I'm sending this again as I'm not sure if my appliance worked first time -
apologies if you get it twice, but you all have a delete icon . . .

>Collect of the Week - 32
>
>Dominica secunda post Octavas Epiphaniae
>
>Omnipotens sempiterne Deus, qui coelestia simul et terrena moderaris;
>supplicationes populi tui clementer exaudi, et pacem tuam nostris concede
temporibus.  Per Dominum.
>
>The BCP translates this, perfectly well, as the collect for the Second
Sunday after the Epiphany:
>
>Almighty and everlasting God, who dost govern all things in heaven and
earth;  Mercifully hear the supplications of thy people, and grant us thy
peace all the days of our life;  through Jesus Christ our Lord.
>
>Our collect begins with the familiar formula, Omnipotens sempiterne Deus -
we shall see it again next week.  'Govern' is a fair enough translation for
'moderor', and yet we may wish to delve a little more deeply into the
semantics of the word.  'Govern' in the BCP often translates 'guberno',
literally to steer a ship, with its suggestions of bringing the ship of the
Church safely across the troubled waters of this world into the port of
heaven.  That, however, is not the suggestion here, and it may be that the
reformers did not quite find the 'mot juste';  having said that, however, I
am at a loss to suggest one myself.  'Moderor' means, literally, to set a
measure, to set bounds to.  It calls to mind the creative activity of the
divine architect.  One thinks perhaps of Job 38:4-5,
>
>ubi eras quando ponebam fundamenta terrae indica mihi si habes intelligentiam
>quis posuit mensuras eius si nosti vel quis tetendit super eam lineam
>
>(quoting from my lovely new Stuttgart Vulgate, with little or no punctuation)
>
>RSV:  "Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?  Tell me if
you have understanding.  Who determined its measurements - surely you know!
Or who stretched the line upon it?"
>
>Or again, a few verses later (Job 38:8-11):
>
>quis conclusit ostiis mare quando erumpebat quasi de vulva procedens
>cum ponerem nubem vestimentum eius et caligine illud quasi pannis 
>infantiae obvolverem
>circumdedi illud terminis meis et posui  vectem et ostia
>et dixi usque huc venies et non procedes amplius et hic confringes 
>tumentes fluctus tuos
>
>RSV:  "Or who shut in the sea with doors,
>when it burst forth from the womb;
>when I made clouds its garment,
>and thick darkness its swaddling band,
>and prescribed bounds for it,
>and set bars and doors,
>and said, 'Thus far shall you come, and no farther,
>and here shall your proud waves be stayed'?"
>
>On a human level one thinks of God setting proper bounds to the nations, as
in Paul's address to the Athenians on the Areopagus (Acts 17:24-26):
>
>Deus qui fecit mundum et omnia quae in eo sunt
>hic caeli et terrae cum sit Dominus
>non in manufactis templis inhabitat
>nec manibus humanis colitur indicens aliquo
>cum ipse det omnibus vitam et inspirationem et omnia
>fecitque ex uno omne genus hominum inhabitare 
>super universam faciem terrae
>definiens statuta tempora
>et terminos habitationis eorum
>
>(Note 'caeli et terrae' which may have suggested our 'coelestia et terrena')
>
>RSV:  "The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of
heaven and earth, does not live in shrines made by man, nor is he served by
human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all men
life and breath and everything.  And he made from one nation of men to live
on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the
boundaries of their habitation . . ."
>
>The word I think confers a rather grand tone to the collect, which is
rather strengthened by 'simul' (omitted in the BCP) - at the same time.  One
has a vision of God ordering all things (perhaps 'dost order' might be
better than 'dost govern'?) simultaneously, both the heavenly and the earthly.
>
>'supplicationes' are literally prayers made kneeling (supplico, 'kneel');
but essentially public prayers rather than private ones.  They are not the
kind of prayers that one would make kneeling at one's bedside, but solemn,
liturgical, prayers for urgent public needs - of which, of course, the
collects are notable examples.  The petition here is for 'peace in our
time', and one can well imagine Leo praying it as Rome was threatened by the
Huns or Vandals.  His concern would surely be for right order and proper
bounds:  let the Huns withdraw to within the boundaries which God had
allotted them, and respect the boundaries of the Empire.
>
>"clementer" is rendered "mercifully" by the BCP;  they tended to over-use
this word, which we saw last week rendering "coelesti pietate".  "clemens"
is actually "mild, calm, soft, gentle, placid" - often used of the elements.
We may ask for mercy from an angry God whom we have offended;  which, of
course, we have, but we need not always emphasise this aspect of our
religion.  Here, as often in the collects, a milder view is taken of God, a
more intimate and gentle relationship is suggested.
>
>Oriens.
>



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