What Leonine Sacramentary Still Knows

An ancient prayer from Leonine Sacramentary for ancient, prayer.

A strange mercy of the Christian tradition is that it refuses to flatter us. It gives us words when our own words have become too polished to be honest.

The source text, drawn from Leonine Sacramentary, turns on a simple pressure: the soul cannot heal itself by becoming more articulate. It must be addressed, searched, forgiven, and led.

The author is not trying to be novel. That is precisely the relief. The prayer belongs to a Church old enough to have buried many fashions.

Christian memory is not a scrapbook. It is a school. This is one of the lessons.