Copied from Stephen Hurlbut, The Picture of the Heavenly Jerusalem in the Writings of Johannes of Fecamp, De contemplativa Vita and in the Elizabethan Hymns. Washington, D.C. Saint Albans Press, 1943 (de facto a collection of 8 successive articles). Just brilliant.
VIII COMPOSITION OF THE LIBER MEDITATIONUM
THE final step, by which the Liber Supputationum was changed into the Ps.-Augustinian Liber Meditationum, was taken quite late, probably toward the end of the 14th, or even early in the 15th century, if we can judge from the date of the existing manuscripts, all of which are of the 15th or 16th century. We have already seen (VI, 7) that Bartholomaeus of Urbino in the first half of the 14th century was still unacquainted with this form of the work; yet the place of this final recension seems to have been Italy, and the work done under Augustinian auspices. Only about a dozen manuscripts of the Liber Meditationum are known, truly “un maigre butin,” as Dom Wilmart well says.It is reasonable to assume that if the change had occurred earlier, we should find a greater number of Meditationes and a correspondingly smaller number of Supputationes, whereas the opposite is true.
COMPOSITION OF THE LIBER MEDITATIONUM
CHAPTER
1-9 Meditationes ad patrem, filium, et spiritum sanctum.
[Metz Lib. II, Oratio X, = Ps.-Anselm, Orationes. X, ll, XIV.]
1-4 = Ps.-Anselm, Orat. X, Ad deum.
Domine deus meus, da cordi meo te desiderare …
Des . … trahe me quatinus post te currere in odorem tuorum delecter unguentorum. [The balance, omitted in the Med., is found in Metz 245 (f. 86v-88′), and in Ps.-Anselm, Orat. X, and ends: … facias, quatinus per timoris servitutem ad amoris merear pertingere gratiam.
5-8 = Ps.-Anselm, Orat. II, Ad deum patrem per merita filii.1
Invoco te, deus meus, invoco te, quia prope es omnibus ….
Des . . . tranquillitas inquietudinem, dulcedo amaritudinem, suavitas iram, caritas lucrificat crudelitatem.
9 = Ps.-Anselm, Orat. XIV, Ad spiritum sanctum.
Iam, o divini amor numinis, patris omnipotentis …
Des . … secundum multitudinem tuarum complaceat miserationum, per Iesum Christum, salvatorem meum, qui cum patre in tua unitate vivit et regnat per omnia s. s. Amen.
10 = Ps.-Anselm, Orat. XXI.
Scio, domine, scio et fateor quia non sum dignus …
Des . … Praesta mihi in finem ut me excipiat somnus cum requie, requies cum securitate, securitas in aeternitate. Amen.
Liber Supputationum.
[ Chap. 11-25: Liber Supputationum, Partes I, II.]
11 Brevis Oratio ad Sanctam Trinitatem.
Te deum patrem ingenitum, te filium unigenitum … (reeds bestaand gebed?)
Wat nu volgt is de tekst van het oorspronkelijke boek van Jean de Fécamp,
Johannis Fiscamnensis Libellus Prior.
12-17 = Johannis Libellus I, pars prima.
12 SVMMA TRINITAS, virtus una, et indiscreta maiestas …
13 Hucusque omnipotens deus cordis mei inspector …
14 Desperare utique potuissem propter nimia peccata mea …
15 O immensa pietas, o inestimabilis caritas …
16 Gratias itaque ago labiis et corde …
17 O quantum sumus tibi debitores, domine deus noster …
Des. … et beata tui sine fine visio et laudatio, ubi tu cum illo et ille tecum in communione sancti spiritus aeternaliter ac sempiternaliter vivis et regnas, per omnia s. s. Amen.
18-25 = Johannis Libellus I, pars secunda.
18 SPES mea Christe deus, hominum tu dulcis amator …
19 Haec est domus tua, deus, non terrena …
20 O domus dei luminosa et speciosa, dilexi decorem tuum …
21 Taedet enim me, domine, valde vitae huius …
22 O tu vita quam praeparavit deus his qui diligunt eum …
23 Felix anima quae terreno resoluta corpore …
24 Felices sancti dei omnes, qui iam pertransistis …
25 Mater Ierusalem, civitas sancta dei …
Des. … Qui diligit me, diligetur a patre meo, et ego diligam eum et manifestabo ei me ipsum.
Chap. 26 [25 when chapter 11 is not separately numbered]
Peter Damiani, Hymnus de Gloria Paradisi.
Ad perennis vitae fontem mens sitivit arida …
Des . … Teque merear potiri sine fine praemio. Amen.
[Chap. 27-33: Liber Supputationum, Pars Ill.]
27 -33 = Johannis Libellus I, pars tertia.
27 BENEDIC anima mea domino et omnia quae intra me sunt …
28 Quamquam autem illa summa et incommutabilis essentia …
29 O summe, optime, omnipotentissime, misericordissime …
30 Tu vero unitas deitatis, personarum pluralitate multiplex …
31 Invocat itaque, domine, te fides mea quam dedisti mihi …
32 Deus vera et summa vita, a quo, per quem, et in quo …
33 Tibi sancti et humiles corde, tibi spiritus et animae …
Des . … Te decet laus, te decet hymnus, tibi debetur omnis gloria, tibi benedictio et claritas, tibi gratiarum actio, tibi honor, virtus, et fortitudo, deo nostro in secula sec. Amen.
Chap. 34 = Johannis Libellus II, Orat. IV [Ps.-Anselm, Or. V]
lgnosce domine, ignosce pie, ignosce et miserere …
Des . … Beati qui habitant in domo tua, domine, in saecula saeculorum laudabunt te.
[Chap. 35, 36, 37: Liber Supputationum, Partes IV, V, VI]
35-37 = Johannis Libellus I, preces i, ii, iii+iv.
35 = Ps.-Anselm, Orat. XVII.
IESU nostra redemptio, amor, et desiderium …
Des. . . . intercedente et orante et impetrante gloriosa virgine genetrice tua, domina mea, cum omnibus sanctis. Amen.
36 = Ps.-Anselm, Orat. XVI.
CHRISTE domine, verbum patris, qui venisti …
Des . … da mihi effectum petitionis et desiderii mei, precibus et meritis omnium sanctorum. Amen.
37 = Ps.-Anselm, Orat. XVIII-XIX, omitting a portion at the end of xviii and at the beginning of xix, as in the Supputationum
IESU domine, Iesu pie, qui mori dignatus es ….
Des. … quem in terra positus tota virtute dilexi, tota caritate amplexus sum, toto amore inhaesi, ipsum laudo, benedico, atque adoro, qui vivit et regnat in seculum sec. Amen.
[Finis Libri Supputationum.]
Chap. 38 = Johannis Libellus II, Oratio VIII.
Miserere domine, miserere pie, miserere mihi …
Des. …. sicut tu nosti quod mihi necesse est in corpore et in anima: scis omnia, potes omnia, qui vivis in secula.
Chap. 39 An anonymous prayer based on genuine works of Anselm.
Domine Iesu Christe, fili dei vivi, qui expansis in cruce…
Des . … trahe me ad te, ut tuus sim imitatione et dilectione, sicut tuus sum conditione, qui vivis et regnas in secula.
Chap. 40 An anonymous prayer of the 11th century, based on earlier prayers of the 7th to 9th centuries.
Domine deus omnipotens, qui es trinus et unus …
Des. ... in sancto paradiso tuo perseverare facias, qui es benedictus in secula seculorum. Amen.
Chap. 41 A genuine prayer of Anselm (Orat. XX.)
Domine Iesu Christe, redemptio mea, misericordia mea …
Des. ... veniet interea fortasse redemptor meus, quia bonus est, nectar dabit, quia pius est. Ipsi gloria in secula sec. Amen.
The above analysis shows by what changes and additions the Meditationes were formed from the Supputationes. The old division into six partes has given way to 40 (or 41 2 short chapter divisions, the brief headings of which were taken over into the early printed editions from the manuscripts, and remained the same until the great Maurist edition of 1685 supplied new headings to fit a new division of the text.
- ch. 7 contains the epochal ‘Quid commisisti‘ meditation/oration (Anselmian) which inspired Johann Heermann to Herzliebster Jesu was hast du verbrochen, and many others
- The number varies from 39 to 41, because c. 11 is usually not numbered, and some MSS omit the hymn of Damiani (ch. 25/26)