A Morning Prayer
September 19, 2024
Splendor paternae gloriae
(O Splendor of God’s Glory)
O Brightness of Father’s glory!
Bringing light from the light!
Thou Light of Light, and fount of light,
And Day that illuminest the day!
O Thou true sun!
Pour forth thy rays on us,
Shining upon us with unfading splendour!
O radiance of the Holy Ghost, be thou infused into our senses and powers.
Give us also to invoke the Father,
The Father of eternal glory,
The Father of mighty grace
That he would drive from us sin and its allurements.
May he give energy to our deeds and strengthen them;
May he break the teeth of the envious serpent;
May he support us when we rudely fall,
And give us the grace to act.
May he govern and rule our mind,
In a chaste and faithful body,
May our faith be fervent in warmth,
Void of the poisons of error.
May Christ be our food,
And faith our drink,
May we in gladness quaff
The sober inebriation of the Spirit.
May this day be one of joy,
Modesty its dawn,
Faith its noon,
And no night to dim the mind.
The aurora is swiftly advancing;
O may the full aurora come,
The whole Son in the Father,
And the whole Father in his Word!
To God, the Father,
And to his only Son,
And to the Paraclete Spirit,
Be glory for ever and ever.
Amen.
—- St. Ambrose (340-397 A.D.)
English translation from the The Liturgical Year by Dom Prosper Guéranger
Original Latin here.
