One of the reasons I started this site, was to force me to start translating the Officia Pietatis – a daunting task for many – even those well-versed in the language. For me, it has been the fear of scrutiny in such a public forum, showing my weaknesses with respect to the language itself.  Also, it seems overwhelming in the sense of the volume.  Yet, it’s not an especially long book.  I typed every last word of it a year ago without too much trouble.  It’s 261 pages long in large type, relative to the size of the page.

Starting is always the challenge for me – and sometimes finishing.

Thusly, as a modest beginning in translating the Officia Pietatis, I thought I would start with the first part of the prayer book – §. I. PRECES MATUTINÆ  or Morning Prayer and work my way forward, slowly but surely.

It starts off simple enough as follows:

Facto Signô S. Crucis dicatur:
Benedicta sit Sancta &
Individua Trinitas Pater, †
Filius, † & Spiritus †
Sanctus.

JESUS, MARIA,
JOSEPH,

Vobis do Cor cum Anima

mea.

Deinde

Pater. Ave. Credo.

My Translation is as follows:

In making the sign of the holy cross say:

Blessed be the Holy and Individual Trinity – the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Jesus, Mary, [and] Joseph – to thee I give my Heart with my Spirit.

Then [recite] the Our Father, Hail Mary, and the Apostle’s Creed.

“Sit” is the 3rd person singular present active subjunctive of the verb “to be“.  Yes, that’s a mouthful! The subjunctive then renders the first sentence as a wish or desired outcome – Blessed be – may/might the Holy and Individual persons of the Trinity – the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  And since as we make the sign of the cross, traditionally – we add in the name of…

The second part invokes another trinity of persons – Jesus, Mary and Joseph – to them [also] do I give – with my spirit, my heart.  How beautiful is that?

We then recite the Our Father, the Hail Mary, and the Apostle’s Creed – much as we do when we start reciting the Rosary.  I believe the Creed is important – to affirm our believe and what the Church Teaches.

Next, we expand upon what we have just prayed with praying the Acts of Faith, Hope, and Love – the three Theological Virtues.  Let’s start with the act of faith:

ACTUS FIDEI.

O Deus meus & Omnia! Pater, Fili, & Spiritus Sancte, coram Tua Divina Majestate humillimè prostrates totô corde credo firmissimè, quæ continentur in Symbolo Apostolorum, & Omnia, quæ dixisti, revelâsti, & mediante Ecclesiâ Catholicâ mihi credenda proposuisti, quia tua veracitas fallere non potest, & tua sapientia falli non valet. Tu dixisti; satis hoc mihi est præ omni ratione humana, ut etiam vitam meam, & sanguinem, in Testimonium Fidei meæ sacrificare paratus sim. Ecce partum cor meum, O mi Deus! Tu adjuva incredulitatem meam, nam Verbum tuum Domine manet in æternum.

As I mentioned in my Præfatio Generalis, many of the prayers in Officia Pietatis are unique or rare Latin renditions of a number of standard prayers we use today.  I have not seen this particular version of the Actus Fidei.  This is one of the many reasons I love this little prayer book.

Let’s take the prayer, line-by-line.

First Line:

O Deus meus & Omnia! Pater, Fili, & Spiritus Sancte, coram Tua Divina Majestate,

O God my & All! Father, Son & Spirit Holy, in the presence of Your Divine Majesty,

The above is a word-for-word translation… rearranging the words into a more natural order:

O my God and All! The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – in the presence of  Your Devine Majesty,

*Note that O my God and all is most likely:  Oh my God! My everything!… I missed this when first rendering in this passage in English.

Second Line:

humillimè prostrates totô corde credo firmissimè, quæ continentur in Symbolo Apostolorum,

Word for word,

I believe with [my] whole heart, firmly with humility, what is contained in the Creed of the Apostles

As before, rearranging the words:

Prostrating in humility with [my] whole heart – I firmly believe what is contained in the Apostle’s Creed,

Third line:

& Omnia, quæ dixisti, revelâsti, & mediante Ecclesiâ Catholicâ mihi credenda proposuisti, quia tua veracitas fallere non potest, & tua sapientia falli non valet.

Word for word,

And All/Everything, that you have said/spoke, revealed – and by the means of the Church Catholic to me [I] believe [what] you have proposed – that by your truthfulness [to] deceive not able – and [that] by your wisdom deceive not wish.

Rearranging,

And everything that you have said, revealed [to us]  – through the Catholic Church, I believe [what] you have proposed – You cannot deceive, because you are truth; and You wish not to deceive, because you are wisdom.

Now, how about a bit of interpretation and reflection… By the way, this is why I love these prayers in Latin. When I read the Latin, I absorb the sense of what is being transmitted… but then as I am not as fluent as these men who wrote these prayers, I have to reflect on them more – pray, if you will.

I take the sense of this particular passage in the context of an Act of Faith as:

I believe everything that you have said, as revealed through your Church – the Catholic Church.  It is impossible for me to believe otherwise – BECAUSE my Faith informs me that indeed, without doubt, that You are Truth & Wisdom in the most complete sense! 

I’ll do more line-by-line as time allows…. This was suggested by one of my friends – Michael.  As he is not familiar with Latin and was scrolling up and down with the way I had posted previously.

Now, the full translation:

Oh my God, My Everything! — the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit — in your Divine Majesty, [I am] humbly prostrated in your presence, I firmly believe with my whole heart, whatever is contained in the Apostles Creed, and everything that you have said,  [and] revealed – by the means of the Catholic Church – I believe [what] you have placed before me – because [by the means of] your truthfulness, you cannot deceive. And [by the means of] your wisdom, you wish not to deceive.  You have said, It is enough for me -before all reasonable beings – that I may be also prepared to sacrifice my life and blood, in Testimony to my Faith. Behold a part of my heart, Oh my God! [Please give] Thy assistance in my unbelief — for Your Word, Lord remains into eternity.

Now this is somewhat contorted, obviously… Latin doesn’t always render itself to clean translation – especially, literal translation.  I have added square brackets to denote what is implied.  This is my first attempt at an English translation of this version of the Act of Faith.

And, as I mentioned above and in other places –  it is this very process in my mind that led to creating this site.  Contemplating what the author of this prayer is really trying to convey, forces me to contemplate more deeply my faith in general and prayer, specifically.

A functional translation would clean things up quite a bit.  Perhaps, I’ll render one later this evening.  I’m going to take a break and post what I have written thus far.

Here is my functional translation:

Oh my God! My Everything! – the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  — In your Divine Majesty,  I humbly prostrate myself before you.

I firmly believe with my whole heart, all that is proclaimed in the Creed of the Apostles — everything you have said, revealed, and placed before me through your Church – the Catholic Church.

I believe without doubt, because You are the fullness of Truth & Wisdom — and thusly, are unable to deceive.  Before all rational beings, you have said it is enough that I am prepared to sacrifice my blood and life in witness to my Faith.  Here, behold I offer You a portion of my heart!

Oh my God!  Please give assistance in my doubt — For Your Word, Lord remains forever in eternity.

I am sure I could use some correction… and some polish.  But there it is…