PRAYER OF ST. BONAVENTURE (A new translation)

Here is a new translation I prepared in connection with the General Monthly Intention of Opus Dei last year 2010 which goes up to February of 2011. The intention is to pray and do something so as improve our thanksgiving after communion in order to pass on to many others the hunger to deal with God.

St. Bonaventure's Thanksgiving after Communion famously focuses on that hunger. Since the traditional translation uses English words and turns of phrases that are no longer that common, which may not be that appealing to the modern audience, I put together this modern translation with the aid of Whitaker's Latin Dictionary, the meaning found in the other translations (Italian and Spanish), and other aids.



Prayer of St. Bonaventure


Pierce the depths of my soul, O sweetest Lord Jesus, with the most delightful and most wholesome wound of your love, with true, serene, and most holy apostolic charity, that my soul may always languish and melt with love and longing for you. May it yearn for you and swoon for your courts, and long to be detached and be with you.

Grant that I may hunger for you, the bread of angels, the refreshing food of holy souls, our daily, life-sustaining bread, containing all sweetness and relish, and all delicate delight.

May I always hunger for you and feed on you--you on whom the angels desire to gaze. May the depths of my soul be filled with the sweetness of your taste.

May my heart always thirst for you, the flowing source of life, the fountain of wisdom and knowledge, the fountain of eternal light, the gushing stream of pleasure, the abundance of the house of God.

May my heart always desire you, seek you and find you. May I run to you and reach you; meditate on you, speak of you and do all things to the praise and glory of your name, with humility and discretion, with love and delight, with ease and affection, and with perseverance until the end.

May you always be my only hope, my complete assurance, my wealth, my delight, my pleasure, my joy, my rest and tranquility, my peace, my delicacy, my fragrance, my sweetness, my food, my refreshment, my refuge, my help, my wisdom, my inheritance, my possession and my treasure--in you, may my mind and heart be fixed and fastened and immovably rooted now and always. Amen.


Annex


Oratio Sancti Bonaventurae (original Latin)

Transfige, dulcissime Domine Iesu, medullas et viscera animae meae suavissimo ac saluberrimo amoris tui vulnere, vera serenaque et apostolica sanctissima caritate, ut langueat et liquefiat anima mea solo semper amore et desiderio tui, te concupiscat et deficiat in atria tua, cupiat dissolvi et esse tecum.

Da ut anima mea te esuriat, panem Angelorum, refectionem animarum sanctarum; panem nostrum cotidianum, supersubstantialem, habentem omnem dulcedinem et saporem, et omne delectamentum suavitatis.

Te, in quem desiderant Angeli prospicere, semper esuriat et comedat cor meum, et dulcedine saporis tui repleantur viscera animae meae; te semper sitiat fontem vitae, fontem sapientiae et scientiae, fontem aeterni luminis, torrentem voluptatis, ubertatem domus Dei.

Te semper ambiat, te quaerat, te inveniat, ad te tendat, ad te perveniat, te meditetur, te loquatur, et omnia operetur in laudem et gloriam nominis tui, cum humilitate et discretione, cum dilectione, et delectatione, cum facilitate et affectu, cum perseverantia usque in finem; ut tu sis solus semper spes mea, tota fiducia mea, divitiae meae, delectatio mea, iucunditas mea, gaudium meum, quies et tranquillitas mea, pax mea, suavitas mea, odor meus, dulcedo mea, cibus meus, refectio mea, refugium meum, auxilium meum, sapientia mea, portio mea, possessio mea, thesaurus meus, in quo fixa et firma et immobiliter semper sit radicata mens mea et cor meum. Amen.



PRAYER OF ST. BONAVENTURE (Traditional English translation)

Pierce, o most sweet Lord Jesus, my inmost soul with the most joyous and healthful wound of your love, with true, serene, and most holy apostolic charity, that my soul may ever languish and melt with love and longing for you, that it may yearn for you and faint for your courts, and long to be dissolved and to be with you.

Grant that my soul may hunger after you, the bread of angels, the refreshment of holy souls, our daily and supersubstantial bread, having all sweetness and savor and every delight of taste; let my heart ever hunger after and feed upon you, upon whom the angels desire to look, and may my inmost soul be filled with the sweetness of your savor; may it ever thirst after you, the fountain of life, the fountain of wisdom and knowledge, the fountain of eternal light, the torrent of pleasure, the richness of the house of God; may it ever compass you, seek you, find you, run to you, attain you, meditate upon you, speak of you, and do all things to the praise and glory of your name, with humility and discretion, with love and delight, with ease and affection, and with perseverance unto the end; may you alone be ever my hope, my entire assurance, my riches, my delight, my pleasure, my joy, my rest and tranquility, my peace, my sweetness, my fragrance, my sweet savor, my food, my refreshment, my refuge, my help, my wisdom, my portion, my possession and my treasure, in whom may my mind and my heart be fixed and firm and rooted immovably henceforth and forever. Amen.


Spanish translation

Traspasa, dulcísimo Jesús y Señor mío, la médula de mi alma con el suavísimo y saludabilísimo dardo de tu amor; con la verdadera, pura y santísima caridad apostólica, a fin de que mi alma desfallezca y se derrita siempre sólo en amarte y en deseo de poseerte: que por Ti suspire, y desfallezca por hallarse en los atrios de tu Casa; anhele ser desligada del cuerpo para unirse contigo. Haz que mi alma tenga hambre de Ti, Pan de los Angeles, alimento de las almas santas, Pan nuestro de cada día, lleno de fuerza, de toda dulzura y sabor, y de todo suave deleite.

Oh Jesús, en quién se desean mirar los Angeles: tenga siempre mi corazón hambre de Ti, y el interior de mi alma rebose con la dulzura de tu sabor; tenga siempre sed de Ti, fuente de vida, manantial de sabiduría y de ciencia, río de luz eterna, torrente de delicias, abundancia de la Casa de Dios: que te desee, te busque, te halle; que a Ti vaya y a Ti llegue; en Ti piense, de Ti hable, y todas mis acciones encamine a honra y gloria de tu nombre, con humildad y discreción, con amor y deleite, con facilidad y afecto, con perseverancia hasta el fin: para que Tú sólo seas siempre mi esperanza, toda mi confianza, mi riqueza, mi deleite, mi contento, mi gozo, mi descanso y mi tranquilidad, mi paz, mi suavidad, mi perfume, mi dulzura, mi comida, mi alimento, mi refugio, mi auxilio, mi sabiduría, mi herencia, mi posesión, mi tesoro, en el cual esté siempre fija y firme e inconmoviblemente arraigada mi alma y mi corazón. Amén.


Italian translation


Trafiggi, o dolcissimo Gesù, la par­te più intima dell'anima mia con la soavissima e salutifera ferita del tuo amore e con la verace, apostolica e santissima carità, affinché la mia ani­ma languisca e si strugga per il solo amore e desiderio di te Te solo brami e si consumi per il desiderio della tua casa, aspiri a libe­rarsi dai legami del corpo e a restare sempre con te. Concedimi che l'anima mia abbia fame di te, pane degli Angeli, nutri­mento delle anime sante, pane nostro quotidiano, che ci dà forza e contiene in sé ogni dolcezza, ogni delizia e ogni soave sapore, lì mio cuore brami solo di cibarsi di te, in cui gli Angeli desiderano fissare lo sguardo e la mia anima sia ripiena della dolcezza del tuo sapore. Che io abbia sempre sete di te, fonte di vita, fonte di sapienza e di scienza, fonte di luce eterna, torrente di ogni delizia, abbondanza della casa di Dio. Che io aneli sempre a te, te cerchi, te ritrovi, a te sospiri, a te giunga, te mediti, di te parli, e tutto compia a lode e gloria del tuo nome, con umiltà e discrezione, con amore e diletto, con facilità e affetto, con perseveranza sino alla fine. Tu solo sii sempre la mia speran­za, tutta la mia fiducia, la mia ricchez­za, la mia delizia, la mia gioia, il mio gaudio, la mia quiete e la mia tranquil­lità. Tu sii la mia pace, la mia dolcezza, il mio profumo, il mio cibo, il mio nutri­mento, il mio rifugio, la mia possessione. Tu finalmente sii il mio tesoro, nel quale la mia mente e il mio cuore re­stino fissi, fermi e immobilmente radi­cati per sempre. Amen.