῶν καὶ τῶν σωμάτων ἡμῶν παρὰ τοῦ Κυρίου αἰτησώμεθα.

Παράσχου, Κύριε.

Συγγώμην καὶ ἄφεσιν τῶν ἀμαρτιῶν καὶ τῶν πλημμελημάτων ἡμῶν παρὰ τοῦ Κυρίου αἰτησώμεθα.

Παράσχου, Κύριε.

Τὰ καλὰ καὶ συμφέροντα ταῖς ψυχαῖς ἡμῶν καὶ εἰρήνην τῷ κόσμῳ παρὰ τοῦ Κυρίου αἰτησώμεθα.

Παράσχου, Κύριε.

Τὸν ὑπόλοιτον χρόνον τῆς ζωῆς ἡμῶν ἐν εἰρήνῃ καὶ μετανοίᾳ ἐκτελέσαι παρὰ τοῦ Κυρίου αἰτησώμεθα.

Παράσχου, Κύριε.

Χριστιανὰ τὰ τέλη τῆς ζωῆς ἡμῶν, ἀνώδυνα, ἀνεπαίσχυντα, εἰρηνικὰ καὶ καλὴν ἀπολογίαν τὴν ἐπὶ τοῦ φοβεροῦ Βήματος τοῦ Χριστοῦ αἰτησώμεθα.

Παράσχου, Κύριε.

Τῆς Παναγίας, ἀχράντου, ὑπερευλογημένης, ἐνδόξου, Δεσποίνης ἡμῶν Θεοτόκου καὶ ἀειπαρθένου Μαρίας, μετὰ πάντων τῶν Ἁγίων μνημονεύσαντες, ἑαυτοὺς καὶ ἀλλήλους καὶ πᾶσαν τὴν ζωὴν ἡμῶν, Χριστῷ τῷ Θεῷ παραθώμεθα.

Σοί, Κύριε.

Ὅτι [ἀγαθὸς καὶ φιλάνθρωπος Θεὸς / Θεὸς ἐλέους, οἰκτιρμῶν, καὶ φιλανθρωπίας] ὑπάρχεις, καὶ σοὶ τὴν δόξαν ἀναπέμπομεν, τῷ Πατρὶ καὶ τῷ Υἱῷ καὶ τῷ Ἁγίῳ Πνεύματι, νῦν καὶ ἀεὶ καὶ εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων.

Ἀμήν.

******

Compleamus [matutinam / vesperam] precationem nostram Domino.

Domine, miserere.

Suscipe, serva, miserere et custodi nos, Deus, gratia tua.

Domine, miserere.

Diem [or, Vesperum] totum perfectum, [sanctum,] pacificum et sine peccato a Domino petamus.

Concede, Domine.

Angelum pacis, fidelem ducem, custodem animarum et corporum nostrorum a Domino petamus.

Concede, Domine.

Veniam et remissionem peccatorum et delictorum nostrorum a Domino petamus.

Concede, Domine.

Bona et animabus nostris competentia, [Bona et utilia animæ nostræ,…] et pacem mundo a Domino petamus.

Concede, Domine.

Residuum tempus vitæ nostræ in pace et pœnitentia transigere a Domino petamus.

Concede, Domine.

Christianum vitæ nostræ finem, sine dolore et dedecore, pacificam, et bonam ante terribile tribunal [Christi] defensionem petamus.

Concede, Domine.

Sanctissimæ, intemeratæ, super omnes benedictæ, Dominæ nostræ Deiparæ et semper virginis Mariæ cum omnibus sanctis memoriam agentes, nosmetipsos et mutuo, et totam vitam nostram Christo Deo consecremus.

Tibi, Domine.

Quia bonus et benignus Deus es, et tibi gloriam referimus, Patri, et Filio, et sancto Spiritui, nunc et semper, et in sæcula sæculorum.

Amen.

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