Irish Litanies I: Confession, the Saviour, Jesus and the Virgin (Plummer) (Old and Middle Irish; mostly in 15th-century manuscripts, composed earlier (Plummer))

1. Litany of Confession

Omne malum feci coram te, crimina nosti; O tibi, Rex celi, peccaui crimina soli; Hoc tibi conabor quod possum, crimina fabor; Mi Deus, O dicam, tu dele quaeque relinquam, Teque uocem primum, sed postea crimina dicam.

O Father, O Son, O Holy Spirit, Forgive me my sins.

O only-begotten Son of the heavenly Father, Forgive.

O one God, O true God, O chief God, O (God) of one substance, O (God) only mighty, in three Persons, truly pitiful, Forgive.

O (God) the rewarder, forgiving, loving, pre-eminent immense, vast, mysterious, Forgive.

O God above (all) gods, O King above (all) kings, O Man above (all) men, Forgive.

O World above (all) worlds, O Power above (all) powers, O Love above (all) loves, O Cause above (all) causes, O Fortress above (all) fortresses, O Angel above (all) angels, Forgive.

O Archdeacon of heaven and earth, Forgive.

O High-priest of all creation, O Archbishop of the seven heavens, Forgive.

O first Priest, O chief Priest, O true Priest, O true Physician, O true Prophet, O true Friend, Forgive.

O only Sustainer of the threefold mansion, O only Life of all created things, O only Light of the seven heavens, Forgive.

O Subject of the Scriptures' meditation, O Object of the chief prophets' search, O Marrow of true wisdom, O Father of true life, O Voice of the congregation, Forgive.

O Abel, first martyr, O Noah of the sacred ark, O faithful Abraham, O meek and gentle Moses, O Aaron, first priest, O noble David, O mystic Solomon, O corner (stone) of the Old Testament, O compacting of the New Testament, O pitiful Heart, O honoured Foster-father, O Piercing of the heavy ground, O blazing lamp, O Jesu of Nazareth, O Son of the sister, O righteous brother, Forgive.

Come to help me, for the multitude of my inveterate sins have made dense my too guilty heart; They have bent me, perverted me, have blinded me, have twisted me and withered me; They have clung to me, have pained me, have moved me, have filled me; They have humbled me, exhausted me, they have subdued me, possessed me, cast me down; They have befooled me, drowned me, deceived me, and troubled me; They have torn me, and chased me; They have bound me, have ravaged me, have crucified me, rebuked me, sold me, searched me, mocked me; They have maddened me, bewitched me, betrayed me, delayed me, killed me; Forgive. ORATIO.

Et secundum multitudinem miserationum tuarum, dele iniquitatem meam.

O starry Sun, O guiding Light, O House of the planets, O fiery wondrous Comet.

O fruitful, billowy, fiery Sea, Forgive.

O fiery Glow, O fiery Flame of doom, Forgive.

O holy Narrator, holy Scholar, O full of holy grace, of holy strength, O overflowing, loving, silent one, O liberal thunderous bestower, O rock-like (?) warrior of hundred hosts; O fair crowned one, victorious, skilled in battle, Forgive. De confessione oratio.

Propter nomen tuum, Domine, propiciaberis peccato meo.

Many and vast are my sins in their mass, through my heart and round about it like a net or a breast-plate; O King, they cannot be numbered; Despoil me of them, O God;, Break, smite, and war against them; Ravage, bend, and wither them; Take away, repel, destroy them; Arise, scatter, defeat them; See, repress, waste them; Destroy, summon, starve them; Prostrate, burn, mangle them; Kill, slay, and ruin them; Torture, divide, and purify them; Tear, expel, and raze them; Remove, scatter, and cleave them; Subdue, exhaust, and lay them low.

Heavy then and bitter is The subdual and the piercing; The bond and the fetter; The confusion and the maddening; The disturbance and the raging; which the multitude of my sins brings upon me.

By every disease Thou didst help;

By every arm Thou didst comfort;

By Thy conception in the womb of the Virgin Mary;

By Thy birth in Bethlehem of Judea;

By Thy pierced hands (?);

By Thy royal Star; Forgive.

By the womb in which Thou wert;

By the paps which Thou didst suck; Forgive.

By the breast which nurtured Thee;

By every lip which kissed Thee;

By every hand which touched Thee;

By every foot which carried Thee;

By every ear which heard Thee;

By every eye which saw Thee;

By every heart which believed Thee; Forgive. By thy seven gifts; By thy seven orders; By Thy seven heavens;

By thy coming to earth into the womb of the Virgin Mary;

By Thy seven times with their saints; Forgive.

By Thy patience, by Thy lowliness;

By Thy humility, by Thy loftiness;

By Thy gentleness, by thy dignity;

By Thy devotion, by Thy peacefulness;

By Thy uniqueness, by Thy nobleness;

By Thy holiness, Forgive.

By the arrest of Thee and the seizing;

By the smiting and the mocking; By Thine acts, Forgive.

By the conspiracy, the crucifying, and the mangling; Forgive.

By Thy soul which harried hell, which filled heaven; Forgive.

By every soul Thou broughtest thence;

By Thy Resurrection from the dead; Forgive.

By Thine Ascension into heaven; Forgive.

By the Holy Ghost which came from heaven upon the apostles, Forgive.

By every heart, by every body;

By every flesh, by every lip, by every eye;

By every creature whereon the Holy Spirit came, from the beginning of the world to the end;

By Thy coming again in the day of doom; (Grant) that I may be righteous and perfect, without great dread on me of hell or doom, without soreness or bitterness on Thy part towards me, O Lord; For my sins are blazing through me and around me, at me and towards me, above me and below me.

Alas, Alas, Alas, forgive me, O God, Every sin which I did, and took pleasure in doing;

Every sin which I did under compulsion, or not under compulsion; Forgive.

Every sin which I sought after, or did not seek after; Forgive.

Every evil that I did to any one, or that any one did to me; Forgive.

Every evil wherein any one took part, or did not take part with me; Forgive.

Every thing which I sought for, or did not seek for; found, or did not find; Forgive me.

Every one to whom I did good unjustly, or evil justly; Forgive.

Every good which I did, and marred; every evil which I did, and did not make good; Forgive.

Every provocation which I gave to God or man; Forgive me.

Every sitting down, every standing up; every movement, every stillness; every sleep, every sleeplessness; every forgetfulness, every remembrance; every carelessness, every carefulness; every longing, every desire, every lust; every thought, every love, every hate, which is, which was, which shall be mine, to my life's end; Forgive me.

Every will, every displeasure which I have harboured against God or man; Forgive me.

Every ill that I did, every good that I omitted, every sin within sin, every ill within good, every good within ill that I did; Forgive me for them. Amen.

From ears, from hands, from lips, from eyes; from heart, from sense; from limbs, from joints, from bowels; from intention, from desire; from secrecy, from concealment, from openness; from knowledge, from ignorance; from longing, from absence of longing; from inducement, from absence of inducement; from high, from low; from union, from disunion; From little to great; from something to nothing; from youth to old age; from baptism to death; Forgive me, O God; O Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, in spite of my sins.

O true God, tibi soli peccaui; forgive, forgive, forgive. Amen. Credo. Pater noster.

2. Litany of the Saviour

O Saviour of the human race; O true physician of every disease, O heart-pitier and assister of all misery; O fount of true purity, and of true knowledge; O bestower of every treasure;

By the heavenly Father, by the Holy Spirit, and by Thine own Divinity;

By Thy great compassion, by Thy great affection to the human race from the beginning of the world to its end;

By Thy coming humbly from heavenly places in the form of a servant to help it and rescue it from the dominion of the devil;

By Thy Conception in the womb of Mary the Virgin;

By Thy Humanity which grew in unity of person with Thy Divinity;

By the loving mother from whom Thou didst receive it;

By Thy Birth of her, without opening of the womb;

By the offering and willing gift which Thou madest of Thyself to Cross and Passion for the sake of the human race;

By Thine ineffable compassion toward the seed of Adam;

By the deliverance that Thou broughtest to the just men of the five ages from the murk and darkness of hell;

By Thy Resurrection from the dead after three days;

By Thine Ascension into heaven in the presence of Thine apostles and Thy disciples;

By the beauty and great glory in which Thou abidest eternally at the right hand of God the Father in heaven;

By Thy coming to the judgment of doom to gather together the just to dwell for ever in the eternal life, and to drive away the sinners to the sorrow and torments of hell;

Give to this wretched convicted sinner the grace of compunction of heart, and earnest repentance, that I may weep bitterly for every outrage, every contempt, and every provocation, that I have offered to the King of heaven and earth, and every harm that I have offered to myself up to this day, in word, in deed, in thought;

Grant me abstinence in place of gluttony, chastity in place of lust, compassion in place of greed, gentleness in place of wrath, spiritual joy in place of carnal sorrow, tranquillity in place of anxiety, silence in place of loquacity;

Impart to me Thy fear and Thy love around my heart and in my thought, that I may despise every carnal pleasure, and all vain glory of the present life;

That I may desire earnestly to meditate on Thee, to pray to Thee, and to praise Thee for ever;

That I may merit an abode of rest among the believing widows in the unity of the heavenly church in the presence of the Trinity in secula seculorum. Amen.

3. Litany of the Virgin and All Saints

May Mary, and John the youth, and John the Baptist, and all the Saints of the world intercede with the fount of true purity and true innocence, Jesus Christ, son of the Virgin, that the grace and compassion of the Holy Spirit may come to forgive us all our past sins, and to protect us from future sins, to subdue our fleshly lusts, and to check our unfitting thoughts; To kindle the love and affection of the Creator in our hearts, that it may be He that our mind searches after and desires and meditates on for ever; That our eyes may not be deceived by idle glances, and through the profitless beauty of perishable things; That our hearing may not be perverted by idle songs, nor by the noxious persuasion of devils and evil men; That our senses of taste may not be beguiled through dainties and many savours; That He would free our tongues from reviling and insult and inept loquacity;s That we may not barter the true light and true beauty of the everlasting life for the deceitful phantasy of the present life; That we may not forsake the pure wedlock and marriage of our husband and noble bridegroom, Jesus Christ, Son of the King of heaven and earth, for the impure wedlock of a slave of His, so that our soul and body may be a consecrated temple to the Holy Spirit, that we may accompany the blameless Lamb, that we may sing the song which only the virgins sing, that we may merit the crown of eternal glory in the unity of the company of heaven, in the presence of the Trinity, in secula seculorum. Amen.

4. Litany of Jesus (I)

I entreat Thee, O Holy Jesus, by Thy four evangelists who wrote Thy divine gospels, to wit, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John;

I entreat Thee by Thy four chief prophets who foretold Thy Incarnation, Daniel, and Jeremiah, and Isaiah, and Ezekiel;

I entreat Thee by the nine orders of the Church on earth, from psalm-singer to episcopate;

I entreat Thee by all the intelligent ones who received these orders from the beginning of the New Testament up till now; and who [shall] receive them from now till the day of judgment;

I entreat Thee by the nine orders of the Church in heaven, to wit, Angels and Archangels, Virtutes, Potestates, Principatus, Dominationes, Thrones, Cherubim, Seraphim;

I entreat Thee by the twelve patriarchs who foretold Thee through spiritual mysteries;

I entreat Thee by the twelve minor prophets who foreshadowed Thee;

I entreat Thee by the twelve apostles who loved Thee, and besought Thee, and followed Thee, and clave to Thee, and chose Thee above every one;

I entreat Thee by all Thy sons of true virginity throughout the whole world, both of the Old and New Testament, with John the youth, Thine own bosom-fosterling;

I entreat Thee by all holy penitent [pastors] with Peter the apostle;

I entreat Thee by all holy virgins throughout the whole world, with Mary Virgin, Thine own holy mother;

I entreat Thee by all penitent widows with Mary Magdalene;

I entreat Thee by all the folk of lawful marriage, with Job the suffering, on whom came [many] trials;

I entreat Thee by all the holy martyrs of the whole world, both of the Old and New Testament, from the beginning of the world, to Elijah and Enoch, who will suffer the last martyrdom on the brink of doom, with Stephen, Cornelius, Cyprian, Lawrence, George, Germanus;

I entreat Thee by all the holy monks who warred for Thee throughout the whole world, with Elijah and Elisha in the Old Testament, with John and Paul and Antony in the New Testament;

I entreat Thee by all those that had intelligence in the law of nature, with Abel, with Seth, with Elijah, with Enoch, with Noah, with Abraham, with Isaac, with Jacob;

I entreat Thee by all those that had intelligence in the written law, with Moses, with Joshua, with Caleb, with Aaron, with Eleazar, with Jonah;

I entreat Thee by all those that had intelligence in the prophetic law, with Elijah, with Elisha, with David, and with Solomon;

I entreat Thee by all those that had intelligence in the law of the New Testament, with Thine own holy apostles, and all Thy Saints to the end of the world;

I entreat Thee by all the holy bishops who founded the ecclesiastical city in Jerusalem, with James of the knees, Thine own holy brother;

I entreat Thee by all the holy bishops who founded the ecclesiastical city in Rome, with Linus, and Cletus, and Clement;

I entreat Thee by all the holy bishops who founded the ecclesiastical city in Alexandria, with Mark the Evangelist;

I entreat Thee by all the holy bishops who founded the ecclesiastical city in Antioch, with Peter the apostle;

I entreat Thee by all the holy infants of the whole world who endured the cross and martyrdom for Thy sake, with the two thousand one hundred and forty children who were slain by Herod in Bethlehem of Judah, and with the child Cyricus;

I entreat Thee by all the hosts of the aged perfect and righteous men, who completed their old age and their perfection and their righteousness for Thy sake with Eli (?) in the Old Testament, with the righteous and perfect aged senior, Simeon, in the beginning of the New Testament, who took Thee on his arms and knees and elbows, fondling Thee, and said: Nunc dimitte, etc.

I entreat Thee by all the holy disciples who learned the spiritual sciences both of Old and New Testament, with the seventy-two disciples;

I entreat Thee by all the perfect teachers who taught the spiritual meaning with Paul the Apostle;

That Thou wilt take me under Thy protection and defence and care, to preserve and protect me from demons and all their promptings, against all the elements of the world, against lusts, against transgressions, against sins, against the crimes of the world, against the dangers of this life, and the torments of the next, from the hands of enemies and every terror, against the fire of hell and doom, against shame before the face of God, against attacks (lit. seizures) of demons, that they may have no power over us at the entry of the other world; against the dangers of this world, against every man that God knows to have ill will towards us under the ten stars of the world; May God keep far from us their rage, their violence, their anger, their cruelty, their craft; May God kindle gentleness and love, and affection, and mercy, and forgivingness, in their hearts and in their thoughts, and in their souls, and in their minds and in their bowels. [Amen]

5. Litany of Jesus (II)

O holy Jesu; O gentle friend; O Morning Star: O mid-day Sun adorned; O brilliant flame of the righteous, and of righteousness, and of everlasting life, and of eternity; O Fountain ever-new, ever-living, ever-lasting; O heart's Desire of patriarchs; O Longing of prophets; O Master of apostles and disciples; O Giver of the Law; O Prince of the New Testament; O Judge of doom; O Son of the merciful Father without mother in heaven; O Son of the true virgin maid, Mary, without father on earth: O true and loving brother; [O clement and friendly one] 1;

For the sake of Thy kindliness, [Thy affection, Thy love and Thy mercy,] hear the entreaty of this mean and wretched [poorling and] weakling for the acceptance of this sacrifice on behalf of all christian churches, and on mine own behalf;

For the sake of the merciful Father, from whom Thou camest to us on earth;

For the sake of Thy Divinity, which that Father ordained for the reception of Thy Humanity;

For the sake of the pure and holy flesh which Thou didst take from the womb of the Virgins;

For the sake of the septiform Spirit, which co-ordained this flesh in union with Thyself and with Thy Father;

For the sake of the holy womb wherefrom Thou didst receive that flesh without loss of virginity;

For the sake of the holy stem and genealogy, from which Thou didst derive this flesh, from the flesh of Adam to the flesh of Mary;

For the sake of the seven things that were prophesied for Thee on earth, to wit Thy Conception, Thy Birth, Thy Baptism, Thy Crucifixion, Thy Burial, Thy Resurrection, Thy Ascension [to heaven, Thy Session on the right hand of God the Father in heaven], Thy return to Judgment;

For the sake of the holy tree on which Thy sides were stretched;

For the sake of the truth-loving (?) blood which was shed on us from that tree;

For the sake of Thine own body and blood which is offered on all holy altars that are in the Christian churches of the world.

For the sake of the whole scriptures in the setting forth (?) of Thy gospel;

For the sake of all righteousness in the setting forth (?) of Thy Resurrection;

For the sake of Thy love, which is the head and summit of all commandments, as it is said: caritas superexaltat omnia;

For the sake of Thy Kingdom with all its rewards and jewels and songs;

For the sake of Thy mercy, Thy forgivingness, Thy kindliness, and Thine own bounteousness, which is broader than any treasure, that I may have forgiveness and annulling of my past sins from the beginning of my life till this day, according to the word of David who said: Beati quorum et cetera. (Ps. xxxi[xxxii] 1); that is, Give and grant and impart [to me] Thy holy grace, and Thy Holy Spirit, to protect me and preserve me from all my sins present and future, and to kindle in me all righteousness, and to establish me in that righteousness to my life's end; and that He may receive me after my life's end into heaven, in the unity of patriarchs and prophets, in the unity of apostles and disciples, in the unity of angels and archangels, in the unity which excels every unity, that is, in the unity of the holy and exalted Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost; for I have nothing unless I have it according to the word of the Apostle Paul: Quis me liberabit et cetera. Amen.

6. Litany of the Virgin Mary

O great Mary; O greatest of Marys; O paragon of women; O Queen of the Angels; O Lady of heaven; O Lady, full and overflowing with the grace of the Holy Spirit; O blessed and more than blessed one; O mother of the eternal glory; O mother of the Church in heaven and earth; O mother of affection and forgiveness; O mother of the golden light; O Honour of the ether; O sign of gentleness; O Gate of heaven; O golden Casket; O bed of kindness and compassion; O Temple of the Deity; O Beauty of virgins; O Lady of the nations; O Fountain of the gardens; O cleansing of sins; O washing of souls; O mother of orphans; O Breast of infants; O consolation of the wretched; O Star of the sea; O Handmaid of God; O Mother of Christ; O Spouse of the Lord; O beauteous as a dove; O lovely as the moon; O elect as the sun; O repulse of Eve's reproach; O renewal of life; O Beauty of women; O Chief of Virgins; O Garden enclosed; O true Fountain sealed; O Mother of God; O perpetual Virgin; O holy Virgin; O prudent Virgin; O beauteous Virgin; O chaste Virgin; O Temple of the living God; O Throne of the eternal King; O Sanctuary of the Holy Ghost; O Virgin of the stem of Jesse; O Cedar of the hill of Lebanon; O Cypress of the hill of Zion; O crimson Rose of the land of Jacob; O flourishing as a palm; O fruitful as an olive-tree; O glorious Son-bearer; O light of Nazareth; O glory of Jerusalem; O beauty of the world; O high-born of the Christian people; O Queen of the world; Hear the prayer of the poor; Despise not the groans and sighs of the wretched; Let our longing and our sighs be borne by thee to the presence of the Creator, for we are not worthy to be heard ourselves by reason of our ill-desert; O mighty Lady of heaven and earth; Cancel our guiltinesses and our sins; Blot out our defilements and pollutions; Raise the falls of the weaklings and the bound; Release the enslaved; VIRGIN. 5i Amend through thyself the assaults of our evil habits and vices; Impart to us through thyself the flowers and adornments of good deeds and virtues; Make the judge propitious to us by thy prayers and intercessions; For the sake of mercy aban- don us not as a prey to our enemies; Abandon not our souls to slavery; And take us to thyself forever under thy protection; We also pray and intreat thee, O holy Mary, through thy mighty intercession with thine only Son, Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, that God would protect us from all straits and temptations; And request for us from the God of creation, that we may all receive from Him remission and forgiveness of all our sins and offences, and that we may obtain from Him also by thine intercession an eternal abode in the heavenly kingdom forever and ever, in the presence of the Saints and holy virgins of the world.

May we merit it, may we inhabit it, in saecula saeculorum. Amen