Thursday, March 15, 2018

Slave mentality

Ultimate source unknown
"Who would not recognize that Christ's eating and sleeping, his sadness and his shedding of tears of love are marks of the nature of a slave?" (trans. Liturgy of the hours)

"Who does not see that his taking of food, his rest in 'sleep,' his anxiety in 'sorrow,' and his 'tears' of compassion made his 'form' that 'of a servant'?" (trans. Freeland & Conway, FC 93 (1996), 289)

"Quis perceptionem cibi, requietionem somni, sollicitudinem maestitudinis, lacrimas pietas, non uideat formae fuisse servilis?"

     St. Leo the Great, Sermo 66.4 =Sermo 15.4 De passione Domini.  SC 200 =CCSL 138A, p. 404 =PL 54, col. 367B.  Cf. Grelot on Jesus in the face of death.

Monday, March 12, 2018

"the source of distraction is attention itself"

          Marno, Death be not proud:  the art of holy attention (Chicago:  The University of Chicago Press, 2016), 138, on St. Augustine in the Confessions.

Sunday, March 11, 2018

These public spectacles of the ultimate remedy

Master of the Brussels Initials, 1389/1410 (Getty)
The[se] public exhibitions [(munera)] of the ever-during remedy, O Lord, we offer rejoicing, humbly entreating that you bring to perfection what [(eadem, referring back to munera)] we both faithfully worship and fittingly exhibit [(exhibere)] for the salvation of the world.

"Remedii sempiterni munera, Domine, laetantes offerimus, suppliciter exorantes, ut eadem nos et fideliter venerari, et pro salute mundi congruenter exhibere perficias."

     Prayer over the Offerings, Fourth Sunday of Lent, Roman missal.  The 2010 translation makes no attempt to render "ut . . . .perficias", or to incorporate the (in the light of “exhibere”) spectacularly gladiatorial sense of “munera” (Father Z misses this, too, but the gladiatorial shows were "gifts" (munera) of the magistrates to the people, a sort of municipal expectation, a form of public munificence).  It also butchers the parallel structure set up by the "et fideliter venerari . . . et . . . congruenter exhibere":
We place before you with joy these offerings, which bring eternal remedy, O Lord, praying that we may both faithfully revere them and present them to you, as is fitting, for the salvation of the world.
From the early 8th-century Gelasian sacramentary at least (Bruylants no. 68).  The pre-2010 excuse for a "translation"  was
Lord, we offer you these gifts which bring us peace and joy.  Increase our reverence by this eucharist, and bring salvation to the world.
In the Gelasian sacramentary this came out as
Remedii sempiterni munera, Domine, laetantes offerimus, suppliciter exorantes, ut eadem nos et digne venerari, et pro salvandis congruenter exhibere perficias.
I.e. "worthily" rather than "faithfully", and "for those who are to be saved" rather than "for the salvation of the world".