The text comes from Psalm 51 (50), the great penitential psalm associated with purification, repentance, and interior renewal.
“Asperges me, Domine, hyssopo, et mundabor; lavabis me, et super nivem dealbabor.”
“You will sprinkle me, O Lord, with hyssop, and I shall be cleansed;
you will wash me, and I shall be made whiter than snow.”
Spiritual sense (especially in Carmelite reading)
- Asperges (“you will sprinkle”) emphasizes God acting first—cleansing is received, not produced.
- Hyssop evokes ritual purification in Scripture.
- Whiter than snow points beyond moral forgiveness to interior transformation, which Carmelite writers often connect with infused prayer and quiet union rather than emotional effort.