The Holy Father asks all of us to pray in a particular way to the Holy Spirit during this time, using the ancient prayer, Adsumus Domine Sancte Spiritus (We are present before thee, O Lord Holy Spirit). Pope St. John XXIII asked that the Council Fathers at the Second Vatican Council recite this venerable prayer in Latin daily as a means of invoking the presence of the Spirit in the Church’s deliberations. In the Diocese of Orange, we are providing an original translation of this traditional prayer into English exactly as it was said at Vatican II, and we would like to encourage everyone to join in this prayer together as we begin our synodal journey as the Church of Orange.
We are present before thee, O Lord Holy Spirit
We are present though we are weighed down by the gravity of our sins.
Yet in thy name, we are gathered for a special task.
Come to us, be with us, and deign to enter our hearts.
Teach us what we should do and where we should go,
and show us what we ought to accomplish,
that with thy help we may have the strength to please thee in all things.
Be thou the only inspiration and perfecter of our judgments, thou who alone with
God the Father and His Son hast a glorious name.
Suffer us not to disturb the order of justice, thou who lovest equity above all else.
Let not ignorance draw us into darkened ways; let not partiality sway us; let not
the taking of gifts nor the respect of persons corrupt our minds.
But unite us to thee efficaciously by the gift of thy grace alone, that we may be one
in thee and in nothing deviate from the truth.
Wherefore, being gathered in thy name, may we hold fast in all things the course
of justice by the rudder of piety,
so that even here our verdict may dissent from thee in nothing, and in the age to
come our good deeds may obtain for us an everlasting reward.
Amen.