God be in my head

God be in my head. 15th century, author and provenance unknown. The first trace of this very moving verse is in a French text dating from ca. 1490: Jesus soit en ma teste et mon entendement. Jesus soit en mes yeulx et mon regardement. Jesus soit en ma bouche et mon parlement. Jesus soit en mon cueur et en mon pensement. Jesus soit en ma vie et mon trespassement. Amen. The English text is found in a Book of Hours printed by Robert Pynson at London, Hore beate marie/virginis ad vsum in/signis ac prelare ec/clesie Sarum (Salisbury) in 1514. It was then printed in a Sarum Primer of 1558. It must have become well known: it was printed with slight alteration in John Cosin*’s A Collection of...

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