Sunday, September 19, 2010

The Dream of Gerontius and the Ordo Commendationis Animæ

These extracts from the first section of Newman's The Dream of Gerontius are very close paraphrases of the various prayers of the Ordo Commendationis Animæ (which Newman daily prayed for his own soul, that it find mercy in the day of the Lord); the short aspirations uttered by the dying Gerontius, the Litanies and the Suscipe Domine of the assistants, and the Proficiscere of the priest (but strangely, the last, though almost word-for-word, omits the Blessed Virgin and St Joseph):

Gerontius:

JESU, MARIA—
...
(Jesu, have mercy! Mary, pray for me!)
...
(Be with me, Lord, in my extremity!)    
...
(Lover of souls! great God! I look to Thee,)
....
(Help, loving Lord! Thou my sole Refuge, Thou,)
...

Assistants:

Kyrie eleïson, Christe eleïson, Kyrie eleïson.
Holy Mary, pray for him.
All holy Angels, pray for him.
Choirs of the righteous, pray for him.
Holy Abraham, pray for him.
St. John Baptist, St. Joseph, pray for him.
St. Peter, St. Paul, St Andrew, St. John,
All Apostles, all Evangelists, pray for him.
All holy Disciples of the Lord, pray for him.
All holy Innocents, pray for him.
All holy Martyrs, all holy Confessors,
All holy Hermits, all holy Virgins,
...
Be merciful, be gracious; spare him, Lord.
Be merciful, be gracious; Lord, deliver him.
From the sins that are past;
   From Thy frown and Thine ire;
     From the perils of dying;
     From any complying
     With sin, or denying
     His God, or relying
On self, at the last;
   From the nethermost fire;
From all that is evil;
From power of the devil;
Thy servant deliver,
For once and for ever.
By Thy birth, and by Thy Cross,
Rescue him from endless loss;
By Thy death and burial,
Save him from a final fall;
By Thy rising from the tomb,
   By Thy mounting up above,
   By the Spirit's gracious love,
Save him in the day of doom.
...

Gerontius:


O Jesu, help! pray for me, Mary, pray!
Some Angel, Jesu! such as came to Thee
In Thine own agony …
Mary, pray for me. Joseph, pray for me. Mary,
pray for me.

Assistants:

Rescue him, O Lord, in this his evil hour,
As of old so many by Thy gracious power:—
          (Amen.)
Enoch and Elias from the common doom; (Amen.)
Noe from the waters in a saving home; (Amen.)
Abraham from th' abounding guilt of Heathenesse;
          (Amen.)
Job from all his multiform and fell distress;
          (Amen.)
Isaac, when his father's knife was raised to slay;
          (Amen.)
Lot from burning Sodom on its judgment-day;
          (Amen.)
Moses from the land of bondage and despair;
          (Amen.)
Daniel from the hungry lions in their lair;
          (Amen.)
And the Children Three amid the furnace-flame;
          (Amen.)
Chaste Susanna from the slander and the shame;
          (Amen.)
David from Golia and the wrath of Saul;
          (Amen.)
And the two Apostles from their prison-thrall;
          (Amen.)
Thecla from her torments; (Amen:)
                               —so to show Thy power,
Rescue this Thy servant in his evil hour.

Gerontius:

... Into Thy hands,
O Lord, into Thy hands ...

The Priest:

Proficiscere, anima Christiana, de hoc mundo!
Go forth upon thy journey, Christian soul!
Go from this world! Go, in the Name of God
The Omnipotent Father, who created thee!
Go, in the Name of Jesus Christ, our Lord,
Son of the living God, who bled for thee!
Go, in the Name of the Holy Spirit, who
Hath been pour'd out on thee! Go, in the name
Of Angels and Archangels; in the name
Of Thrones and Dominations; in the name
Of Princedoms and of Powers; and in the name
Of Cherubim and Seraphim, go forth!
Go, in the name of Patriarchs and Prophets;
And of Apostles and Evangelists,
Of Martyrs and Confessors; in the name
Of holy Monks and Hermits; in the name
Of Holy Virgins; and all Saints of God,
Both men and women, go! Go on thy course;
And may thy place today be found in peace,
And may thy dwelling be the Holy Mount
Of Sion:—through the Same, through Christ, our Lord.

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