Digneris mihi donare, Pater pie et sancte, intellectum qui te intelligat, sensum qui te sentiat, animum qui te sapiat, diligentiam quae te quaerat, sapientiam quae te inveniat, animum qui te cognoscat, viscera quae te ament, cor quod te cogitet, actum qui te augeat, auditum qui te audiat, oculos qui te videant, linguam quae te praedicet, conversationem quae tibi placeat, patientiam quae te sustineat, perseverantiam quae te exspectet: finem perfectum, praesentiam tuam sanctam, resurrectionem bonam, retributionem, vitam aeternam. Amen.
Prayer of St. Benedict
'Grant me eyes to see Thee, a tongue to proclaim Thee, patience to wait for Thee, perseverance to look for Thee' — the short prayer preserved under Benedict's name in the works of Alcuin.
Deign to grant me, loving and holy Father, an understanding that understands Thee, a sense that perceives Thee, a mind that savours Thee, diligence that seeks Thee, wisdom that finds Thee, a spirit that knows Thee, a heart that loves Thee, a mind that thinks of Thee, deeds that increase Thee, hearing that hears Thee, eyes that see Thee, a tongue that proclaims Thee, a manner of life that pleases Thee, patience that waits for Thee, perseverance that looks for Thee: a perfect end, Thy holy presence, a good resurrection, the reward, eternal life. Amen. (Our translation.)
Morning prayer; on 11 July and 21 March, the saint's feasts; in Benedictine houses.
This prayer comes down through the writings of Alcuin of York, Charlemagne's schoolmaster, where it is headed as a prayer of St. Benedict; Migne prints it in the Patrologia Latina (vol. 101, col. 553). Whether the Father of Western monks composed it or the Carolingian monks put it under his name cannot now be settled; it has been prayed as his for twelve centuries and it reads like the Rule — nothing is asked but the faculties needed to seek God and the grace to persevere.
The Latin is that of Migne; the English is our own translation.
