WDTPRS – Thursday after Ash Wednesday – God crowns His own merits in us
Novus OrdoThursday after Ash Wednesday — Mar 2, 2028
Actiones nostras, quaesumus, Domine, aspirando praeveni et adiuvando prosequere, ut cuncta nostra operatio a te semper incipiat, et per te coepta finiatur.We beg You, O Lord, by instilling them anticipate our actions, and by helping follow up on them, so that our every service always begins from You, and what was begun is brought to conclusion through You. This subtle prayer cuts two ways. The words actio and operatio, conceptually related “doing” connected to the verbs ago and operor, both have a connotation of sacred liturgical service. At the same time, they can simply point to our own daily undertakings. These layers of meaning overlap and show us how there must be a continuity between how we participate at Holy Mass and how we act outside of the sacred precincts of the church or chapel we frequent. The highest form of…
Where does today’s Collect come from? It is present in the Hadrianum and Paduense manuscripts of the so-called “Gregorian Sacramentary“. “But Father! But Father!”, I am sure you say all the time. “What on earth is that?”. The Roman usage over a couple centuries had an influence on Gallican (French) practice. This blending of rites was superseded when the Emperor…