Sequences for St Peter Martyr and St Catherine of Siena

Having recently downloaded a pdf of the 1603 Dominican Missal (as one does), I have transcribed the Sequences for St Peter Martyr (whose feast was yesterday) and St Catherine of Siena (whose feast is today):

Sequentia S. Petri Martyris

1. Adest dies celebris, quo lumen de tenebris, exortum emicuit.

2. Nam ab infidelibus, Petrus dispar moribus, ortus mundo claruit.

3. Mundum mundus abjicit, ordini se subjicit Evangelizantium.

4. Fit salutis speculum‚ morumque spectaculum, vas virtutum omnium.

5. Сarnis pudicitiam, et baptismi gratiam, conservat viriliter.

6. Verbi semen seminat, errores exterminat, verbo pugnans fortiter.

7. Dum non cedit hostibus, resistens erroribus, justi sanguis funditur.

8. A profanis manibus Sanctus diris ictibus, invasus occiditur.

9. Сhristi factus hostia, cæli transit ostia, cum palma martyrii.

10. Sempiterna gaudia, possidet cum gloria, ter centeni præmii.

11. Мorbi, mors, dæmonia, Petri per suffragia, depelluntur penitus.

12. Credit plebs incredula, videns hæc miracula, fieri divinitus.

13. Nobis ergo veniam, det Deus et gratiam‚ Petri prece sedula.

14. Et post hanc miseriam, largiatur gloriam, per æterna sæcula. Alleluja.

Sequentia S. Catharinæ Senensis

1. Lux advenit veneranda, laus in choris jubilanda, piis cunctis cordibus.

2. Hujus læta lux diei, festum refert sponsæ Dei, dedicandum laudibus.

3. Hæc de Senis oriunda, virgo munda Catharina, justis ex parentibus.

4. Mundum, carnem, hostem fregit, et triumphum victrix egit, ornata virtutibus.

5. Matrem Christi venerandam, omni gradu salutandam, lustro primo didicit.

6. Multis sanctis circumcinctum, se benedicentem Christum, virgo sancta conspicit.

7. Virginalis vitæ votum, Deo spondet quam devotum, ætatis septennio.

8. Ob hoc virgo tribulatur, sed a Deo liberatur, columbæ indicio.

9. Regularis vitæ ritum amplexatur institutum, a sancto Dominico.

10. Hunc adepta virgo sancta, mox vita claret miranda, Deo placens unico.

11. O quam chara, quam accepta, Christo Regi est effecta, ob præclara merita!

12. Nam ab ipso visitari, et de cunctis edoceri, solebat frequentius:

13. Hinc in sponsam subarrhari, et in fidem desponsari, meruit cum gloria.

14. Quis condigne potest fari, quave lingua explicari, fletus et suspiria.

15. Quæ fraterna pro salute, Jesu sponso cum virtute, emittebat sæpius.

16. Ut peccanti creaturæ, et Redemptor suo jure, fieret propitius.

17. Christi corpus venerandum, sic ducebat frequentandum, magno desiderio.

18. Ut si sibi licuisset, omni die id sumpsisset, pro sui remedio.

19. Dulce signum charitatis, dum amator castitatis, cor mutat in virgine.

20. Quo sic flagrat, sic movetur, ut dilectum contempletur, in cælorum cardine.

21. A quo sane nulla sorte, nec in vita nec in morte, separari patitur.

22. Sed in eum tota rapta, et a terra sublevata, Deo vero fruitur.

23. Tandem Christus dulcis sponsus, pio cordi sic conjunctus, sponsæ suæ nobilis.

24. Claram miris prodigiis, sacris ornat studiis, vitæ donas gaudia.

25. Jesu bone, Jesu dulcis, qui ad lumen cæcos ducis, sponsæ tuæ precibus.

26. Nos purgatos a peccatis, fac regnare cum beatis, omnibus temporibus.

27. Tuque virgo Deo digna, mitis, clemens et benigna, precibus nos refove.

28. Nec oblita pietatis, ad conspectum Deitatis, populum hunc promove. Alleluja.

ANZAC Day 2016

For the first time in many, many years I went to the Dawn Service at the Cenotaph in Royal Park this morning. I was staggered to find nearly every parking spot in the Launceston CBD already taken – at 5:45 am! – and had to park opposite Holy Trinity (half a mile away), whence I walked smartly so as to arrive in time for the start of proceedings at 6 am.

The RSL chaplain took as his text Psalm 26(27):3-4, “If armies in camp should stand together against me, my heart shall not fear. If a battle should rise up against me, in this will I be confident. One thing I have asked of the Lord, this will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life. That I may see the delight of the Lord, and may visit his temple.”

After the short service (during which, sadly, the choir seemed virtually silent rather than leading the crowd of thousands – 7,500, so The Examiner reported the next day –  so the traditional hymn “O God, our help in ages past” and the National Anthem were both all but inaudible), I went to a nearby pub for breakfast, then walked back in the cold light of dawn through now-deserted streets.

In 1916, Tasmania had a population of 200,000; of those, 15,485 enlisted (38% of eligible men), and of those enlisted, 2,432 were killed – a 16% death rate.  In memory of the fallen, I have said the Dirge (Matins and Lauds of the Dead, so-named after the first antiphon at Matins, Dirige, Domine, Deus meus); at nine o’clock, I will join the choir at the ANZAC Mass at Apostles.

Entrance Antiphon (Cf. Rev 14:13)

Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord. Let them rest from their labours, for their good deeds go with them.

Collect

Almighty everlasting God, who sent your Son to die that we might live, grant, we pray, eternal rest to those who gave themselves in service and sacrifice for their country. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

Prayer over the Offerings

Grant, O heavenly Father, that the sacrifice of Christ, who laid down his life for his friends, may raise all those who have died in war to the victory of eternal life. Through Christ our Lord.

Communion Antiphon (Cf. Jn 15:13)

Greater love has no one than to lay down his life for his friends, says the Lord.

Prayer after Communion

By our communion with this Sacrament, O Lord, grant us, we pray, fortitude in the cause of right, and may our remembrance of those who have died in war make us ardent defenders of your peace. Through Christ our Lord.