Another Spanish Curiosity

At the back of Missæ quæ in Hispania specialiter celebrantur, one finds a note which, to paraphrase the Latin, allows all priests at all Masses, sung or said, to append the following collect to the collect(s), secret(s) and postcommunion(s), before the final long ending, as a sort of ever-repeated intercession; I would roughly translate the prayer thus:

"And keep from all adversity thy servants our Pope N., our Bishop N., and our King N., the Queen, and the Prince [of the Asturias – the title of the heir to the throne] with the Royal Issue, the people committed to them, and their army; concede to us peace and healthful times; and repel all evil from thy Church; and may the pagan and heretical nations be smashed by the power of thy right [hand]; and [deign to] set free by thy mercy the Christian captives, who are detained in the power of the Saracens; and vouchsafe to give and preserve the fruits of the earth."

A very Spanish take on the things to be prayed for!

And here is the actual text and rubrics:

SEQUENS COLLECTA:

Et famulos tuos, dici potest in Regnis Hispaniæ ex concessione Pii V & Gregorii XIII ab omnibus Sacerdotibus tum Sæcularibus, tum Regularibus, tàm in Missis Privatis, quàm cantatis, & conventualibus, quantùmcumque solemnibus, tàm post primas Orationes, quàm Secretas, & Postcommuniones. Et novissimè ex Decreto Sac. Rit. Congregationis 13 July 1675 à prædictis dici potest sequentibus verbis:

Et famulos tuos Papam nostrum N. Antistitem nostrum N. & Regem nostrum N. Reginam, & Principem cum Prole Regia, populo sibi commisso, & exercitu suo ab omni adversitate custodi: pacem, et salutem nostris concede temporibus: & ab Ecclesia tua cunctam repelle nequitiam; & gentes Paganorum, & Hæreticorum dexteræ tuæ potentia conterantur; & Captivos Christianos, qui in Saracenorum potestate detinentur, tua misericordia liberare, & fructus terræ dare, & conservare digneris.

Quando Missa habet unicam Orationem, dicitur immediatè post eam: si plures, post ultimam, semper sub eadem conclusione. Sed si Oratio concludit: Qui cum, terminabitur: Per eumdem Dominum.

Si in Missa dicitur Oratio pro Papa, vel vacante Sede Apostolica, omittuntur verba pro Papa; idem de Antistite, Rege, Regina, vel Principe.

Quando in Missa dicitur Oratio, A cunctis, Collecta dicitur sic:

Et famulos tuos Papam nostrum N. Antistitem nostrum N. & Regem nostrum N. Reginam, & Principem cum Prole Regia, populo sibi commisso, & exercitu suo ab omni adversitate custodi: & Captivos Christianos, qui in Saracenorum potestate detinentur, tua misericordia liberare, & fructus terræ dare, & conservare digneris.

Quando dicitur Oratio, Ecclesiæ, dicitur sic:

Et famulos tuos Papam nostrum N. Antistitem nostrum N. & Regem nostrum N. Reginam, & Principem cum Prole Regia, populo sibi commisso, & exercitu suo ab omni adversitate custodi: pacem, et salutem nostris concede temporibus; & Captivos Christianos, qui in Saracenorum potestate detinentur, tua misericordia liberare, & fructus terræ dare, & conservare digneris.

Belated Christmas Present: a Postcommunion addressed to the Holy Spirit

While looking for the various Office and Masses in honour of St James conceded to Spain (the feast of the Translation of his body to Compostela, on the 30th of December; the feast of his Apparition as Santiago Matamoros on the 23rd of May; the Vigil, on the 24th of July, of his feast; and his feast itself, on the 25th of July, with an Octave ending on the 1st of August) – as I am planning to walk the Camino in four years' time, and am beginning to make remote preparations, spiritual and temporal – I made a most amazing discovery: amongst those Masses for use in the Spanish realms, in a special Votive Mass for pregnant women and those undergoing the pangs of childbirth, the Collect, Secret and Postcommunion are addressed to the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit respectively.

Now, there are plenty of orations addressed to God the Son (though of course most are addressed to God the Father), but this was the first I have ever come across, appointed for use in a Roman Rite liturgical book, addressed to God the Holy Ghost. Fellow students of the sacred liturgy, this is a belated Christmas gift to you.

Years ago, I read Jungmann's The Place of Christ in Liturgical Prayer, which confirmed that liturgical prayers, apart from some in the Armenian Rite, are hardly ever addressed to God the Holy Spirit. Now, the Third Person of the Trinity is certainly invoked in hymns and antiphons (such as the Veni Creator Spiritus and the Veni Sancte Spiritus of the Roman West, or the troparion O heavenly King of the Byzantine East), but prayers in the strict sense are nearly always addressed to either the First or, less often, the Second Person of the eternal Triune Godhead.

The Postcommunion that I came across is found in a book available online, entitled Missæ quæ in Hispania specialiter celebrantur, pro celebrantium commoditate congestæ (Barcinone [Barcelona], 1833), on page 83, where it is part of Alia Missa ad honorem gloriosæ Virginis pro Mulieribus prægnantibus, aut alias in partu laborantibus (Another [Votive] Mass in honour of the glorious Virgin for pregnant women, or for other women labouring in childbirth):

Beatissime Spiritus, per quem condita sunt universa: suppliciter tuas exaudire digneris famulas, pro quibus has tuæ porrigimus pietati preces: ut quemadmodum tuo felici, et sancto juvamine optant liberari; ita suffragiis beatissimæ Matris Dei, lumen gratiæ tuæ, in earum celeri expeditione infundere digneris. Qui cum Deo Patre, et eodem Filio vivis, et regnas Deus per omnia sæcula sæculorum. 

(Most blessed Spirit, through whom all was created: deign graciously to hear thy handmaids, for whom we suppliantly offer these prayers to thy piety: that in whatsoever way they hope to be delivered by thy happy and holy aid, even so, at the suffrages of the most blessed Mother of God, deign to pour forth with speedy expedition the light of thy grace into them. Who with God the Father, and the same Son, livest and reignest God, through all ages of ages.)

This prayer is rather too prolix and complex compared to the classic prayers of the Roman liturgy, but it is still most worthy of note.

In particular, I had often wondered (in that artless way of mine) as to how the closing doxology of a prayer to the Holy Ghost would be phrased – would it end "In whose unity the Father and the Son live and reign, God, world without end", or how? In the event, it appears that the ending used is all but identical to that used for prayers ad Filium, simply adding et (eodem) Filio and removing in unitate Spiritus Sancti.

In any case, I had best reiterate my long-term plan to walk from Roncesvalles to Santiago de Compostela in 2019 (hopefully, during Eastertide). Why then? Because I ought have amassed enough leave from work by then, and when three friends of mine walked that same pilgrim path in 1997, they set off in Easter Week and arrived in time for Pentecost, which seems a good plan to me also.

Off to a Country Wedding

Very early tomorrow (Sunday) I fly off to Canberra (where I hope to attend the Latin Mass), then have a few days in Goulburn, where I will attend a friend's wedding on Tuesday.  Prayer for the happy couple, and for safe travel for all their guests.

A Long Silence

I've been busy enough, but not inclined to blog, for some time.

After lunch today, I will drive to Hobart, first, for Fr Manne's Christmas Vigil Low Mass at 6 pm, and then to attend 11 pm carols and Midnight Mass (sung, of course). Tomorrow morning, I will drive back home for Christmas lunch with my family.

A blessed and happy and merry Christmas to all!

Back from Christus Rex

I have been keeping friends posted via email from my mobile phone about this year's Christus Rex Pilgrimage – my sixth – and will soon edit these and post them for blog readers to peruse. Suffice to say that it was marvellous, with High Mass each day (Thursday evening pre-pilgrimage Requiem; Friday Votive of the Holy Cross; Saturday Mass of Our Lady; Sunday Mass of Christ the King; Monday ferial Mass), and the chance to serve Low Mass daily (Fr Rowe's private Masses on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and Fr Mannes' Dominican Rite Mass on Monday), and to hear other Masses: in five days, I've  attended eleven all told, and been to Confession, so I feel spiritually recharged. The walking was good, too, and I've developed a real taste for it, despite the weather being quite warm. Rosaries were said – and I managed to read the day hours also; and of course it was great to catch up with friends.

News Catch-up

Two weekends ago, I went to Sydney for the wedding of Sidney and Tien – a beautiful occasion of course! I ended up attending three Solemn High Masses in succession: the first, in the evening of Friday 3rd October at St Benedict's, Broadway, followed by solemn Benediction (and then dinner with friends old and new);  the second, in the late morning of Saturday the 4th at Maternal Heart, Lewisham, the wedding of the happy couple followed by Mass of St Francis (using the Franciscan propers, as the celebrant was a friar minor), with the nuptial blessing and so forth, followed by a reception that lasted till late evening; and on Sunday the 5th, the usual Sunday Mass at Maternal Heart (followed by lunch with mates at the pub). It was pleasant though rather warm in Sydney – when I walked from Annandale to Circular Quay on Sunday afternoon, it hit 34 degrees, which made my subsequent return trip on the Manly ferry a great relief. Many thanks to a friend who put me up (or rather put up with me) at his place over the weekend.

Sister Mary Stephanie of Divine Providence, OCD,  died at the Launceston Carmel on Sunday morningthe 13th of October, in the 53rd year of her religious life and the 91st year of her age – to whose soul may the Lord grant eternal rest. I attended her first Requiem on Monday, and on Tuesday was privileged, after and during morning Mass at Carmel, to pay my last respects before her open casket, placed just on the other side of their choir screen, which the nuns left open for the occasion. On Friday, I attended her moving funeral Mass, which was followed by her burial in the monastic crypt, out of sight to layfolk, where her mortal remains lie alongside those of her sisters, awaiting the resurrection.

This weekend past, I went to Hobart on Saturday, since our mid-month Sunday Missa cantata was to be at the earlier than usual hour of 9:30 am. Unfortunately, Father was late starting Mass (at 9:45 am) owing to various factors, and he had to rush to get to his flight back to the mainland – which was why Mass was scheduled so early to begin with.

I forebear to comment on the recent synod debacle, or rather, utter shambles, pleasing to the Devil only and not to Christ, since I fear I would not edify my readers. Many layfolk, priests and even bishops have been through a severe trial this past week – I certainly have. I commend Rorate cæli for their fearless and honest reporting, and take the opportunity of publically retracting some of my previous criticisms of that blog, ever since the election of Papa Bergoglio – since they have been proven correct, time and again, much as I would have hoped otherwise.

Thank God for the good bishops and Cardinals who actually know what our holy Faith teaches, and have not given in to relativism. Thank God they were not called upon to do what Scripture suggests in extreme cases ("But when Cephas was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed." – Galatians ii, 11). And thanks to St John Paul II, who worked a miracle, doubtlessly obtained from Our Lady, Mediatrix of All Grace.

Gaude, Maria Virgo: cunctas hæreses sola interemisti in universo mundo.

Congratulations, Archbishop Fisher!

I am delighted to learn that Anthony Fisher, OP, until now Bishop of Parramatta, has just been appointed Archbishop of Sydney. He is an excellent, devout and learned priest and bishop; in former days, I was lucky enough to study under him and benefit from his friendliness and support. I remember being at Sunday lunch at the Dominican Priory when his appointment as an auxiliary bishop was announced – he wept, so sad he was to leave his religious brethren and assume the heavy burden of the apostolic office. How edifying!

To think that I attended the ordination to the episcopate of both Fisher and Porteous; and to think that now the latter is my Archbishop and the former is ascending to the premier see of Australia, becoming His Grace while awaiting the customary red hat to declare him a Prince of the Church… Truly God is good and cares greatly for his little flock Down Under.

Ad multos annos!

First Sunday in September

Attendance at our first Sunday of the month Missa cantata was rather sparse this weekend past, owing of course to it being Father's Day – and going to Mass at 11:30 am hardly fits with family celebrations, alas. To add insult to injury, the sacristy key was unfortunately misplaced, and by the time we obtained it and got everything set up for Mass, we began twenty minutes late: not good. Mass itself was reverent and moving as always, of course; I suppose these things are sent to try us.

Ambrosian Agnus Dei

The Ambrosian Rite doesn't use the Agnus Dei at Mass, except at Masses for the Dead, when it appears, in slightly different form, as the Transitorium (Communion chant):

Three Masses

Fr Christopher's flight from Melbourne was delayed by quite a long time – meaning that our scheduled 7:30 pm Mass for the Assumption began at 8:20 pm! It was very edifying to see the full congregation remain, waiting patiently, and keeping vigil in prayer: we said Our Lady's Rosary and Litany together. At length, our Missa cantata for the Holy Day was celebrated, with the first use of the Missa Regia as the Ordinary (save for Credo III), taking up a French tradition for solemnities.

On Saturday morning, a small party attended Father's private Low Mass of St Joachim, and then enjoyed a festive brunch.

To-day, Sunday, our Dominican visitor sang Mass of the 10th Sunday after Pentecost for a congregation of fifty or so, returning to our usual Sunday Ordinary – Mass XI, Orbis factor. In honour of Our Lady, feted this weekend, we sang "Hail Queen of heaven" after Mass, before repairing to the parish centre for coffee, cake and good cheer. It was a fitting end to our three days of Extraordinary Form Masses.

Assumption & 10th Sunday after Pentecost Masses

As well as a sung Latin Mass on the third Sunday of August (the 17th of the month, which will be the tenth after Pentecost) at 10:30 am at Sacred Heart, New Town, our visiting Dominican, Fr Christopher, will sing Mass for the Assumption of Our Lady at 7:30 pm on Friday the 15th of August, likewise at Sacred Heart.

I will be driving down to Hobart after work on Friday, and staying for the weekend. Of your charity, please pray for me.

First Sunday of August

After some very stormy weather the last several days, it was a joy to have only a few patches of fog amid otherwise bright sunshine on the drive down to Hobart. There was a good attendance at our Missa cantata for the 8th Sunday after Pentecost, and the drive back was likewise fast and uneventful.

Being given to odd thoughts, I was reflecting on how, acting as M.C., I kneel less and stand more than anyone except the priest: I kneel for the prayers at the foot of the altar and answer his prayers; I kneel for the Et incarnatus est during the Creed; I kneel at the priest's left during the Consecration and Elevation, from Qui pridie to the in mei memoriam facietis; I kneel for the priest's own Communion and my own, and again when he returns any leftover Hosts to the tabernacle; and that's it (aside from many genuflections of course). And, like some Roman Emperor of old, everyone genuflects towards me – so to speak! – but only when I hold the altar card for the priest to read the Last Gospel.

NEWS FLASH: As well as a sung Latin Mass on the third Sunday of August (the 17th, which will be the tenth after Pentecost) at 10:30 am at Sacred Heart, New Town, our visiting celebrant, Fr Christopher, will sing Mass for the Assumption of Our Lady at 7:30 pm on Friday the 15th of August, likewise at Sacred Heart.