We continue our project of looking at the Post communions of Lent:
Saturday – 1st Week of Lent
There is something pretty outrageous to note about this day’s prayer. Read to the end.
This prayer is found in the ancient Gelasian Sacramentary on "Feria septima" of Lent, the 7th day of Lent. In the Veronese this prayer is found among the prayers for the admonition during September month to fast during the 10th month (October). Remember how the numbering of the months got screwed up in earlier centuries. It has an interesting spelling variation in the Veronese. Whereas the Gelasian had "fauore", nothing unusual there, the Veronese has "fabore". These variations show us something about how Latin was pronouced. The intervocalic v, u, b sounds are related, with differences of lip rounding and closing the lips to make the sounds. Try it! favore fauore fabore
This prayer was not in the pre-Conciliar Missale Romanum.
POST COMMUNIONEM
Perpetuo, Domine, favore prosequere,
quos reficis divino mysterio,
et, quos imbuisti caelestibus institutis,
salutaribus comitare solaciis.
Do not be fooled by prosequere, which is an imperative, not an infinitive. Prosequor is deponent and means "to follow" or "to accompany". It can also be "to follow up". The same goes for comitare, which is from the deponent comitor, "to join one’s self to any one as an attendant, to accompany, attend, follow". So, two verbs of accompanying, both deponent imperatives. An elegant hand wrote this. Note also the devision of salutaribus… solaciis with comitare.
SLAVISHLY LITERAL VERSION:
O Lord, with perpetual good will follow up on those
whom you are refreshing by means of the divine mystery,
and accompany with saving consolations
those whom you have imbued with heavenly things that were instituted.
I literally tripled-checked to make sure I had the right day, after I read what follows.
Lame-Duck ICEL Version (1973):
Lord,
may the word we share
be our guide to peace in your kingdom.
May the food we receive
assure us of your constant love.
Okay folks… can you do better than the Lame-Duck ICEL Version?
(And don’t try to take credit for your 7-year old’s work. I’ll know.)
