Conversi ad Dominum
Turn and Be Turned to the Lord
Lately I’ve had a famous phrase of Saint Augustine on my mind. It is the phrase he would use often at the end of homilies to signal that it was time to move toward the Lord at the altar and in the Eucharist. The phrase is: conversi ad Dominum. This can be translated in various ways: as an exhortation: “Let us turn to the Lord”; passively: “turned to the Lord”; or even as a command: “Turn to the Lord!”
Clearly, the liturgical context shows us that the origins of these words were indeed meant to signal a turn to God in prayer with the priest. This is, among other reasons, why Mass ad orientem is also called Mass ad Deum: Mass toward God. It is not, by any means, Mass with the priest’s back to the people! Rather, it is the priest leading people in prayer as they, together, face the Lord God.
Conversi ad Dominum does not have to be limited the liturgy, however. In fact, our whole lives should be “turned toward the Lord.” This means our daily schedule should prioritize our prayer time. Family and friends should be encouraged to turn to the Lord by our way of living. Sin must be shunned as something that turns us away from God. Our moral choices must be toward God and not toward the world, the flesh, or the devil. In fact, the word conversi is related to the word conversio, an interior turning away from sin toward God.
None of this is possible by ourselves. Conversio literally means “turning with.” It is only by grace, by the power of God, that conversion is possible. This is why we must turn to God often in prayer and beg Him to give us the graces we need for ever deepening conversion. Only thus, after a life endlessly turned toward God and heavenly things, will we be able to be turned to God forever in heaven.
Let us turn towards the Lord God and Father Almighty, and with a pure heart let us give Him sincere thanks as well as our littleness will allow: Let us with our whole hearts beseech His extraordinary clemency, that He may vouchsafe to hear our prayers according to His good pleasure. May He by His power drive our enemies far from us, lest we fall under the sway of the evil one in act or thought. May He increase our faith, rule our mind, give us spiritual thoughts, and at last lead us to His blessedness, through Jesus Christ His Son. Amen. (Saint Augustine, Sermo CLXXXIII).
How do you need to turn to the Lord today?