I think it needs a "since" in there as it stands: "and since, because of our frailty, we cannot but fall." But better far as the way we had it back in TLH: "Keep, we beseech Thee, O Lord, Thy Church with Thy perpetual mercy; and because the frailty of man *without Thee* cannot but fall, keep us ever by Thy help from all things hurtful and lead us to all things profitable to our salvation..."
The *without Thee* is what makes it. And I have zero idea why it was omitted. The TLH prayer is actually quite a fine rendering of the original: Custódi, Dómine, quǽsumus, Ecclésiam tuam propitiatióne perpétua: at quia sine te Iábitur humána mortálitas; tuis semper auxíliis et abstrahátur a nóxiis, et ad salutária dirigátur. Note the sine Te! The collect is Gelasian.
It is an unusual collect in that the address does not come first, but the petition precedes all: KEEP, O Lord, we beseech Thee. TLH gets that; LSB smooths over it. Also worth noting the odd rendering in English of "tuam propitiatióne perpétua" with "Thy perpetual mercy." Reed suggests maybe it was out of fear (by Cramner, I suppose) of a reference to the sacrifice of the Mass. A pity, though, because the collect itself confesses that the atonement is perpetual: it stands forever. And indeed the Lord does preserve His Church by the one atonement accomplished once and for all upon Calvary and which is surely delivered into our mouths in our Savior's true body and blood in the celebration of the Holy Eucharist for the forgiveness of all our sins.
Like so many collects, those few words of the original are simple and yet they hold an astonishing depth. I wish we could do something to fix the "without Thee" though. "Apart from Me," said our Lord "you can do nothing."
2 comments:
Keep us ever, not every. The point is that when in a hurry, mistakes are made. The bigger point is that if it is not necessary to change something, don't change it.
It does very much leave the impression that the regenerate child of God is bound always to fail, no matter what, and that does not seem to reflect much confidence in the renewing ongoing work of the Holy Spirit in the Christian. Point well taken, in my opinion.
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