Wonderful Time!

I'm back from the Christus Rex pilgrimage, refreshed and invigorated by this marvellous experience.  More later!

Remember, one and all, to come to next year's pilgrimage, from Friday the 26th to Sunday the 28th of October 2012.

Off to the Pilgrimage

I depart this evening for Melbourne, and will begin the Christus Rex Pilgrimage early on Friday morning in Ballarat.  Please pray for the success of the pilgrimage, and that it may be of benefit to all and sundry, even me, and especially those we pray for as we walk our weary way.

Canine Update

Suzie has returned this after-noon from five days at the veterinary hospital, and is glad to be home (if wagging tail, sniffing nose and delighted running to and fro be thought proof sufficient).  Readers may be left to imagine the expense of tests, care and now special dog food adapted to renal ailments... The prognosis is not yet certain, but there is still hope for some months at least with this dear hound, whose eleventh birthday falls in Christmastide.

Suzannah in pensive mood

Again, if readers will first pray for all the world's great troubles, and then perhaps spare a prayer even for a sick dog (for does not the Lord have an eye even to sparrows? and benignly regard dogs eating up scraps?), I will be well content, and thankful.  There are many evils in the world; we ought give thanks for all the good, also, and preserve it when threatened, be it ever so small.

The Lord's Prayer is the prayer of prayers for all things, from the greatest to the very least, and I don't disdain to pray it for my beloved dog amongst all other intentions comformable to His sweet Will; SS Dominic and Francis, SS Roch and Hubert, intercede for her.

Neo-Gallican Thanksgiving

If it ain't Baroque...

Browsing online through the dozens of Neo-Gallican Breviaries produced in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries (as one does), I was struck by the common appearance therein, not of the usual prayers of thanksgiving after Mass as in the traditional Roman Missal and Breviary, but of a different Gratiarum Actio post Missam, evidently composed in the eighteenth century (one surmises, by the revisers who compiled the famous 1736 Paris Breviary).

It principally consists of three psalms: Ps 22, Dominus regit me (a.k.a. "The Lord is my shepherd"); Ps 33, Benedicam Dominum in omni tempore ("I shall bless the Lord at all times"); and Ps 102 Benedic, anima mea, Domino, et omnia ("Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me").  These are accompanied with a suitable antiphon, being the Magnificat antiphon for 1st Vespers of Corpus Christi, O quam suavis est (which, incidentally, has the same tune as the great anthem to St Dominic, O lumen Ecclesiæ).

To this psalmody are added preces consisting of the usual threefold Kyrie, Lord's Prayer and versicles, followed by five collects (taken from the Gelasian Sacramentary and other sources) and a final, longer prayer, evidently for priests alone, taken from the 4th book of The Imitation of Christ, chapter 11.  In some French Breviaries, above all the Lyonnaise, to all this is prefixed the Te Deum for good measure.

I am still working on the English of the collects, but I find these psalms at least to be good to say in thanksgiving after Holy Communion, and indeed used this little Latin office (in length, about the same as one of the Little Hours), both with and without Te Deum to begin with, after Communion at morning Mass yester-day and to-day.

GRATIARUM ACTIO POST MISSAM.

Te Deum laudámus: * te Dominum confitémur.

Te ætérnum Patrem, * omnis terra venerátur.

Tibi omnes Ángeli, * tibi Cæli et universæ Potestátes:

Tibi Chérubim et Séraphim * incessábili voce proclámant:

Sanctus: Sanctus: Sanctus * Dóminus Deus Sábaoth.

Pleni sunt cæli et terra * majestátis glóriæ tuæ.

Te gloriósus * Apóstolorum chorus,

Te Prophetárum * laudábilis númerus,

Te Mártyrum candidátus * laudat exércitus.

Te per orbem terrárum * sancta confitétur Ecclésia:

Patrem * imménsæ majestátis;

Venerándum tuum verum * et unícum Fílium;

Sanctum quoque * Paráclitum Spíritum.

Tu Rex glóriæ, * Christe.

Tu Patris * sempitérnus es Fílius.

Tu, ad liberándum susceptúrus hóminem, * non horruísti Vírginis úterum.

Tu, devícto mortis acúleo, * aperuísti credéntibus regna cælórum.

Tu ad déxteram Dei sedes, * in glória Pátris.

Judex créderis * esse ventúrus.

Sequens versus dicitur flexis genibus

Te ergo quæsumus, tuis famúlis subveni, * quos pretióso sánguine redemísti.

Ætérna fac cum Sanctis tuis * in glória numerári.

Salvum fac pópulum tuum, Dómine, * et bénedic heréditati tuæ.

Et rege eos, * et extólle illos usque in ætérnum.

Per síngulos dies * benedícimus te;

Et laudámus nomen tuum in sæculum, * et in sæculum sæculi.

Dignáre, Dómine, die isto * sine peccáto nos custodíre.

Miserére nostri, Dómine, * miserére nostri.

Fiat misericórdia tua, Dómine, super nos, * quemádmodum sperávimus in te.

In te, Dómine, sperávi: * non confúndar in ætérnum.

Ps. 22.

Dominus regit me, et nihil mihi deerit: * in loco pascuæ ibi me collocavit.

Super aquam refectionis educavit me: * animam meam convertit.

Deduxit me super semitas justitiæ, * propter nomen suum.

Nam, et si ambulavero in medio umbræ mortis, non timebo mala: * quoniam tu mecum es.

Virga tua, et baculus tuus: * ipsa me consolata sunt.

Parasti in conspectu meo mensam, * adversus eos, qui tribulant me.

Impinguasti in oleo caput meum: * et calix meus inebrians quam præclarus est!

Et misericordia tua subsequetur me * omnibus diebus vitæ meæ:

Et ut inhabitem in domo Domini, * in longitudinem dierum.
Gloria Patri, et Filio: * et Spiritui Sancto.
Sicut erat in principio, et nunc, et semper: * et in sæcula sæculorum. Amen.

Ps. 33.

Benedicam Dominum in omni tempore: * semper laus ejus in ore meo.

In Domino laudabitur anima mea: * audiant mansueti, et lætentur.

Magnificate Dominum mecum: * et exaltemus nomen ejus in idipsum.

Exquisivi Dominum, et exaudivit me: * et ex omnibus tribulationibus meis eripuit me.

Accedite ad eum, et illuminamini: * et facies vestræ non confundentur.

Iste pauper clamavit, et Dominus exaudivit eum: * et de omnibus tribulationibus ejus salvavit eum.

Immittet Angelus Domini in circuitu timentium eum: * et eripiet eos.

Gustate, et videte quoniam suavis est Dominus: * beatus vir, qui sperat in eo.

Timete Dominum, omnes sancti ejus: * quoniam non est inopia timentibus eum.

Divites eguerunt et esurierunt: * inquirentes autem Dominum non minuentur omni bono.

Venite, filii, audite me: * timorem Domini docebo vos.

Quis est homo qui vult vitam: * diligit dies videre bonos?

Prohibe linguam tuam a malo: * et labia tua ne loquantur dolum.

Diverte a malo, et fac bonum: * inquire pacem, et persequere eam.

Oculi Domini super justos: * et aures ejus in preces eorum.

Vultus autem Domini super facientes mala: * ut perdat de terra memoriam eorum.

Clamaverunt justi, et Dominus exaudivit eos: * et ex omnibus tribulationibus eorum liberavit eos.

Juxta est Dominus iis, qui tribulato sunt corde: * et humiles spiritu salvabit.

Multæ tribulationes justorum: * et de omnibus his liberabit eos Dominus.

Custodit Dominus omnia ossa eorum: * unum ex his non conteretur.

Mors peccatorum pessima: * et qui oderunt justum, delinquent.

Redimet Dominus animas servorum suorum: * et non delinquent omnes qui sperant in eo.

Gloria Patri, et Filio: * et Spiritui Sancto.

Sicut erat in principio, et nunc, et semper: * et in sæcula sæculorum. Amen.

Ps. 102.

Benedic, anima mea, Domino: * et omnia, quæ intra me sunt, nomini sancto ejus.

Benedic, anima mea, Domino: * et noli oblivisci omnes retributiones ejus.

Qui propitiatur omnibus iniquitatibus tuis: * qui sanat omnes infirmitates tuas.

Qui redimit de interitu vitam tuam: * qui coronat te in misericordia et miserationibus.

Qui replet in bonis desiderium tuum: * renovabitur ut aquilæ juventus tua:

Faciens misericordias Dominus: * et judicium omnibus injuriam patientibus.

Notas fecit vias suas Moysi, * filiis Israël voluntates suas.

Miserator, et misericors Dominus: * longanimis, et multum misericors.

Non in perpetuum irascetur: * neque in æternum comminabitur.

Non secundum peccata nostra fecit nobis: * neque secundum iniquitates nostras retribuit nobis.

Quoniam secundum altitudinem cæli a terra: * corroboravit misericordiam suam super timentes se.

Quantum distat ortus ab occidente: * longe fecit a nobis iniquitates nostras.

Quomodo miseretur pater filiorum, misertus est Dominus timentibus se: * quoniam ipse cognovit figmentum nostrum.

Recordatus est quoniam pulvis sumus: * homo, sicut fœnum dies ejus, tamquam flos agri sic efflorebit.

Quoniam spiritus pertransibit in illo, et non subsistet: * et non cognoscet amplius locum suum.

Misericordia autem Domini ab æterno, * et usque in æternum super timentes eum.

Et justitia illius in filios filiorum, * his qui servant testamentum ejus:

Et memores sunt mandatorum ipsius, * ad faciendum ea.

Dominus in cælo paravit sedem suam: * et regnum ipsius omnibus dominabitur.

Benedicite Domino, omnes Angeli ejus: * potentes virtute, facientes verbum illius, ad audiendam vocem sermonum ejus.

Benedicite Domino, omnes virtutes ejus: * ministri ejus, qui facitis voluntatem ejus.

Benedicite Domino, omnia opera ejus: * in omni loco dominationis ejus, benedic, anima mea, Domino.

Gloria Patri, et Filio: * et Spiritui Sancto.

Sicut erat in principio, et nunc, et semper: * et in sæcula sæculorum. Amen.

Aña. O quam suavis est, Domine, Spiritus tuus! qui, ut dulcedinem tuam in filios demonstrares, pane suavissimo de cœlo præstito, esurientes reples bonis, divites dimittens inanes. Sap. 12 et 16. Luc. 1.

Preces.

Kyrie, eleison. Christe, eleison. Kyrie, eleison.

Pater noster secreto usque ad

V/. Et ne nos inducas in tentationem:

R/. Sed libera nos a malo.

V/. Memoriam fecit mirabilium suorum misericors et miserator Dominus:

R/. Escam dedit timentibus se. Ps. 110.

V/. Quid est homo, quod memor es ejus?

R/. Aut filius hominis, quoniam visitas eum? Ps. 8.

V/. Sicut adipe et pinguedine repleatur anima mea;

R/. Et labiis exsultationis laudabit os meum. Ps. 62.

V/. Non nobis, Domine, non nobis;

R/. Sed nomini tuo da gloriam. Ps. 113.

V/. Nunc dimittis servum tuum, Domine, secundum verbum tuum, in pace;

R/. Quia viderunt oculi mei salutare tuum. Luc. 2.

V/. Domine, exaudi orationem meam;

R/. Et clamor meus ad te veniat. Ps. 101.

Oremus. (Sacr. Gelas. &c.)

Visita, quæsumus, Domine, familiam tuam: et corda sacris dicata mysteriis pervigili tuere pietate; ut remedia salutis æternæ, quæ te miserante percipiunt, te protegente custodiant.

Quæsumus, Domine, Deus noster, ut quos divina tribuis participatione gaudere, humanis non sinas subjacere periculis.

Cognoscimus, Domine, tuæ circa nos clementiæ largitatem: et ideo fiducialius imploramus, ut quos pascere non desinis immeritos, et digne tibi servire perficias, et donis uberioribus prosequaris.

Majestatem tuam, Domine, suppliciter exoramus, ne perire patiaris quibus tanta remedia providisti; sed cum divini frequentatione mysterii crescat nostræ salutis effectus.

Actiones nostras, quæsumus, Domine, aspirando præveni, et adjuvando prosequere; ut cuncta nostra oratio et operatio a te semper incipiat, et per te cœpta finiatur.

[Adjuvet nos gratia tua, omnipotens Deus; ut qui officium sacerdotale suscepimus, digne ac devote tibi in omni puritate et conscientia bona famulari valeamus: et si non possumus in tanta innocentia vitæ conversari ut debemus, concede nobis tamen digne flere mala quæ gessimus, et in spiritu humilitatis, ac bonæ voluntatis proposito tibi ferventius de cetero deservire; (Imit. Christi. IV. xi, 8.)] Per Christum Dominum nostrum. R/. Amen.

The last prayer, being directly from the Imitation of Christ, I now quote from an old translation:

Assist us with Thy grace, O Almighty God, that we who have taken upon us the priestly office, may be able to converse worthily and devoutly with Thee in all purity and good conscience. And if we are not able to have our conversation in such innocency of life as we ought, yet grant unto us worthily to lament the sins which we have committed, and in the spirit of humility and full purpose of a good will, to serve Thee more earnestly for the future.

Prayers, please...

Suzie, beloved pet dog, is sick – she is hooked up to an intravenous drip at the veterinary hospital as I write this – and doubtless is quite bewildered and afraid.  We were told by Our Lord to pray for all concerns, and so with confidence in His good will I do ask readers to join in praying for her health, so very important to all whose lives her canine affection brightens.  After all, the Roman Missal includes votive prayers in time of cattle plague, so why not pray for a sick dog, man's faithful friend and true (cf. Tob. xi, 9)?

Being in a Franciscan parish, I was bold to ask my parish priest to pray for this, and he consented (with a twinkle in his eye, be it said, as he recalled a petition praying St Anthony to find a canary which had flown away!).  It seems to me that SS Francis, Roch and Hubert are the saints to invoke, being patrons of animals, dogs and hounds, respectively.  Since St Dominic is famously pictured with a faithful dog, symbolic of the Domini canes, I also ask his intercessions.

St Dominic, pray for her.

St Francis, pray for her.

St Roch, pray for her.

St Hubert, pray for her.

Miserere nostri, Domine: quia peccavimus tibi

Now that the new translation is about to be fully implemented, one hears the second form of the Penitential Act in a more faithful version than formerly – for the Latin is:

V/. Miserere nostri, Domine.

R/. Quia peccavimus tibi.

V/. Ostende nobis, Domine, misericordiam tuam.

R/. Et salutare tuum da nobis.

and the new English thereof is:

V/. Have mercy on us, O Lord.

R/. For we have sinned against you.

V/. Show us, O Lord, your mercy.

R/. And grant us your salvation.

(In both cases, I have added the versicle and response marks for clarity.)

But whence cometh this text?

The second versicle, used for perhaps a thousand years and more in the preparatory prayers at Mass, is of course from Psalm 84, but the first, while it sounds Scriptural, doesn't occur anywhere word-for-word in Holy Writ.

Initially, it does remind one of the words of the Lenten chant Attende, Domine, et miserere, quia peccavimus tibi (which, while not directly from Scripture, are hallowed by centuries of use, and have quite a nice tune to which they are sung – a pity they weren't simply inserted into the Mass if such an alternative to the Confiteor was actually necessary).

The nearest echoes I have found are as follows.

Baruch 3:2, especially in the Vulgate (still the official Latin version when the Novus Ordo Missæ was drawn up), is quite close:

Audi, Domine, et miserere, quia Deus es misericors: et miserere nostri, quia peccavimus ante te.

(In the Neo-Vulgate, as I call the Nova Vulgata, the allusion is obscured, as the phrase quia Deus es misericors: et miserere nostri is omitted, presumably because it is not in the Hebrew, and came into the Latin via the Septuagint through the process know as dittography, whereby the first phrase is redoubled. Also, the Neo-Vulgate changes the last two words of the verse into in conspectu tuo.)

Now as to finding exact verbal correspondences, the versicle is the same as those first few words of Psalm 122(123):3, Miserere nostri, Domine; whereas the reponse instead comes from the end of Jeremias 14:20, quia peccavimus tibi (in both cases, the words are the same in the Vulgate and New Vulgate).

Why was such a strange pastiche composed and inserted?  Well, evidently the second versicle, Ostende nobis, Domine, was found worthy, and simply lifted from the versicles said by the priest at the conclusion of the prayers at the foot of the altar in the Extraordinary Form, but the versicle preceding it in that liturgy, Deus tu conversus, was evidently found "not quite suitable".  Hence, the reformers made up a "better" one themselves.  How curious.

An Amazing Sight

I was late to morning Mass this morning.  The priest at the altar was evidently a visitor... and, to my astonishment, after Mass, once he had de-vested in the sacristy, he came out and – went and knelt down and prayed (I think he even opened an office book)!

Compare this to most of the local clergy, who tend to fly out the door as soon as they've removed their vestments.

Despite what Canon Law prescribes*, it is rare to see priests praying either before or after Mass.  Of course, in charity one assumes they devoutly pray in the sacristy, and in their hearts as they drive to and fro; but to actually see them praying is far more edifying, and quells the suspicion that they say inwardly, "Thanks be to God that's over!" as their only orison.

*Can. 909 A priest is not to neglect to prepare himself properly through prayer for the celebration of the eucharistic sacrifice and to offer thanks to God at its completion.

— one wonders who bothers to obey this requirement.

Of Sermons and Doxologies

I've been privileged to meet up with a friend, a young Dominican priest, Fr Paul, who has been here this week-end in order to say Mass for the Carmelite nuns; in response to a question of mine (I having noted this at each of his Masses, Friday, Saturday and Sunday), he confirmed that he concludes all his sermons with a doxology, that is, an ascription of praise to God (very good that: the Fathers did so), having heeded the suggestion of Fr Joseph, another Dominican, to do so.

He tells me that it influences him to turn his sermons toward the goal of eternal life and heaven: if so, Amen!  What else should a sermon turn toward?  I recall Fr Rowe telling me that he basically preached but one theme, and that is to win through to eternal life; I think yet another Friar Preacher, Fr Bernard, said the same; and if only all priests had such a right orientation toward the one thing necessary, we might be spared much foolish nonsense.  "Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness..." – so may we ever give glory to the Trinity!

Just now, while searching for something else, I came across the ending of a homily of St John Chrysostom (Homily 6 on Hebrews) that indeed ends aright:

For if when we go out into a plain, and there see the soldiers' tents fixed with curtains, and the spears, and helmets, and bosses of the bucklers glittering, we are lifted up with wonder; but if we also chance to see the king himself running in the midst or even riding with golden armor, we think we have everything; what do you think [it will be] when you see the everlasting tabernacles of the saints pitched in heaven? – for it is said, They shall receive you into their everlasting tabernacles (Luke 16:9) – when you see each one of them beaming with light above the rays of the sun, not from brass and steel, but from that glory whose gleamings the eye of man cannot look upon? And this indeed with respect to the men. But what, if one were to speak of the thousands of Angels, of Archangels, of Cherubim, of Seraphim, of thrones, of dominions, of principalities, of powers, whose beauty is inimitable, passing all understanding?

But how far shall I go in pursuing what cannot be overtaken? For eye has not seen, it is said, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God has prepared for them that love Him. (1 Corinthians 2:9) Therefore nothing is more pitiable than those who miss, nor anything more blessed than those who attain. Let us then be of the blessed, that we may attain to the everlasting good things that are in Christ Jesus our Lord, with whom to the Father together with the Holy Ghost be glory, might, honor, now and for ever and world without end. Amen.

Even at Papal Masses...

Even at Papal Masses, the readings before the Gospel are read by laypersons, not by vested, instituted lectors (of whom surely a supply would be available in Rome of all places); even at Papal Masses, despite several deacons serving at the Pope's side, the Prayers of the Faithful are read by a troop of layfolk, each reading one petition (just as teachers love to arrange a set of students to read them at school Masses), rather than – as all tradition would suggest, not to mention the rubrics – have a deacon announce the intentions for which to pray.

At least at Papal Mass in St Peter's, the Supreme Pontiff is celebrating Mass facing East, given the orientation of that basilica!

At least the Holy Father has brought back the use of an altar rail, at which, to kneeling communicants, he administers the Bread of Life, placing the Sacred Host on their tongues (and, one assumes, a following deacon then gives them Christ's Blood from the chalice).

It seems to me that, if a resacralization of the celebration of Mass is to be attempted – as is most needful, and moreover as the Pope has emphasised – then some of the first things to be done are to bring back a better adherence to the spirit of liturgical law, rather than, out of a misplaced sense of "community involvement", have members of the congregation perform what should be the proper ministries of lectors, acolytes and deacons: therefore, readings and intercessions should be read by persons vested at the least.

Almost more than anything else, restoring the ancient and rational practice of the priest facing East, standing before the altar, leading the people in prayer, rather than foolishly gawping at them (and they him) across the table thereof, is to be desired and worked towards.  The few times I've had the joy of attending Ordinary Form Mass said ad orientem, it has greatly helped make clear that what is going on is and ought to be offered as a reverent, dignified, sublime sacrifice.  It helps the priest pray, and helps both him and his flock focus on the Mystery, rather than both be distracted by and distracting to each other.

It seems to me that the administration of Holy Communion should be restored to being a more reverent ritual, with those doing so, even if EMHC's, being at least parati (vested), and those receiving kneeling to do so, as is the Papal preference.

Again, none of all of this requires any change in rubrics – only the resolve to implement, not a vulgar minimum, but a maximum.

Hence:

• Readers should be vested, instituted lectors;
• A deacon if present, or such a lector, should read the General Intercessions;
• Mass should be said employing the Eastward Position;
• EMHC's, if their use actually be necessary, should be vested;
• Communion should be received kneeling.

Why it is – as Acts of the Martyrs in North Africa demonstrate – that country congregations in the early Church had multiple lectors, subdeacons and so forth, where all too often to-day some aged priest has no servers but only a bevy of middle-aged ladies come to assist in reading and later in distributing Communion, I wonder?

(For the moment I do not speak of the parallel calls, now ever-stronger, for a return to singing the whole Mass, and the Propers thereof, not ditties or hymns but Introits and so forth.)

******

I will make one suggestion of a profitable and easy change to the modern Order of Mass: rather than having three Penitential Acts, all three ought be merged together: thus, the priest would always begin with the introductory phrase Fratres agnoscamus peccata nostra, then lead all in the Confiteor, which he answers with the Misereatur (all responding Amen) – then, having used "Act A", he would at once continue with the versicles that comprise variant "B", which form a sensible bridge to the Kyrie, either untroped, or (as in Penitential Act C) with interpolated verses (a nice revival of a mediæval practice).

A Very Dominican Doctorate

Heard yester-day: Fr Joseph (of Missa contra amicas fame) was asked how his doctoral studies are progressing; he replied, I intend to finish the first draft of my thesis this year – then I plan to begin reading.

How very Dominican!

Pray the Gradual Psalms

Yester-day, for Friday penance, and this morning, as my morning prayer, I prayed the Gradual Psalms (Pss 119–133 according to the Septuagint and Vulgate, or Pss 120–134 in the Hebrew and in modern Bibles) – which ought be ever on the lips of Christians.

It is said that these Gradual or “stepwise” Psalms were originally pilgrim chants, sung when going up to Jerusalem, or, as the more literal-minded would have it, they were songs sung by the Levites as the steps of the Temple were ascended one by one – mystical writers imagined that Our Lady, when presented as a child in the Temple, thus prayed them upon her entrance thereto.  Again, those exiled in Babylon, when at last able to return to Jerusalem, may well have prayed them during their journey: and all these images of going up, of approach, to the Holy, are of course an image of the spiritual life, an ascent from the Babylon of this world to the City of God.

The Gradual Psalms are thus figures of the ascent of the elect, who go up from this vale of tears to the heavenly Jerusalem by the steps of the virtues, and especially of charity (so states the Cœleste Palmetum, an old manual of devotion: they are figuras fuisse ascensionis Electorum, qui per gradus virtutum, ac præcipue charitatis, de valle lacrymarum ad cælestem Jerusalem ascendunt).  Therefore a Christian ought know himself to be but a pilgrim in this world, and have these psalms most familiar to him: he ought weep for being in painful exile, he ought pant after rest in the heavenly homeland, he ought ever lift himself up and make progress in the journey home to God – for, as Augustine warns, he who does not make continual progress at once goes backward.  The Gradual Psalms abound in these relevant sentiments, and so amply supply the mind with rightful thoughts and the will with holy aspirations.

(Again, I but english the words of the Cœleste Palmetum, which states: Proinde usus horum Psalmorum familiaris esse deberet cuilibet Christiano, qui se peregrinum in hoc mundo agnoscit, et nunc ærumnas exilii sui deflet, nunc ad requiem cælestis patriæ aspirat, semper autem se ad ascendendum, et in via Domini progrediendum ascendit. Ad quæ congruos affectus hi Psalmi abunde suppeditant.)

Why fifteen psalms “of degrees”, or “steps”?  I now refer to the numerical speculations of mediævals.  Fifteen is seven plus eight, and represents fitly the Old Testament, centred on the seventh day, whenas Creation was completed, and so hallowed as a day of rest in remembrance thereof, now fulfilled in the New, centred on the eighth, the Day of Resurrection, image of eternity as triumphant completion of God’s salvific work. Again, the first five psalms represent our five senses, by which we sin, and so die – hence their being sung without Gloria Patri, and being offered as prayer for the dead: Deus Israël, audi nunc orationem mortuorum Israël (Baruch iii, 4); while the second and third set of five psalms add to ten, being the number of the Commandments, the first three relating to love of God, and the last seven to love of neighbour – therefore, these are prayed for the living, and sung with Gloria Patri.  Such the mystic reasons adduced!

I like to preface the Gradual Psalms with Psalm 83, Quam dilecta tabernacula tua, since this is a psalm imaging the pilgrimage to Jerusalem: ascensiones in corde suo disposuit, in valle lacrimarum in loco quem posuit… ibunt de virtute in virtutem: videbitur Deus deorum in Sion. (And one may as well add to this the two like psalms following, Psalm 84, Benedixisti, Domine, terram tuam – found at Roman Prime de Beata – and Psalm 85, Inclina, Domine, aurem tuam; just as they are found together in the Præparatio ad Missam.)

By the way, Psalm 85, just referred to in passing above, has a moving line, a strong confession of sinful man’s grateful recognition of Divine mercy: Quia misericordia tua magna est super me: et eruisti animam meam ex inferno inferiori – “For thy mercy is great over me: and thou hast delivered” (more literally, “dug up”) “my soul from the deepest hell”.  So God’s Word struck me as I prayed after Confession this morning.

It was the practice in the Middle Ages for the Gradual Psalms to be prayed directly before beginning Matins.  As they were offered up as prayers of intercession, they were divided into three groups of five psalms each, and each group was followed by preces or prayers: Kyrie, the Lord's Prayer, some versicles and a collect.  The first group was prayed for the dead, and the second and third for the living.  While St Pius V released those who read the Office privately from saying the Gradual Psalms, he maintained the obligation of their use in choir to the extent that they were appointed to be said on Lenten Wednesdays; St Pius X removed this remnant commitment.

A check of various Breviaries reveals a surprising uniformity in the prayers added to the Gradual Psalms: they are almost always identical.  Some slight differences manifest themselves in the Uses of the religious orders, in the case of the Dominicans and especially the Carmelites, as will be detailed below; otherwise, they were prayed with the same words everywhere.

The Dominicans, as is their wont, abbreviate the collects and preces slightly: they omit the versicle Domine exaudi from all the preces; they omit the versicle Requiescant in the first set of preces, and the words et omnium fidelium defunctorum from its collect; they omit the words nos et omnes famulos tuos from the collect of the second set; they add, however, the words et ancillas tuas to the versicle Salvos in the third set of preces, and read assequantur in the last collect instead of the expected consequi mereantur.  These may be survivals of earlier practices.

The Carmelites make the most changes: firstly and uniquely, they preface the Gradual Psalms with V/. Adjutorium nostrum. As their Breviary's rubrics make clear, they sit for all the psalms, and bow at each doxology, before kneeling for the preces as is normal.

Most notably, in the Carmelite Rite the first five psalms are not prayed for the dead: instead, they are said with Gloria Patri, and are followed by what are the preces for the second set in other Uses, one of its versicles beginning not Memento but Memor esto and moreover having another versicle before it: V/. Memento nostri Domine in beneplacito populi tui. R/. Visita nos in salutari tuo. (The Cluniac Breviary also used this with the preces for the second five psalms.)

Again, the preces for the second five psalms are what in other Uses are appointed for the third, and likewise add, before its versicle Salvos, another versicle: V/. Domine, salvum fac regem. R/. Et exaudi nos in die, qua invocaverimus te. (The Cluniac Breviary had this versicle with the third set of preces, but reading salvos fac reges instead.) 

The last set of five psalms are those prayed for the dead, evidently because the first is Psalm 129, De profundis, considered the prayer for the dead par excellence, and these are said with only one Requiem at the end, just as is done in all other Uses for the first five psalms.  The preces (omitting Kyrie, as is mostly but not always done when praying for the dead) are the same as the Roman first set. It thus appears that the Carmelites changed the traditional order of praying the Gradual Psalms, thinking thus to adopt the more usual arrangement of praying for the living first, and the dead last.

I warmly commend these psalms and prayers to those who list for the Lord, lifting hearts and hands to God in heaven (cf. Lam. iii, 41).  In the text of the Gradual Psalms as given below, according to the traditional Roman form as found in the 1962 Breviary and earlier editions, laymen of course omit the versicle Dominus vobiscum when it occurs, as only a deacon, priest or bishop would say that.

PSALMI GRADUALES

Psalmus 119

Ad Dominum cum tribularer clamavi: * et exaudivit me.

Domine, libera animam meam a labiis iniquis, * et a lingua dolosa.

Quid detur tibi, aut quid apponatur tibi * ad linguam dolosam?

Sagittæ potentis acutæ, * cum carbonibus desolatoriis.

Heu mihi, quia incolatus meus prolongatus est: habitavi cum habitantibus Cedar: * multum incola fuit anima mea.

Cum his qui oderunt pacem, eram pacificus: * cum loquebar illis, impugnabant me gratis.

Psalmus 120

Levavi oculos meos in montes, * unde veniet auxilium mihi.

Auxilium meum a Domino, * qui fecit cælum et terram.

Non det in commotionem pedem tuum: * neque dormitet qui custodit te.

Ecce non dormitabit neque dormiet, * qui custodit Israël.

Dominus custodit te, Dominus protectio tua, * super manum dexteram tuam.

Per diem sol non uret te: * neque luna per noctem.

Dominus custodit te ab omni malo: * custodiat animam tuam Dominus.

Dominus custodiat introitum tuum, et exitum tuum: * ex hoc nunc, et usque in sæculum.

Psalmus 121

Lætatus sum in his quæ dicta sunt mihi: * In domum Domini ibimus.

Stantes erant pedes nostri, * in atriis tuis, Jerusalem.

Jerusalem, quæ ædificatur ut civitas: * cujus participatio ejus in idipsum.

Illuc enim ascenderunt tribus, tribus Domini: * testimonium Israël ad confitendum nomini Domini.

Quia illic sederunt sedes in judicio, * sedes super domum David.

Rogate quæ ad pacem sunt Jerusalem: * et abundantia diligentibus te:

Fiat pax in virtute tua: * et abundantia in turribus tuis.

Propter fratres meos, et proximos meos, * loquebar pacem de te:

Propter domum Domini, Dei nostri, * quæsivi bona tibi.

Psalmus 122

Ad te levavi oculos meos, * qui habitas in cælis.

Ecce sicut oculi servorum * in manibus dominorum suorum,

Sicut oculi ancillæ in manibus dominæ suæ: * ita oculi nostri ad Dominum, Deum nostrum, donec misereatur nostri.

Miserere nostri, Domine, miserere nostri: * quia multum repleti sumus despectione:

Quia multum repleta est anima nostra: * opprobrium abundantibus, et despectio superbis.

Psalmus 123

Nisi quia Dominus erat in nobis, dicat nunc Israël: * nisi quia Dominus erat in nobis,

Cum exsurgerent homines in nos, * forte vivos deglutissent nos:

Cum irasceretur furor eorum in nos, * forsitan aqua absorbuisset nos.

Torrentem pertransivit anima nostra: * forsitan pertransisset anima nostra aquam intolerabilem.

Benedictus Dominus * qui non dedit nos in captionem dentibus eorum.

Anima nostra sicut passer erepta est * de laqueo venantium:

Laqueus contritus est, * et nos liberati sumus.

Adjutorium nostrum in nomine Domini, * qui fecit cælum et terram.

Requiem æternam * dona eis, Domine.

Et lux perpetua * luceat eis.

Pater noster  secreto usque ad

℣. Et ne nos inducas in tentationem.

℟. Sed libera nos a malo.

℣. A porta inferi.

℟. Erue, Domine, animas eorum.

℣. Requiescant in pace.

℟. Amen.

℣. Domine, exaudi orationem meam.

℟. Et clamor meus ad te veniat.
℣. Dominus vobiscum. 

℟. Et cum spiritu tuo.

Oremus.                                   Oratio

Absolve, quæsumus, Domine, animas famulorum famularumque tuarum et omnium fidelium defunctorum, ab omni vinculo delictorum: ut in resurrectionis gloria inter Sanctos et Electos tuos resuscitati respirent. Per Christum Dominum nostrum. ℟. Amen.

Psalmus 124

Qui confidunt in Domino, sicut mons Sion: * non commovebitur in æternum, qui habitat in Jerusalem.

Montes in circuitu ejus: * et Dominus in circuitu populi sui, ex hoc nunc et usque in sæculum.

Quia non relinquet Dominus virgam peccatorum super sortem justorum: * ut non extendant justi ad iniquitatem manus suas.

Benefac, Domine, bonis, * et rectis corde.

Declinantes autem in obligationes adducet Dominus cum operantibus iniquitatem: * Pax super Israël.

Gloria Patri et Filio * et Spiritui Sancto.

Sicut erat in principio et nunc et semper, * et in sæcula sæculorum.  Amen.

Psalmus 125

In convertendo Dominus captivitatem Sion: * facti sumus sicut consolati:

Tunc repletum est gaudio os nostrum: * et lingua nostra exsultatione.

Tunc dicent inter gentes: * Magnificavit Dominus facere cum eis.

Magnificavit Dominus facere nobiscum: * facti sumus lætantes.

Converte, Domine, captivitatem nostram, * sicut torrens in austro.

Qui seminant in lacrimis, * in exsultatione metent.

Euntes ibant et flebant, * mittentes semina sua.

Venientes autem venient cum exsultatione, * portantes manipulos suos.

Gloria Patri et Filio * et Spiritui Sancto.

Sicut erat in principio et nunc et semper, * et in sæcula sæculorum.  Amen.

Psalmus 126

Nisi Dominus ædificaverit domum, * in vanum laboraverunt qui ædificant eam.

Nisi Dominus custodierit civitatem, * frustra vigilat qui custodit eam.

Vanum est vobis ante lucem surgere: * surgite postquam sederitis, qui manducatis panem doloris.

Cum dederit dilectis suis somnum: * ecce hæreditas Domini, filii: merces, fructus ventris.

Sicut sagittæ in manu potentis: * ita filii excussorum.

Beatus vir qui implevit desiderium suum ex ipsis: * non confundetur cum loquetur inimicis suis in porta.

Gloria Patri et Filio * et Spiritui Sancto.

Sicut erat in principio et nunc et semper, * et in sæcula sæculorum.  Amen.

Psalmus 127

Beati omnes qui timent Dominum, * qui ambulant in viis ejus.

Labores manuum tuarum quia manducabis: * beatus es, et bene tibi erit.

Uxor tua sicut vitis abundans, * in lateribus domus tuæ.

Filii tui sicut novellæ olivarum, * in circuitu mensæ tuæ.

Ecce sic benedicetur homo, * qui timet Dominum.

Benedicat tibi Dominus ex Sion: * et videas bona Jerusalem omnibus diebus vitæ tuæ.

Et videas filios filiorum tuorum, * pacem super Israël.

Gloria Patri et Filio * et Spiritui Sancto.

Sicut erat in principio et nunc et semper, * et in sæcula sæculorum.  Amen.

Psalmus 128

Sæpe expugnaverunt me a juventute mea, * dicat nunc Israël:

Sæpe expugnaverunt me a juventute mea: * etenim non potuerunt mihi.

Supra dorsum meum fabricaverunt peccatores: * prolongaverunt iniquitatem suam.

Dominus justus concidit cervices peccatorum: * confundantur et convertantur retrorsum omnes qui oderunt Sion.

Fiant sicut fœnum tectorum: * quod priusquam evellatur exaruit:

De quo non implevit manum suam qui metit, * et sinum suum qui manipulos colligit.

Et non dixerunt qui præteribant: Benedictio Domini super vos: * benediximus vobis in nomine Domini.

Gloria Patri et Filio * et Spiritui Sancto.

Sicut erat in principio et nunc et semper, * et in sæcula sæculorum.  Amen.

Kyrie, eleison.

Christe, eleison.

Kyrie, eleison.

Pater noster  secreto usque ad

℣. Et ne nos inducas in tentationem.

℟. Sed libera nos a malo.

℣. Memento Congregationis tuae.

℟. Quam possedisti ab initio.

℣. Domine, exaudi orationem meam.

℟. Et clamor meus ad te veniat.
℣. Dominus vobiscum. 
℟. Et cum spiritu tuo.

Oremus.                                   Oratio

Deus, cui proprium est misereri semper et parcere: suscipe deprecationem nostram; ut nos, et omnes famulos tuos, quos delictorum catena constringit, miseratio tuæ pietatis clementer absolvat. Per Christum Dominum nostrum. ℟. Amen.

Psalmus 129

De profundis clamavi ad te, Domine: * Domine, exaudi vocem meam.

Fiant aures tuæ intendentes, * in vocem deprecationis meæ.

Si iniquitates observaveris, Domine: * Domine, quis sustinebit?

Quia apud te propitiatio est: * et propter legem tuam sustinui te, Domine.

Sustinuit anima mea in verbo ejus: * speravit anima mea in Domino.

A custodia matutina usque ad noctem: * speret Israël in Domino.

Quia apud Dominum misericordia: * et copiosa apud eum redemptio.

Et ipse redimet Israël, * ex omnibus iniquitatibus ejus.

Gloria Patri et Filio * et Spiritui Sancto.

Sicut erat in principio et nunc et semper, * et in sæcula sæculorum.  Amen.

Psalmus 130

Domine, non est exaltatum cor meum: * neque elati sunt oculi mei.

Neque ambulavi in magnis: * neque in mirabilibus super me.

Si non humiliter sentiebam: * sed exaltavi animam meam:

Sicut ablactatus est super matre sua, * ita retributio in anima mea.

Speret Israël in Domino, * ex hoc nunc et usque in sæculum.

Gloria Patri et Filio * et Spiritui Sancto.

Sicut erat in principio et nunc et semper, * et in sæcula sæculorum.  Amen.

Psalmus 131

Memento, Domine, David, * et omnis mansuetudinis ejus:

Sicut juravit Domino, * votum vovit Deo Jacob:

Si introiero in tabernaculum domus meæ, * si ascendero in lectum strati mei:

Si dedero somnum oculis meis, * et palpebris meis dormitationem:

Et requiem temporibus meis: donec inveniam locum Domino, * tabernaculum Deo Jacob.

Ecce audivimus eam in Ephrata: * invenimus eam in campis silvæ.

Introibimus in tabernaculum ejus: * adorabimus in loco ubi steterunt pedes ejus.

Surge, Domine, in requiem tuam, * tu et arca sanctificationis tuæ.

Sacerdotes tui induantur justitiam: * et sancti tui exsultent.

Propter David, servum tuum, * non avertas faciem Christi tui.

Juravit Dominus David veritatem, et non frustrabitur eam: * De fructu ventris tui ponam super sedem tuam.

Si custodierint filii tui testamentum meum, * et testimonia mea hæc quæ docebo eos:

Et filii eorum usque in sæculum, * sedebunt super sedem tuam.

Quoniam elegit Dominus Sion: * elegit eam in habitationem sibi.

Hæc requies mea in sæculum sæculi: * hic habitabo, quoniam elegi eam.

Viduam ejus benedicens benedicam: * pauperes ejus saturabo panibus.

Sacerdotes ejus induam salutari: * et sancti ejus exsultatione exsultabunt.

Illuc producam cornu David, * paravi lucernam Christo meo.

Inimicos ejus induam confusione: * super ipsum autem efflorebit sanctificatio mea.

Gloria Patri et Filio * et Spiritui Sancto.

Sicut erat in principio et nunc et semper, * et in sæcula sæculorum.  Amen.

Psalmus 132

Ecce quam bonum et quam jucundum * habitare fratres in unum:

Sicut unguentum in capite, * quod descendit in barbam, barbam Aaron,

Quod descendit in oram vestimenti ejus: * sicut ros Hermon, qui descendit in montem Sion.

Quoniam illic mandavit Dominus benedictionem, * et vitam usque in sæculum.

Gloria Patri et Filio * et Spiritui Sancto.

Sicut erat in principio et nunc et semper, * et in sæcula sæculorum.  Amen.

Psalmus 133

Ecce nunc benedicite Dominum, * omnes servi Domini:

Qui statis in domo Domini, * in atriis domus Dei nostri.

In noctibus extollite manus vestras in sancta, * et benedicite Dominum.

Benedicat te Dominus ex Sion, * qui fecit cælum et terram.

Gloria Patri et Filio * et Spiritui Sancto.

Sicut erat in principio et nunc et semper, * et in sæcula sæculorum.  Amen.

Kyrie, eleison.

Christe, eleison.

Kyrie, eleison.

Pater noster  secreto usque ad

℣. Et ne nos inducas in tentationem.

℟. Sed libera nos a malo.

℣. Salvos fac servos tuos.

℟. Deus meus, sperantes in te.

℣. Domine, exaudi orationem meam.

℟. Et clamor meus ad te veniat.
℣. Dominus vobiscum. 

℟. Et cum spiritu tuo.

Oremus.                                   Oratio

Prætende, Domine, famulis et famulabus tuis dexteram cælestis auxilii: ut te toto corde perquirant, et quæ digne postulant, consequi mereantur. Per Christum Dominum nostrum. ℟. Amen.