Keep Us both Outwardly and Inwardly

O God,
you see that we have no strength in ourselves.
Keep us both outwardly and inwardly.
Defend us from all adversities which hurt the body,
and cleanse us from all evil thoughts
which afflict the mind;
through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever.
Amen.

Source: Gregorian Sacramentary, 8th Century, Historic Collect for the Second Sunday in Lent

Source of this version: Translation © 2016 Paul C. Stratman

This translation is licensed by Paul C. Stratman under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Please contact for permission for any commercial use.

“which afflict the mind,” the Latin word mentes can also be translated as “soul.”