the "serenity prayer" in Latin?

[Owen Cramer]

A colleague has an inquiry about translating the serenity prayer, attributed to Reinhold Niebuhr, into Latin--has it been done?

The words (from Wikipedia) are these:



God, give me grace to accept with serenity
the things that cannot be changed,
Courage to change the things
which should be changed,
and the Wisdom to distinguish
the one from the other.

Living one day at a time,
Enjoying one moment at a time,
Accepting hardship as a pathway to peace,
Taking, as Jesus did,
This sinful world as it is,
Not as I would have it,
Trusting that You will make all things right,
If I surrender to Your will,
So that I may be reasonably happy in this life,
And supremely happy with You forever in the next.

[Anne Mahoney]

Apparently part of it has, and it's on a Neil Young album: the page at
http://factualworld.com/article/Serenity_Prayer gives the text as:

Deus, dona mihi serenitatem accipere res quae non possum mutare,
fortitudinem mutare res quae possum, atque sapientiam differentiam
cognoscere.

Unfortunately this is dog-Latin: infinitive for purpose, relative
pronoun either fem. nom. sg. (probably) or neut. acc. pl. (giving the
benefit of the doubt) but in neither case agreeing with "res" (fem. acc.
pl.).

--Anne Mahoney

Post by Owen Cramer
A colleague has an inquiry about translating the serenity prayer, attributed to Reinhold Niebuhr, into Latin--has it been done?

[Claude Pavur]

This is a first try. Corrections are welcome.


Deus, dona mihi gratiam
qua immutabilia aequo animo accipiam,
qua mutanda fortiter mutem,
qua haec utraque sapienter discernam

ut omnem diem separatim agam
ut omni brevi spatio separatim fruar
ut dura accipiam viam pacis
ut mundum peccatorium in modo Iesu recipiam,
qualis stet, non qualis mihi placeret,
fidens te omnia recta redditurum esse
dummodo voluntati tuae me dedam
ut hac in vita satis contente verser
et in proxima quam beatissime tecum semper.


cp

Post by Owen Cramer
A colleague has an inquiry about translating the serenity prayer,
attributed to Reinhold Niebuhr, into Latin--has it been done?
God, give me grace to accept with serenity
the things that cannot be changed,
Courage to change the things
which should be changed,
and the Wisdom to distinguish
the one from the other.
Living one day at a time,
Enjoying one moment at a time,
Accepting hardship as a pathway to peace,
Taking, as Jesus did,
This sinful world as it is,
Not as I would have it,
Trusting that You will make all things right,
If I surrender to Your will,
So that I may be reasonably happy in this life,
And supremely happy with You forever in the next.
Amen.

[Owen Cramer]

This is beautifully, worthily done, Claude. Thanks!
Owen
________________________________________
From: Classical Greek and Latin Discussion Group [CLASSICS-***@LSV.UKY.EDU] on behalf of Claude Pavur [***@SLU.EDU]
Sent: Thursday, November 29, 2012 4:28 PM
To: CLASSICS-***@LSV.UKY.EDU
Subject: Re: the "serenity prayer" in Latin?

This is a first try. Corrections are welcome.


Deus, dona mihi gratiam
qua immutabilia aequo animo accipiam,
qua mutanda fortiter mutem,
qua haec utraque sapienter discernam

ut omnem diem separatim agam
ut omni brevi spatio separatim fruar
ut dura accipiam viam pacis
ut mundum peccatorium in modo Iesu recipiam,
qualis stet, non qualis mihi placeret,
fidens te omnia recta redditurum esse
dummodo voluntati tuae me dedam
ut hac in vita satis contente verser
et in proxima quam beatissime tecum semper.


cp

Post by Owen Cramer
A colleague has an inquiry about translating the serenity prayer,
attributed to Reinhold Niebuhr, into Latin--has it been done?
God, give me grace to accept with serenity
the things that cannot be changed,
Courage to change the things
which should be changed,
and the Wisdom to distinguish
the one from the other.
Living one day at a time,
Enjoying one moment at a time,
Accepting hardship as a pathway to peace,
Taking, as Jesus did,
This sinful world as it is,
Not as I would have it,
Trusting that You will make all things right,
If I surrender to Your will,
So that I may be reasonably happy in this life,
And supremely happy with You forever in the next.
Amen.

--
Claude Pavur
Visiting Scholar, The Institute of Jesuit Sources, 2011-2013
Department of Modern and Classical Languages
Saint Louis University

[Gene O'Grady]

Hope I'm not being picky or silly, but I would remove esse after redditurum and move verser to follow semper (for which the e-mail suggest simper).

gmo

-----Original Message-----
From: Classical Greek and Latin Discussion Group [mailto:CLASSICS-***@LSV.UKY.EDU] On Behalf Of Claude Pavur
Sent: Thursday, November 29, 2012 3:28 PM
To: CLASSICS-***@LSV.UKY.EDU
Subject: Re: [CLASSICS-L] the "serenity prayer" in Latin?

This is a first try. Corrections are welcome.


Deus, dona mihi gratiam
qua immutabilia aequo animo accipiam,
qua mutanda fortiter mutem,
qua haec utraque sapienter discernam

ut omnem diem separatim agam
ut omni brevi spatio separatim fruar
ut dura accipiam viam pacis
ut mundum peccatorium in modo Iesu recipiam,
qualis stet, non qualis mihi placeret,
fidens te omnia recta redditurum esse
dummodo voluntati tuae me dedam
ut hac in vita satis contente verser
et in proxima quam beatissime tecum semper.


cp

Post by Owen Cramer
A colleague has an inquiry about translating the serenity prayer,
attributed to Reinhold Niebuhr, into Latin--has it been done?
God, give me grace to accept with serenity
the things that cannot be changed,
Courage to change the things
which should be changed,
and the Wisdom to distinguish
the one from the other.
Living one day at a time,
Enjoying one moment at a time,
Accepting hardship as a pathway to peace,
Taking, as Jesus did,
This sinful world as it is,
Not as I would have it,
Trusting that You will make all things right,
If I surrender to Your will,
So that I may be reasonably happy in this life,
And supremely happy with You forever in the next.
Amen.

[Claude Pavur]

Thank you. These are both good suggestions. But I don't so much like the
sound of "semper verser." So perhaps end with "semper tecum verser"? The
last two lines are not as even with this change, though the syntax is more
appealing.

cp

Post by Gene O'Grady
Hope I'm not being picky or silly, but I would remove esse after
redditurum and move verser to follow semper (for which the e-mail suggest
simper).
gmo
-----Original Message-----
Sent: Thursday, November 29, 2012 3:28 PM

[Owen Cramer]

My colleague now raises the question whether Reinhold Niebuhr (son of immigrant Prussian evangelical pastor and theologian Gustav Niebuhr) was related to the historian Bartold Georg Niebuhr (son of Carsten)?
OC
________________________________________
From: Classical Greek and Latin Discussion Group [CLASSICS-***@LSV.UKY.EDU] on behalf of Claude Pavur [***@SLU.EDU]
Sent: Friday, November 30, 2012 7:40 AM
To: CLASSICS-***@LSV.UKY.EDU
Subject: Re: the "serenity prayer" in Latin?

Thank you. These are both good suggestions. But I don't so much like the
sound of "semper verser." So perhaps end with "semper tecum verser"? The
last two lines are not as even with this change, though the syntax is more
appealing.

cp

Post by Gene O'Grady
Hope I'm not being picky or silly, but I would remove esse after
redditurum and move verser to follow semper (for which the e-mail suggest
simper).
gmo
-----Original Message-----
Sent: Thursday, November 29, 2012 3:28 PM

[Gene O'Grady]

Many years ago back when the San Francisco public library was in its old
location I found in the stacks a 19th century two volume biography of
Niebuhr (B G) (probably pulped twenty years ago) and think I remember that
he and his wife had a child late in life when both were dying of TB. I
would suspect that he probably doesn't have any descendents. Also, I
believe he was Danish rather than Prussian, although given the way territory
moved and the tendency I've observed in my wife's family for 19th century
Scandinavians to morph nationalities that may not matter.

Windows booksellers, which some of you may know in its Wipf and Stock
incarnation, has Niebuhr library books for sale occasionally, although I
think they're mostly from Richard.

gmo

-----Original Message-----
From: Classical Greek and Latin Discussion Group
[mailto:CLASSICS-***@LSV.UKY.EDU] On Behalf Of Owen Cramer
Sent: Sunday, December 02, 2012 9:04 AM
To: CLASSICS-***@LSV.UKY.EDU
Subject: Re: [CLASSICS-L] the "serenity prayer" in Latin?

My colleague now raises the question whether Reinhold Niebuhr (son of
immigrant Prussian evangelical pastor and theologian Gustav Niebuhr) was
related to the historian Bartold Georg Niebuhr (son of Carsten)?
OC
________________________________________
From: Classical Greek and Latin Discussion Group [CLASSICS-***@LSV.UKY.EDU] on
behalf of Claude Pavur [***@SLU.EDU]
Sent: Friday, November 30, 2012 7:40 AM
To: CLASSICS-***@LSV.UKY.EDU
Subject: Re: the "serenity prayer" in Latin?

Thank you. These are both good suggestions. But I don't so much like the
sound of "semper verser." So perhaps end with "semper tecum verser"? The
last two lines are not as even with this change, though the syntax is more
appealing.

cp

Post by Gene O'Grady
Hope I'm not being picky or silly, but I would remove esse after
redditurum and move verser to follow semper (for which the e-mail suggest
simper).
gmo
-----Original Message-----
Sent: Thursday, November 29, 2012 3:28 PM

=