Prayer: Suscipere dignare domine

Texts and Images

This prayer is found in several deluxe Psalters from East Anglia and the Fenlands made for the use of monastic and clerical patrons. The words, which vary from manuscript to manuscript, consist of a plea to God to grant health and salvation to the supplicant and his or her relatives and friends. The prayer is accompanied by a half-page image of Christ as Judge, seated on a rainbow, which was intended to focus the reader’s thoughts on eternity. Facing the first Psalm, the prayer serves as a preface to the Psalter.