Parce Domine parce populo tuo

The following antiphon ought be ever on the lips of the faithful at this dread time, when we cry again and again for mercy, begging the Lord to avert the capital sentence his wrath has appointed on account of our sins:

Aña. Parce, Domine, parce populo tuo: ne in æternum irascaris nobis. (Cf. Joel 2, 17; Ps. 84, 6) 

(Spare, O Lord, spare thy people: lest thou be angry with us for ever.)

This antiphon may be sung with a selection of verses from the Lenten office hymns (the 5th and 6th of the hymn at Matins, the 2nd of the hymn at Lauds, and the 1st and 2nd of the hymn at Vespers), as follows:

Outside of Lent, verse 4 should be omitted; in its place, or even always, another verse (the 3rd from the Lenten Vespers hymn) could be profitably added:

And the following responsories are also highly appropriate:

R. Media vita in morte sumus: quem quærimus adjutorem, nisi te, Domine? qui pro peccatis nostris juste irasceris: * Sancte Deus, Sancte fortis, Sancte misericors Salvator, amaræ morti ne tradas nos.
V. 1. Ps. 21, 5 In te speraverunt patres nostri; speraverunt, et liberasti eos. * Sancte Deus, Sancte fortis, Sancte misericors Salvator, amaræ morti ne tradas nos.
V. 2. Cf. Ps. 21, 5-6 Ad te clamaverunt patres nostri; clamaverunt, et non sunt confusi. * Sancte Deus, Sancte fortis, Sancte misericors Salvator, amaræ morti ne tradas nos.
V. Gloria Patri, et Filio, et Spiritui Sancto. * Sancte Deus, Sancte fortis, Sancte misericors Salvator, amaræ morti ne tradas nos. 

(R. In the midst of life we are in death: whom should we seek as a helper, unless thou, O Lord? who for our sins art justly angered: * Holy God, Holy strong, Holy merciful Saviour, give us not over unto bitter death.
V. 1. In thee our fathers hoped; they hoped, and thou didst deliver them. * Holy God, Holy strong, Holy merciful Saviour, give us not over unto bitter death.
V. 2. To thee our fathers cried; they cried, and were not confounded. * Holy God, Holy strong, Holy merciful Saviour, give us not over unto bitter death.
V. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost. * Holy God, Holy strong, Holy merciful Saviour, give us not over unto bitter death.) 

******

(Cf. Judith 9, 18; 2 Reg. 24, 16; 1 Par. 21, 15; Ez. 12, 19; Gen. 8, 21; Ex. 9, 16; Dan. 9, 16)
R. Recordáre, Dómine, testaménti tui, et dic Angelo percutiénti: Cesset jam manus tua, * Ut non desolétur terra, et ne perdas omnem ánimam vivam.
V. Quiéscat, Dómine, ira tua a pópulo tuo, et a civitáte sancta tua. * Ut non desolétur terra, et ne perdas omnem ánimam vivam.
V. Gloria Patri, et Filio, et Spiritui Sancto. * Ut non desolétur terra, et ne perdas omnem ánimam vivam. 

(R. Remember, O Lord, thy covenant, and say to the destroying Angel: Cease now thy hand, * That the earth be not left desolate, and lest thou slay every living soul.
V. Quiet, O Lord, thine anger against thy people, and against thy holy city. * That the earth be not left desolate, and lest thou slay every living soul.
V. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost. * That the earth be not left desolate, and lest thou slay every living soul.)

Deadcarts and Plague Pits?

One should always act as if all depends on one’s own efforts, and pray as if all depends on God: this is based on the truth that God, the Primary Cause of all, deigns to work through a multitude of secondary causes, and all such causes are true causes of their ultimate effects: I exist because of God, but also because of my parents, my grandparents, and so on.

We should also always have hope and trust, both supernatural and natural: so we do not give in to paranoia, nor overcritically distrust what is told us, but prudently and rationally weigh up what we learn. For this reason, I hope and trust that the current coronavirus outbreak, though serious, will not lead to “deadcarts and plague pits”; still, while praising all medical staff who are striving to contain and control this new disease, we should also pray to God that he save us from pestilence.

The following antiphon and versicle are taken from the Cantuale Romano-Seraphicum, no. 122, p. 136f. (I have corrected what is given at Gregobase by reference to this book, which basically meant two notes had to be moved up one step each.) Its Critical Epilogue notes that this is a Prose traditionally sung by Franciscans against the pest or plague, and its music derives from two older sources, a prose and a trope. According to other sources, supposedly this anthem was taught by St Bartholomew to a nun at a convent of the Poor Clares at Coimbra in 1317... whatever of this pious account, it ought be noted that the poetic references in the antiphon to Our Lady as Star of the Sea, and thus to her as a glorious Star able to deliver us from the malign influences of the stars, do not commit us to a belief in astrology!

The Collect following (addressed to Our Lord, and having a rather unusual Gallican ending) is taken from old prayer books I have collated. UPDATE: I have given the slightly abbreviated text of the collect as used in the 1823 Breviarium Romanum used by the Capuchins.

Aña. Stella cæli exstirpávit, * quæ lactávit Dóminum: 

Mortis pestem quam plantávit primus parens hóminum.

Ipsa stella nunc dignétur sídera compéscere, 

Quorum bella plebem cædunt diræ mortis úlcere.

O piíssima stella maris, a peste succúrre nobis.

Audi nos, Dómina, nam Fílius tuus nihil negans te honórat.

Salva nos, Jesu, pro quibus Virgo Mater te orat.

V. In omni tribulatióne et angústia nostra.

R. Succúrre nobis, piíssima Virgo María.

Orémus.

Oratio.

Deus misericórdiæ, Deus pietátis, Deus indulgéntiæ, qui misértus es super afflictiónem pópuli tui, et dixísti Angelo percutiénti pópulum tuum: Cóntine manum tuam: ob amórem illíus Stellæ gloriósæ, cujus úbera pretiósa contra venénum nostrórum delictórum quam dúlciter suxísti: præsta auxílium grátiæ tuæ; ut ab omni peste, et improvísa morte secúre liberémur, et a totíus perditiónis incúrsu misericórditer salvémur, per te, Jesu Christe, Rex glóriæ. Qui vivis et regnas in sǽcula sæculórum. R. Amen.

******

Antiphon. 

The star of heaven, who nourished the Lord, rooted up the plague of death which the first father of mankind planted: may that same star now deign to counter the constellations whose strife strike down the people with the ulcer of a terrible death. O most pious star of the sea, save us from the plague. Hear us: for thy Son honoureth thee, denying thee nothing. Save us, Jesus, for whom the Virgin Mary prayeth to thee.

V. In our every tribulation and anguish.

R. Succour us, most loving Virgin Mary.

Let us pray.

Collect.

God of mercy, God of pity, God of pardon, who hadst pity on the affliction of thy people, and didst say to the Angel that slew thy people, Hold thy hand: for the sake of the love of that glorious Star, whose precious breast thou didst so sweetly suck, against the poison of our faults; supply the help of thy grace, that we may securely be delivered from every disease and unprovided death, and may mercifully be saved from the inroads of all perdition, through thee, Jesus Christ, the King of glory, who livest and reignest world without end. R. Amen.

An Antiphon from the Church of the Beatitudes

When in the Holy Land on pilgrimage a few years ago, I visited the Church of the Beatitudes, and in the adjoining gift shop I bought a postcard-sized reproduction of a piece of Gregorian chant whose text was, of course, the Beatitudes - the whole text thereof. I assume it is an antiphon, and from the range of notes and its final, it must be in mode IV; but I have been unable to locate its source. Just today I got around to typesetting it: here it is.

The odd-numbered beatitudes each share the same basic melody, as does part of the last beatitude - but in reverse: quoniam ipsorum est regnum cælorum has the tune of the first half-verse of each of those odd-numbered beatitudes, Beati qui persecutionem the same as their second halves, while patiuntur propter justitiam seems instead to have the same tune as that shared by the even-numbered beatitudes.

Can anyone identify its source? Could it be Franciscan?

My Favourite Advent Antiphon

On my mind and lips during Advent is the Magnificat antiphon from first Vespers of this, the Second Sunday of Advent: Veni, Domine, visitare nos in pace, ut lætemur coram te corde perfecto – "Come, O Lord, and visit us in peace, that we may joy before thee with a perfect heart."

This antiphon above all others – yes, for the moment, even the O Antiphons, and the Marian anthem of the season, Alma Redemptoris Mater – is my choice, and why? because in sundry Uses it was not a Magnificat antiphon, but the Advent Nunc dimittis antiphon.  Several forms of Compline (such as the Dominican) have variant hymns, antiphons, responsories and the like to be employed at certain times and seasons; in the Sarum Rite, though not that of the Black Friars, Veni, Domine, visitare was sung during Advent in place of the usual antiphon Salva nos Domine.

Consider the wording, unfamiliar as it may seem, of the Nunc dimittis with this antiphon:

Come, O Lord, and visit us in peace, that we may joy before thee with a perfect heart. 

Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace : according to thy word.
For mine eyes have seen : thy salvation,
Which thou hast prepared : before the face of all people;
To be a light to lighten the Gentiles : and to be the glory of thy people Israel.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son : and to the Holy Ghost.
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be : world without end. Amen. 

Come, O Lord, and visit us in peace, that we may joy before thee with a perfect heart.

I take the English wording of this from a curious little volume in my possession, The Hours of Prayer from Lauds to Compline inclusive compiled from the Sarum Breviary and other rites (3rd ed., revised), originally drawn up in 1910, but reprinted in 1946; my copy has a preface by Edward C. Trenholme, S.S.J.E., dated 1928.  This is, in other words, one of the many Sarum-ish or Roman Diurnals drawn up by Anglo-Catholics over the course of their history – Patrimony!

While many such manuals exist, I only have one other here, which also contains the "Come, O Lord": The Priest's Book of Private Devotion, originally compiled in the late 19th C. by Oldknow and Crake, revised in 1929 by Briscoe, and published in a new edition in 1952; unlike The Hours of Prayer, it contains a vast collection of prayers, meditations, and all manner of devotions – but of its 593 numbered pages, the first third, pages 3 to 221, contains "Divine Service for the Lesser Hours of the Day", that is, Prime, Terce, Sext, None, and Compline,  with full Propers of the Temporal and Sanctoral cycle, and the relevant Commons, plus Vespers of the Dead and the Penitential Psalms. These Hours are evidently meant to be said alongside daily recitation of Mattins and Evensong from the BCP.

An interesting point about both these unofficial forms of the Office is that they stick to the pre-1912 psalm cursus: Lauds has its daily Laudate psalms (Pss 148-150); during the Little Hours, each and every day, Psalm 118(119) is read through; and Compline has daily Pss 4, 30(31):1-6, 90(91) and 133(134).

Clementissime Domine - II

Herewith, the traditional Dominican recension of the votive antiphon for the dead, Clementissime Domine:

(Sorry about the poor quality, I'm not so adept at cutting and pasting.)

The text, in the traditional Dominican version, is as follows:

Clementissime Domine, qui pro nostra miseria ab impiorum manibus mortis supplicium pertulisti: libera animam ejus ab inferni voragine, et de ministris tartareis miserator absolve: et cuncta ejus peccata oblivione perpetua dele: eamque ad lucem tuam Angeli tradant, Paradisique januam introducant: ut dum corpusculum pulveri traditur, ad æternitatem perducant. Domine, miserere super peccatore.

(Most merciful Lord, Who on account of our misery hast borne at the hands of the impious the punishment of death: deliver his soul from the jaws of hell, and set it free from the ministers of Tartarus, Merciful One, and blot out all his sins in perpetual oblivion: and may angels deliver him into Thy light, and bring him into the gate of paradise: that while the little body is handed over to the dust, they may lead him into eternity.  Lord, have mercy upon a sinner.)

Clementissime Domine

Clementissime Domine, qui pro nostra miseria ab impiorum manibus mortis supplicium pertulisti: libera animam ejus de inferni voragine, et de ministris tartareis miserator absolve, et cuncta ejus peccata oblivione perpetua dele: eamque ad lucem sanctam angeli tradant, paradisique januam introducant: ut dum corpus pulveri traditur, ad æternitatem perducant. Domine, miserere super isto peccatore. Domine, miserere super isto peccatore. Domine, miserere super isto peccatore.

(Most merciful Lord, Who on account of our misery hast borne at the hands of the impious the punishment of death: deliver his soul from the jaws of hell, and set it free from the ministers of Tartarus, Merciful One, and blot out all his sins in perpetual oblivion: and may angels deliver him into holy light, and bring him into the gate of paradise: that while his body is handed over to the dust, they may lead him into eternity.  Lord, have mercy upon this sinner. Lord, have mercy upon this sinner. Lord, have mercy upon this sinner.)

— Antiphon, Carmelite Ritual*

[*The modern Dominican ritual retains this chant, with some minor verbal differences also found in mediæval sources: eam not eamque, tuam not sanctam, portam not januam, corpusculum not corpus – and with two major differences: the insistent threefold Domine, miserere of the Carmelites does not appear; and, very obviously and shamefully, the ancient words ministris tartareis, as an unacceptable reference to devils in this modern age, have been replaced by vinculis mortis, "the bonds of death".]

This anthem is interesting since it seems to compare with the well-known Offertory chant Domine Jesu Christe of the Requiem Mass, inasmuch as it, too, is addressed to Our Lord, and goes on to pray that the soul of the deceased be delivered from the pains of hell, and taken up to paradise by the holy angels.

I continue to pray for the repose of my father, Keith, who died one week ago to-day.

The Antiphon Nativitas est hodie - Greek?

Nativitas est hodie sanctæ Mariæ Virginis, cujus vita inclyta cunctas illustrat ecclesias.

Today is the Nativity of Saint Mary the Virgin, whose renowned life enlighteneth all the churches.

I suspect very strongly that there is a Greek original for at least the second antiphon at Lauds of the Feast of the Nativity of Our Lady – why? because it ends cujus vita inclyta cunctas illustrat ecclesias, "whose renowned life enlighteneth all the churches": and to speak of churches in the plural is typically Greek, whereas the Latin West much prefers to speak of the Ecclesia in the singular.  (Note also that this phrase is also employed as the repetend for the 4th Matins Responsory.)

Similarly, the word hodie employed in the opening phrase is a dead giveaway, since many Latin anthems beginning Hodie are from Greek anthems beginning Σημερον, as I noted on this blog long ago.  (Very significantly, the 1st Matins Responsory begins with Hodie, and thus may very well also derive from a Greek original.)

Furthermore, that word inclyta, from in- plus clueo (itself cognate with Greek κλύω, meaning amongst other things to be called or named), signifying being renowned, that is, called great – yclept great, to use the ancient past tense revived by horrid Milton, which sounds so similar – savours somewhat of Greek to me, if only by its spelling...

Whatever of that, I do think that this antiphon at least may stem from Greek, since this Feast first arose in the East, and very often very old non-Scriptural antiphons and the like were taken from Greek anthems (as the Epiphany antiphons were, and as the Magnificat antiphon for this very Feast, as noted in an earlier post, derives from the Greek Troparion therefor).

Unfortunately, not having a copy of The Festal Menaion, I cannot access the Canon and other Byzantine liturgical texts for this day, so I cannot try and confirm this theory.

Any suggestions?