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Before Common Prayer and Praying in Common Priors Hall, Durham Cathedral 20 October 2012 (Re)Forming Prayer: The

practice of prayer in Piers Plowman 120 Then Repentance was ready and advised them all to kneel: I shall beseech in behalf of all sinners our Saviors grace, To amend us of our misdeeds, to grant mercy to us all. God, who out of your goodness did create the world And made everything out of nothing and man like yourself, And then suffered him to sin, a sickness to us all And for our best, as I believe, whatever the Book says: O happy fault, and necessary sin of Adam! For through that sin your son was sent to earth And became man of a maid, mankind to amend And made yourself, with your son, like us in body and soul [And madest thysulue with thy sone oure soule and oure body ilych] I am in the Father, and the Father in me; and he that seeth me seeth the Father also. And then suited up in our flesh, died, so it seemed, On a Friday, in mans form, felt our sorrow. He led captivity captive. The sun for sorrow of this lost light for a time, About midday when its most light and mealtime of saints; Then fed with your flesh and blood our forefathers in hell. The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light. The light that leapt out of you blinded Lucifer And brought your blessed out of there into the bliss of heaven. The third day thereafter you walked in our suit of flesh; A sinful Mary saw you before Saint Mary your mother, And all so to solace sinners you suffered it to be so. For I am not come to call the just, but sinners. And all that Mark has composed, Matthew, John, and Luke, Of your mightiest deeds, was done in our fleshly suit. The word was made flesh. And with so much it seems the more confidently we may Beg and beseech you, if it be your will, Who are first our father and of flesh our brother, And since then our savior, and said with your tongue That anytime we sinful men be sorry For ill-done deeds, wed never be damned, If we acknowledged and cried to Christ mercy for them. Whenever a sinner will repent, I will remember their sins no more. And because of your great mercy and the love of Mary your mother,

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Have pity on these lowlifes who spent so sorely That they ever offended you, God, in spirit or in deed. Then Hope took up a horn of God, you will turn to us and bring us to life, And blew it with Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered, That all saints sang with David for sinners: Men and beasts thou wilt preserve, O Lord; O how hast thou multiplied they mercy, O God! A thousand men then thronged together, Cried upward to Christ and to his clean mother To have grace to go to Truth God grant that they might! William Langland, Piers Plowman C Version1

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Tho was Repentaunce aredy and redde hem alle to knele: Y shall byseke for alle synnefole oure sauiour of grace To amende vs of oure mysdedes, do mercy to vs alle. God, that of thi goodnesse gonne the world make And of nauhte madest auhte and man liche thysulue And sethe soffredeste hym to synege, a sykenesse to vs alle And of oure beste, as Y beleue, what-so the book telle: O felix culpa, O necessarium peccatum Ade! For thorw that synne thy sone ysent was til erthe And bicam man of a mayde, mankynde to amende And madest thysulue with thy sone oure soule and oure body ilych: Ego in patre, et pater in me, et qui me videt, videt patrem meum, &c. And sethe in oure secte, as hit semed, deyedest, On a Friday in fourme of man feledest oure sorwe: Captiuam duxit captiuitatem The sonne for sorwe therof lees siht for a tyme, Aboute mydday, when most liht is and mel-tyme of sayntes; Feddest tho with thy fresshe blood oure forfadres in helle: Populus qui ambulabat in tenebris, vidit lucem magnam, &c. The lihte that lup oute of the, Lucifer hit blente And brouhte thyne yblessed fro thennes into the blisse of heuene. The thridde day theraftur thow yedest in oure sekte; A synful Marie the sey ar seynte Marye thy dame, And al to solace synfole thow soffredest it so were: Non ueni uocare iustos, set peccatores, &c. And al that Mark hath ymade, Matheu, Ion and Lucas, Of thy douhtiokest dedes was don in oure sekte:

Langland, William Piers Plowman: The C Version trans. by George Economou (University of Pennsylvania Press: Philadelphia, PN 1996) Passus VII.120-157.

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Verbum caro factum est. And by so muche hit semeth the sykerloker we mowe Bidde and biseche the, yf hit be thy wille, That art furste oure fadur and of flesche oure brother And sethen oure sauyour, and seydest with thy tonge That what tyme we synnefole men wolden be sory For dedes that we han don ylle, dampned sholde we ben neure Yf we knowlechede and cryde Crist ther-fore mercy: Quandocumque ingemuerit peccator, omnes iniquitate eius non recordabor amplius. And for that muchel mercy and Marie loue thi moder Haue reuthe of alle these rybaudes that repenten hem sore That euere thei gulte ayeyn the, god, in gost or in dede. Thenne hente Hope an horn of Deus, tu conuersus viuificabis nos, And blewe hit with Beati quorum remisse sunt iniquitates et quorum tecta sunt peccata, That alle seyntes for synfol songen with Dauid: Homines et iumenta saluabis; quemadmodum multiplicasti misericordiam tuam, deus! A thousend of men tho throngen togyderes, Criede vpward to Crist and to his clene moder To haue grace to go to Treuthe god leue that they mote! William Langland, Piers Plowman C Version2 Thomas Aquinas: Pro Peccatorum Remissone / For the Forgiveness of Sins To You, O God, Fountain of Mercy, I come, a sinner. May You wash away my impurity. O Sun of Justice, give sight to the blind. O Eternal Healer, cure the wounded. O King of Kings, restore the despoiled. O Mediator of God and man, reconcile the sinful.

Langland, William Piers Plowman: A New Annotated Edition of the C-text by Derek Pearsall (University of Exeter Press: Exeter, England 2008) Passus VII.120-157.

O Good Shepherd, lead back the straying. O God, have pity on the wretched, show leniency to the guilty, bestow life on the dead, reform the impious, and give the balm of grace to the hard of heart. O most merciful God, call back the one who flees, draw back the one who resists, lift up the one who falls, support the one who stands, and accompany the one who walks. Do not forget those who forget You. Do not desert those who desert You. Do not despise those who sin against You. For in sinning, I have offended You, my God; I have harmed my neighbor; I have not even spared myself injury. I have sinned, O my God, against You, almighty Father, because, of my weakness; against You, all-knowing Son, because of my ignorance; against You, merciful Holy Spirit, because of my malice. Thus have I offended You, most high Trinity. Woe to me, a pitiful soul! How many, how great, and how diverse are the sins I have committed. I abandoned You, Lord. I questioned Your goodness, yielding to evil cravings

and weakening myself with harmful fears. By such things, I preferred to lose You rather than abandon what I desired, to offend You rather than face what ought not to be feared. O my God, How much harm have I done by word and deed, and sinning secretly, openly, and defiantly. Therefore, out of my weakness I beg You not to attend to my iniquity, but rather to Your immense goodness. And I beg you mercifully to pardon what I have done, granting me sorrow for my past actions and precaution in the future. Amen3

Aquinas, Thomas For the Forgiveness of Sins in Devoutly I Adore Thee: The Prayers and Hymns of St. Thomas Aquinas translated and edited by Robert Anderson and Johann Moser (Sophia Institute Press: Manchester, NH 1993) 45-51.

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