"Give us, O Lord, a steadfast heart, which no unworthy thought can drag downwards; an unconquered heart, which no tribulation can wear out; an upright heart, which no unworthy purpose may tempt aside. Bestow upon us also, O Lord our God, understanding to know thee, diligence to seek thee, wisdom to find thee, and a faithfulness that may finally embrace thee; through Jesus Christ our Lord."
Cf. the "Concede michi":
"Concede michi misericors Deus que tibi placita sunt ardenter concupiscere, prudenter inuestigare, ueraciter agnoscere et perfecte implere. Ad laudem et gloriam nominis tui ordina statum meum, et quod a me requiris tribue ut sciam, et da exequi ut oportet et expedit anime mee. Via mea, Domine, ad te tuta sit, recta et consummata, non deficiens inter prospera et aduersa, ut in prosperis tibi gratiam referam et in aduersis seruem patientiam, ut in illis non extollar et in istis non deprimar; de nullo gaudeam nisi quod promoueat me apud te, nec de aliquo doleam nisi quod abducat me a te; nulli placere appetam uel displicere timeam nisi te. Vilescant michi omnia transitoria propter te, et cara sint michi omnia tua et tu Deus super quam omnia. Tedeat me omnis gaudii quod est sine te, nec cupiam aliquid quod est extra te. Delecte me labor qui est pro te, et tediosa sit michi omnis quies que non est in te. Frequenter da me cor meum ad te dirigere, et defectionem meam cum emendationis proposito dolendo pensare. Fac me, Deus meus, humilem sine fictione, ylarem sine dissolutione, tristem sine deiectione, maturum sine grauiture, agilem sine leuitate, ueracem sine duplicitate, te timentem sine desperatione, sperentem sine presumptione, proximum corrigere sine simulatione, ipsum edificare uerbo et exemplo sine elatione, obedientem sine contradictione, patientem sine murmuratione. Da michi, dulcissime Deus, cor peruigil quod nulla abducat a te curiosa cogitatio; da nobile quod nulla deorsum trahat indigna affectio; da inuictum quod nulla fatiget tribulatio; et da liberum quod nulla sibi uendicet uiolenta temptatio; et da rectum quod nulla obliquet sinistra intentio. Largire michi, Domine Deus meus, intellectum te cognoscentem, diligentiam te querentem, sapientiam te inuenientem, conuersationem tibi placentem, perseuerantiam te fideliter expectantem, et fiduciam te finaliter amplectentem; tuis penis configi per penitentiam, tuis beneficiis uti in uia per gratiam, et tuis gaudiis in patria frui per gloriam. Amen."
Ystoria sancti Thome de Aquino de Guillaume de Tocco (13230: édition critique, introduction et notes, ed. Claire le Brun-Gouanvic, Studies and texts 127 (Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, 1996), 156 (chap. 29 of the Ystoria).
Though this is a "prex authenticitate dubia" (prayer of dubious authenticity) listed by Corpus Thomisticum among the "OPERA DUBIA AUTHENTICITATE" (works of dubious authenticity), Le Brun-Gouanvic (from whose edition of the Ystoria Corpus Thomisticum derives its text) is convinced that the textual tradition behind the two 15th-century manuscripts of the Ystoria in which it is found (Kiel, Universitätsbibliothek, Bord. 27, ff. 1r-65r; and Krakow, Biblioteka Jagiellonska, 5092, ff. 1ra-45vb) goes right back to William of Tocco himself, who added the "Concede michi" to chap. 29 of the fourth and final edition of his Ystoria in the months leading up to the canonization of Aquinas on 18 July 1323 (74-75, as preceded from p. 72 by the comments on δ; in her French translation, le Brun-Gouanvic says simply, "Cette dernière partie a été ajoutée dans la quatrième rédaction" (L'histoire de saint Thomas d'Aquin de Guillaume de Tocco: Traduction française du dernier état du texte (1323), Sagesses chrétiennes (Paris: Les Éditions du Cerf, 2005), 78n2)). Is the heading here ("Prayer composed by the blessed Thomas, which he recited every day") hers or William of Tocco's? It is William of Tocco's. Also from Willlam of Tocco is the run up: "Our devout and pious doctor composed [(composuit)], it is said [(dicitur)], the prayer that follows, [a] prayer rich in content, full of devotion, and in an elegant style, which he prayed every day:" Le Brun-Gouanvic is, needless to say, an important authority on the Life by William of Tocco. For a starter-bibliography on the prayers, go here.
Translations are readily available on the Internet if searched by "Concede mihi". See, for example, this one, which appears to follow the Latin fairly closely.
For a fresh translation and recent discussion of the "Concede michi" (considered as one of the four Piae preces and probably—in the light of the work of Le Brun-Gouanvic—authentic, if happily indebted to an epistle from Master of the Order of Preachers Humbert of Romans), see Paul Murray, O.P., Aquinas at prayer: the Bible, mysticism and poetry (London: Bloomsbury, 2013), pp. 39 ff. (before that point, too).
For an early translation into English, see pp. 287-288 of vol. 3 of Maskell's Monumenta ritualia ecclesiae Anglicanae.
Thursday, August 14, 2014
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