Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Spiritus Sanctus

Here is today's distich by John Owen, with an English translation by Thomas Harvey, 3.34. Owen's elegant little epigram is reinforced by the manifestation of the divine spirit in the form of a dove at the time of Jesus' baptism (Luke 3:22): et descendit Spiritus Sanctus corporali specie sicut columba in ipsum.

Spiritus Sanctus
Ut semper veniunt ad candida tecta columbae,
Ingreditur sanctus candida corda Deus.


THE HOLY SPIRIT
As Doves to whitest Houses soonest come,
So th’ holy God makes cleanest Hearts his home.


The vocabulary is keyed to the DCC Latin Vocabulary list. There is only one word in this poem that is not on the DCC list:

columba - dove, pigeon

ad: to, up to, towards (+acc.)
candidus -a -um: white, fair
cor cordis n.: heart; cordī est, it is pleasing to (+ dat.)
deus -ī m.; dea -ae f. god; goddess
īngredior -gredī -gressus sum: step in, enter
sānctus -a -um: sacred, inviolable
semper: always, ever
spīritus -ūs m.: breath, life, spirit
tēctum -ī n.: roof; building, house
ut, uti: as (+ indic.); so that, with the result that (+ subj.)
veniō venīre vēnī ventum: come