While compiling (and editing and re-editing) my Rosary for Anglo-Catholic Use, it dawned
on me that the prayers usually accompanying it, whether said in a Roman setting
or an Anglican setting, were in “church”
language. You know what I mean: “thee”,
“thou”, “doest”, “beseech”, “hallowed”, “art”, “thy”, “thine”, etc.; what folks
call Elizabethan or King James English, just like Shakespeare’s plays and the
“Authorized Version” of the Bible. Roughly
equal to mouthing ecclesiastical Latin during an old style Mass and not really
feeling what is said in such a foreign sound, no matter how beautiful to the
ears.
At around the same time, looking through the histories of
some of these prayers, I discovered that many of the better known English
language texts were based on translations which left something to be desired. That, and the fact that there were older,
simpler versions of the prayers in early, sometimes obscure manuscripts.
The best way to go about this is, for each prayer in turn,
to give the familiar, churchy-language version first, then my revision,
followed by an explanation of the changes.
Fourth up is the
Prayer of Saint Francis.
Peace Prayer
Better known as the “Prayer of Saint Francis”, this prayer
first appeared in magazine in Paris in 1912, probably written by the priest who
was its publisher. The most often seen
translation into English goes:
Lord, make me an
instrument of Your peace; Where
there is hatred, let me sow love; Where
there is injury, pardon; Where
there is discord, harmony; Where
there is error, truth; Where
there is doubt, faith; Where
there is despair, hope; Where
there is darkness, light; And
where there is sadness, joy. O
Divine Master, Grant that I may not so much seek To be consoled as to console; To be understood as to understand; To be loved as to love. For
it is in giving that we receive; It
is in pardoning that we are pardoned; And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
This, however, is
not an entirely exact translation. But
then, neither is mine.
*****
Remind us, Rabbani,
to be instruments of your peace. Let us show
love where there is hatred; pardon where there is injury; union where there is
discord; trust where there is doubt; hope where there is despair; your light
where there is darkness; joy where there is sadness. May we seek rather to
console than to be consoled; to understand than to understood; to love than to
be loved. For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are
forgiven; and it is in dying that we live.
Amen.
*****
1) On “Remind us to be”
rather than “Make us”: A Christian is supposed to be an instrument
of peace from conversion, baptism, or age of majority, depending on the order
those happen. We tend to forget,
however, and do need reminding.
2) On the reversal of the more traditional order: Active voice rather than passive voice is
always better, in prayer as well as literature.
3) On the name: While
it certainly fits with Francis of Assisi’s teachings, he did not write this
prayer, which was written in Paris, France, in 1912.
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