The Nativity, by Willem Vrelant: Commentary

The Nativity. Willem Vrelant. Early 1460s.
Getty Centre. [Public Domain]

Commentary on the image

[The numbers in brackets [ ]  are cross-references to text at the end of the commentary]
  
There are many similarities between the details in the image  and The Prophecies and Revelations of Saint Bridget (1303-1373). I have included excerpts at the end of this commentary.[1]

The manuscript words are as follows:
Deus in Ad primam
adjutorium meum
inténde. Domine, ad
adjuvándum me fes-
tina.
Gloria Patri, et Filio, et Spiritui S(an)c(t)o.
Sicut erat in principio, et nunc, et
[semper, * et in sæcula sæculórum. Amen.]






At the hour of Prime
O God, come to my assistance;O Lord, make haste to help me.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, * and to the Holy Ghost. 
As it was in the beginning, is now,
[and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.]

Two scenes are presented in the image, one earthly and one heavenly. In the foreground, a group of figures surround a little Baby. Above them, God the Father  looks down from Heaven towards the scene on earth below.

The divine gaze and the the rays from Heaven point towards the baby and His mother. The figures on earth are also gazing reverently at the Baby. Our own eyes are thus drawn irresistibly to the little Baby, Who is in truth the Word made Flesh, the Second Person of the Triune God become incarnate; one Person uniting two natures, human and divine: Jesus, God who saves us, God with us, the Seed promised in the Book of Genesis, the Messiah, the Christ, the Holy One of God.

His right hand seems as if raised in blessing as He gazes up lovingly towards His mother, Mary. She kneels in adoration before her God, her Lord, her Son.[2] She has laid Him on folds of her own cape; so closely does the artist represent the mother and her Son, whom she wishes to enfold with all the love of her heart. She wears a tunic and a cape, both blue, trimmed with gold. Blue is for the Heaven of which she will be annointed Queen after the end of her earthly life. Gold symbolises the love she has for her royal baby, flesh of David's royal lineage.

A man with a beard has brought a candle to provide, as he thinks, light for Mary. This is Joseph, the fidelis servus et prudens, quem constituit Dominus suae Matris solatium, suae carnis nutritium (the faithful and wise servant, whom the Lord appointed to be the consolation of His Mother, the foster-father of His flesh). Dazzling light radiates outwards from the baby, totally eclipsing the light from the candle.[4] Later in His earthly life, Jesus would say to His disciples:

Ego sum lux mundi : qui sequitur me, non ambulat in tenebris, sed habebit lumen vitae.
I am the light of the world: he that followeth me, walketh not in darkness, but shall have the light of life. [John 8, 12]

His divine light is mirrored above in the radiance that emanates from God the Father, who wears a crown and holds an orb, representing our world [Ps 94, 5] His right hand is raised in blessing. The third Person of the Trinity, God the Holy Ghost, is present in the form of a dove and three angels are in attendance around the Triune Godhead. This upper image within the picture forms a trinity when considered with two similar scenes described in the Gospels, namely Christ's Baptism and Transfiguration. We can almost hear the words of the Father: This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

[16] Baptizatus autem Jesus, confestim ascendit de aqua, et ecce aperti sunt ei caeli : et vidit Spiritum Dei descendentem sicut columbam, et venientem super se.
And Jesus being baptized, forthwith came out of the water: and lo, the heavens were opened to him: and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove, and coming upon him.
[17] Et ecce vox de caelis dicens : Hic est Filius meus dilectus, in quo mihi complacui.
And behold a voice from heaven, saying: This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
[Matt 3]

Coming back down to earth, we see a wingéd angel kneeling before Jesus. Three other figures kneel before the Christ child. Although represented on the same scale as the angel, they have no wings. They are not the Kings or Magi and may possibly be the patron and family who gave the artist Vrelant the commission.

The ox and the ass are a discrete presence to the left, recalling the words of Isaiah:

[3] Cognovit bos possessorem suum, et asinus praesepe domini sui; Israel autem me non cognovit, et populus meus non intellexit.
The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib: but Israel hath not known me, and my people hath not understood. [Isa 1]

One sense of the word 'ox' is a castrated bull and some have seen this as a reference to the physical seed of Abraham, the people of the circumcision. Accordingly, the 'ass' represents the nations or gentiles who were to become the spiritual heirs or seed of Abraham.

The animals are themselves kneeling behind the 'manger' containing their hay. 'Manger' derives from a word meaning 'to eat' and here denotes that which provides for the animals their daily sustenance. The manger and stable are in Bethlehem, which word denotes 'house of bread'. Jesus will later reveal through His teaching that He is the 'bread from Heaven' and that His disciples should include in the prayer He teaches them: 'Give us this day our daily [or supersubstantial] bread' [Matt 6, 9]. We may meditate upon the following verses from the beloved Disciple's Gospel when we contemplate the Nativity image:

[31] Patres nostri manducaverunt manna in deserto, sicut scriptum est : Panem de caelo dedit eis manducare.
Our fathers did eat manna in the desert, as it is written: He gave them bread from heaven to eat.
[32] Dixit ergo eis Jesus : Amen, amen dico vobis : non Moyses dedit vobis panem de caelo, sed Pater meus dat vobis panem de caelo verum. 
Then Jesus said to them: Amen, amen I say to you; Moses gave you not bread from heaven, but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven.
[33] Panis enim Dei est, qui de caelo descendit, et dat vitam mundo.
For the bread of God is that which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life to the world.
[34] Dixerunt ergo ad eum : Domine, semper da nobis panem hunc.
They said therefore unto him: Lord, give us always this bread.
[35] Dixit autem eis Jesus : Ego sum panis vitae : qui venit ad me, non esuriet, et qui credit in me, non sitiet umquam.
And Jesus said to them: I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall not hunger: and he that believeth in me shall never thirst.[John 6]

Other features of the picture include three water fowl which may be a little family of swans, themselves traditionally regarded as royal birds, paying hommage to Christ the King, the Prince of Peace, in the royal city of David.

The Vision of St Bridget. Miniature, dated 1530.

[1] Saint Bridget (Birgitta) of Sweden

Born about 1303; died 23 July, 1373.

In 1316, at the age of thirteen, she was married to Ulf Gudmarsson, who was then eighteen. The happy marriage was blessed with eight children, among them St. Catherine of Sweden. The saintly life and the great charity of Bridget soon made her name known far and wide. Her husband died in 1344 returning from a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostella.

Bridget now devoted herself entirely to practices of religion and asceticism, and to religious undertakings. The visions which she believed herself to have had from her early childhood now became more frequent and definite. She believed that Christ Himself appeared to her (see the image left), and she wrote down the revelations she then received, which were widely read and esteemed during the Middle Ages.

The Vision of St Bridget. The Risen Christ, displaying his wound from Longinus, inspires the writing of Saint Bridget. Detail of initial letter miniature, dated 1530, probably made at Syon Abbey, England, a Bridgettine House. (BL Harley MS 4640, f.15)

St. Bridget founded a new religious congregation, the Brigittines, or Order of St. Saviour. She journeyed to Rome in 1349, and remained there until her death, except while absent on pilgrimages, among them one to the Holy Land in 1373. Bridget made earnest representations to Pope Urban, urging the removal of the Holy See from Avignon back to Rome. She died in 1373  and her remains were conveyed to the monastery at Vadstena. She was canonized, 7 October, 1391, by Boniface IX. 


The Prophecies and Revelations of Saint Bridget

Excerpts dealing with the Nativity

A vision that Lady Bridget had in Bethlehem, where the Virgin Mary showed to her the whole manner of her childbearing and how she gave birth to her glorious Son just as the Virgin herself had promised the same Lady Bridget in Rome fifteen years before she went to Bethlehem as can be seen in the first chapter of this book.

Chapter 21

When I was at the manger of the Lord in Bethlehem, I saw a Virgin, pregnant and very beautiful, clothed in a white mantle and a finely woven tunic through which from without I could clearly discern her virginal flesh. Her womb was full and much swollen, for she was now ready to give birth. With her there was a very dignified old man; and with them they had both an ox and an ass. When they had entered the cave, and after the ox and the ass had been tied to the manger, the old man went outside and brought to the Virgin a lighted candle and fixed it in the wall and went outside in order not to be personally present at the birth.

And so the Virgin then took the shoes from her feet, put off the white mantle that covered her, removed the veil from her head, and laid these things beside her, remaining in only her tunic, with her most beautiful hair - as if of gold - spread out upon her shoulders. She then drew out two small cloths of linen and two of wool, very clean and finely woven, which she carried with her to wrap the infant that was to be born, and two other small linens to cover and bind his head; and she laid these cloths beside her that she might use them in due time.[3] And when all these things had thus been prepared, then the Virgin knelt with great reverence, putting herself at prayer; and she kept her back toward the manger and her face lifted to heaven toward the east. And so, with raised hands and with her eyes intent on heaven, she was as if suspended in an ecstasy of contemplation, inebriated with divine sweetness. And while she was thus in prayer, I saw the One lying in her womb then move; and then and there, in a moment and the twinkling of an eye, she gave birth to a Son, from whom there went out such great and ineffable light and splendour that the sun could not be compared to it. Nor did that candle that the old man had put in place give light at all because that divine splendour totally eclipsed the material splendour of the candle. [4]
And so sudden and momentary was that manner of giving birth that I was unable to notice or discern how or in what member she was giving birth. But yet, at once, I saw that glorious infant lying on the earth, naked and glowing in the greatest of neatness. His flesh was most clean of all filth and uncleanness. I saw also the afterbirth, lying wrapped very neatly beside him. And then I heard the wonderfully sweet and most dulcet songs of the angels. And the Virgin's womb, which before the birth had been very swollen, at once retracted; and her body then looked wonderfully beautiful and delicate.[2] When therefore the Virgin felt that she had now given birth, at once, having bowed her head and joined her hands, with great dignity and reverence she adored the boy and said to him: ”Welcome, my God, my Lord, and my Son!” And then the boy, crying and, as it were, trembling from the cold and the hardness of the pavement where he lay, rolled a little and extended his limbs, seeking to find refreshment and his Mother's favour. Then his Mother took him in her hands and pressed him to her breast, and with cheek and breast she warmed him with great joy and tender maternal compassion.

Then, sitting on the earth, she put her Son in her lap and deftly caught his umbilical cord with her fingers. At once it was cut off, and from it no liquid or blood went out. And at once she began to wrap him carefully, first in the linen cloths and then in the woolen, binding his little body, legs, and arms with a ribbon that had been sewn into four parts of the outer wollen cloth. And afterward she wrapped and tied on the boy's head those two small linen cloths that she had prepared for this purpose.

When these things therefore were accomplished, the old man entered; and prostrating on the earth, he adored him on bended knee and wept for joy. Not even at the birth was that Virgin changed in colour or by infirmity. Nor was there in her any such failure of bodily strength as usually happens in other women giving birth, except that her swollen womb retracted to the prior state in which it had been before she conceived the boy. Then, however, she arose, holding the boy in her arms; and together both of them, namely, she and Joseph, put him in the manger, and on bended knee they continued to adore him with gladness and immense joy.

A revelation in Bethlehem at the manger of the Lord, on the same matter as above.
Chapter 22

Afterwards again in the same place, the Virgin Mary appeared to me and said: ”My daughter, it is a long time ago that I promised you in Rome that I would show to you here in Bethlehem the manner of my childbearing. And even though I showed to you in Naples something about this - namely, what state I was in when I gave birth to my Son - nevertheless, know for very certain that I was in such a state and gave birth in such a manner as you have now seen: on bended knee, praying alone in the stable. For I gave birth to him with such great exultation and joy of soul that I felt no discomfort when he went out of my body, and no pain. But at once I wrapped him in the small clean cloths that I had prepared long before.

When Joseph saw these things, he marveled with great gladness and the joy from the fact that I had thus, without help, given birth. But because the great multitude of people in Bethlehem were busy about the census, they were therefore so attentive to it that the wonders of God could not be publish among them. And therefore know for a truth that however much human beings, following their human perception, try to assert that my Son was born in the common manner, it is nevertheless more true an beyond any doubt that he was born just as I elsewhere told you and just as you now have seen.”

It was at the manger of the Lord that this revelation was made to the same lady in Bethlehem: how the shepherds came to the manger to adore the newborn Christ.

Chapter 23

I saw also in the same place, while the Virgin Mary and Joseph were adoring the boy in the manger, that shepherds and guardians of the flock then came to see and adore the infant. When they had seen it, they first wished to inquire whether it were male or female because the angels announced to them that the Saviour of the world had been born and had not said ”savioress.” Therefore the Virgin Mother then showed to them the infant's natural parts and male sex; and at once they adored him with great reverence and joy; and afterward they returned praising and glorifying God for all these things that they had heard and seen.

This revelation she had in Bethlehem, in the chapel where Christ was born. In it, Mary tells her how the three magi kings adored Christ, her Son.

Chapter 24

The same Mother of the Lord also said to me: ”My daughter, know that when the three magi kings came into the stable to adore my Son, I had foreknown their coming well in advance. And when they entered and adored him, then my Son exulted, and for joy he had then a more cheerful face. I too rejoiced exceedingly; and I was gladdened by the wonderful joy of exultation in my mind, while being attentive to their words and actions, keeping those things and reflecting on them in my heart.”

O Lord, ✠ thou wilt open my lips.

David in Prayer. Willem Vrelant. (Flemish, early 1460s)
Getty Centre [Public Domain]

V. Dómine, lábia ✠ (Sign of cross over lips) mea apéries.
V. O Lord, ✠ open thou my lips.

R. Et os meum annuntiábit laudem tuam.
R. And my mouth shall declare thy praise.

These words come from verse 17 of Psalm 50 and open Matins every day. In the literal sense, King David is asking for permission to praise God worthily again after his sin. In the particular case of the monk, these are the first words said aloud in the darkness after the nightly great silence.  For all of us, the night is the dark night of our sin, recalling that sin is the death of the soul. We pray that we may arise to the light of a new day, contrite and refreshed in the hope of being allowed to sing God's praises once more.

Totus tuus ego sum 
Et omnia mea tua sunt;
Tecum tutus semper sum:
Ad Jesum per Mariam

Here is the context of the words in verse 17:

[16] Libera me de sanguinibus, Deus, Deus salutis meae, et exsultabit lingua mea justitiam tuam.
Deliver me from blood, O God, thou God of my salvation: and my tongue shall extol thy justice.
[17] Domine, labia mea aperies, et os meum annuntiabit laudem tuam.
O Lord, thou wilt open my lips: and my mouth shall declare thy praise.
[18] Quoniam si voluisses sacrificium, dedissem utique; holocaustis non delectaberis.
For if thou hadst desired sacrifice, I would indeed have given it: with burnt offerings thou wilt not be delighted.
[19] Sacrificium Deo spiritus contribulatus; cor contritum et humiliatum, Deus, non despicies.
A sacrifice to God is an afflicted spirit: a contrite and humbled heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.

St Robert Bellarmine's commentary

Having prayed shortly before for his sins to be washed away, and having promised that he would teach sinners the ways of the Lord, David now prays to be freed from the punishment which Urias’s blood, unjustly spilt, called for, and promises to praise God’s justice. “Deliver me;” save me from the voice of Urias’s blood, which, unjustly spilled by me, cries out to thee and calls for vengeance; “Deliver me,” for he fancied he saw the blood, like a soldier in arms, staring him in the face; and, therefore, with great propriety, he adds, “O God, the God of my salvation;” for to deliver from imminent danger is the province of a Saviour; and this, too, is a reason for his adding, “and my tongue shall extol thy justice;” for true deliverance and salvation was then had through the merits of Christ in prospective, as the same is had now through the same merits as of the past. The merits of Christ have in them the very essence of justice, and deserve the most unbounded praises both of lips and of heart on our part.

The consequence of the perfect justification and salvation of the sinner is, that his lips, which were wont to praise God, but were closed by sin, through his pardon should be opened again to praise and thank his Redeemer. He, therefore, says, “O Lord, thou wilt open any lips,” by forgiving and pardoning my sins, and restoring my joy and confidence; you will open my lips, and then “my mouth shall declare thy praise,” by proclaiming your mercy and justice, not only to the present but to all future ages.

He assigns a reason for offering the sacrifice of praise, because sacrifices of cattle are not pleasing to God; as if he said, “My mouth shall announce thy praise,” because I know you to prefer such sacrifice to that of brute animals; and if such sacrifices were pleasing to you, I would not hesitate in offering them. It is not to be inferred from this, that sacrifices of brute animals were in no respect pleasing to God, when it is clear, from the book of Leviticus, that they were instituted and ordered to be offered by him; but they are said to be of no value essentially, as if the slaughter of cattle were, in itself, a thing agreeable, or useful, or necessary to God. They are also said to be of no value in comparison with the sacrifice of the Eucharist, as appears from Malachias 1, where the old sacrifices, it is said, will cease, when “The clean oblation will be offered in all nations.” Sacrifices are also said to be of no value when they are offered by sinners, as we have in Isaias 1, “Obedience being more pleasing to God than the offering of victims.” Finally, sacrifices are said to be of no value as regards the expiation of sin; for, as the Apostle says, “It is impossible that sins could be taken away by the blood of bulls and goats;” and it is in such sense that David says here, “If thou hadst desired sacrifice,” for the remission of my sins, “I would indeed have given it;” but because “with burnt offerings thou wilt not be delighted,” so as to forgive me my sins through them, therefore “My mouth shall declare thy praise;” for, as we said in the explanation of the last Psalm, such sacrifice is the one most acceptable to God, being lighted on the altar of the heart with the fire of charity.

He explains more fully how acceptable to God is the sacrifice of praise; that sacrifice that springs from a contrite and humbled heart, when man, acknowledging his own misery and God’s mercy, humbles himself before his power, attributing all honour and glory to him, and confusion and disgrace to himself, as we read in Daniel 9, “Justice to thee, O Lord, but to us confusion of face;” and a little further on, “To us, O Lord, confusion of face, to our kings, our princes, and our fathers who have sinned, but to you, our Lord God, mercy and propitiation.” The expressions, “afflicted spirit” and “contrite heart,” are the same, and the one Hebrew expression is only given for both, but the interpreter chose to vary the words, and the meaning is the same. The spirit is said to be afflicted when the soul is affected with grief, and thus placed in trouble, by reason of the sin committed against God; so also, the heart is said to be contrite when the soul, full of grief for the sin committed, is, as it were, torn asunder, and reduced into powder, from its strong hardness and insensibility. Such contrition is the sacrifice most acceptable to God, for as well as he is offended by our sins, he is appeased by our repentance; and very properly is now added, “A contrite and humbled heart, O Lord, thou wilt not despise;” for God despises the proud, and resists them; but to the humble (who willingly submit to him) he always gives his grace, James 4.

The works of justice that please God as true spiritual sacrifices are the effect of justification, according to the Apostle, Heb. 13, “And do not forget to do good, and to impart, for by such sacrifices God’s favour is obtained;” and 1 Pet. 2, “Offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.”[1]—“Then,” when I shall have been thoroughly renewed and justified, “shalt thou accept the sacrifice of justice;” all the good works of mine and my people, “oblations and whole burnt offerings.” All which good works will be so many spiritual oblations, so many spiritual holocausts. Spiritual oblations are the offering of one’s substance or property in alms for the love of God; and spiritual holocausts are the dedication of one’s self entirely to do God’s will and commands, according to Rom. 11, “I beseech you therefore brethren, by the mercy of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, pleasing to God, your reasonable service.”—“Then shall they lay calves upon thy altar.” When it shall be seen that such sacrifices of justice are the most acceptable to you, people will vie with each other in loading your altar, not with the ordinary sacrifices, but with the most precious; for that of the calf was considered the sacrifice most valuable; and thus the “laying calves upon the altar” means the offering of works of the most perfect justice to the Lord God.

[1]  Compare these observations to the words recommended at Fatima in 1917 to the little seers when offering sacrifices:

O my Jesus, it is for love of Thee, for the conversion of sinners and 
in reparation for sins committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

Totus tuus ego sum 
Et omnia mea tua sunt;
Tecum tutus semper sum:
Ad Jesum per Mariam

O God, ☩ come to my assistance

The Nativity. Willem Vrelant. Early 1460s.
Getty Centre. [Public Domain]

V. Deus ☩ (Large sign of the cross) in adjutórium meum inténde.
V.  O God, ☩ come to my assistance;

R. Dómine, ad adjuvándum me festína.
R. O Lord, make haste to help me.

These words form the introductory prayer to every Hour of the Office. They may also fittingly serve as an introduction to the posts which I propose to publish on this site.

Totus tuus ego sum 
Et omnia mea tua sunt;
Tecum tutus semper sum:
Ad Jesum per Mariam

The words come from Psalm 69: Deus in adjutorium. A prayer in persecution. St Robert Bellarmine writes:

(This is) A verse celebrated in the Catholic Church, as all the divine offices commence with it. For though it is peculiarly applicable to Christ hanging on the cross, it may be used by all the faithful in any danger whatever; and as we are in daily and great danger while we are on our pilgrimage here, and while “our adversary the devil goes about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour;” it is not only lawful, but expedient to repeat this verse very frequently. In this verse we ask great and speedy help to avert a great and imminent danger.

Psalm 69

[1] In finem. Psalmus David in rememorationem, quod salvum fecerit eum Dominus.
Unto the end, a psalm for David, to bring to remembrance that the Lord saved him.

[2] Deus, in adjutorium meum intende; Domine, ad adjuvandum me festina.
O God, come to my assistance; O Lord, make haste to help me.

[3] Confundantur, et revereantur, qui quaerunt animam meam.
Let them be confounded and ashamed that seek my soul:

[4] Avertantur retrorsum, et erubescant, qui volunt mihi mala; avertantur statim erubescentes qui dicunt mihi : Euge, euge!
Let them be turned backward, and blush for shame that desire evils to me: Let them be presently turned away blushing for shame that say to me: Tis well, tis well.

[5] Exsultent et laetentur in te omnes qui quaerunt te; et dicant semper : Magnificetur Dominus, qui diligunt salutare tuum.
Let all that seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee; and let such as love thy salvation say always: The Lord be magnified.

[6] Ego vero egenus et pauper sum; Deus, adjuva me. Adjutor meus et liberator meus es tu; Domine, ne moreris.
But I am needy and poor; O God, help me. Thou art my helper and my deliverer: O Lord, make no delay.

Abbot Isaac in St John Cassian’s Conferences

Saint Benedict (480-543) made frequent use of the Deus in adjutorium, a reflection of ancient monastic practice. St John Cassian (360-435see end of post[1]) writes as follows in Conference X, Chapter 10:

"O God, make speed to save me: O Lord, make haste to help me,"...this verse ... embraces all the feelings which can be implanted in human nature, and can be fitly and satisfactorily adapted to every condition, and all assaults. Since it contains an invocation of God against every danger, it contains humble and pious confession, it contains the watchfulness of anxiety and continual fear, it contains the thought of one's own weakness, confidence in the answer, and the assurance of a present and ever ready help.
For one who is constantly calling on his protector, is certain that He is always at hand. It contains the glow of love and charity, it contains a view of the plots, and a dread of the enemies, from which one, who sees himself day and night hemmed in by them, confesses that he cannot be set free without the aid of his defender. This verse is an impregnable wall for all who are labouring under the attacks of demons, as well as impenetrable coat of mail and a strong shield.
It does not suffer those who are in a state of moroseness and anxiety of mind, or depressed by sadness or all kinds of thoughts to despair of saving remedies, as it shows that He, who is invoked, is ever looking on at our struggles and is not far from His suppliants. It warns us whose lot is spiritual success and delight of heart that we ought not to be at all elated or puffed up by our happy condition, which it assures us cannot last without God as our protector, while it implores Him not only always but even speedily to help us.
This verse, I say, will be found helpful and useful to every one of us in whatever condition we may be. For one who always and in all matters wants to be helped, shows that he needs the assistance of God not only in sorrowful or hard matters but also equally in prosperous and happy ones, that he may be delivered from the one and also made to continue in the other, as he knows that in both of them human weakness is unable to endure without His assistance.
I am affected by the passion of gluttony. I ask for food of which the desert knows nothing, and in the squalid desert there are wafted to me odours of royal dainties and I find that even against my will I am drawn to long for them. I must at once say: O God, come to my assistance; O Lord, make haste to help me. I am incited to anticipate the hour fixed for supper, or I am trying with great sorrow of heart to keep to the limits of the right and regular meagre fare. I must cry out with groans: O God, come to my assistance; O Lord, make haste to help me. Weakness of the stomach hinders me when wanting severer fasts, on account of the assaults of the flesh, or dryness of the belly and constipation frightens me. In order that effect may be given to my wishes, or else that the fire of carnal lust may be quenched without the remedy of a stricter fast, I must pray: O God, come to my assistance; O Lord, make haste to help me. When I come to supper, at the bidding of the proper hour I loathe taking food and am prevented from eating anything to satisfy the requirements of nature: I must cry with a sigh: O God, come to my assistance; O Lord, make haste to help me.
When I want for the sake of steadfastness of heart to apply myself to reading a headache interferes and stops me, and at the third hour sleep glues my head to the sacred page, and I am forced either to overstep or to anticipate the time assigned to rest; and finally an overpowering desire to sleep forces me to cut short the canonical rule for service in the Psalms: in the same way I must cry out: O God, come to my assistance; O Lord, make haste to help me.
Sleep is withdrawn from my eyes, and for many nights I find myself wearied out with sleeplessness caused by the devil, and all repose and rest by night is kept away from my eyelids; I must sigh and pray: O God, come to my assistance; O Lord, make haste to help me.
While I am still in the midst of a struggle with sin suddenly an irritation of the flesh affects me and tries by a pleasant sensation to draw me to consent while in my sleep. In order that a raging fire from without may not burn up the fragrant blossoms of chastity, I must cry out: O God, come to my assistance; O Lord, make haste to help me. I feel that the incentive to lust is removed, and that the heat of passion has died away in my members: In order that this good condition acquired, or rather that this grace of God may continue still longer or forever with me, I must earnestly say: O God, come to my assistance; O Lord, make haste to help me.
I am disturbed by the pangs of anger, covetousness, gloominess, and driven to disturb the peaceful state in which I was, and which was dear to me: In order that I may not be carried away by raging passion into the bitterness of gall, I must cry out with deep groans: O God, come to my assistance; O Lord, make haste to help me.
I am tried by being puffed up by accidie, vainglory, and pride, and my mind with subtle thoughts flatters itself somewhat on account of the coldness and carelessness of others: In order that this dangerous suggestion of the enemy may not get the mastery over me, I must pray with all contrition of heart: O God, come to my assistance; O Lord, make haste to help me. I have gained the grace of humility and simplicity, and by continually mortifying my spirit have got rid of the swellings of pride: In order that the "foot of pride" may not again "come against me," and "the hand of the sinner disturb me," and that I may not be more seriously damaged by elation at my success, I must cry with all my might, O God, come to my assistance; O Lord, make haste to help me.
I am on fire with innumerable and various wanderings of soul and shiftiness of heart, and cannot collect my scattered thoughts, nor can I even pour forth my prayer without interruption and images of vain figures, and the recollection of conversations and actions, and I feel myself tied down by such dryness and barrenness that I feel I cannot give birth to any offspring in the shape of spiritual ideas: In order that it may be vouchsafed to me to be set free from this wretched state of mind, from which I cannot extricate myself by any number of sighs and groans, I must full surely cry out: O God, come to my assistance; O Lord, make haste to help me. Again, I feel that by the visitation of the Holy Spirit I have gained purpose of soul, steadfastness of thought, keenness of heart, together with an ineffable joy and transport of mind, and in the exuberance of spiritual feelings I have perceived by a sudden illumination from the Lord an abounding revelation of most holy ideas which were formerly altogether hidden from me: In order that it may be vouchsafed to me to linger for a longer time in them I must often and anxiously exclaim: O God, come to my assistance; O Lord, make haste to help me.
Encompassed by nightly horrors of devils I am agitated, and am disturbed by the appearances of unclean spirits, my very hope of life and salvation is withdrawn by the horror of fear. Flying to the safe refuge of this verse, I will cry out with all my might: O God, come to my assistance; O Lord, make haste to help me. Again, when I have been restored by the Lord's consolation, and, cheered by His coming, feel myself encompassed as if by countless thousands of angels, so that all of a sudden I can venture to seek the conflict and provoke a battle with those whom a while ago I dreaded worse than death, and whose touch or even approach I felt with a shudder both of mind and body: In order that the vigour of this courage may, by God's grace, continue in me still longer, I must cry out with all my powers: O God, come to my assistance; O Lord, make haste to help me.
We must then ceaselessly and continuously pour forth the prayer of this verse, in adversity that we may be delivered, in prosperity that we may be preserved and not puffed up. Let the thought of this verse, I tell you, be conned over in your breast without ceasing. Whatever work you are doing, or office you are holding, or journey you are going, do not cease to chant this. When you are going to bed, or eating, and in the last necessities of nature, think on this. This thought in your heart maybe to you a saving formula, and not only keep you unharmed by all attacks of devils, but also purify you from all faults and earthly stains, and lead you to that invisible and celestial contemplation, and carry you on to that ineffable glow of prayer, of which so few have any experience.
Let sleep come upon you still considering this verse, till having been moulded by the constant use of it, you grow accustomed to repeat it even in your sleep. When you wake let it be the first thing to come into your mind, let it anticipate all your waking thoughts, let it when you rise from your bed send you down on your knees, and thence send you forth to all your work and business, and let it follow you about all day long. This you should think about, according to the Lawgiver's charge, "at home and walking forth on a journey," Deuteronomy 6:7 sleeping and waking. This you should write on the threshold and door of your mouth, this you should place on the walls of your house and in the recesses of your heart so that when you fall on your knees in prayer this may be your chant as you kneel, and when you rise up from it to go forth to all the necessary business of life it may be your constant prayer as you stand.

[1] St. John Cassian was born in the Danube Delta in what is now Dobrogea, Romania, in about 360 (some sources instead place him as a native of Gaul). In 382 he entered a monastery in Bethlehem and after several years there was granted permission, along with his friend St. Germanus of Dobrogea, to visit the Desert Fathers in Egypt. They remained in Egypt until 399, except for a brief period when they returned to Bethlehem and were released from the monastery there. Upon leaving Egypt they went to Constantinople, where they met St. John Chrysostom, who ordained St. John Cassian as a deacon. He had to leave Constantinople in 403 when Chrysostom was exiled, eventually settling close to Marseilles, where he was ordained priest and founded two monasteries, one for women and one for men. St. John's most famous works are the Institutes, which detail how to live the monastic life, and the Conferences, which provide details of conversations between John and Germanus and the Desert Fathers. St. John died peacefully in 435.

Totus tuus ego sum 
Et omnia mea tua sunt;
Tecum tutus semper sum:
Ad Jesum per Mariam