Last Sunday

Last Sunday I worshipped with the Russians, at the Russian Catholic Chapel of St Nicholas.  As the Russian Rite still keeps to the Julian calendar and the older method for calculating Easter, their Easter this year will be a week later than the Roman, and the Sunday just past - the 25th of January New Style (i.e. Gregorian) / 12th January Old Style (Julian) was the Sunday after the Theophany (since the Julian calendar is now thirteen days behind the Gregorian and hence the 6th of January O.S. is the 19th of January N.S.).  Being the 12th of January O.S., it was also the feast of St Tatiana, martyr at Rome (see icon at the top and details at the end of a Russian Orthodox web page).

This afforded much spiritual delight: the icon of the Baptism of the Lord was exposed for veneration, and at the Little Entrance was sung the Troparion and Kontakion of the Feast, after the Troparion of the Resurrection:

At Your baptism in the Jordan, O Lord, worship of the Trinity was revealed, for the Father's voice bore witness to You, calling You His "beloved Son", and the Spirit in the form of a dove confirmed the truth of these words.  O Christ God, Who appeared and enlightened the world, glory to You!

You have revealed Yourself to the world today, and Your light, O Lord, has shined upon us.  We recognize You and exclaim to You: "You have come and revealed Yourself, O Inaccessible Light."

It must be remembered that one common Eastern name for baptism is enlightenment or illumination - hence Christ shone out in the Jordan, shedding His healing rays on all men, manifesting Himself in His Epiphany.

After the service, Fr Lawrence said casually that he hadn't been sure whether it were the 32nd or the 33rd Sunday after Pentecost (as the Byzantine Rite enumerates all Sundays from one Pentecost right through until the pre-Lenten preparatory Sundays commence, there being no Advent as such, just the Nativity Fast), but that in any case the readings settled upon had been manifestly suitable!  I discover now that he was joking, since there are proper readings assigned for the Sunday after the Theophany, whatever Sunday after Pentecost it be, and the proper readings were those that were chanted.

The Gospel was taken from St Matthew iv, 12-17; the Epistle, from Ephesians iv, 7-13 (part of which I read in the Roman Breviary at Matins to-day, hence my being reminded of all this Liturgy) - and I have always found rather admirable the way the reader chants the Epistle, beginning on a very low note, and gradually ascending as he goes till he finishes on a very high one...

Farewell, Epiphanytide

Even in the 1962 Breviary, tempus per annum is nigh... with Compline to-night, Epiphanytide ends, and then we have four weeks after Epiphany until Septuagesima Sunday on the 8th of February comes to prepare us for Lent.  Nonetheless, this period of time still carries traces of the mystery of the Epiphany...

In the Traditional Rite, the chants of the Sunday Masses will continue the theme of the adoration of Christ made made manifest: In excelso throno vidi sedere virum, quem adorat multitudo Angelorum (this Sunday's Introit); Omnis terra adoret te, Deus (next Sunday's); Adorate Deum, omnes Angeli ejus (the 3rd and 4th Sundays' Introit).  Similarly, the Divine manifestation of power in Christ will be the subject of the Gospel passages read: the miracle at the wedding feast at Cana this coming Sunday (St John ii, 1-11); then - immediately after the Transfiguration, upon descending the mountain - the cure of a leper and next the healing of the Centurion's servant upon that officer's noble confession of astoundingly strong faith (St Matthew viii, 1-13); and on the 4th Sunday, the stilling the storm by Our Blessed Lord (St Matthew viii, 23-27).  How utterly appropriate to this prolongation of our consideration of the Manifestation of Christ will be the Offertory and Communion on these two last Sundays: Dextera Domini fecit virtutem ("The right hand of the Lord hath wrought power") and Mirabantur omnes de his ("All marvelled at these things").

(BTW, Romans having been run through at Matins from after Christmas until the days after Epiphany, now a start has just been made on I Corinthians, which continues this week; next week will feature II Corinthians; the 3rd week after Epiphany will have Galatians and Ephesians at Matins; and the 4th week, Philippians, Colossians, and I & II Thessalonians.  Of course, at Matins only excerpts of this rich fare can be fitted in - in the coming time I hope to sit down with my pocket New Testament and catch up on at least some of these marvellous inspired words of the Apostle in this his year.)

The Mass in commemoration of the Baptism of Our Lord is that of the Epiphany, but for the orations and its proper Gospel (St John i, 29-34), as follows:

At that time: 

John saw Jesus coming to him, and he saith: Behold the Lamb of God, behold Him who taketh away the sin of the world.  This is He, of whom I said: After me there cometh a Man, Who is preferred before me: because He was before me.  And I knew Him not, but that He may be made manifest* in Israel, therefore am I come baptizing with water.  And John gave testimony, saying: I saw the Spirit coming down, as a dove from heaven, and He remained upon Him.  And I knew Him not; but He Who sent me to baptize with water, said to me: He upon Whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining upon Him, He it is that baptizeth with the Holy Ghost.  And I saw, and I gave testimony, that this is the Son of God.

[* The Greek word here is φανερωθῇ (to be revealed, to be made known) from φανερόω (to reveal or make known); whereas our word Epiphany (ἐπιφάνεια) comes from ἐπιφαίνω (to appear, to give light), itself derived from φαίνω (to shine) both of which in the passive mean "to appear, to be revealed" - I surmise that all these words are related, but am unsure.]

I've just sat down (with the Cricket on in the background) and read over Bl Columba Marmion's conferences on the Epiphany and Baptism of Our Lord from Christ in His Mysteries.  Among many deep insights, which I would wish to quote in extenso, I was struck by his explanation of why Christ came to accept from John the baptism of repentance: though He was without sin, for us He was made sin, as the Apostle dares tell us (II Cor. v, 21), as the Head and elect representative of our fallen race, and so "to fulfil all righteousness" (St Matt. iii, 15), Our Lord thus signified His taking upon Himself the sins of the world, He Who alone could and would in process of time take them away by nailing the handwriting that was against us to the Cross, through He Himself, all immaculate, sinless and holy, being nailed fast thereto for us, made accursed for us by hanging on that infamous gibbet, that we might be made the righteousness of God (II Cor. v, 21).  Glory to Him for ever!

It is with these thoughts that this Collect of the Baptism, again, like the oldest and purest Roman prayers, very deep and surprisingly widely applicable, is best appreciated; for it delves deep into the mystery, not presenting it in a facile ICEL manner suited to kindergarten inmates, but summing up in lapidary prose a consideration well worth pondering:

Deus, cujus Unigenitus in substantia nostræ carnis apparuit: præsta, quæsumus; ut per eum, quem similem nobis foris agnovimus, intus reformari mereamur.  Qui tecum vivit...

(God, Whose Onlybegotten in the substance of our flesh hath appeared: grant, we beg; that through Him, whom we have acknowledged to be outwardly similar to us, we may deserve to be inwardly reformed.  Who with thee liveth...)

Christ hath wrought our salvation - now we must by faith in Him, by obedience to His commands, by His grace lay hold of His gift of eternal healing, that the objective salvation He won for us may effect our subjective salvation, "that the salvation promised us may be ours".

O.P. Breviary

Just a reminder for readers that last year I gave the proper Dominican Rite antiphons for the Commemoration of the Baptism of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

Apart from that, the Dominican Rite also appends the Lucan genealogy of Christ (St Luke iii, 21 - iv, 1a) to Matins both on the feast of the Epiphany and also to-day on the feast of the Lord's Baptism, between the ninth responsory and the Te Deum (the Friars Preachers always have a responsory even before the Te Deum, whereas the opposite Roman practice is that the Te Deum substitutes for the last responsory):

Dominus vobiscum.

R/.  Et cum spiritu tuo.

Sequentia sancti Evangelii secundum Lucam

R/.  Gloria tibi, Domine.

Factum est autem, cum baptizaretur omnis populus, et Jesu baptizato et orante, apertum est cælum: et descendit Spiritus Sanctus corporali specie sicut columba in ipsum: et vox de cælo facta est: Tu es Filius meus dilectus, in te complacui mihi. Et ipse Jesus erat incipiens quasi annorum triginta, ut putabatur, filius Joseph, qui fuit Heli, qui fuit Mathat, qui fuit Levi, qui fuit Melchi, qui fuit Janne, qui fuit Joseph, qui fuit Mathathiæ, qui fuit Amos, qui fuit Nahum, qui fuit Hesli, qui fuit Nagge, qui fuit Mahath, qui fuit Mathathiæ, qui fuit Semei, qui fuit Joseph, qui fuit Juda, qui fuit Joanna, qui fuit Resa, qui fuit Zorobabel, qui fuit Salathiel, qui fuit Neri, qui fuit Melchi, qui fuit Addi, qui fuit Cosan, qui fuit Elmadan, qui fuit Her, qui fuit Jesu, qui fuit Eliezer, qui fuit Jorim, qui fuit Mathat, qui fuit Levi, qui fuit Simeon, qui fuit Juda, qui fuit Joseph, qui fuit Jona, qui fuit Eliakim, qui fuit Melea, qui fuit Menna, qui fuit Mathatha, qui fuit Nathan, qui fuit David, qui fuit Jesse, qui fuit Obed, qui fuit Booz, qui fuit Salmon, qui fuit Naasson, qui fuit Aminadab, qui fuit Aram, qui fuit Esron, qui fuit Phares, qui fuit Judæ, qui fuit Jacob, qui fuit Isaac, qui fuit Abrahæ, qui fuit Thare, qui fuit Nachor, qui fuit Sarug, qui fuit Ragau, qui fuit Phaleg, qui fuit Heber, qui fuit Sale, qui fuit Cainan, qui fuit Arphaxad, qui fuit Sem, qui fuit Noë, qui fuit Lamech, qui fuit Mathusale, qui fuit Henoch, qui fuit Jared, qui fuit Malaleel, qui fuit Cainan, qui fuit Henos, qui fuit Seth, qui fuit Adam, qui fuit Dei.  Jesus autem plenus Spiritu Sancto regressus est a Jordane.

Te Deum...

Weird Vespers

Vespers this evening were weird because they were ferial Vespers of Epiphanytide (psalms of Monday, then a capitulo from the Ordinary of Epiphanytide excepting the Epiphany Magnificat antiphon Tribus miraculis, and the Collect for the 1st Sunday after Epiphany), and Compline at bedtime will be ferial Monday Compline - and this is doubly weird, because it means that the Commemoration of the Baptism of Our Lord has no first Vespers nor festal Compline!

I must say I don't like these and other like traces of the late pre-Conciliar mucking about with the Breviary; they seem to have rather impoverished the Office.

The Lamest Canticle

I have no objection to the use in the modern Office of New Testament Canticles at Vespers in an analogous manner to the immemorial use of Old Testament Canticles at Lauds (and Monastic Vigils), in addition to the traditional three Gospel Canticles (Benedictus, Magnificat and Nunc dimittis) used at Lauds, Vespers and Compline.  Scholarly research revealed good suggestions that certain passages in the epistles of St Paul were hymnic in structure, after all.

However, the excuse for a Canticle slotted into 1st Vespers of the Epiphany and the Lord's Baptism is just dreadful, because it is a failed pastiche: it interlards the sublime concision of I Timothy iii, 16 with a response (yuk! deliver me from the Responsorial Psalm, too-aptly defined as "an exercise in short-term memory"), worked in poorly, from Ps 116:1a.  It would have been better far to either use I Tim. iii, 16 as a short reading at one of the Hours of these feasts (for which it is manifestly appropriate, excuse pun), or have it as a super-short canticle (longer at least than Psalm 116, and only a bit shorter than Psalm 132 or the Canticle from Apoc. xv, 3-4).

Proper Antiphons for the Baptism of the Lord, Dominican Rite

The Dominican Rite is often more Roman than the Roman, retaining older usages, as well as many items quite common in the medieval West, but not used in Rome itself, and so not taken into the Tridentine Missal and Breviary that swept away most local uses.  

In the Breviarium S.O.P., unlike in the Breviarium Romanum (which repeats the Epiphany Office with proper lessons and collect only), proper antiphons are provided for the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord on the Octave Day of the Epiphany; they have a Byzantine flavour about them, were apparently used elsewhere in the West, especially in France (cf. Guéranger), and may well come from the Greek (phrases like "Christ our God" are a dead giveaway):

1st Vespers, Magnificat Antiphon:

Baptizat miles Regem, servus Dominum suum, Joannes Salvatorem: aqua Jordanis stupuit: columba protestata est: paterna vox audita est: Hic est Filius meus.

Lauds, Antiphons for the psalms:

1.  Veterem hominem renovans Salvator, venit ad baptismum: ut naturam, quæ corrupta erat, per aquam recuperaret, incorruptibili veste circumamictans nos.

2.  Te, qui in Spiritu, et igne purificas humana contagia, Deum, ac Redemptorem omnes glorificamus.

3.  Baptista contremuit, et non audet tangere sanctum Dei verticem, sed clamat cum tremore: Sanctifica me, Salvator.

4.  Caput draconis Salvator contrivit in Jordanis flumine: et ab ejus potestate omnes eripuit.

5.  Magnum mysterium declaratur hodie: quia Creator omnium in Jordane expurgat nostra facinora.

Benedictus Antiphon:

Præcursor Joannes exultat cum Jordane: baptizato Domino facta est orbis terrarum exultatio, facta est peccatorum nostrorum remissio.  Sanctificans aquas, ipsi omnes clamemus: Miserere nobis.

2nd Vespers, Magnificat Antiphon:

Fontes aquarum sanctificati sunt, Christo apparente in gloria: orbis terrarum, haurite aquas de fontibus Salvatoris: sanctificavit enim nunc omnem creaturam Christus Deus noster.

******

The current Liturgia Horarum, as usual, has picked over the various traditional antiphons and the like from the various Western uses, and redistributed them, taking on variant readings from different recensions:  Veterem hominem becomes the Magnificat antiphon at 1st Vespers (reading circumiciens not circumamictans), exchanging places with Baptizat miles regem, which is now the 1st antiphon to the psalms at Lauds (with a few verbal differences – suum dropt, protestata est becoming protestatur); Fontes aquarum moves to be the 2nd antiphon to the psalms of Lauds (reading orbi instead of orbis); Te qui in Spiritu is now the 3rd antiphon to the psalms of Lauds (replacing ac with et); Caput draconis (conteruit, not contrivit; Jordane, not Jordanis; omitting et) and Magnum mysterium (unchanged) appear as the 2nd and 3rd psalm antiphons at 2nd Vespers.

The other antiphons in the modern Divine Office (at 1st Vespers, Office of Readings and the Little Hours) are fairly obviously drawn from Scripture, as is the new Magnificat antiphon at 2nd Vespers, Christus Jesus dilexit nos (Apoc. i, 5-6).

The modern rite Benedictus antiphon, however, also seems "Byzantine":

Baptizatur Christus, et sanctificatur omnis mundus; et tribuit nobis remissionem peccatorum; aqua et Spiritu omnes purificemur.

Renewal of Baptismal Promises

It is highly fitting today, the eve of the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, and Octave Day of the Epiphany, one of the ancient customary times for baptism to be conferred, to renew one's baptismal promises.  As St Ambrose relates, the catechumen – prior to his descent into the saving waters and laver of regeneration – first, facing West, renounces the devil, his works and pomps, and spits in his face (the sputatio); then, turning to the East, he confesses Christ as his King evermore.

O Christ Jesus, I acknowledge Thee King of the universe.  Everything that was made has been created for Thee.  Exercise upon me all Thy rights.  I renew my baptismal promises, renouncing Satan with all his works and pomps; and I promise to lead a good christian life.  I pledge myself most particularly to do what I can that the rights of God and of Thy Church prevail and triumph.  Divine Heart of Jesus, I offer Thee my poor actions to secure that all hearts confess Thy Sacred Kingship, and, that thus, the reign of Thy peace may be established throughout the entire universe.  Amen.

I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth; and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried.  He descended into hell.  The third day He rose again from the dead.  He ascended into heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty.  From thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead.  I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Holy Catholic Church, the Communion of Saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting.  Amen.

A friend of mine, Br Vincent Magat, O.P., will make his solemn vows tomorrow: I salute him and pray God will bless his wholehearted offering of himself.