Agnus Dei

Lamb of God

Level 1

The Lamb of God prayer, learned whole.

How It Works

LatinEnglish
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi,Lamb of God, who take away the sins of the world,
miserere nobis.have mercy on us.
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi,Lamb of God, who take away the sins of the world,
dona nobis pacem.grant us peace.

In Church Latin agnus sounds like AHN-yoos, because gn sounds like ny. In classical Latin it is AHNG-noos. The word peccata sounds like pek-KAH-tah in both.

The text is sung or said three times at Mass. The first two end with miserere nobis and the third with dona nobis pacem.

Tollis is you take away. It is the second person, so the prayer speaks straight to the Lamb.

Examples (5)

  1. Agnus Dei.

    Lamb of God.

    Agnus is the Lamb. Dei is the genitive of Deus, so it means of God.

  2. Qui tollis peccata mundi.

    Who take away the sins of the world.

    Tollis is the second person singular. Peccata is accusative plural. Mundi is genitive: of the world.

  3. Miserere nobis.

    Have mercy on us.

    Learn it whole. Nobis means to us or on us.

  4. Dona nobis pacem.

    Grant us peace.

    Dona is a command that means give. Pacem is the accusative of pax.

  5. Agnus Dei, miserere nobis.

    Lamb of God, have mercy on us.

    The name and the request side by side, with the middle words left out.

Common Mistakes

  • Using the nominative Deus where the prayer needs the genitive.

    Agnus Deus.
    Agnus Dei.

    Deus is the nominative. The Lamb belongs to God, so the prayer uses the genitive Dei.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

Agnus DeiLevel 1Lamb of God

Learn This First

The Agnus Dei is sung in Church Latin, so the Church sounds come first.

Words in This Pattern

agnusDeusAgnus Dei