Suscipe

While the term was popularized by St. Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Society of Jesus, who incorporated it into his Spiritual Exercises in the early sixteenth century, it goes back to monastic profession, in reciting Psalm 119.

This follows the priest's words, the Orate fratres: “Pray, brethren (brothers and sisters), that my sacrifice and yours may be acceptable to God, the almighty Father.”[1] The Latin ‘suscipio’ is used instead of ‘accipio’ or ‘recipio,’ which in English means ‘receive.’ This is because ‘suscipe’ includes the idea of both receiving and taking up.

The Exercises are a set of meditations and contemplations of the life of Christ to be carried out over a four-week time period, most appropriately on a secluded retreat.

Quidquid habeo vel possideo mihi largitus es; id Tibi totum restituo, ac Tuae prorsus voluntati trado gubernandum.

Amorem Tui solum cum gratia Tua mihi dones, et dives sum satis, nec aliud quidquam ultra posco.

Take from my heart all painful anxiety; let nothing sadden me but sin, nothing delight me but the hope of coming to the possession of You my God and my all, in your everlasting kingdom.

[5][6] It has since been translated into Spanish (Sólo Eso Me Basta) and Vietnamese (Dâng và Xin), and these are found in Catholic hymnals and hand missals across the United States.

[7][8] A setting of the Ignatian Suscipe by the British composer Howard Goodall was first performed at Glasgow Royal Concert Hall in November 2009.

In the Philippines, the local Jesuit Music Ministry has produced a number of popular Tagalog versions, and these are often default Offertory hymns.

[9] In Indonesia, a version commonly sung at Mass is Ambillah, Tuhan, an Indonesian translation of a setting by the Belgian Louis Lambillotte, SJ, listed in the hymnal Puji Syukur (#382).