Liturgy and Lectio: Inclina Cor Meum

Lauds and Vespers Responsory for the Third Week of Lent, cf. Psalm 118:36-37

R: Incline my heart, O God, * into Thy testimonies.

V: Turn away my eyes that they may not behold vanity: and give me life in Thy way. * Into Thy testimonies.

A Sister shares her reflections:

Longer and more musically elaborate than usual, this responsory caught my attention as we sang it at Lauds and Vespers throughout the Third Week of Lent.  Inclina cor meum: the responsory begins with an “infallible prayer,” beseeching God, who alone can move me freely from within, to incline my heart to His testimonies.  I want my heart to be absorbed in Him, but I know that my efforts are not enough.  It is His power that will truly turn my heart more and more fully to Himself.  The verse begs God to avert my eyes from fixating on all the empty preoccupations and illusions of the world: He does this through our observance of papal enclosure, both physically and of the heart.  Instead, O Lord, give me life in Your way. You are the Way, the Truth, and the Life.  It is Your mysteries, Your testimonies, that I wish to preoccupy my heart and draw me on to ever closer union with You—to the glory of the Most Blessed Trinity.