Monday, February 8, 2010

In pietate tua

Good Friday's solemn liturgy concludes with what used to be called the Mass of the Presanctified.  In the traditional Carthusian Rite, before the celebrant sings the Pater noster, he first intercedes in secret for the whole Church – this is evidently intended as a sort of substitute for the Canon of the Mass, and is interesting to compare and contrast to the solemn prayers offered earlier in the Good Friday service.  

Here is the prayer (taken from my copy of A.A.King's Liturgies of the Religious Orders), with my own rough rendering:

Pietate tua, quæsumus, Domine, nostrorum solve vincula delictorum: et intercedente beata et gloriosa semper Virgine Dei Genitrice Maria cum omnibus sanctis tuis, domnum Apostolicum, pontifices, abbates et priores nostros, sed et omnes congregationes illis commissas, reges et principes nostros, et omnem populum Christianum, et nos famulos tuos, atque locum istum, et omnia loca nostra in omni sanctitate custodi, omnesque affinitate, societate ac familiaritate nobis conjunctos, et nos a vitiis purga, virtutibus illustra, pacem et salutem nobis tribue, hostes visibiles et invisibiles remove, carnalia desideria repelle, aërem salubrem indulge, amicis inimicis nostris et nobis veram caritatem largire, et omnibus fidelibus tuis vivis et defunctis in terra viventium vitam et requiem æternam concede.  Per eumdem Dominum...
(In thy pity, we beseech, Lord, dissolve the bonds of our sins: and the blessed and glorious ever Virgin Mary Mother of God with all Thy Saints interceding, the Apostolic See, our pontiffs, abbots and priors, and all congregations committed to them, our kings and princes, and all Christian people, and us Thy servants, and this place, and all our places guard in all sanctity, and all conjoined to us by affinity, society and familiarity; and us purge from vices, enlighten with virtues, grant unto us peace and health, remove our enemies seen and unseen, repel carnal desires, give healthy air, grant true charity to our friends and enemies and to us, and to all Thy faithful living and dead concede life to those living on earth and eternal rest.  Through the same our Lord...)

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