{"id":17875,"date":"2018-04-21T09:00:35","date_gmt":"2018-04-21T08:00:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/?p=17875"},"modified":"2018-04-21T09:29:50","modified_gmt":"2018-04-21T08:29:50","slug":"an-abbots-prayer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/2018\/04\/an-abbots-prayer\/","title":{"rendered":"An Abbot’s Prayer"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Saint Anselm’s Prayer by a Bishop or Abbot to the Patron Saint of his Church <\/strong><\/p>\n

St N, Holy N, Blessed N,
\none of the glorious apostles of God,
\none of the blessed friends of God,
\nthis sinner, this needy one, this one of yours,
\nalthough unworthy, although incapable,
\nalthough so unsuitable a substitute,
\nagain and again comes back to you,
\ndoubtful, ignorant, anxious about your people,
\nyour congregation, and about his own peril.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Obviously I am a useless person,
\nadorned with no good works,
\nbut darkened by a profound ignorance,
\ndeformed by countless vices, burdened by huge sins.
\nI, I say, whom God and you after God,
\neither ordered or permitted (I know not which)
\nto be called abbot of this church under your patronage,
\nunder your leadership, constituted under your name;
\nanxious about myself and those committed to me,
\nI beg to consult you, I pray you to listen,
\nand I expect you through all to work on my behalf.
\nFor I am called master, but I do not know it is so;
\nI am named shepherd, but I deny that it is so;
\nthey say that I am abbot, but I am not.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

For they see me seated where the abbot sits,
\nbut I see that I do not do the works that an abbot does.
\nThey behold me preceded like an abbot,
\nbut I do not behold that I live like an abbot.
\nThey show me honour like an abbot,
\nbut I do not show them the way of life of an abbot.
\nScarcely have I led the life of a good layman,
\nand yet they expect me to live like a monk.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

What have I done, a little man,
\na creeping and decaying thing,
\nwhat have I done, to what have I presumed,
\nto what have I consented?
\nBut you, God, and you, N, his apostle,
\nwhat have you done?
\nFor you have done this,
\neither by commanding it or by permitting it.
\nSo it is you, who have in some way done this thing,
\nwho must act – you by praying, and you by giving
\nso that what you have done
\nmay hold back neither me nor others,
\nbut may lead forward me and many others.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

You have made an ignorant doctor, a blind leader,
\nan erring ruler:
\nteach the doctor you have established,
\nguide the leader you have appointed,
\ngovern the ruler that you have approved.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I beg you,
\nteach me what I am to teach,
\nlead me in the way that I am to lead,
\nrule me so that I may rule others.
\nOr rather, teach them, and me through them,
\nlead them, and me with them,
\nrule them, and me among them.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Jesus, good shepherd, they are not mine but yours,
\nfor I am not mine but yours.
\nI am yours, Lord, and they are yours,
\nbecause by your wisdom you have created
\nboth them and me,
\nand by your death you have redeemed us.
\nSo we are yours, good Lord, we are yours,
\nwhom you have made with such wisdom
\nand bought so dearly.
\nThen if you commend them to me, Lord,
\nyou do not therefore desert me or them.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

You commend them to me:
\nI commend myself and them to you.
\nYours is the flock, Lord, and yours is the shepherd.
\nBe shepherd of both your flock and shepherd.
\nLord, by the merits of blessed N, your friend,
\nfavourably hear the prayer of your sinner.
\nLord, let him care for us,
\nwhom you have given us as an advocate.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

We know he prays for us,
\nand by him we daily entreat your help.
\nThrough him we obtain your grace,
\nand through him we daily implore your majesty.
\nWe confess that he is our advocate, Lord,
\nand by him we know you to be our Saviour.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Do not let our deserts prevail over his merits, Lord,
\nbut blot out our sins by his prayer.
\nAnd you, O holy and blessed N, you are my advocate;
\nbe my intercessor to God.
\nI pray you, entreat him,
\nI beg you, beseech him.
\nOffer him my prayer,
\nand bring his favourable answer back to me.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I intimate to him through you my sufferings,
\nand through you he gives back to me his consolation.
\nShow him my peril, and show me his aid.
\nFor I have undertaken to rule the church of God under you,
\nI who can scarcely begin to rule my own soul.
\nFor myself therefore I am timid,
\nand for others I am forced to be solicitous.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Weighed down by a weight of sins,
\nI am ordered to relieve others,
\nbowed down by a weight of crimes, I must put others right.
\nSo holy, blessed and good N, recognize me
\nas in some kind of way your deputy,
\nand always go before me with your counsel,
\nand follow me with your help,
\nruling me, and the flock committed to me.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

For they are committed more to you than to me,
\nand those who are committed to me
\nare not taken away from you,
\nbut I am the more greatly committed to you.
\nSo what is enjoined upon me about them
\ndo you perform for me and for them.
\nDo on my behalf what is enjoined upon me
\nto do in your place.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Act, sir, act for me,
\nfor you see that I have neither the knowledge nor the ability
\nto act in your place.
\nRather, act not for me but for yourself,
\nfor this pertains first and more greatly to you than me,
\nand if it pertains to me, it is after and under you.
\nSo you, sir, have more obligation, more knowledge,
\nand more power than I have,
\nso act more powerfully than me.
\nLet me not be weighed down, sir,
\nby anxiety about their care,
\nfor I am weighed down quite enough
\nwith the pack of my own sins.
\nLet me not be weighed down by them,
\nfor I am too much weighed down by myself.
\nLet them not weigh upon me,
\nbut neither let me be a burden to them,
\nnor let my sins impede them,
\nnor my evil deeds do them harm.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Let not my wrong-doing block the way of those
\nwho ought to benefit by my well-doing.
\nLet them not be held back by me, sir,
\nby whom they ought to be led forward.
\nLet me not delay them whom I ought to urge on.
\nFor my sins are more than sufficient for me;
\ndo not let them be a drag on others.
\nIt is too much for me if my sins damn me;
\ndo not let them involve others with me.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

But you, O apostle of God,
\nyou can raise up me and them.
\nCarry me and them, excuse me and them!
\nHelp us all, rule and protect us all,
\nso that I may rejoice in their salvation with me,
\nand they in mine with them,
\nso that with you, his blessed apostle,
\nwe may always praise our good Lord Jesus Christ,
\nwho is the blessed God, for ever and ever. Amen, Amen.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Saint Anselm’s Prayer by a Bishop or Abbot to the Patron Saint of his Church St N, Holy N, Blessed N, one of the glorious apostles of God, one of the blessed friends of God, this sinner, this needy one, this one of yours, although unworthy, although incapable, although so unsuitable a substitute, again and <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[73,271,207],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17875","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-rule-of-saint-benedict","category-saint-anselm","category-saint-benedict"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paVypq-4Ej","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17875"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17875"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17875\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17881,"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17875\/revisions\/17881"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17875"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17875"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17875"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}