S. THOMÆ, APOSTOLI

Ad Laudes matutinas: novus

Qui luce splendes órdinis

apostolórum máxima,

Thoma, benígnus áccipe

laudes tibi quas pángimus.

Te lúcidis in sédibus

amóre Christus cóllocat;

amóre promptus éxpetis

tu pro Magístro cómmori.

Te torquet et diléctio

narrántibus cum frátribus

vis certus esse, vísere,

palpáre Iesu vúlnera.

Quantóque cordis gáudio

ipsum misértum cónspicis,

Deúmque dicis crédulus,

fervóre adórans péctoris!

Nobísque qui non vídimus

per te fides fit ácrior,

fit æstus et poténtior

quo Christi amórem quærimus.

Christo sit omnis glória,

qui te rogánte præbeat

nobis fide ambulántibus

ipsum vidére pérpetim. Amen.

O Thomas, you who in the order of the apostles, shine with the greatest light, kindly accept the praises we sing to you. Christ in his love places you among the resplendent thrones; you compelled by love desire to die for your Master. But love also harshly urges you, when your brothers relate the good news, to see for certain, to see and touch the wounds of Jesus. How much joy of heart you have when you see his mercy, and you believing proclaim him God and worship him with a fervent heart. For us, who do not see, through you our faith is made stronger, our fervor is made more powerful by which we seek the love of Christ. To Christ be all glory, that by your intercession he may make us walking by faith to behold him forever. Amen.

Collect: SS. Peter and Paul

Deus, qui huius diei venerandam sanctamque laetitiam in apostolorum Petri et Pauli sollemnitate tribuisti, da Ecclesiae tuae eorum in omnibus sequi praeceptum, per quos religionis sumpsit exordium.

O God, who has this day given to us a venerable and holy joy on the solemnity of the Apostles Peter and Paul, grant to your Church that she may follow in all things the teaching of those through whom she received the beginning of her religion

Collect: 13th Sunday

From liberlocorumcommunium.blogspot.com/2015_06_28_archive.html

Liber locorum communium

"O God, who through the grace of adoption chose us to be children of light, grant, we pray, that we may not be wrapped in the darkness of error but always be seen to stand in the bright light of truth.  Through. . . ."

"Deus, qui, per adoptionem gratiae, lucis nos esse filios voluisti, praesta, quaesumus, ut errorum non involvamur tenebris, sed in splendore veritatis semper maneamus conspicui.  Per. . . ."

O God, who, by the adoption of grace, have intended [(voluisti)] us to be sons/children of the light, grant, we pray, that we be not enveloped [(involvamur)] in the darkness of errors, but be conspicuous for our adherence [(lit.:  but, conspicuous, adhere)] to the splendor of the truth.  Through. . .

     Collect for the Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Roman missal, in 2015 the first Sunday after the Supreme Court holding on Obergefell v. Hodges.  According to Corpus orationum no. 6821 (vol. 11, p. 28), this is identical to no. 725 in the post-850 Bergomese Sacramentary (Sacramentarium Bergomense), no. 694 in the 10th-century Biasca, and no. 1750 in the early 11th-century Triplex.

    

Voluisti can also be a perfect of (in)volvo.

At work in the Collect for this weekend’s 13th Sunday of Ordinary Time are themes of divine adoption and the splendour of truth: “Deus, qui, per adoptionem gratiae, lucis nos esse filios voluisti, praesta, quaesumus, ut errorum non involvamur tenebris, sed in splendore veritatis semper maneamus conspicui.”

Involvo means “to wrap up, envelop” or “to cover, overwhelm, surround”. Splendor is “brightness, brilliance” or “dignity, excellence”. Our prayer connects being wrapped up in error with separation from God. It joins divine adoption with coming into view in the light of Truth.

Current ICEL translation (2011): “O God, who through the grace of adoption chose us to be children of light, grant, we pray, that we may not be wrapped in the darkness of error but always be seen to stand in the bright light of truth.”

The phrase splendor veritatis should ring a bell. In his 1993 encyclical Veritatis splendor Pope St John Paul II began to correct the erroneous and dangerous tendencies of some contemporary moral theologians. Progress was made thereafter, but recently the teachings of the saintly pope have been undermined in high places through ambiguities.

Speaking of splendor, in the writings of some Fathers of the Church splendor is, like gloria and maiestas, associated with the divine presence. Think of the pillar of fire during the Exodus, the shining cloud wherein God spoke to Moses, the light of the transfigured Lord on Mount Tabor. The Doctor of Grace, St Augustine of Hippo (d 430), connected “splendour of truth” (splendor veritatis) with “fervour of charity” (fervor caritatis). Centuries later the Seraphic Doctor, St Bonaventure of Bagnoregio (d 1274) expanded upon this link. For Augustine and Bonaventure, living in the light of the truth, which is the love of God, necessarily means also love of neighbour.

With what kind of love must we hold our neighbor? With fervor, “a boiling or raging heat”. This is no lukewarm love which Jesus will spew away (Rev 3:16). Splendor veritatis leads to fervor caritatis, the raging fire of Jesus’s Sacred Heart, His lacerated “burning furnace of love”. Christians cannot love God and not love neighbor. In word and deed we must reflect this twofold love or we are not true Christians. I often fail in this.

The splendour of truth brings us into the light, teaches us love, sets us free. Error binds us and prevents us from acting as free persons.

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Sacred Heart: The Collect from the Ordinariate Office

O GOD, who hast suffered the Heart of thy Son to be wounded by our sins, and in that very Heart hast bestowed on us the abundant riches of thy love: grant, we beseech thee; that the devout homage of our hearts which we render unto him, may of thy mercy be deemed a recompense acceptable in thy sight; through the same Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

Sermon of St. Leo the Great: SS. Peter and Paul: The pillars of the Church

The feast of this day must be reverenced with a special and peculiar joy in our city, Rome, over and above that veneration which it deserves from the whole world ; so that, where the departure of the most famous of the Apostles gloriously took place, there, on the anniversary of their martyrdom, let there be the greatest gladness. For these are the men through whom the gospel of Christ has shone upon thee, O Rome; and thou, who wert the teacher of error, hast become the learner of truth. These are thy fathers and thy true shepherds, who, to place thee in the kingdom of heaven, founded thee far more happily, and in a much better way, than did those by whose effort the first foundations of thy ramparts were laid; of whom he, who gave thee thy name, defiled thee by the slaughter of his brother.

These are they who raised thee to this glory, that thou hast become a holy race, a chosen people, a priestly and royal city, made the ruler of the world through the sacred Chair of blessed Peter, that thou shouldst rule a wider realm by a divine religion than by any earthly lordship. For although, enlarged by many victories, thou didst extend thy imperial sway over land and sea, yet warlike toil has subdued less to thee than the Christian peace has subjected.

The Word of God took flesh and so united his divine to his human nature, that he might obtain for us the most glorious uplifting by his extreme abasement. And to extend the effects of this grace to the whole world, divine providence had prepared the Roman empire which had so far extended its limits as to make contact with all the nations of the earth. For it was most agreeable with the divine plan that many kingdoms should be united under one rule, so that the world-wide preaching should have a speedy way through nations who were ruled from one city.

But this city knew not him who was the author of her power, and while she ruled almost all nations, she was enslaved to all nations' errors; and because she rejected no false worship, she seemed in her own eyes to be most religious. Hence, the more firmly she was held in bondage by the devil, the greater miracle was her liberation through Christ.

When the twelve Apostles, after receiving the gift of all tongues from the Holy Spirit, divided the regions of the earth among themselves for the preaching of the gospel to the world, blessed Peter, prince of the Apostolic order, received as his share the citadel of the Roman empire, that the light of truth, revealed for the salvation of all nations, might penetrate more easily to the whole body by streaming forth from the head. For what race of men is there which you would not find represented in this city? Or what nations were ignorant of what Rome had learnt? Here were to be refuted the theories of philosophers, here dissolved the vanities of earthly wisdom, here overthrown the worship of devils, here destroyed the impiety of every sacrifice; here, where superstitious zeal had collected all the error and vanity of the world.

O most blessed Peter, you do not fear to come, and while your companion in glory, the Apostle Paul, is still occupied with the government of other churches, you enter this forest of savage beasts, this deep and turbulent ocean, with more boldness than when you walked upon the water. In the house of Caiphas you that trembled before a servant-girl, are fearless now before Rome, the mistress of the world. Love triumphs over fear; you do not see why you should fear those whom you have been called to love.

SS. PETRI ET PAULI, APOSTOLORUM

SS. PETRI ET PAULI, APOSTOLORUM

Ad I Vesperas: saec. VIII-IX

From St. Augustine’s Lyre:

In the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Breviary, This hymn is used in multiple places in the Breviary, though divided into parts. The third verse and the closing doxology is used as the hymn for Lauds on the the Feast of the Chair of Peter. The fourth verse and the closing doxology are used as the hymn for Vespers & Matins on the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul. The first two and last verse of the body and the doxology are used for the Vespers hymn for the Feast of Sts. Peter & Paul. The third & fourth verses and the closing doxology is used for the hymn for Lauds on the Feast of Sts. Peter and Paul. I have divided them out in the order listed above below. This hymn is used for Vespers on the Feast of Sts. Peter & Paul in the Ordinary Form. The entirety of the hymn was used for Vespers and Matins on the Feast of Sts. Peter and Paul in the Sarum Breviary.

Aurea luce et decóre róseo,

lux lucis, omne perfudísti sæculum,

décorans cælos ínclito martýrio

hac sacra die, quæ dat reis véniam.

Iánitor cæli, doctor orbis páriter,

iúdices sæcli, vera mundi lúmina,

per crucem alter, alter ense triúmphans,

vitæ senátum laureáti póssident.

O Roma felix, quæ tantórum príncipum

es purpuráta pretióso sánguine,

non laude tua, sed ipsórum méritis

excéllis omnem mundi pulchritúdinem.

Olívæ binæ pietátis únicæ,

fide devótos, spe robústos máxime,

fonte replétos caritátis géminæ

post mortem carnis impetráte vívere.

Sit Trinitáti sempitérna glória,

honor, potéstas atque iubilátio,

in unitáte, cui manet impérium

ex tunc et modo per ætérna sæcula. Amen.

O Light of light, you have filled the whole world with golden light and rosy beauty, adorning heaven with this illustrious martyr on this holy day which grants pardon to the guilty.  Guardian of heaven and equally doctor of the world, judges of the age, true lights of the world, one triumphing through the cross, the other by the sword, crowned with laurels they possess the senate of life. O happy Rome, stained purple by the precious blood of such great princes, not by praise of you, O Rome, but by their own merits you surpass all beauty of the world. Double olive trees grown from a single love, after the death of the flesh pray that we may live devoted in faith, strong in hope, greatly filled from the source of your twin love. To the Trinity be eternal glory, honor, power and jubilation, in unity, to whom belongs authority, then and now in the ages eternal. Amen.

Ad Officium lectionis: Paulinus II aquileiensis?

From Chantblog:

The book Pange Lingua: Breviary Hymns of Old Uses with an English Rendering, says of Felix per omnes festum mundi cardines (the hymn itself is found on page 52 by page number of that document) that: "This hymn was sung at First Vespers of SS. Peter and Paul according to the use of the Church of York, which was followed of old throughout the north of England as that of Sarum was in the south."

Felix per omnes festum mundi cárdines

apostolórum præpóllet alácriter,

Petri beáti, Pauli sacratíssimi,

quos Christus almo consecrávit sánguine,

ecclesiárum deputávit príncipes.

Hi sunt olívæ duæ coram Dómino

et candelábra luce radiántia,

præclára cæli duo luminária;

fórtia solvunt peccatórum víncula

portásque cæli réserant fidélibus.

Glória Patri per imménsa sæcula,

sit tibi, Nate, decus et impérium,

honor, potéstas Sanctóque Spirítui;

sit Trinitáti salus indivídua

per infiníta sæculórum sæcula. Amen.

The happy feast of the apostles, of blessed Peter and most holy Paul, proclaims enthusiastically those whom Christ sanctified with his holy blood, appointed princes of the churches. These two olive trees before the Lord, one candelabra bright with light, two shining lambs of heaven; they loosen the strong chains of sinners and open the gates of heaven for the faithful.  Glory to the Father through endless ages, beauty and authority to you, O Son, honor, power to the Holy Spirit; to the undivided Trinity blessing though endless ages of ages. Amen.

Ad Laudes matutinas: Ambrosius

Apostolórum pássio

diem sacrávit sæculi,

Petri triúmphum nóbilem,

Pauli corónam præferens.

Coniúnxit æquáles viros

cruor triumphális necis;

Deum secútos præsulem

Christi coronávit fides.

Primus Petrus apóstolus;

nec Paulus impar grátia,

electiónis vas sacræ

Petri adæquávit fidem.

Verso crucis vestígio

Simon, honórem dans Deo,

suspénsus ascéndit, dati

non ímmemor oráculi.

Hinc Roma celsum vérticem

devotiónis éxtulit,

fundáta tali sánguine

et vate tanto nóbilis.

Huc ire quis mundum putet,

concúrrere plebem poli:

elécta géntium caput

sedes magístri géntium.

Horum, Redémptor, quæsumus,

ut príncipum consórtio

iungas precántes sérvulos

in sempitérna sæcula. Amen.

The suffering of the apostles consecrates this ordinary worldly day, the noble triumph of Peter, the crown of Paul revealed. The blood of their victorious death unites these two equal men;  following God as their guide, faith in Christ crowned them.  Peter the first of the apostles, Paul no less in grace, a vessel by holy election, equal to the faith of Peter. On a cross upside down, Simon gave honor to God, high and suspended, not forgetting the prophecy about him. From this height Rome raised her heavenly devotion, founded as she is on such great blood, and by such a mighty prophet.  Who would think that the world would go there, here the people from everywhere gather; O chosen head of the nations, seat of the nations' master. O Redeemer of these men, we beseech you, that you may join your servants, who entreat you,  to the consort of these princes, for eternal ages. Amen.

Ad II Vesperas: Paulinus II aquileiensis?

O Roma felix, quæ tantórum príncipum

es purpuráta pretióso sánguine!

Excéllis omnem mundi pulchritúdinem

non laude tua, sed sanctórum méritis,

quos cruentátis iugulásti gládiis.

Vos ergo modo, gloriósi mártyres,

Petre beáte, Paule, mundi lílium,

cæléstis aulæ triumpháles mílites,

précibus almis vestris nos ab ómnibus

muníte malis, ferte super æthera.

Glória Patri per imménsa sæcula,

sit tibi, Nate, decus et impérium,

honor, potéstas Sanctóque Spirítui;

sit Trinitáti salus indivídua

per infiníta sæculórum sæcula. Amen.

O happy Rome, stained purple by the precious blood of such great princes, you surpass all the beauty of the world not by praise of you, O Rome, but by the merits of the saints, whom you killed with bloody swords. O blessed Peter and Paul, the lily of the world, glorious martyrs, victorious soldiers of the court of heaven, by your holy prayers guard us from all evils and carry us up to heaven.  Glory to the Father through endless ages, beauty and authority to you, O Son, honor, power to the Holy Spirit; to the undivided Trinity blessing though endless ages of ages. Amen.

Jean Leclerq: “The Liturgical Roots of the Devotion to the Sacred Heart in Modern Times”

The tradition of the liturgy and of the writings which it influenced clearly points up the two fundamental aspects of the Sacred Heart devotion.

First of all the worship of latria paid by the Church to her Savior is directed to His whole person and in particular to His human heart, this heart of flesh which is hypostatically united to the Person of the Word and is, consequently, both seat and symbol of infinite love—not just the love of a man, but that of the God-Man. This heart is the center and sign of the love of the Word made flesh, of the charity of God in human form.

Secondly, and because of this, the worship rendered to the Sacred Heart is essentially a worship of adoration, as Pius XII told us. Twice, moreover, in his Haurietis aquas, the Pope insisted that the heart we adore is the glorious heart of the Lord. Our first duty toward it is not reparation, but adoration of redeeming love, and consecration—that is, the gift of self which ought to be the response to this love. If there is expiation it is because we take a share in His redeeming sacrifice in order to receive its benefits, the sacrifice of Him who alone takes away the sins of the world.

To adore Him is to offer ourselves to Him; this is the purpose of devotion, in the full sense which the word devotio had for the ancients and for St. Thomas, and which it retains in the liturgy. Originally in the Latin of classical antiquity devovere and devotio referred to the act of dedicating someone to the gods of the netherworld. Christianity took over the words to express that interior disposition by which one dedicates, gives, or consecrates himself to God through Jesus Christ.

Naturally, in recent times when the word "devotion" has come to be connected exclusively with those forms of piety which are more or less emotional, the more or less sincere expressions of certain "devout" souls, the word has been stripped of its rich and noble significance. Today we prefer various substitute expressions, such as "gift of self" or ''commitment," yet all are summed up in devotio, the word Pius XII has continued to use to characterize the worship we owe to the Sacred Heart.

For devotio is really worship, and primarily liturgical worship. Further, it is that form of cult which is the practice of the Christian life, whence the expression, virtutes colere. The burden and fruits of the mysteries we celebrate must be made to overflow into our daily conduct.

So it is with the devotion to the Sacred Heart. Once we understand it in the light of liturgical tradition and of the contemporary magisterium which comments upon that tradition, we see it does not stop with Jesus' human heart. It plunges us into the depths of love within the Trinity; it confronts every member of the Church with this mystery of faith. In the eyes of the Father, each of them, and all together, constitute only one heart in the Heart of Jesus.

That is why when St. Paul spoke of charity and its manifestations—concrete practical ones, not sentimental—he would so often say that he loved "in the heart of Jesus Christ, in visceribus lesu Christi." We cannot love except in the Heart of Jesus Christ, for there is no one except Jesus Christ who loves as it is needful to love.

St. Ambrose: THE NATIVITY OF SAINT JOHN THE BAPTIST : the Blessed Virgin’s role in the sanctification of John the Baptist

St. Ambrose: THE NATIVITY OF  SAINT JOHN THE BAPTIST : the Blessed Virgin’s role in the sanctification of John the Baptist  

The attention of virgins has been drawn to Mary's delicacy, and now it is for them to consider her humility. She went as one relation to another, the younger visiting the elder; and not only did she make the journey, but she was the first to speak—as was only right, since the more securely a virgin possesses her chastity, the humbler she ought to be. The woman who intends to keep herself chaste should know how to defer to her elders; she should be a pattern of humility. The thought will both arouse your devotion and serve instruct you.  What we have to notice is that it was the superior who went to the inferior, and for the inferior's sake. Mary went to Elizabeth, Christ to John; just as later, if Christ went to John to be baptized, it was to raise baptism to new heights of holiness.

The boons that followed Mary's coming and the Lord's presence were not slow in revealing themselves. No sooner had Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, than the child leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth herself was filled with the Holy Ghost. Notice the choice of words, each with its precise shade of meaning. Elizabeth was the first to hear the voice, but John the first to feel the grace it brought. Elizabeth's hearing was a natural phenomenon; John's leaping was his response to a mystery. Elizabeth noticed Mary's coming, John the Lord's: woman was aware of the woman, the child of the Child. While the two women talked of the favors they had received, the children set to work within them and for their mothers' profit began to enact the mystery we worship. Two wonders were wrought: the mothers prophesied and they prophesied under inspiration from their children.

Mary returned home when she had been with her about three months. It is good to be told of Mary that she made herself useful and that she used a sacred number. If she stayed so long, it was not merely for the sake of her relation, but for the advantage of the child that was to be so great a prophet. The moment she went in, things advanced so remarkably that at the sound of her greeting the child leaped in the womb and its mother was filled with the Holy Spirit; so that holy Mary’s continued presence for so long a time must have made more difference still. As she stayed with Elizabeth for about three months, the prophet could be anointed and exercised, as a good athlete should, even while he was in his mother’s womb. And well he might be, as it was no ordinary contest he was training for.

SACRATISSIMI CORDIS IESU

Fr. Connelly:

The hymns for this feast, usually dated to eighteenth century, are 'evidently the work of the same author', His name is not known. From Henry, Eucharistica, p. 235, the following appreciation: 'Their play of fancy and of imagination, their rhetorical finish, their condensed phraseology, give clear intimations of a skill which has profited by the models constructed by St Ambrose. They abound, too, in Biblical allusions, every stanza recalling some type, or figure, or prophecy, or fulfilment.' However true this may be in other respects, it is scarcely true in the reference to St Ambrose. A hymn is something to be sung, and a good hymn is, among other things, easily singable. St Ambrose's hymns satisfy these requirements, while these do not; and by that criterion they are not good hymns.

Ad I & II Vesperas: Philippus Bruni

Formerly used at Matins.

Auctor beáte sæculi,

Christe, Redémptor ómnium,

lumen Patris de lúmine

Deúsque verus de Deo:

Amor coégit te tuus

mortále corpus súmere, (1)

ut, novus Adam, rédderes (2)

quod vetus ille abstúlerat:

Ille amor, almus ártifex

terræ marísque et síderum,

erráta patrum míserans

et nostra rumpens víncula.

Non corde discédat tuo

vis illa amóris íncliti:

hoc fonte gentes háuriant

remissiónis grátiam.

Ad hoc acérbam lánceam

passúmque ad hoc est vúlnera,

ut nos laváret sórdibus

unda fluénte et sánguine.

Iesu, tibi sit glória,

qui corde fundis grátiam,

cum Patre et almo Spíritu

in sempitérna sæcula. Amen.

1.       mortale: man’s, human; 2. Cf. Romans 5:12-21;

Blessed creator of the world, O Christ, redeemer of all, light from the light of the Father, and true God from God.  Your love compelled you to take a mortal body that you as the new Adam might restore what the old Adam took away.  That love, O generous maker of the earth and the seas and stars,  caused you to have mercy  on our first parents’ errors and to break our chains.  May the flow of  the power of that glorious love not cease to flow; may the nations drink form that from that fountain the grace of remission of sins. For this you suffered the sharp lance and for this the wounding that it might cleanse us from our sins by the flow of water and blood. To you, O Jesus, be glory, who poured from your heart grace, with the Father and strengthening Spirit, in eternal ages. Amen.

Ad Officium lectionis: Philippus Bruni

Formerly used at Lauds

Cor, arca legem cóntinens

non servitútis véteris, (1)

sed grátiæ, sed véniæ,

sed et misericórdiæ;

Cor, sanctuárium novi

intemerátum fœderis,

templum vetústo sánctius (2)

velúmque scisso utílius: (3)

Te vulnerátum caritas (4)

ictu paténti vóluit, (5)

amóris invisíbilis

ut venerémur vúlnera.

Hoc sub amóris sýmbolo (6)

passus cruénta et mýstica,(7)

utrúmque sacrifícium

Christus sacérdos óbtulit.

Quis non amántem rédamet? (8)

quis non redémptus díligat

et caritáte iúgiter

hærére Christo géstiat?

Iesu, tibi sit glória,

qui corde fundis grátiam,

cum Patre et almo Spíritu,

in sempitérna sæcula. Amen.

1.       temple more holy than the one of old, vetusto sc. templo.

2.      The Heart is called a temple as signifying here the humanity of our Lord in whom dwelt the fulness of the Godhead; cf. Col. 2, 9. A temple essentially is a place where God dwells.

3.      The Heart is called a veil with reference to the opening of our Lord's side. The torn veil in the Temple exposed to view the mysterious and sacred objects of Jewish worship. The opening of our Lord's side disclosed to men the mysteries of the new Law.

4.      Te refers to our Lord through the word Cor, which is the subject of the address of the first eight lines.

5.      ictu patenti; with an open wound, perhaps patenti=patefacienti, i.e. with a wound which disclosed. Thus man would be given visible proof and a visible symbol of His invisible love;

St John is the only one to describe the opening of our Lord's side and is also alone in recording that after the resurrection our Lord showed His side as well as His hands and feet; cf. Luke 24, 40 and John 20, 20 and 27. It is John also who especially connects caritas and amor with our Lord (cf. lines 9, 11 and 13 Of this hymn), and is the special advocate of love of our Lord. Thus, devotion to the Sacred Heart may in a special way be traced back to the beloved disciple.

6.      hoc. . . symbolo, i.e. the Heart.

7.      The victim, passus, on the cross, cruenta, and at the last supper, mystica. Utrumque refers to cruenta and mystica. The identity of Priest and Victim is stated in line 16; cf. also 149, 13—20.

8.     The hymn owes much in thought and expression to St Bonaventure; cf. Vulneratum est ut per vulnus visibile, vulnus amoris invisibile videamus. . . .  Quis illud cor tam vulneratum non diligat? quis tam amans (sc. cor) non redamet? . . . Nos igitur adhuc in carne manentes, quantum possumus, amantem redamemus.

Your heart contains the law, not the of law of slavery, but the law of grace, of pardon and of mercy.  Your hear is the undefiled sanctuary of the new covenant, a holier temple than the old one, a veil more profitable than the one that was torn. Love desired that you be wounded with a blow that opens you, invisible love that we might worship your wounds. Under this symbol of love, Christ suffered cruelly and mystically, as a priest he offered a twofold sacrifice. Who would not respond in love of one who loves this way? Who redeemed would not love and in love cleave always to Christ?  O Jesus, to you be glory, who from your heart poured out grace, with the Father and strengthening Spirit, in eternal ages. Amen.

Ad Laudes matutinas: Bernardus claravallensis?

Iesu, auctor cleméntiæ,

totíus spes lætítiæ,

dulcóris fons et grátiæ,

veræ cordis delíciæ:

Iesu, spes pæniténtibus,

quam pius es peténtibus,

quam bonus te quæréntibus;

sed quid inveniéntibus?

Tua, Iesu, diléctio,

grata mentis reféctio,

replet sine fastídio,

dans famem desidério.

O Iesu dilectíssime,

spes suspirántis ánimæ,

te quærunt piæ lácrimæ,

te clamor mentis íntimæ.

Mane nobíscum, Dómine,

Mane novum cum lúmine,

pulsa noctis calígine

mundum replens dulcédine.

Iesu, summa benígnitas,

mira cordis iucúnditas,

incomprehénsa bónitas,

tua nos stringit cáritas.

Iesu, flos Matris vírginis,

amor nostræ dulcédinis,

laus tibi sine términis,

regnum beatitúdinis. Amen.

 O Jesus, author of mercy, the hope of complete joy and source of sweet grace and the true delight of the heart. O Jesus, hope of the penitent, how loving to those who ask you in prayer, how good to those who seek you; but what do they find? Your love, O Jesus, pleasing refreshment of the soul, he fills without weariness,  satisfying our hunger with desire. O most loving Jesus, hope of those who aspire for you, holy tears seek you, cry to you from deep inside the soul. Abide with us, O Lord, in the morning with the new light, drive away the darkness of night, filling the world with your sweetness.  O Jesus, highest kindness, wondrous joy of the heart, limitless goodness, your love urges us on. O Jesus, flower of the virgin Mother, love of our sweetness, praise to you without end in the kingdom blessed. Amen.

IN NATIVITATE S. IOANNIS BAPTISTÆ

The hymn for the feast of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist. One hymn: the first four verses at Vespers, the second four at Matins (Office of Readings) and the last five(three in LH)  at Lauds.

Ad I & II Vesperas: Paulus Diaconus?

Ut queant laxis resonáre fibris (1)

mira gestórum fámuli tuórum,

solve pollúti lábii reátum, (2)

  sancte Ioánnes.

Núntius cælo véniens suprémo, (3)

te patri magnum fore nascitúrum,

nomen et vitæ sériem geréndæ

  órdine promit.

Ille promíssi dúbius supérni (4)

pérdidit promptæ módulos loquélæ;

sed reformásti génitus perémptæ

  órgana vocis.

Ventris obstrúso pósitus cubíli (6)

sénseras regem thálamo manéntem; (7)

hinc parens nati méritis utérque (8)

  ábdita pandit.

Láudibus cives célebrant supérni

te, Deus simplex paritérque trine;

súpplices ac nos véniam precámur:

  parce redémptis. Amen.

Notes from Connelly:

 1. Queant; cf. quit. Laxis fibris; (1) with loosened tongue and throats—Zachary's lips and tongue were loosened to praise God after John's birth; (2) suggesting a good, pleasant voice; (3) connected in thought with the next lines, for God's praise is better sounding if it comes from one who is pleasing to God. The hymn is said to have been written in gratitude for its author having been cured of a throat malady, and from early times St John has been honored as the patron of singers and invoked in case of throat ailments. Famuli, the choir and, in general, the Church.

2.      solve, loosen, i.e. remove, cleanse; polluti; cf. pollutus labiis, Is. 6,5. The Romanized syllables of this verse suggested to Guido of Arezzo the (continental) names of the notes of the musical scale, as each half-line of the melody begins on the next ascending note of the scale. The name of the seventh note, si, is sometimes said to be formed from the initial letters of Sancte Joannes in the fourth line; but the note itself is not used in the melody.

3.  cf. Luke 1, 13—17.

4.  ille, i.e. Zachary.

5. Modulos, measure, music, melody; here, use, power.

6.  obstruso or abstruso, hidden, secret. The reference is to the Visitation.

7. thalamo. The word is suggested by sponsus procedens de thalamo suo, Ps. 18, 6.

8. parens . . . uterque, i.e. Zachary, lines 9—12, and Elizabeth, lines 13—14; nati refers to the genitus of line 11; hinc indicates what happened to the parents because of their son John. Both Elizabeth and Zachary were filled with the holy Ghost and then spoke the hidden things of God; Lk. 1, 41—45 and 67—69. The hymn keeps close to the life of John to the exclusion of all else and obviously has in mind the gift and use of speech in relation to John. This must therefore rule out the interpretation of parens uterque as referring to Mary and Elizabeth. Moreover, uterque would scarcely refer to two ladies and nati has no qualification which would refer it to someone other than John or to someone with John. The confusion perhaps arises from referring hinc only to lines 13 and 14.

That your servants might sing with clear voices the wonders of your deeds, O holy John, loosen their lips from the corruption of guilt. A messenger came from heaven high and told your father that in due course you would be of high birth, your name and the course of your life.  Your father doubting the heavenly promise, lost the means of ready speech, but once you were born you restored his lost means of speech. While placed in the hidden room of your mother’s womb, you recognized the King abiding in the wedding chamber. Wherefore both parents by virtue of their son’s merits revealed hidden mysteries. May the citizens of heaven praise you, God simple and equally three; but we humbly pray pardon: spare the redeemed. Amen.

Ad Officium lectionis: Paulus Diaconus

Antra desérti téneris sub annis,

cívium turmas fúgiens, petísti,

ne levi saltem maculáre vitam

  fámine posses.

Præbuit hirtum tégimen camélus (1)

ártubus sacris, stróphium bidéntes,

cui latex haustum, sociáta pastum

  mella locústis.

Céteri tantum cecinére vatum

corde præságo iubar affutúrum; (2)

tu quidem mundi scelus auferéntem

  índice prodis. (3)

Non fuit vasti spátium per orbis

sánctior quisquam génitus Ioánne, (4)

qui nefas sæcli méruit lavántem

  tíngere lymphis. (5)

Láudibus cives célebrant supérni

te, Deus simplex paritérque trine;

súpplices ac nos véniam precámur:

  parce redémptis. Amen.

1. Praebuit is the verb of all the verse. Bidentes, animals for sacrifice—sheep, oxen, swine and later signifying mostly sheep. But here it means the animals who provided the leathern girdle of Mt. 3, 4. Cui—et tibi; sociata= et—both used for metrical reasons only.

2. corde praesago, with prophetic spirit.

3. prodis, cf.John 1, 29.

4. sanctior quisquam, cf. Mt. 11, 11.

5. tingere lymphis, bathe with water, baptize.

Fleeing the teeming city dwellers, while still young you sought to live in desert caves, that you could avoid even the slightest stain of  a sin of speech. A camel provided you with rough clothing for your holy limbs, sheep your girdle. water your drink, honey and locusts mixed your food.  All the other prophets had foretold that there would a light in the future; but you pointed out with your finger him, who would take away the wickedness of the world. There was not anyone born in the whole holier than John, who was worthy to baptize him who washes away sin.  May the citizens of heaven praise you, God simple and equally three; but we humbly pray pardon: spare the redeemed. Amen.

Ad Laudes matutinas: Paulus Diaconus

O nimis felix meritíque celsi, (1)

nésciens labem nívei pudóris,

præpotens martyr eremíque cultor, (2)

  máxime vatum.

Nunc potens nostri méritis opímis (3)

péctoris duros lápides repélle,

ásperum planans iter, et refléxos

  dírige calles,

Ut pius mundi sator et redémptor,

méntibus pulsa mácula polítis,

rite dignétur véniens sacrátos (4)

  pónere gressus.

Láudibus cives célebrant supérni

te, Deus simplex paritérque trine;

súpplices ac nos véniam precámur:

  parce redémptis. Amen. (5)

1.       nimis, exceedingly; cf. 108, 5.

2.      The hermits took St John's way of life as their model.

3.   nunc. What John had once done by his preaching, may he now do by his intercession.

4.  rite, fitly, duly, rightly. Here it suggests something that becomes our Lord as God.

5.   redemptis. visitavit et fecit redemptionem plebi suae, Lk. 1, 68.

O mighty martyr, cultivator of solitude, greatest of the prophets, exceedingly blessed and worthy of heaven, knowing no fall from your snow-white purity. Now powerful in your great merits, drive away the hard stones of our hearts, making its rough way smooth and its crooked paths straight.  That when the holy Creator and Redeemer of the world comes, souls polished and stain removed, he might make his holy way rightly and worthily.   May the citizens of heaven praise you, God simple and equally three; but we humbly pray pardon: spare the redeemed. Amen.