# Prayer (Ephemeris 3)

- Author: [Decimus Magnus Ausonius](https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/authors/ausonius/)
- Latin title: *Oratio (Ephemeris 3)*
- Date: ca. 360-390 (approximate)
- Source: J.-P. Migne, ed., Patrologiae cursus completus, series Latina, vol. 19 (Paris), cols. 839-841 (Latin text: Migne, Patrologia Latina 19, digitized by Open Greek and Latin (patrologia_latina-dev, University of Leipzig), CC BY-SA 4.0)

- Translation: Claude, from the original text, unless a passage says otherwise; each passage below gives the translator
- Editions and translations: Decimus Magnus Ausonius, Opera, ed. Rudolf Peiper (Leipzig: Teubner, 1886); Ausonius, Opuscula, ed. Karl Schenkl, MGH Auctores antiquissimi 5.2 (Berlin, 1883)
- Work page: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/ausonius-oratio/
- Passages: 4

## Oratio (Ephemeris 3), lines 1-23

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/ausonius-oratio/1/#p-1
- Source: PL 19:839–840
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-10-23

Summary: The opening of Ausonius’s morning prayer: God known only to the devout mind, and the Son, the Word through whom all was made, who suffered and opened the way back to eternal life.

### Latin text

Omnipotens, solo mentis mihi cognite cultu, / Ignorate malis, et nulli ignote piorum, / Principio, extremoque carens : antiquior aevo. / Quod fuit, aut veniet : cujus formamque modumque / Nec mens complecti poterit, nec lingua profari : / Cernere quem solus coramque audire jubentem / Fas habet, et patriam propter considere dextram : / Ipse opifex rerum, rebus causa ipsa creandis, / Ipse Dei Verbum, Verbum Deus, anticipator / Mundi, quem facturus erat : generatus in illo / Tempore, quo tempus nondum fuit : editus ante, / Quam jubar, et rutilus coelum illustraret Eous : / Quo sine nil actum : per quem facta omnia : cujus / In coelo solium; cui subdita terra sedenti, / Et mare, et obscurae chaos insuperabile noctis : / Irrequies, cuncta ipse movens, vegetator inertum : / Non genito genitore Deus, qui fraude superbi / Offensus populi, gentes in regna vocavit, / Stirpis adoptivae meliore propage colendus : / Cernere quem licuit proavis : quo numine viso, / Et patrem vidisse datum : contagia nostra / Qui tulit : et diri passus ludibria lethi, / Esse iter aeternae docuit remeabile vitae :

### English translation (Claude)

Almighty, known to me by the worship of the mind alone,
unknown to the wicked, and to none of the devout unknown,
without beginning or end, older than all time
that has been or will come; whose form and measure
neither mind can grasp nor tongue declare;
whom he alone may see, and hear face to face as you command,
who has the right, and sits beside his Father’s right hand:
he himself the maker of things, himself the cause of things’ creation,
he himself the Word of God, the Word who is God, who went before
the world he was to make; begotten in that
time when there was not yet time; brought forth before
the sun’s radiance and the ruddy Morning Star lit up the sky;
without whom nothing was done; through whom all things were made; whose
throne is in heaven; to whom, as he sits, the earth is subject,
and the sea, and the unconquerable chaos of dark night;
never resting, himself moving all things, quickener of what is inert;
God from an unbegotten Begetter, who, offended by the deceit
of a proud people, called the nations into the kingdom,
to be worshipped by the better offspring of an adopted stock;
whom our forefathers were allowed to see; and, his divinity seen,
it was given them to have seen the Father too; who bore
our contagions, and, having suffered the mockery of a dreadful death,
taught that there is a way back to eternal life:

### Scripture references

- John 1:1: allusion, high confidence
- John 1:3: allusion, high confidence
- Col 1:17: echo, medium confidence
- Ps 110:1: echo, medium confidence
- John 14:9: allusion, high confidence
- Matt 21:43: echo, low confidence
- 1 Pet 2:24: echo, medium confidence

### Translation notes

- Ausonius, Ephemeris 3 (the morning prayer), lines 1–23; the line breaks of the verse are kept.
- Lines 6–7: the subject is the Son, who alone sees and hears the Father and sits at his right hand. A stray full stop after jubentem in the digital text is removed.
- Echoes: John 1:1–3 (the Word who is God, through whom all things were made); Col 1:15–17; John 14:9 (whoever has seen the Son has seen the Father); Rom 11:11 and Matt 21:43 (the nations called because of the people’s pride: the poet’s own formulation); 1 Pet 2:24 (who bore our contagions).

### Citation (SBL)

Ausonius, Eph. 3 1 (PL 19:839–840; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ausonius-oratio/1).

## Oratio (Ephemeris 3), lines 24-43

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/ausonius-oratio/1/#p-24
- Source: PL 19:840
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-10-23

Summary: Ausonius prays, through the Son, for a mind proof against the serpent and for the way to heaven taken by Elijah and Enoch.

### Latin text

Nec solam remeare animam, sed corpore toto / Coelestes intrare plagas, et inane sepulcri / Arcanum vacuis adopertum linquere terris. / Nate patris summi, nostroque salutifer aevo, / Virtutes patrias genitor cui tradidit omnes, / Nil ex invidia retinens, plenusque datorum, / Pande viam precibus, patriasque haec perfer ad aures. / Da, Pater, invictam contra omnia crimina mentem, / Vipereumque nefas nocituri averte veneni. / Sit satis, antiquam serpens quod perdidit Evam, / Deceptumque adjunxit Adam : nos sera nepotum / Semina, veridicis aetas praedicta prophetis, / Vitemus laqueos, quos lethifer implicat anguis. / Pande viam, quae me post vincula corporis aegri / In sublime ferat : puri qua lactea coeli / Semita ventosae superat vaga nubila Lunae. / Qua proceres abiere pii, quaque integer olim / Raptus quadrijugo penetrat super aethera curru / Helias, et solido cum corpore praevius Enoch. / Da, Pater, aeterni speratam luminis auram :

### English translation (Claude)

and that not the soul alone returns, but with the whole body
enters the regions of heaven, and leaves the empty secret of the tomb
closed over in the abandoned earth.
Son of the highest Father, bringer of salvation to our age,
to whom the Begetter handed on all his Father’s powers,
holding nothing back from envy, and you are full of what was given,
open the way for my prayers, and carry them to your Father’s ears.
Grant, Father, a mind unconquered against all sins,
and turn away the viper’s wickedness and its harmful venom.
Let it be enough that the serpent destroyed Eve of old
and joined deceived Adam to her: may we, the late seed
of their descendants, the age foretold by truth-telling prophets,
avoid the snares that the death-bringing snake entwines.
Open the way that, after the bonds of the sick body,
may carry me on high, where the milky path of the pure sky
rises above the wandering clouds of the windy Moon,
where the devout patriarchs departed, and where once, whole,
caught up in a four-horse chariot, Elijah passed above the ether,
and Enoch, who went before with his solid body.
Grant, Father, the hoped-for breath of eternal light:

### Scripture references

- Gen 3:1: allusion, high confidence
- Gen 3:6: allusion, medium confidence
- 2 Kgs 2:11: allusion, high confidence
- Gen 5:24: allusion, high confidence
- Heb 11:5: allusion, medium confidence
- John 3:35: echo, medium confidence
- 1 Cor 15:42: echo, low confidence

### Translation notes

- Ephemeris 3, lines 24–43.
- Echoes: Gen 3 (the serpent, Eve and Adam); 2 Kgs 2:11 (Elijah’s chariot); Gen 5:24 and Heb 11:5 (Enoch); John 3:35, 16:15 (all the Father’s things given to the Son); 1 Cor 15 (bodily resurrection).
- Digitization slips corrected: sepuleri → sepulcri, a stray comma after salutifer.

### Citation (SBL)

Ausonius, Eph. 3 24 (PL 19:840; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ausonius-oratio/24).

## Oratio (Ephemeris 3), lines 44-66

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/ausonius-oratio/1/#p-44
- Source: PL 19:840–841
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-10-23

Summary: Ausonius confesses faith in the Father, the Only-begotten and the Spirit, renounces pagan worship and divination, and asks for a blameless, modest life.

### Latin text

Si lapides non juro deos, unumque verendi / Suspiciens altare sacri, libamina vitae / Intemerata fero : si te Dominique, Deique, / Unigenae cognosco Patrem, missumque Duobus, / Qui super aequoreas volitabat Spiritus undas. / Da, Genitor, veniam, cruciataque pectora purga : / Si te non pecudum fibris, non sanguine fuso / Quaero : nec arcanis numen conjecto sub extis : / Si scelere abstineo, errori obnoxius : et si / Opto magis, quam fido, bonus purusque probari. / Confessam dignare animam : si membra caduca / Exsecror, et tacitum si poenitet : altaque sensus / Formido excruciat, tormentaque sera gehennae / Anticipat, patiturque suos mens saucia manes. / Da, Pater, haec nostro fieri rata vota precatu. / Nil metuam, cupiamque nihil, satis hoc rear esse, / Quod satis est. Nil turpe velim, nec causa pudoris / Sim mihi. Non faciam cuiquam, quae tempore eodem / Nollem facta mihi. Nec vero crimine laedar, / Nec maculer dubio. Paulum distare videtur / Suspectus, vereque reus. Male posse facultas / Nulla sit : at bene posse adsit tranquilla potestas. / Sim tenui victu, atque habitu. Sim charus amicis.

### English translation (Claude)

if I do not swear by stones as gods, and, looking up to the one altar
of reverent sacrifice, I bring as offerings an unstained
life; if I know you as the Father of the Lord and God,
the Only-begotten, and him who was sent by the Two,
the Spirit who hovered over the waters of the sea:
grant, Begetter, pardon, and cleanse my tormented breast;
if I seek you not in the entrails of cattle, not in blood poured out,
nor guess at your divine will beneath hidden innards;
if I keep from crime, though liable to error, and if
I wish rather than trust to be proved good and pure:
deign to accept a soul that confesses; if I loathe my perishing
limbs, and silently repent, and deep
dread tortures my senses and anticipates the late torments of Gehenna,
and my wounded mind suffers its own ghosts:
grant, Father, that these vows be made good by our prayer.
May I fear nothing, desire nothing, and think this enough,
what is enough. May I wish nothing shameful, nor be a cause of shame
to myself. May I not do to anyone what at that same time
I would not want done to me. May I not be harmed by a true charge,
nor stained by a doubtful one. Little, it seems, separates
the suspect and the truly guilty. Let me have no means
of doing harm, but let a calm power of doing good be present.
May I live on slender food and dress. May I be dear to friends,

### Scripture references

- John 15:26: allusion, medium confidence
- Gen 1:2: allusion, high confidence
- Matt 7:12: allusion, medium confidence
- 1 Tim 6:8: echo, low confidence

### Extrabiblical texts

- Tob 4:15 (Tobit): echo, low confidence

### Translation notes

- Ephemeris 3, lines 44–66.
- “Him who was sent by the Two”: the Spirit sent by the Father and the Son (cf. John 14:26; 15:26); the poet’s Trinitarian confession, translated as written.
- Echoes: Gen 1:2 (the Spirit over the waters); Ps 51:17 (a broken heart); Matt 7:12 in its negative form (cf. Tob 4:15); Phil 4:11 and 1 Tim 6:8 (content with enough).
- A stray mark after manes in the digital text is corrected to a full stop.

### Citation (SBL)

Ausonius, Eph. 3 44 (PL 19:840–841; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ausonius-oratio/44).

## Oratio (Ephemeris 3), lines 67-85

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/ausonius-oratio/1/#p-67
- Source: PL 19:841
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-10-23

Summary: The close of the morning prayer: Ausonius asks for health, peace and a calm death, and commends his prayer to Christ, true God from true God, light from light.

### Latin text

Et semper genitor, sine vulnere nominis hujus, / Non animo doleam, non corpore : cuncta quietis / Fungantur membra officiis : nec saucius ullis / Partibus amissum quidquam desideret usus. / Pace fruar. Securus agam. Miracula terrae / Nulla putem. Suprema mihi cum venerit hora, / Nec timeat mortem bene conscia vita, nec optet. / Purus ab occultis cum te indulgente videbor, / Omnia despiciam, fuerit cum sola voluptas / Judicium sperare tuum. Quod dum sua differt / Tempora, cunctaturque dies, procul exige saevum / Insidiatorem blandis erroribus anguem. / Haec pia, sed moesto trepidantia vota reatu, / Christe, apud aeternum placabilis assere Patrem. / Salvator, Deus, ac Dominus, mens, gloria, verbum, / Filius, ex vero verus, de lumine lumen, / Aeterno cum Patre manens, in saecula regnans. / Consona quem celebrant modulati carmina David : / Et responsuris ferit aera vocibus, Amen.

### English translation (Claude)

and always a father, without wound to this name;
may I not grieve in mind or in body; may all my limbs
perform their quiet offices; nor, injured in any
part, may my use of them miss anything lost.
May I enjoy peace. May I live secure. May I think
none of the earth’s wonders great. When my last hour comes,
may a life of good conscience neither fear death nor wish for it.
When by your indulgence I shall be seen pure of hidden faults,
I shall despise all things, since my only pleasure will be
to hope for your judgment. While it puts off its
times, and the day delays, drive far away the savage
ambusher, the snake with his alluring errors.
These devout vows, though trembling with sorrowful guilt,
Christ, you who can appease, plead for them before the eternal Father,
Saviour, God, and Lord, Mind, Glory, Word,
Son, true from true, light from light,
abiding with the eternal Father, reigning for ever;
whom the harmonious songs of David’s measured strains celebrate,
as the air is struck with voices about to answer: Amen.

### Scripture references

- Ps 19:12 (18:13 LXX): allusion, high confidence
- 1 John 2:1: echo, low confidence

### Translation notes

- Ephemeris 3, lines 67–85.
- “True from true, light from light”: language of the Nicene Creed. “Pure of hidden faults”: Ps 19:12 (LXX 18:13). David’s songs: the Psalms.
- Digitization slip corrected: vulnero → vulnere.

### Citation (SBL)

Ausonius, Eph. 3 67 (PL 19:841; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ausonius-oratio/67).