That famous saying is attributed most commonly to St. Augustine, but according to this site, Augustine didn’t actually say that in so many words.
In fact, I can’t even imagine how the saying could even evolve out of what Augustine originally said. I don’t count the footnote in the Catechism of the Catholic Church to be a rigorous reference.
I’ve also found sites attributing the saying (in Latin, “qui cantat bis orat”) to St. Aquinas and to Martin Luther.
So, can anyone out there track down who really said it in what work? Thanks.
WAG: Someone in the Middle Ages rephrased St Augustine’s quote, which is actually a longer version of the one you refer to, moriah, and then used the shorter version. I’ve even seen it attributed to John Wesley – and I know that’s way too late.
In the newly revised sacramentary of the Roman Catholic Church (the book the priest uses to ‘say Mass’), we have this:
So, unlike the scholars who put together the Catholic Catechism, the scholars who put together this document realized that Augustine is not the source of the famous saying, but instead, just simply say that it’s an “ancient proverb.”
So firstly, is it ‘sings’ or ‘sings well’? And secondly, any antiquities scholars out there who can track down the earliest written source of the proverb? How about the world’s greates librarian?