Ss. Corporis et Sanguinis Christi Corrected: Vespers and Lauds

 

               

Ad I & II Vesperas: St. Thomas Aquinas

Pange, lingua, gloriósi

córporis mystérium,

sanguinísque pretiósi,

quem in mundi prétium

fructus ventris generósi

Rex effúdit géntium.

Nobis datus, nobis natus

ex intácta Vírgine,

et in mundo conversátus,

sparso verbi sémine,

sui moras incolátus

miro clausit órdine.

In suprémæ nocte cenæ

recúmbens cum frátribus,

observáta lege plene

cibis in legálibus,

cibum turbæ duodénæ

se dat suis mánibus.

Verbum caro panem verum

verbo carnem éfficit,

fitque sanguis Christi merum,

et, si sensus déficit,

ad firmándum cor sincérum

sola fides súfficit.

Tantum ergo sacraméntum

venerémur cérnui,

et antíquum documéntum

novo cedat rítui;

præstet fides suppleméntum

sénsuum deféctui.

Genitóri Genitóque

laus et iubilátio,

salus, honor, virtus quoque

sit et benedíctio;

procedénti ab utróque

compar sit laudátio. Amen.

Sing, O tongue,  the mystery of the glorious body and precious blood,  which, the fruit of a noble womb, the King of nations shed as the price of the world. Given to us, born for us from the Virgin Mary, dwelling in the world, having sprinkled the seed of the word, living among us a short while, in a wondrous order he finished his course. In the night of the last supper, reclining with his brothers, observing the law completely, with the food the law decreed, with his own hands he gave himself as food to the band of twelve. Word made flesh he makes true bread flesh by his word, and makes wine the blood of Christ, even if senses fail to see, faith alone is sufficient to strengthen sincere hearts.  Therefore on bent knee we worship such a great sacrament, and the ancient scripture gives place to a new rite: faith aids what the senses lack.   To the Father and to the Son be praise and exultation, salvation, honor, power and blessing. To the one who proceeds from both equal praise.  Amen.

Ad Officium lectionis: St. Thomas Aquinas

Sacris sollémniis iuncta sint gáudia,

et ex præcórdiis sonent præcónia;

recédant vétera, nova sint ómnia,

corda, voces et ópera.

Noctis recólitur cena novíssima,

qua Christus créditur agnum et ázyma

dedísse frátribus iuxta legítima

priscis indúlta pátribus.

Dedit fragílibus córporis férculum,

dedit et trístibus sánguinis póculum,

dicens: «Accípite quod trado vásculum;

omnes ex eo bíbite».

Sic sacrifícium istud instítuit,

cuius offícium commítti vóluit

solis presbýteris, quibus sic cóngruit,

ut sumant et dent céteris.

Panis angélicus fit panis hóminum;

dat panis cælicus figúris términum.

O res mirábilis: mandúcat Dóminum

servus pauper et húmilis.

Te, trina Déitas únaque, póscimus;

sic nos tu vísitas sicut te cólimus:

per tuas sémitas duc nos quo téndimus

ad lucem quam inhábitas. Amen.

On this holy solemnity may our joy be enjoined and from our inmost hearts praise resound. May the old recede and may all things become new, hearts, voices, deeds. That night at the last supper is recalled,  when, it is believed,  Christ gave to his brothers the lamb and unleavened bread in accordance with the law given to the their fathers in former times. He gave to those weak apostles the food of his body, he gave to the sad the drink of blood, saying “receive this chalice which give, all of yo7u drink from it.” Thus he instituted this sacrifice, which he desired to be  work of priests alone, so it is  right that they receive themselves first and then administer to others.  The bread of angels becomes the bread of men, the heavenly bread which puts an end to types. O how wondrous is this! The poor and lowly servant feeds on his Lord. We beseech you, O triune Deity, that you visit us , as we worship you; direct us on your  paths by which we tend to the light in which you dwell. Amen. 

Ad Laudes matutinas: St. Thomas Aquinas

Verbum supérnum pródiens

nec Patris linquens déxteram,

ad opus suum éxiens

venit ad vitæ vésperam.

In mortem a discípulo

suis tradéndus æmulis,

prius in vitæ férculo

se trádidit discípulis.

Quibus sub bina spécie

carnem dedit et sánguinem,

ut dúplicis substántiæ

totum cibáret hóminem.

Se nascens dedit sócium,

convéscens in edúlium,

se móriens in prétium,

se regnans dat in præmium.

O salutáris hóstia,

quæ cæli pandis óstium,

bella premunt hostília:

da robur, fer auxílium.

Uni trinóque Dómino

sit sempitérna glória,

qui vitam sine término

nobis donet in pátria. Amen.

The heavenly Word coming forth, yet not leaving the Father’s right hand, going out to his work, he came to his life’s evening.   When he was about to be handed over by one of his disciples to death at the hands of his enemies, he first handed over himself as the bread of life to his disciples. To them He gave his flesh and blood under two species that the whole man might be feed  in a double substance. Being born he gave himself as our companion, at the meal he gave himself to be eaten;  dying he gave himself to pay the price, ruling he gives himself as man’s prize. O saving Victim, who opens the gate of heaven, hostile wars oppress us, grant us strength, grant us help. Eternal glory be to the triune Lord: may he grant to us life without end in our fatherland. Amen.

Tears, Sign of the Cross, Faith, Hope, Love, and Creeping Things: Friday: Weeks 1 & III

When the Office of Readings is said in the daytime: The Venerable Bede

Used in the Mozarabic Breviary.

Adésto, Christe, córdibus,

celsa redémptis cáritas;

infúnde nostris férvidos

fletus, rogámus, vócibus.

Ad te preces, piíssime

Iesu, fide profúndimus;

dimítte, Christe, quæsumus,

factis malum quod fécimus.

Sanctæ crucis signáculo,

tuo sacráto córpore,

defénde nos ut fílios

omnes, rogámus, úndique.

NB: alliteration between Christe and cordibus in the first line, between celsa and caritas in the second, between in-funde and fervidos in the third, and between fletus and vocibus. Manuel pratique de latin médiéval by Dag Norberg (Paris, 1980)

O Christ, the heavenly love which redeems, be present in our hearts; fill our voices, we pray, with fervent tears. Most holy Jesus, to you we faithfully pour forth prayers; forgive, O Christ, we beseech you, the evil deeds we have done. By the sign of the holy Cross, by sacred body, we ask, defend us all as sons in very circumstance.

Lauds: The 7^th-8^th Century:

Walpole: This is the hymn for Lauds on Fridays at ferial seasons. This hymn is alphabetic. Notice that the C-stanza is duplicated and that the alphabetic sequence does not go beyond T ; The Latin alphabet contained 23 letters and the redoubling of particular lines is common in these acrostic hymns. The revised version does not entirely preserve the acrostic pattern.

Ætérna cæli glória, (1)

beáta spes mortálium,

celsi Paréntis Unice

castæque proles Vírginis,

Da déxteram surgéntibus,

exsúrgat et mens sóbria

flagrans et in laudem Dei

grates repéndat débitas.

Ortus refúlget lúcifer (2)

ipsámque lucem núntiat,

cadit calígo nóctium, (3)

lux sancta nos illúminet, (4)

Manénsque nostris sénsibus

noctem repéllat sæculi (5)

omníque fine témporis (6)

purgáta servet péctora.

Quæsíta iam primum fides (7)

radícet altis sénsibus, (8)

secúnda spes congáudeat;

tunc maior exstat cáritas.

1.       The hymn is addressed to Christ ; gloria and spes are vocatives. The thought in this line

seems to be that of Christ as the subject of the praises sung by the heavenly choirs.

2.      Lucifer morning star, not sun, as is usually the case.

3.      Noctem ‘of night’ not ‘of the night just past’.

4.      Here begins the spiritual application of the hymn.

5.      ‘the night of the world’ the darkness of sin.

6.      ‘preserve from any close of day’

7.      The three theological virtues.

8.     Radicet ‘take root’

Eternal glory of heaven, blest hope of mortal men, Only-begotten of the Father, offspring of a chaste Virgin: give your right hand to those who are rising, let a sober mind arise, anxious to praise God and give him the thanks he is due. The morning star rising and shining announces the Light himself, the cloud of night falls, may holy light shine upon us. Abiding upon our senses may this light drive away the night of the world and until the end of time purify and preserve our hearts. Seek first the faith which is rooted in our minds; second let hope rejoice; then stands love, the greater virtue.

Vespers: St. Gregory the Great ?

Appointed for Vespers on Friday, based on Gen. i. 24-31, the sixth day of creation.

Plasmátor hóminis, Deus, (1)

qui, cuncta solus órdinans,

humum iubes prodúcere

reptántis et feræ genus; (2)

Qui magna rerum córpora, (3)

dictu iubéntis vívida, (4)

ut sérviant per órdinem

subdens dedísti hómini:

Repélle a servis tuis

quicquid per immundítiam (5)

aut móribus se súggerit,

aut áctibus se intérserit.

Da gaudiórum præmia,

da gratiárum múnera; (6)

dissólve litis víncula, (7)

astrínge pacis fœdera.

1.       Plasmator ‘creator’ ‘maker’.

2.      ‘the race of the creeping thing and of the beast’

3.      Contrasts the great bulk of beasts with their subservience to men.

4.      Dictu ‘at the bidding’

5.      This hymn rather unkindly views these creatures as unclean.

6.      Gratiarum ‘of grace’ as often plural for singular.

7.      ‘Free from the power of strife’.

O God, the fashioner of man, who alone orders all things, you command the earth to bring forth creeping things and wild beasts. By word of your command the huge animals have life that you might subdue and give them to man to serve him according to their order. Drive from your servants whatever is unclean, which either seduces our habits or inserts itself in our actions, grant the rewards of gladness, give the gift of grace, loosen the chains of strife, strengthen the bonds of peace.

Thursday: Week I & III

When the Office of Readings is said in the daytime: 7-8^th century

Walpole provides a hymn with the same incipit, but the rest of the that hymn is entirely different. However, in #50 under a different incipit, Diei luce reddita, beginning with the fourth stanza all the verses of the hymn in the revised Breviary may be found.

Christe, precámur ádnuas

orántibus servis tuis,

iníquitas hæc sǽculi (1)

ne nostram captívet fidem.

Non cogitémus ímpie,

invideámus némini,

læsi non reddámus vicem,

vincámus in bono malum. (2)

Absit nostris e córdibus

ira, dolus, supérbia;

absístat avarítia,

malórum radix ómnium.

Consérvet pacis fœ́dera

non simuláta cáritas; (3)

sit illibáta cástitas

credulitáte pérpeti.

Sit, Christe, rex piíssime,

tibi Patríque glória

cum Spíritu Paráclito,

in sempitérna sǽcula. Amen.

1.       'Grant... that this iniquity of the world may not bring our faith into captivity.'

2.      Rom. xii. 21.

3.      Cf. 2 Cor vi. 6; 1 Tim i.5.

O Christ, we ask, favor your servants as they pray and let not the wickedness of the world take our faith captive. Let us not think in evil ways, let us envy no one, wounded let us not repay each other, let us conquer ill with good. May anger, deceit, and pride be absent from our hearts, may greed, the root of all evils, depart. May the bond of peace be preserved and love not be a pretense, chastity maintain purity through perpetual faith. Glory to you, O Christ, most holy King, and to the Father, with the Spirit Paraclete for eternal ages. Amen.

At Lauds: Prudentius

Sol ecce surgit ígneus: (1)

piget, pudéscit, pænitet,

nec teste quisquam lúmine

peccáre constánter potest.

Tandem facéssat cæcitas,

quæ nosmet in præceps diu

lapsos sinístris gréssibus

erróre traxit dévio.

Hæc lux serénum cónferat (2)

purósque nos præstet sibi;

nihil loquámur súbdolum,

volvámus obscúrum nihil.

Sic tota decúrrat dies,

ne lingua mendax, ne manus

oculíve peccent lúbrici,

ne noxa corpus ínquinet.

Speculátor astat désuper,

qui nos diébus ómnibus

actúsque nostros próspicit

a luce prima in vésperum.

Deo Patri sit glória

eiúsque soli Fílio

cum Spíritu Paráclito,

in sempitérna sæcula. Amen.

1.       original = Lux ecce surgit aurea. 2. Walpole: "this hymn also comes from Cathemerinon II. 2. haec lux =Christ

Behold the fiery sun arises, which grieves, shames and causes repentance and by the witness of this light no one can continue to sin. Finally blindness gives way, which for long had kept us on edge and dragged the fallen with evil steps and devious error. This Light brings peace and renders us pure; May we speak no fraud, nor hatch devious plots. So may our whole day pass with no deceit of tongue that hands and wandering eyes may not sin, no harmful things corrupt the body. The divine watchman sees from above, who observes our deeds all our days from first light to evening. To God the Father be glory and to his only Son, with th Spirit Paraclete, in eternal ages. Amen.

At Vespers: St. Gregory the Great (?):

Magnæ Deus poténtiæ,

qui ex aquis ortum genus (1)

partim remíttis gúrgiti,

partim levas in áera,

Demérsa lymphis ímprimens,

subvécta cælis irrogans,

ut, stirpe una pródita,

divérsa répleant loca:

Largíre cunctis sérvulis,

quos mundat unda sánguinis, (2)

nescíre lapsus críminum

nec ferre mortis tædium,

Ut culpa nullum déprimat,

nullum levet iactántia,

elísa mens ne cóncidat,

eláta mens ne córruat.

Præsta, Pater piíssime,

Patríque compar Unice,

cum Spíritu Paráclito

regnans per omne sæculum. Amen.

1. Genesis 1:21:  Creavitque Deus cete grandia, et omnem animam viventem atque motabilem, quam produxerant aquæ in species suas, et omne volatile secundum genus suum.

2. John 19:34: sed unus militum lancea latus ejus aperuit, et continuo exivit sanguis et aqua.

O God of great power, who of those born from the waters, part you return to the depths, part you raise up into the air. You press down those submerged in the sea and raise up to the skies from those brought from below in order that coming from one source they may fill different places. Grant to all your servants, whom the flow of blood has cleansed, to know no fall into crime, nor to bear the weariness of death. That guilt may depress none, nor haughtiness exalt any, lest the despondent mind be overcome, the proud mind be corrupted. Grant, O Father most holy, only Son equal to the Father, with the Spirit Paraclete, ruling through all time. Amen.