July 15, 2009

Secret for St. Bonaventure

The Secret from St. Bonaventure's Mass in the 1962 Missale Romano-Seraphicum is really striking:

Incruéntum Fílii tui sacrifícium offeréntes, te supplíciter exorámus, omnípotens Deus: ut, sicut passiónis eius iugis meditátio intelléctum sancti Bonaventúrae Pontíficis erudívit; ita mentes et corda nostra igne caritátis inflámmet. Per eúndem Dóminum.


I've been thinking this morning about how to make an artful translation, but I'm not yet satisfied with my ideas. If I come up with something later, I'll update the post. If anybody wants to beat me to it in the comments, feel free.

Update: Ok, I'm not happy with it, but here goes. Edits to follow (I hope.)

Offering to you the unbloody sacrifice of your Son, we humbly implore you, Almighty God: that prayerfully joined to the understanding of the passion brought forth by St. Bonaventure the bishop, our minds and hearts might also be inflamed with the fire of charity.


Improvements are welcome!
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4 comments:

  1. pennyante11:53 AM

    Fr. Charles, please don't leave us in limbo. My high school latin of 60 years ago is inadequate! :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. A Bit of the Blarney3:17 PM

    For what it's worth, the translation is beautiful and like pennyante my Latin is 45 years past! Thank you! Cathy

    ReplyDelete
  3. Timothy Johnson9:41 AM

    Fr. Charles, I'd like to suggest another possible working translation:

    As we offer to you the bloodless sacrifice of your Son, we humbly implore you, Almighty God that just as meditation on his perpetual passion instructed the intellect of Saint Bonaventure Bishop, may it also inflame our minds and hearts with the fire of love. Through the same Lord . . .

    ReplyDelete
  4. Brother Charles9:44 AM

    Excellent! I was hoping that someone who actually knows what he is doing would come through! (I wasn't sure how to make my way through the middle.)

    ReplyDelete

Faithful, or even just thoughtful criticisms are always welcome. Uninformed rudeness to other posters or to the Lord and His Church is not.

I also reserve the right to reject comments promoting things like private revelations and fringe points of view, if it seems to me like they are being presented in a misleading way.

If you raise a disagreement with something I say but I do not respond, please do not feel slighted or insulted, or imagine that this automatically means I disagree or agree with you. It's just that I don't find the comment box to be a constructive medium for certain forms of debate.