Friday: Weeks 1 & III

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

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.

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.

John Mason Neale

Eternal Glory of the sky,

Blest Hope of frail humanity,

The Father’s sole begotten One,

Yet born a spotless virgin’s Son!

Uplift us with Thine arm of might,

And let our hearts rise pure and bright,

And, ardent in God’s praises, pay

The thanks we owe him every day.

The day-star’s rays are glittering clear,

And tell that day itself is near:

The shadows of the night depart;

Thou, holy Light, illume the heart!

Within our senses ever dwell,

And worldly darkness thence expel;

Long as the days of life endure,

Preserve our souls devout and pure.

The faith that first must be possessed,

Root deep within our inmost breast;

And joyous hope in second place,

Then charity, Thy greatest grace.

All laud to God the Father be,

All praise, eternal Son, to Thee;

All glory, as is ever meet,

To God the holy Paraclete.

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.

John David Chambers (1805-1893)

MAKER of man, God, who dost alone order all things; by whose decree the teeming earth to reptile and to beast gave birth:

The mighty forms that fill the land, instinct with life at Thy command, are given subdued to humankind for service in their rank assigned.

From all Thy servants drive away whate'er of thought impure to-day hath been with open action blent, or mingled with the heart's intent.

In heaven Thine endless joys bestow, and grant Thy gifts of grace below; from chains of strife our souls release, bind fast the gentle bands of peace.

Grant this, O Father, ever One with Christ, Thy sole-begotten Son, Whom, with the Spirit we adore, one God, both now and evermore.

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  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.Caesarius adopted these verses to form a hymn for Compline.

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. 

Wednesday: Weeks I & III

Lauds: Prudentius

Walpole: The poem from which [this hymn] is taken, Cathemerinon II, is entitled hymnus matutinus and consists of 28 stanzas. Its central thought is the contrast between the night of dark deeds and the light of Christ.  (nec teste quisquam lumine \ peccare constanter potest). The poet prays that we may be enabled to walk as children of the light. Rom. xiii. 12 f. might be taken as the text.

Nox et tenébræ et núbila,

confúsa mundi et túrbida,

lux intrat, albéscit polus:

Christus venit; discédite. (1)

Calígo terræ scínditur (2)

percússa solis spículo,

rebúsque iam color redit

vultu niténtis síderis. (3)

Sic nostra mox obscúritas

fraudísque pectus cónscium,

ruptis retéctum núbibus,

regnánte palléscet Deo.

Te, Christe, solum nóvimus,

te mente pura et símplici

rogáre curváto genu

flendo et canéndo díscimus.

Inténde nostris sénsibus

vitámque totam díspice:

sunt multa fucis íllita (4)

quæ luce purgéntur tua.

1.       discedite] a common formula, bidding all uninitiated or obnoxious

persons to depart from a sacrifice ; Milfull’s translation keeps to the

the Latin word order  nicely: “ “Night, Gloom and Clouds, confusions

and turmoils of the world, light is entering, the sky is growing bright, Christ

is coming, depart!”

2.      The darkness is regarded as a substantial ' cloak ' or ' veil ' thrown

over things.

3.      'Under the countenance of the shining star of day,' viz, the sun.

4.      fucus was firstly a sea- weed found off Crete, from which a kind

of red dye was made.

Light enters, the sky grows bright; Christ comes. Night and darkness and clouds, confusion in the world and turmoil: depart! The darkness of the earth is cut in two and pierced by the ray of the sun, color returns to things, faced with the brilliant star of day. Thus our darkness is rent and the heart realizes its deceit, clouds are ruptured and opened up, under the rule of God the darkness pales. You, O Christ alone we know: with a pure and simple mind we learn to ask you on bended knee with tears and singing.  Attend to our thoughts and consider our whole life: many things are obscured by appearances, which are purged by your light.

When the Office of Readings is said in the daytime: 13th-14th Centuries

Scientiárum Dómino,

sit tibi iubilátio,

qui nostra vides íntima

tuáque foves grátia.

Qui bonum, pastor óptime,

dum servas, quæris pérditum, (1)

in páscuis ubérrimis

nos iunge piis grégibus,

Ne terror iræ iúdicis

nos hædis iungat réprobis,

sed simus temet iúdice

oves ætérnæ páscuæ.

Tibi, Redémptor, glória,

honor, virtus, victória,

regnánti super ómnia

per sæculórum sæcula. Amen.

1.       Luke19:10: Venit enim Filius hominis quærere, et salvum facere quod perierat;

2.      2Matt 25;32: et congregabuntur ante eum omnes gentes et separabit eos ab invicem sicut pastor segregat oves ab hedis

To the Lord of all knowledge be jubilant praise, you see our inmost self and care for us by your grace. O Shepherd best, while you preserve the good, you search out the lost:  join us as well to holy flocks in fertile pastures. May no fear of an angry judge unite us with condemned goats but by the Judge himself may we be sheep of the eternal pasture. To you, O redeemer, glory, honor, power, victory, ruling over all, through the ages of ages. Amen.

Vespers: St. Gregory the Great?

Walpole: Appointed for Vespers on Wednesday, based on Gen. i. 14-19, the fourth day of the creation. Note the structure of the hymn. The first two stanzas contain relative clauses concerning God and the creation of the sun, moon and stars. The third stanza contains a final

clause, and not until the last stanza is the prayer uttered to which all the first part of the hymn has been leading up.

Cæli Deus sanctíssime,

qui lúcidum centrum poli (1)

candóre pingis ígneo

augens decóri lúmina.  (2)

Quarto die qui flámmeam

solis rotam constítuens, (3)

lunæ minístras órdini

vagos recúrsus síderum. (4)

Ut nóctibus vel lúmini

diremptiónis términum,

primórdiis et ménsium

signum dares notíssimum:

Illúmina cor hóminum,

abstérge sordes méntium,

resólve culpæ vínculum,

evérte moles críminum.

1.       lucidum centrum shining centre of the sky 'sun, or to be exact the spot where

the sun is fixed.

2.      'enhancing it with beauteous light,'

3.      solis rotam 'the disk of the sun’

4.      vagos The fixed stars are included are included, returning to their stations at the appointed time. They are regarded as waiting upon the moon, their mistress.

   

O most holy God of heaven, who with sparkling fire paint the bright center of the sky, increasing it with beautiful light. Who on the fourth day created the flaming rotation of the sun, you established the order for the moon, the wandering courses of the stars. That night or light might have separate limits and to give a clear sign of the beginning of the months. Enlighten the heart of men, wash the foulness of our minds, release the chains of guilt, overturn the mass of sins.