Santiago Matamoros, ruega por nosotros

The Dominican Breviary contains the following anthems at 1st Vespers of St James the Greater, Patron of Spain - the lesser for the psalms, and the greater for the Magnificat:

(O blessed James, deserving of praise by the heart and lips of all, O singular and amiable patron, intercede for us with the Lord.)

(O light and beauty of Spain, most holy James, who holdest the first place among the Apostles, first-crowned with martyrdom of them! O singular guard, who didst deserve to behold our Redeemer, while still a mortal, transformed into the Deity! Graciously hear the prayers of thy servants, and intercede for our salvation and that of all peoples.)

Spanish editions of the Roman Breviary also contain the following responsory; I am still hunting for the music thereof:

R. viii. Iste est, qui ante alios Apostolos primus plantavit Ecclesiam sanguine suo: * Cujus corpus in Gallæciam delatum, per totum orbem gloria illustratur. V. O sidus, o decus Hispaniæ, sancte Jacobe Apostole, intercede pro nobis ad Deum, qui te elegit. * Cujus corpus in Gallæciam delatum, per totum orbem gloria illustratur. Gloria Patri. * Cujus corpus in Gallæciam delatum, per totum orbem gloria illustratur. 

(This is him, who before the other Apostles first planted the Church with his blood: * Whose body carried to Galicia, through the whole world was made famous in glory. V. O star, O beauty of Spain, Saint James the Apostle, intercede for us with God, who chose thee. * Whose body carried to Galicia, through the whole world was made famous in glory. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost. * Whose body carried to Galicia, through the whole world was made famous in glory.)

As I hope in a few years to walk the Camino to Santiago de Compostela, for the moment I pray to this great Saint for strength and aid, not least invoking him under his more militant and apposite title: Santiago Matamoros, ruega por nosotros.

Belated Christmas Present: a Postcommunion addressed to the Holy Spirit

While looking for the various Office and Masses in honour of St James conceded to Spain (the feast of the Translation of his body to Compostela, on the 30th of December; the feast of his Apparition as Santiago Matamoros on the 23rd of May; the Vigil, on the 24th of July, of his feast; and his feast itself, on the 25th of July, with an Octave ending on the 1st of August) – as I am planning to walk the Camino in four years' time, and am beginning to make remote preparations, spiritual and temporal – I made a most amazing discovery: amongst those Masses for use in the Spanish realms, in a special Votive Mass for pregnant women and those undergoing the pangs of childbirth, the Collect, Secret and Postcommunion are addressed to the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit respectively.

Now, there are plenty of orations addressed to God the Son (though of course most are addressed to God the Father), but this was the first I have ever come across, appointed for use in a Roman Rite liturgical book, addressed to God the Holy Ghost. Fellow students of the sacred liturgy, this is a belated Christmas gift to you.

Years ago, I read Jungmann's The Place of Christ in Liturgical Prayer, which confirmed that liturgical prayers, apart from some in the Armenian Rite, are hardly ever addressed to God the Holy Spirit. Now, the Third Person of the Trinity is certainly invoked in hymns and antiphons (such as the Veni Creator Spiritus and the Veni Sancte Spiritus of the Roman West, or the troparion O heavenly King of the Byzantine East), but prayers in the strict sense are nearly always addressed to either the First or, less often, the Second Person of the eternal Triune Godhead.

The Postcommunion that I came across is found in a book available online, entitled Missæ quæ in Hispania specialiter celebrantur, pro celebrantium commoditate congestæ (Barcinone [Barcelona], 1833), on page 83, where it is part of Alia Missa ad honorem gloriosæ Virginis pro Mulieribus prægnantibus, aut alias in partu laborantibus (Another [Votive] Mass in honour of the glorious Virgin for pregnant women, or for other women labouring in childbirth):

Beatissime Spiritus, per quem condita sunt universa: suppliciter tuas exaudire digneris famulas, pro quibus has tuæ porrigimus pietati preces: ut quemadmodum tuo felici, et sancto juvamine optant liberari; ita suffragiis beatissimæ Matris Dei, lumen gratiæ tuæ, in earum celeri expeditione infundere digneris. Qui cum Deo Patre, et eodem Filio vivis, et regnas Deus per omnia sæcula sæculorum. 

(Most blessed Spirit, through whom all was created: deign graciously to hear thy handmaids, for whom we suppliantly offer these prayers to thy piety: that in whatsoever way they hope to be delivered by thy happy and holy aid, even so, at the suffrages of the most blessed Mother of God, deign to pour forth with speedy expedition the light of thy grace into them. Who with God the Father, and the same Son, livest and reignest God, through all ages of ages.)

This prayer is rather too prolix and complex compared to the classic prayers of the Roman liturgy, but it is still most worthy of note.

In particular, I had often wondered (in that artless way of mine) as to how the closing doxology of a prayer to the Holy Ghost would be phrased – would it end "In whose unity the Father and the Son live and reign, God, world without end", or how? In the event, it appears that the ending used is all but identical to that used for prayers ad Filium, simply adding et (eodem) Filio and removing in unitate Spiritus Sancti.

In any case, I had best reiterate my long-term plan to walk from Roncesvalles to Santiago de Compostela in 2019 (hopefully, during Eastertide). Why then? Because I ought have amassed enough leave from work by then, and when three friends of mine walked that same pilgrim path in 1997, they set off in Easter Week and arrived in time for Pentecost, which seems a good plan to me also.

Santiago Matamoros

I'm feeling better, and was able to get to Confession and evening Mass today, and had the privilege of serving. Matins and Lauds of the Apostle are done, now for the rest of it!

Today we feast St James the Greater, Apostle & Martyr, Patron of Spain - Santiago Matamoros (St James the Moor-Slayer), so named from his apparition from heaven to aid the Christians in several battles against the Moors wickedly occupying Spain. Some may think his help is needed again...



(Fr Rowe rather likes the idea of a mechanical statue of St James Matamoros: pop a dollar in the slot, and it chops off the head of a cowering infidel... LOL)

Since the next WYD is slated for Madrid, I think a prayer or two to St James against the enemies, political and religious, of our Most Holy Faith wouldn't go astray.

St James was a son of Zebedee and brother of St John, from Bethsaida in Galilee; a fisherman, who was called away by the Lord to follow Him. Together with St Peter and St John, he came to the cure of St Peter’s mother-in-law, to the raising of the daughter of Jairus, to Christ’s Transfiguration and to Christ's Agony in the Garden. St James' (rather pushy) mother asked for him and his brother to have a high place in the kingdom, but having been gently turned toward the right path by the Divine response, St James accepted the chalice of martyrdom from the Lord, becoming the first of the apostolic band to die a martyr, being beheaded at Jerusalem in AD 42 (or 44) - see Acts 12:1-2. His relics are kept, according to tradition, at Santiago de Compostella: "St James of the field of stars" (since in a vision of such his presence was revealed).

Several friends of mine have made the pilgrimage along the camino de Santiago to the great shrine of St James at Compostella, walking all the way from Roncesvalles on the French border; one day I hope to make that pilgrimage too: maybe in 2011?

The Mozarabic Rite had a prayer said before Mass, petitioning Christ our Lord for aid, at the intercession of Our Lady, St James, and all saints:

Per gloriam nominis tui Christe Fili Dei vivi et per intercessionem sancte Marie Virginis et beati Jacobi et omnium sanctorum tuorum auxiliare et miserere indignis servis tuis et esto in medio nostri Deus noster qui vivis et regnas in secula seculorum. Deo gratias.

By the glory of Thy Name, O Christ, Son of the living God, and through the intercession of saint Mary the Virgin and of blessed James and of all Thy saints, help and have mercy on thine unworthy servants, and be in the midst of us, our God, who livest and reignest world without end. Thanks be to God.

This is a commemoration of St James, invoking him as patron of Spain:

Aña. Lux et decus Hispaniae, O Jacobe sanctissime, sublevator oppressorum, suffragium viatorum, qui inter apostles primus martyr laureatus obtines primatum, O singulare praesidium, tuorum benignus exaudi vota servorum, et intercedas pro nostra omniumque salute.
V/. Ora pro nobis, beate Jacobe.
R/. Ut digni efficiamur promissionibus Christi.
Oremus.
Esto, Domine, plebis tuae sanctificator et custos, ut, apostoli tui Jacobi munita praesidiis, et conversatione tibi placeat et secura deserviat. Per dominum nostrum Iesum Christum filium tuum, qui tecum vivit et regnat in unitate Spiritus Sancti, Deus, per omnia secula seculorum. R/. Amen.

Ant. Light and adornment of Spain, O most holy James, supporter of the oppressed, succour of travellers, crowned with laurel, who obtainest the first place of martyrdom among the apostles: O unique protection, kindly one, hear the prayers of thy servants, and mayest thou intercede for our salvation and the salvation of all.
V/. Pray for us, blessed James.
R/. That we be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
Let us pray.
Be, O Lord, the sanctifier and guardian of Thy people, so that, fortified by the protection of Thine apostle James, they may be pleasing to Thee by their way of life and securely serve Thee. Through our Lord Jesus Christ Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end.
R/. Amen.