Deus, qui diligéntibus te bona invisibília præparásti: infúnde córdibus nostris tui amóris afféctum; ut te in ómnibus et super ómnia diligéntes, promissiónes tuas, quæ omne desidérium súperant, consequámur.
I might put it into English with a fairly free translation: O God, because You have prepared for those who love You such good things of which the eye cannot see: pour into our hearts such great affections of love, that, loving You in all things and above all things, we may obtain Your promises, which surpass our every desire.
Rome has an official translation: O God, who have prepared for those who love you good things which no eye can see, fill our hearts, we pray, with the warmth of your love, so that, loving you in all things and above all things, we may attain your promises, which surpass every human desire.
Divinium Officium has this translation: O God, You Who have prepared good things as yet unseen for those who
love You, pour a burning love into our hearts, so that we, loving You in
and above all things, may obtain Your promises which surpass all
desire.
Lutheran Service Book has it: O God, You have prepared for those who love You good things that surpass all understanding. Pour into our hearts such love toward You that we, loving You above all things, may obtain Your promises, which exceed all that we can desire; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
Cranmer is the inspiration for the Lutheran Service Book and Book of Common Prayer versions. It is hard to imagine that he did not look to inspired by Scripture in his task as translator of the ancient Latin Collects. Think of 1 Corinthians 2:9
But, as it is written,
“What no eye has seen, nor ear heard,
nor the heart of man imagined,
what God has prepared for those who love him”—
as well as Isaiah 64:4,
From of old no one has heard
or perceived by the ear,
no eye has seen a God besides you,
who acts for those who wait for him.
It comes to us from the 8th century Gelasian Sacramentary, and is found in the 1962 Missale Romanum, now used for the 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time. This prayer does not short us on vocabulary but has several different words to express both love and longing: diligo, amor, affectus as well as the related cor, desiderium, promissio. What a shame that English affords us less in our choice of words to befit us in our translation task! Looking at a decent Latin dictionary, we find affectus meaning “a state of body, and especially of mind produced in one by some influence, affection, mood: love, desire, fondness, good will, compassion, sympathy.” The same dictionary renders diligo “to value or esteem highly, to love”. We capture a hint of it in the English “diligent”. Love is worth nothing less than all. Again, the dictionary tells us that desiderium means “a longing, ardent desire or wish, properly for something once possessed; grief, regret for the absence or loss of any thing [or person].” It does not take a dictionary to remind us that cor is, of course, about the “heart” and promissio “promise”. Consequor can mean, among other things, to “pursue, go after, attend, to follow” -- even “to copy, obey”.
We have here so many little tracks to follow in this collect. They seem to circle and then return (the things the eye cannot see or invisible things) is picked up at the end with the promises which we know not by sight but by faith. Everything which God has prepared for us is already and not possessed or even fully comprehended or experienced now and therefore is known as only it can be known -- by faith. Faith, hope, and love abide, not as competing or even different essences but connected well. Love is the greatest but this great love we both receive and respond with is born of faith, faith that lives in hopefulness of the God who has kept and will always keep His promises.
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