The Advent 3 Alleluia: Excita, Domine

This rather famous text comes from Psalm (79/80), Qui Regis Israel:

 Stir up your might, O Lord, and come to save us.

 

 

It's "Gaudete" - "Rejoice!" - Sunday, so named for the first word of today's Introit, Gaudete in Domino.  The text for the Introit comes from the famous Philippians passage:

Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice.  Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.   Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.

"Gaudete Sunday" is meant to be a day of lighter mood - "moderation" - when the "Last Things" theme of Advent gives way a bit to this calm assurance of the nearness of the Lord's presence.  The liturgical color changes from purple to pink (if a church has a pink set of vestments).

Interesting, then, that the Epistle is not that reading from Philippians!  It is a nice one, though:  James 5:7-10, and is quite similar in theme:

Be patient, therefore, beloved, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious crop from the earth, being patient with it until it receives the early and the late rains. You also must be patient. Strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near. Beloved, do not grumble against one another, so that you may not be judged. See, the Judge is standing at the doors! As an example of suffering and patience, beloved, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.

The James, BTW, is not the "Historic Lectionary" epistle either; that one came from 1 Corinthians 4.

The Gospel, Matthew 11:2-11, though, has been in use at Advent 3 for a long time - at least since the 16th Century continuously (and in every BCP, as far as I can tell):

When John heard in prison what the Messiah was doing, he sent word by his disciples and said to him, "Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?" Jesus answered them, "Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them. And blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me."

As they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John: "What did you go out into the wilderness to look at? A reed shaken by the wind? What then did you go out to see? Someone dressed in soft robes? Look, those who wear soft robes are in royal palaces. What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is the one about whom it is written,

`See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,
who will prepare your way before you.'

Truly I tell you, among those born of women no one has arisen greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he."

And as usual, I'm thrilled at the wondrous Advent reading from Isaiah; it, too, resonates with the Gaudete theme:

Isaiah 35:1-10

The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad,

the desert shall rejoice and blossom;

like the crocus it shall blossom abundantly,

and rejoice with joy and singing.

The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it,

the majesty of Carmel and Sharon.

They shall see the glory of the LORD,

the majesty of our God.

Strengthen the weak hands,

and make firm the feeble knees.

Say to those who are of a fearful heart,

"Be strong, do not fear!

Here is your God.

He will come with vengeance,

with terrible recompense.

He will come and save you."

Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,

and the ears of the deaf unstopped;

then the lame shall leap like a deer,

and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy.

For waters shall break forth in the wilderness,

and streams in the desert;

the burning sand shall become a pool,

and the thirsty ground springs of water;

the haunt of jackals shall become a swamp,

the grass shall become reeds and rushes.

A highway shall be there,

and it shall be called the Holy Way;

the unclean shall not travel on it,

but it shall be for God's people;

no traveler, not even fools, shall go astray.

No lion shall be there,

nor shall any ravenous beast come up on it;

they shall not be found there,

but the redeemed shall walk there.

And the ransomed of the LORD shall return,

and come to Zion with singing;

everlasting joy shall be upon their heads;

they shall obtain joy and gladness,

and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

The collect for this week also contains the famous "stir up" text; as per the FHD and Hatchett's Commentary citations below, it has apparently  moved around the calendar quite a bit: from the Last Sunday in Advent to the Last Sunday before Advent, and ultimately back to this day (where it fits so well with this chant proper!):

Stir up your power, O Lord, and with great might come among us; and, because we are sorely hindered by our sins, let your bountiful grace and mercy speedily help and deliver us; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit, be honor and glory, now and for ever. Amen.

The following is from Commentary on the American Prayer Book, by Marion Hatchett:

The Gelasian sacramentary is the source for this collect which is included in the first of the propers for Advent (no. 1121), and is addressed to the Son. In the Gregorian it is changed to a prayer addressed to the Father in a proper for a Sunday, included after the provisions for a winter ember vigil (no. 805). The Gallican Bobbio missal provides it as a second prayer in the first of the three Masses for Advent (no. 38). In the Sarum missal it was appointed for the fourth Sunday in Advent. Cranmer retained it in that version with slight changes, adding the phrase "among us" and, at the end of the petition, "through the satisfaction of thy Son our Lord." Revisers in 1662 added the phrase "in running the race that is set before us," and expanded "deliver us" to "help and deliver us." Cranmer's second phrase was deleted in the 1928 revision and the first of the additions of the 1662 edition has been dropped in the present revision, thus restoring the prayer to a form close to its original. The prayer echoes Psalm 80:2 and Hebrews 12:1. The one remnant of a series of four prayers which began with "excita" (stir up) used on four of the last five Sundays before Christmas in the Sarum missal, this prayer sets forth better than the others the themes of the two advents: the first in which He came in humility, and the second in which He comes in power; the first in which He came to save, and the second in which He comes to help and relieve.

The rubric following is a reminder that the Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday of this week are the traditional winter ember days, though these may now be transferred to a time related to local or diocesan occasions for ordination.

Here's Full Homely Divinity on "Stir Up Sunday" - and some of its culinary associations:

Stir up, we beseech thee, O Lord, the wills of thy faithful people; that they, plenteously bringing forth the fruit of good works, may by thee be plenteously rewarded; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The traditional Collect for the Sunday next before Advent was echoed in a popular rhyme on the way home from church:

Stir up, we beseech thee, the pudding in the pot;
And when we get home, we'll eat the lot.

...though, technically, the agenda for the day was not eating the pudding, but making it. On the Sunday before the beginning of Advent, it has always been customary to make the Christmas pudding (a type of fruit cake) so that the flavors could blend and age properly for the pudding to be at its best when eaten at Christmas dinner. Everyone shares in the making of the pudding, taking turns stirring it (east to west, the direction the wise men traveled) and each person making a wish while taking her or his turn at stirring. Often the cake also has tokens baked into it: a coin to signify that the finder would have a prosperous year, a ring to foretell a coming marriage or a button or thimble to predict another year of bachelorhood or spinsterhood. In the full homeliest manner, the making of the pudding renews a sense that the presence and purposes of God are never far removed from quotidian life. The sweetness of the pudding is a sign that God always desires the peace and happiness of his people. The contents of the pudding are a subtle reminder of a principal object of the Christian life: the fruit of good works, referred to in the collect. Sadly, the traditional collect has been replaced in many revisions of the Book of Common Prayer, but in the Church of England it has found new life as the prayer after Communion.

With or without the traditional collect in the Church's liturgy, there is no reason why Christian families cannot continue this tradition and use the old collect at home. After all, the Christmas pudding does need to be prepared in advance if it is to rise to the occasion on which it is eaten. The traditional English Christmas pudding is a steamed plum pudding. Click here for a website with a typical recipe. The American fruit cake is a variation on the same theme. We note that fruit cake has gotten a bad reputation, due to poorly made commercial versions that are dry and tasteless. When made in advance (to a good recipe, of course) and cured with regular infusions of quality spirits (wine, brandy, or bourbon are all suitable), a fruit cake is, in our humble opinion, one of the noblest confections ever created, and easily on a par with the best plum puddings.

Here is a list of all the chant propers for Advent 3, sung by the Sao Paolo Benedictines:

Hebdomada tertia adventus
DominicaIntroitus: Phil. 4, 4.5; Ps. 84 Gaudete in Domino (cum Gloria Patri)(6m13.5s - 5839 kb) score
Graduale: Ps. 79, 2.3. V. 2 Qui sedes, Domine (2m24.8s - 2265 kb) score
(anno B) Io. 1, 6. V. 7 et Lc. 1, 17 Fuit homo (2m09.3s - 1011 kb)
Alleluia: Ps. 79, 3 Excita, Domine (1m58.4s - 1853 kb) score
Offertorium: Ps. 84, 2 Benedixisti, Domine (1m18.4s - 1226 kb) score
Communio: Cf. Is. 35, 4 Dicite: Pusillanimes (56.9s - 891 kb) score

To celebrate the day, here's a very nice recording of Purcell's "Rejoice in the Lord Alway," sung by the Choir of King's College Cambridge:




Ant this is a fresco "in der Kirche von Gracanica, Szene" of John the Baptist from around 1235, by "Meister von Gracanica."

The Advent 2 Alleluia: Laetatus sum

This text comes from Psalm (121/)122, v. 1:

I was glad when they said to me,
    “Let us go to the house of the Lord!”

Here's the full score:

This Sunday's emphasis in the chant propers is heavily on Zion / Jerusalem; other propers (sung by the Benedictines of Sao Paolo, Brazil) on the day are:

Introitus: Cf. Is. 30, 19.30; Ps. 79 Populus Sion (3m15.8s - 3061 kb) score
Graduale: Ps. 40, 2.3. V. 5 Ex Sion (2m50.7s - 2675 kb) score
Alleluia: Ps. 121, 1 Lætatus sum (2m11.2s - 2057 kb) score
Offertorium: Ps. 84, 7.8 Deus, tu convertens (2m01.6s - 1901 kb) score
Communio: Bar. 5, 5; 4, 36 Ierusalem, surge cum Ps. 147, 12.13 (1m56.7s - 1825 kb) score

As you can see, four of five of the propers concern themselves directly with Zion / Jerusalem; that is really a very insistent theme!  I have been looking through various lectionaries from various periods to try to understand the Zion theme; so far I've had no luck.  This page contains what it says is a "Medieval Lectionary" - and I can find no reason there for the strong emphasis on Zion/Jerusalem.  (The Gospel then was apparently Luke 21:25-36 - "And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring...." - and the Epistle is the same Romans passage we're reading now, below.)

I do plan to read more about this, though, and will post what I find.   It could simply be that the Introit, Populus Sion, is setting the tone with its text from the very Advent-ish Isaiah:  "People of Sion, behold the Lord shall come to save the nations: and the Lord shall make the glory of His voice to be heard, in the joy of your heart." - and that the rest of the propers follow from this theme.

The current readings for today, including today's collect, by contrast, emphasize Prophets.  We are back to Year A in the Lectionary, and are looking at some of the really wonderful readings of the year - the Isaiah Advent passages in particular, and the Gospel gives us John the Baptist.

Here is that collect:

Merciful God, who sent your messengers the prophets to preach repentance and prepare the way for our salvation: Give us grace to heed their warnings and forsake our sins, that we may greet with joy the coming of Jesus Christ our Redeemer; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

And the readings:

Isaiah 11:1-10

A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse,
and a branch shall grow out of his roots.
The spirit of the LORD shall rest on him,
the spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the spirit of counsel and might,
the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.
His delight shall be in the fear of the LORD.
He shall not judge by what his eyes see,
or decide by what his ears hear;
but with righteousness he shall judge the poor,
and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;
he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,
and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.
Righteousness shall be the belt around his waist,
and faithfulness the belt around his loins.
The wolf shall live with the lamb,
the leopard shall lie down with the kid,
the calf and the lion and the fatling together,
and a little child shall lead them.
The cow and the bear shall graze,
their young shall lie down together;
and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp,
and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder's den.
They will not hurt or destroy
on all my holy mountain;
for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD
as the waters cover the sea.
On that day the root of Jesse shall stand as a signal to the peoples; the nations shall inquire of him, and his dwelling shall be glorious.


Psalm 72:1-7, 18-19 Page 685, BCP

Deus, judicium

1
Give the King your justice, O God, *
and your righteousness to the King's Son;
2
That he may rule your people righteously *
and the poor with justice;
3
That the mountains may bring prosperity to the people, *
and the little hills bring righteousness.
4
He shall defend the needy among the people; *
he shall rescue the poor and crush the oppressor.
5
He shall live as long as the sun and moon endure, *
from one generation to another.
6
He shall come down like rain upon the mown field, *
like showers that water the earth.
7
In his time shall the righteous flourish; *
there shall be abundance of peace till the moon shall be no more.
18
Blessed be the Lord GOD, the God of Israel, *
who alone does wondrous deeds!
19
And blessed be his glorious Name for ever! *
and may all the earth be filled with his glory.
Amen. Amen.


Romans 15:4-13

Whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, so that by steadfastness and by the encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope. May the God of steadfastness and encouragement grant you to live in harmony with one another, in accordance with Christ Jesus, so that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Welcome one another, therefore, just as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God. For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the circumcised on behalf of the truth of God in order that he might confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written,

"Therefore I will confess you among the Gentiles,
and sing praises to your name";

and again he says,

"Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people";

and again,

"Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles,
and let all the peoples praise him";

and again Isaiah says,

"The root of Jesse shall come,
the one who rises to rule the Gentiles;
in him the Gentiles shall hope."

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.


Matthew 3:1-12

In those days John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness of Judea, proclaiming, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near." This is the one of whom the prophet Isaiah spoke when he said,

"The voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
`Prepare the way of the Lord,
make his paths straight.'"

Now John wore clothing of camel's hair with a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. Then the people of Jerusalem and all Judea were going out to him, and all the region along the Jordan, and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.

But when he saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruit worthy of repentance. Do not presume to say to yourselves, `We have Abraham as our ancestor'; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

"I baptize you with water for repentance, but one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and will gather his wheat into the granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire."

It is very interesting to note, in any case, that the Advent propers are identical in every respect in the ordinary and extraordinary forms; that is, these chant propers have been used continuously since at least the middle of the 16th Century - and I would suspect longer than that.


Other Advent 2 propers on Chantblog are discussed at these links:

• The Introit:  Populus Sion
• The Gradual:  Ex Sion 
• The Communio:  Jerusalem, Surge 

Here's Michaelangleo's Isaiah, from the Sistene Chapel:

And this is a Russian icon of Isaiah, from the Iconostasis of Transfiguration church, Kizhi monastery, Karelia, Russia.  It dates from the early 1700s:

On the Feast of the Conception of the B.V. Mary (Dec. 8)

From Hymn melodies for the whole year, from the Sarum service-books:

On the Feast of the Conception of the B. V. Mary (Dec. 8)

Evensong: Ave! maris Stella ... ... ... 64
Mattins:  Quem terra, pontus, ethera  ... ... ... 63
Lauds: O gloriosa femina  ... ... ... 63

We have seen all these hymns in our travels before; the Mattins and Lauds hymns are the same, and sung to the same melody, at Purification (Candlemas, February 2), at Assumption (August 15), and at The Nativity of the B.V.M. (Sept. 8); the  Evensong hymn is the same one, again sung to the same melody, as on the Nativity of the B.V.M. (Sept. 8).

So, these hymns and melodies are associated with Mary throughout the year; this makes it easy for me, since I can just grab content from some of the feasts I've already posted on!  (Ironic that this is one of the last of the Propers of Saints I'm posting on - yet the first of those to be celebrated during the liturgical year.)

Follow along with the Offices for this feast at Breviary Offices, from Lauds to Compline Inclusive (Society of St. Margaret, Boston) (published in 1885). You can get all the Psalms, the collect, Chapter, antiphons, etc., for each of the offices of the day at that link, although no music is provided; also check the iFrame look-in at the bottom of this post.


Here is the score for the beautiful melody #64, used for the splendid hymn Ave! Maris Stella on this day (as, again, on the Nativity of the B.V.M.); below that is a video of the hymn sung by the Benedictine Monks of the Abbey at Ganagobie.:

 

CPDL has the Latin and English words; non-metrical English translation is by Allen H Simon:

Ave, maris stella,
Dei Mater alma,
Atque semper Virgo,
Felix caeli porta.

Sumens illud Ave
Gabrielis ore,
Funda nos in pace,
Mutans Evae nomen.

Solve vincla reis,
Profer lumen caecis,
Mala nostra pelle,
Bona cuncta posce

Monstra te esse matrem,
Sumat per te preces,
Qui pro nobis natus
Tulit esse tuus.

Virgo singularis,
Inter omnes mitis,
Nos culpis solutos,
Mites fac et castos.

Vitam praesta puram,
Iter para tutum,
Ut videntes Jesum,
Semper collaetemur.

Sit laus Deo Patri,
Summo Christo decus
Spiritui Sancto,
Tribus honor unus. Amen.
   


Hail, star of the sea,
loving Mother of God,
and also always a virgin,
Happy gate of heaven.

Receiving that Ave
from Gabriel's mouth
confirm us in peace,
Reversing Eva's name.

Break the chains of sinners,
Bring light to the blind,
Drive away our evils,
Ask for all good.

Show yourself to be a mother,
May he accept prayers through you,
he who, born for us,
Chose to be yours.

O unique virgin,
Meek above all,
Make us, absolved from sin,
Gentle and chaste.

Keep life pure,
Make the journey safe,
So that, seeing Jesus,
We may always rejoice together.

Let there be praise to God the Father,
Glory to Christ in the highest,
To the Holy Spirit,
One honor to all three. Amen.

CPDL also offers a brief write-up about the hymn:

Hymn to the Virgin Mary (8th cent., author anon.)
Liturgical use: Hymn at Vespers on feasts of the Virgin Mary.

Mary's title of stella maris was first proposed by St. Jerome, in his treatise Liber de nominibus hebraicis (probably around AD 390), in which he explains the etymology of Hebrew names. He quotes unidentified sources as explaining the name of Mary as smyrna maris, literally bitterness of the sea. The Hebrew word miriam indeed refers to bitterness - it is explained as such in the anonymous Jewish account The life of Moses. St. Jerome dismisses the 'bitter' etymology, however, and proposes to change her title to stella maris. In order to justify his proposal, he quotes Syrus, most likely his contemporary St. Ephraem Syrus, who had insisted on Mary's status as domina or mistress.

View Wikipedia article for Ave maris stella.

This is from that Wikipedia link:

Ave Maris Stella (Latin, "Hail Star of the Sea") is a plainsong Vespers hymn to Mary. It was especially popular in the Middle Ages and has been used by many composers as the basis of other compositions. The creation of the original hymn has been attributed to several people, including Bernard of Clairvaux (12th century), Saint Venantius Fortunatus (6th century)^[1] and Hermannus Contractus (11th century).^[2] The text is found in 9th-century manuscripts, kept in Vienna^[3] and in the Abbey of Saint Gall.^[1]

The melody is found in the Irish plainsong "Gabhaim Molta Bríde", a piece in praise of St. Bridget. The popular modern hymn Hail Queen of Heaven, the Ocean Star, is loosely based on this plainsong original.

It finds particular prominence in the "Way of Consecration to the Blessed Virgin Mary" by Saint Louis de Montfort.

Here's a (very faint) recording of the same hymn, sung by the Benedictines of Brazil.

This is Guillame Dufay's beautiful chant/polyphony alternatim arrangement of the hymn, using the same melody in the chant portions.



Or, you can listen to 32 different versions of the hymn (!) in the below playlist:






Here is the chant score for melody #63 from Hymn Melodies; this tune is used for both the Mattins and Lauds hymns on this feast day, and, again, on Purification (AKA Candlemas, February 2), at Assumption (August 15), and at the Nativity of the B.V.M. (Sept. 8).

Here's an mp3 the cantor from LLPB singing melody #63; it's the Mattins hymn Quem terra, pontus, ethera, called "The God Whom Earth and Sea and Sky" in English.

Here are the words from Oremus; the note says "Words: attributed to Fortunatus, sixth century; trans. John Mason Neale, 1854."

The God whom earth and sea and sky
adore and laud and magnify,
whose might they own, whose praise they swell,
in Mary's womb vouchsafed to dwell.

The Lord whom sun and moon obey,
whom all things serve from day to day,
was by the Holy Ghost conceived
of her who through his grace believed.

How blessed that Mother, in whose shrine
the world's Creator, Lord divine,
whose hand contains the earth and sky,
once deigned, as in his ark, to lie.

Blessed in the message Gabriel brought,
blessed by the work the Spirit wrought;
from whom the great Desire of earth
took human flesh and human birth.

O Lord, the Virgin-born, to thee
eternal praise and glory be,
whom with the Father we adore
and Holy Ghost for evermore.

The Lauds hymn, O gloriosa femina (sometimes "O gloriosa domina"), is sung to the same melody today;  O gloriosa domina is also sung at Lauds on Purification (Candlemas)

This set of words comes from the SSM Breviary mentioned above (p.291);  it uses the same meter as Quem terra, pontus, ethera, so just sing it to the same tune, as prescribed.

O GLORIOUS Virgin, throned in rest
Amidst the starry host above,
Who gavest nurture from thy breast
To God with pure maternal love:

What we had lost through sinful Eve
The Blossom sprung from thee restores.
And granting bliss to souls that grieve.
Unbars the everlasting doors.

O gate, through which hath passed the King:
O hall, whence light shone through the gloom;
The ransomed nations praise and sing,
Life given from the virgin womb.

All honour, laud, and glory be,
O Jesu, Virgin-born, to Thee;
All glory, as is ever meet,
To Father and to Paraclete. Amen.

CPDL has the words to O gloriosa Domina, in Latin and English; the words above are clearly taken from the same original Latin text, so it's definitely the same song:

O gloriosa Domina
excelsa super sidera,
qui te creavit provide,
lactasti sacro ubere.

Quod Eva tristis abstulit,
tu reddis almo germine;
intrent ut astra flebiles,
Caeli fenestra facta es.

Tu regis alti janua
et porta lucis fulgida;
vitam datam per Virginem,
gentes redemptae, plaudite.

Gloria tibi, Domine,
qui natus es de Virgine,
cum Patre et Sancto Spiritu
in sempiterna secula. Amen.


O Heaven's glorious mistress,
elevated above the stars,
thou feedest with thy sacred breast
him who created thee.

What miserable Eve lost
thy dear offspring to man restors,
the way to glory is open to the wretched
for thou has become the Gate of Heaven.

Thou art the door of the High King,
the gate of shining light.
Life is given through a Virgin:
Rejoice, ye redeemed nations.

Glory be to Thee, O Lord,
Born of a Virgin,
with the Father and the Holy Spirit,
world without end. Amen.

Here's a page from the Poissy Antiphonal that includes both of these hymns - but the melodies seem quite different:





Here's that peek-through to the SSM Breviary for today:




Here's a bit from Wikipedia about the history of this feast:

An 11th-century Eastern Orthodox icon
of the Theotokos Panachranta,
i.e. the "all immaculate" Mary^[15]

A feast of the Conception of the Most Holy and All Pure Mother of God was celebrated in Syria on 8 December perhaps as early as the 5th century. Note that the title of achrantos (spotless, immaculate, all-pure) refers to the holiness of Mary, not specifically to the holiness of her conception.^[14]

By the 7th century the feast of her conception was widely celebrated in the East, under the name of the Conception (active) of Saint Anne. In the West it was known as the feast of the Conception (passive) of Mary, and was associated particularly with the Normans, whether these introduced it directly from the East^[16] or took it from English usage.^[17] The spread of the feast, by now with the adjective "Immaculate" attached to its title, met opposition on the part of some, on the grounds that sanctification was possible only after conception.^[18] Critics included Saints Bernard of Clairvaux, Albertus Magnus and Thomas Aquinas. Other theologians defended the expression "Immaculate Conception", pointing out that sanctification could be conferred at the first moment of conception in view of the foreseen merits of Christ, a view held especially by Franciscans.^[19]

Writers such as Mark Miravalle and Sarah Jane Boss interpret the existence of the feast as a strong indication of the Church's traditional belief in the Immaculate Conception.^[20][21]

On 28 February 1476, Pope Sixtus IV, a Franciscan after whom the Sistine Chapel is named, authorized those dioceses that wished to introduce the feast to do so, and introduced it to his own diocese of Rome in 1477,^[17] with a specially composed Mass and Office of the feast.^[22] With his bull Cum praeexcelsa of 28 February 1477, in which he referred to the feast as that of the Conception of Mary, without using the word "Immaculate", he granted indulgences to those who would participate in the specially composed Mass or Office on the feast itself or during its octave, and he used the word "immaculate" of Mary, but applied instead the adjective "miraculous" to her conception.^[23][24] On 4 September 1483, referring to the feast as that of "the Conception of Immaculate Mary ever Virgin", he condemned both those who called it mortally sinful and heretical to hold that the "glorious and immaculate mother of God was conceived without the stain of original sin" and those who called it mortally sinful and heretical to hold that "the glorious Virgin Mary was conceived with original sin", since, he said, "up to this time there has been no decision made by the Roman Church and the Apostolic See."^[25] This decree was reaffirmed by the Council of Trent.^[26]

One of the chief proponents of the doctrine was the Hungarian Franciscan Pelbartus Ladislaus of Temesvár. ^[27]

Pope Pius V, the Dominican Pope who in 1570 established the Tridentine Mass, included the feast (but without the adjective "Immaculate") in the Tridentine Calendar, but suppressed the existing special Mass for the feast, directing that the Mass for the Nativity of Mary (with the word "Nativity" replaced by "Conception") be used instead.^[28] Part of that earlier Mass was revived in the Mass that Pope Pius IX ordered to be used on the feast and that is still in use.^[29]

On 6 December 1708, Pope Clement XI made the feast of the Conception of Mary, at that time still with the Nativity of Mary formula for the Mass, a Holy Day of Obligation.^[18] Until Pope Pius X reduced in 1911 the number of Holy Days of Obligation to 8, there were in the course of the year 36 such days, apart from Sundays.^[30]

Here's another beautiful icon, a "Detail of a 13th century Theotokos Aeiparthenos icon, the Eleusa Theotokos of Tolga.   (Aeiparthenos = "Ever Virgin.")

The Introit for the Solemnity of All Saints: Gaudeamus Omnes

CPDL provides the text and an English translation:

Gaudeamus omnes in Domino diem festum celebrantes
sub honore Sanctorum omnium:
de quorum solemnitate gaudent angeli, et collaudant Filium Dei.

Exsultate iusti in Domino: rectos decet collaudatio.
Gloria Patri...

Let us all rejoice in the Lord celebrating the feast
in honour of all the saints,
in which solemnity the angels rejoice, while the Archangels praise the Son of God.

Ring out your joy to the lord, O you just; for praise is fitting for loyal hearts.
Glory be to the Father ...

(Although, you know:  I do believe that the singers, "Collana Diretta da Bonafacio G Baroffia," have hit a wrong note there in that video; they forgot to sing the flat. Here's how the Benedictines of Clear Creek sing Gaudeamus for the Feast of St. Benedict:




And here's an mp3 from the Brazilian Benedictines for All Saints, which also contains the flat.  Just to get things straightened out.)


Gaudeamus is used as the Introit for a number of saints' days during the Great Church Year (see note below); there are some variants included at that link, so you can see how the text is adjusted for other feasts.  It's quite a beautiful text, especially this one, I think.

Here's the full chant score:

As I've noted before, the use of Gaudeamus as Introit for various saints' days apparently began with The Feast of St. Agatha in the 3rd Century.   It sounds to me as if, after the chant had been used in that way for some time, it seemed natural to use it at All Saints as the Introit, too, again tying the Church Year together via the liturgy and its chant propers.  Here's a quote discussing "Josquin's Mass for All Saints and the Book of Revelation" in a book titled Symbolic scores: Studies in the music of the Renaissance:

It should be pointed out, however, that the Introit "Gaudemus" - as ascertained already by Helmuth Ostoff - is also used for a large number of saints' days as well as for the feast of All Saints (November 1). The Introit sung in the Mass of Saint Agatha (February 5) is the oldest version. Its text is the same as that of Example 1, except that it has "Agathae martyres: de cujus passione" (Agatha martyr, at whose passion) instead of "Mariae virginis: de cujus assumptionae" (the Virgin Mary, for whose Assumption). From the eleventh century onwards, the antiphon appears in at least seven other Masses. In the Introit of All Saints the text passage quoted above reads "Sanctorum omnium de quorum solemnitate" (of all the Saints, at whose solemnity).

Below is the "Example 1" referred to above:

The Josquin mass, called Missa Gaudeamus, is - as usual with Josquin - just gorgeous;  it's based on this introit.   Unfortunately, at the moment there are no recordings of it online that I can post here.  Hopefully that will change over time, at which point I'll return and post it; very worth hearing.  Meanwhile, you can listen to samples here.

There's some really interesting stuff at the link above, about the Josquin Mass specifically:

Although the Mass combines the techniques of cantus firmus and ostinato, it is generally the incipt of the Introit which, thematically, occupies the foreground.  In the Ms. Cambrai 18 the motif even appears several times with the word "gaudeamus" instead of the litugical text. The ostinato technique has its culmination in the final Angus dei, where, as Jeremy Noble remarks, "the memorable opening phrase of the introit it put through a vertiginous series of transpositions."  It has never been noticed that the arrangement of the total numbers of "Gaudeamus" statements in the five sections of the Mass is anything but proportional.  The motif occurs 6, 14, 2, 5+7, and 4+23 times respectively.  If we take into account that it appears more often in Agnus dei III, which is 58 bars long, than in the Kyrie and Gloria which together make up 220 bars, and that it appears only twice in the Credo which contains 274 bars, the conclusion seems inescapable that Josquin deliberately determined the various numbers of statements.  Evidence of the justness of this conclusion can be found by comparing the present Mass with Josquin's Missa Ave maris stella.  Both works are based on a Gregorian chant, the incipits of which are used in ever-changing melodic and rhythmic shapes.  Moreover, both present thd cantus prius factus in the tenor.  Contrary, however, to the irregular distribution of the "Gaudeamus" motifs in the various Mass sections and the individual voices, the employment of the "Ave maris stella" incipit is much more balanced.  Noble says:  "....one senses that in Ave maris stella the exuberance of Gaudeamus has begun to be tamed, even spiritualized."

Now the interesting thing about all that, according to the author of Symbolic scores: Studies in the music of the Renaissance, Willem Elders, is that it helps him make the case that this Mass was written to celebrate All Saints' Day - and not, as had been previously (and it seems universally) supposed,  written for the Feast of the Assumption - another of the feast days that used Gaudeamus as its Introit.

Continuing on, the writer says:

The "Gaudeamus" motif in Josquin's Mass of the same name has more than a purely musical significance.  It functions, as I shall now attempt to show, as a sign which refers explicitly to the composer's profession of faith.  On the basis of the allegorical meaning of the numbers 6, 14, 2, 5, 7, 4 and 23 (see above), it can be said that the Mass in all probability was intended as an All Saints' Day liturgy and that the application of number symbolism may have been inspired by the Book of Revelation.

!

I haven't finished reading his argument - it's a long one, and he believes van Eyck's "Adoration of the Lamb," from the Ghent Altarpiece, is involved! - but it's certainly an interesting one so far.   ("4" stands for the Cross - and "23" for the 23 times the sign of the cross is made during the liturgy of the mass.

"Why 23 times?" you ask?  "[The] number [is understood to be] a reference to the just in the age of the law (10) and in the age of grace (13).  The law is valid for both ages (10+10), that is, the ages of the Old and New Convenant, while faith in the threefold God (+3) is an added characteristic for the New Testament.")

Now I ask you:  who doesn't like stuff like this?  In any case, it's absolutely a perfect tale for a blog like this one; the amazing part played by Gregorian chant in the history of the West!

There's quite a lot at this Wikipedia page about Missa Gaudeamus, too.

Iste Confessor, for the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi

Nicholas Roerich's St. Francis - 1931

Hymn melodies for the whole year from the Sarum service-books prescribes two hymns for Feasts of a Confessor:  Iste confessor  and Jesu, Redemptor Omnium.

Iste Confessor is a beautiful hymn with a wonderful set of words; it's appointed for 1st Evensong and Matins to a variety of melodies.  Here are words to the hymn from Oremus Hymnal; source notes say the hymn is "Latin, eighth century; trans. Laurence Housman, 1906."

He whose confession God of old accepted,
whom through the ages all now hold in honor,
gaining his guerdon this day came to enter
heaven's high portal.

God-fearing, watchful, pure of mind and body,
holy and humble, thus did all men find him;
while, through his members, to the life immortal
mortal life called him.

Thus to the weary, from the life enshrinèd,
potent in virtue, flowed humane compassion;
sick and sore laden, howsoever burdened,
there they found healing.

So now in chorus, giving God the g lory,
raise we our anthem gladly to his honor,
that in fair kinship we may all be sharers
here and hereafter.

Honor and glory, power and salvation,
be in the highest unto him who reigneth
changeless in heaven over earthly changes,
triune, eternal.

The Lutheran Liturgical Prayer Brotherhood calls it a  "hymn about a Holy Man" for the Common of Saints.  Here's an image of the chant score for melody #56, used at First Vespers.

And here's LLPB's mp3 of Iste Confessor, sung to melody #56.


Hymn melodies provides three tune choices for Iste Confessor sung at Matins; here's one of them, melody #57:

Here's a video of the hymn sung to this melody:




Here are the Latin words:

Iste Confessor Domini colentes
Quem pie laudant populi per orbem :
Hac die laetus meruit beatas
Scandere sedes.

Qui pius, prudens, humilis, pudicus,
Sobriam duxit sine labe vitam.
Donec humanos animavit aurae
Spiritus artus.

Cujus ob praestans meritum frequenter,
Ægra quae passim jacuere membra,
Viribus morbi domitis, saluti
Restituuntur.

Noster hinc illi chorus obsequentem
Concinit laudem, celebresque palmas;
Ut piis ejus precibus juvemur
Omne per ævum.

Sit salus illi, decus, atque virtus,
Qui super cæli solio coruscans,
Totius mundi seriem gubernat,
Trinus et unus. Amen.

An Alleluia for St. Michael and All Angels: Laudate Deum, omnes angelus

According to the Benedictines of Brazil, Laudate Deum, omnes angelus - the Alleluia for the Second Sunday after the Epiphany - can be used as an alternate to Sancte Michael archangele as the Alleluia for the September 29 Feast of St. Michael and All Angels (AKA "Ss. Michaelis, Gabrielis et Raphaelis, Archangelorum").

I could not find a recording of  Sancte Michael archangele - so here's Laudate Deum, omnes angelus, which is very pretty indeed.   (Again, though:  I am quite amazed at the cottage industry of St. Michael Archangel videos - all highly dramatic, and often using some of the most surprising music as background! - at YouTube.  It seems that the "soldier of God's armies" image really appeals to some people.)




The text comes from Psalm 148, verse 2:

Laudate Deum, omnes Angeli eius: laudate eum, omnes virtutes eius. Alleluia.

Praise God, all His Angels, praise Him, all His hosts. Alleluia.

You can listen to recordings of the Introit, Offertory, and Communio at Ss. Michaelis, Gabrielis et Raphaelis, Archangelorum (St. Michael and All Angels, that is): September 29.   Listen to the Office Hymns atSeptember 29: The Feast of St. Michael and All Angels.

Other posts for this feast day are collected here.


The Collect for St. Michael and All Angels is a nice one:

Everlasting God, you have ordained and constituted in a wonderful order the ministries of angels and mortals: Mercifully grant that, as your holy angels always serve and worship you in heaven, so by your appointment they may help and defend us here on earth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Marion Hatchett, in his Commentary on the American Prayer Book, says about this feast that:

The observance of a day to honor Saint Michael dates to the fifth century when a church near Rome was dedicated to the archangel.  The Leonine sacramentary contains a proper for St. Michael's Day (nos. 844-859).  In the Eastern churches other angels have been so honored, but the feasts of Gabriel and Raphael did not enter the ROman calendar until this century.

In the 1549 Book the title was expanded to include all angels.  Michael is mentioned in Jude 9 and Rev. 12:7 (see also Dan. 10:13, 21, and 12:1).  On the basis of these passages he has been honored as the "captain of the heavenly hosts."  Gabriel was the messenger of God at the annunciation to Zechariah (Lk. 1:19) and to Mary (Lk. 1:26).  He is also mentioned in Dan. 8:16 and 9:21.  Raphael is named in the Old Testament Apocrypha (Tobit 3:16-17 and 5:5 ff.).  The word "angel" literally means "messenger."

Just for interest, this appears to be a composition by one Rafał Krzychowiec based on the text of other Alleluia for today, Sancte Michael archangele (gregorian chant score below the vid).  Interestingly, this piece has spoken parts; I don't know what's being said, though.

I'm not sure which came first, but this text has often been used as an antiphon in various offices in addition to its use here as an Alleluia for the mass:

Sancte Michael archangele defende nos in proelio ut non pereamus in tremendo judicio. 

Saint Michael Archangel, defend us in battle so that we may not perish in the awful day of judgment.

Wikipedia has more about a longer "Prayer of St. Michael," and notes that:

This prayer, whose opening words are similar to the Alleluia verse for Saint Michael’s feasts on 8 May and 29 September in the Roman Missal of the time (which ran, "Sancte Michael, defende nos in proelio ut non pereamus in tremendo iudicio"), was added in 1886 to the Leonine Prayers that in 1884 Pope Leo XIII ordered to be said after Low Mass, for the intention of obtaining a satisfactory solution to the problem that the loss of the Pope's temporal sovereignty caused in depriving him of the evident independence required for effective use of his spiritual authority.

Here's a lovely piece of Byzantine art with Michael as subject; the page says it's an "Ivory panel from a Byzantine diptych. Constantinople (AD 525-550)," now in the British Museum.

More from the Wikpedia page:

Constantinople, 6th century AD

Standing beneath an ornate arch, at the top of a flight of steps, the archangel holds an orb and a staff. The Greek inscription, which would have continued on the other leaf read: Receive the suppliant before you, despite his sinfulness.

This is the largest surviving Byzantine ivory panel and probably represents an imperial commission originating from Constantinople. It has been suggested that the angel was presenting the orb to an emperor, perhaps Justinian I (527-565 AD), who was depicted on the other lost leaf.

Height: 42.8 cm (16.9 in) Width: 14.3 cm (5.6 in) Depth: 0.9 cm (0.35 in)

Dulce lignum, dulces clavos: The Alleluia for the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross (September 14)

This is one of the relatively few chant propers for the mass that doesn't come from Scripture; its source is Fortunatus' 6th-Century poem Pange lingua, gloriosi, and more specifically the Crux fideles section of that poem.

This is an mp3 recording of this beautiful chant, from the Benedictines of Brazil.   The text:

Dulce lignum, dulces clavos
Dulcia ferens pondera
Quae sola fuistis digna sustinere
Regem coelorum et Dominum

O sweet wood, O sweet nails
That bore his sweet burden
Which alone were worthy to support
The King of Heaven and Lord

And the chant score:

You can get all the words here to the entire Pange lingua, gloriosi of Fortunatus; below I've extracted only the Crux fideles section:

Crux fidelis, inter omnes arbor una nobilis,
nulla talem silva profert flore, fronde, germine,
dulce lignum dulce clavo dulce pondus sustinens.

Flecte ramos, arbor alta, tensa laxa viscera,
et rigor lentescat ille quem dedit nativitas,
ut superni membra regis mite tendas stipite.

Sola digna tu fuisti ferre pretium saeculi
atque portum praeparare nauta mundo naufrago,
quem sacer cruor perunxit fusus agni corpore.

Faithful Cross!
above all other,
one and only noble Tree!
None in foliage, none in blossom,
none in fruit thy peers may be;
sweetest wood and sweetest iron!
Sweetest Weight is hung on thee!

Lofty tree, bend down thy branches,
to embrace thy sacred load;
oh, relax the native tension
of that all too rigid wood;
gently, gently bear the members
of thy dying King and God.

Tree, which solely wast found worthy
the world's Victim to sustain.
harbor from the raging tempest!
ark, that saved the world again!
Tree, with sacred blood anointed
of the Lamb for sinners slain.

Holy Cross Day is a "Feast of Our Lord," according to the Calendar of the Episcopal Church, ranking alongside Holy Name, Presentation, Annunciation, Visitation, St. John the Baptist, and Transfiguration.  It's a big one, in other words. 

Justus has a page about the feast and about the cross in Christian life; here's an excerpt:

During the reign of Constantine, first Roman Emperor to profess the Christian faith, his mother Helena went to Israel and there undertook to find the places especially significant to Christians. (She was helped in this by the fact that in their destructions around 135, the Romans had built pagan shrines over many of these sites.) Having located, close together, what she believed to be the sites of the Crucifixion and of the Burial (at locations that modern archaeologists think may be correct), she then had built over them the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which was dedicated on 14 September 335. It has become a day for recognizing the Cross (in a festal atmosphere that would be inappropriate on Good Friday) as a symbol of triumph, as a sign of Christ's victory over death, and a reminder of His promise, "And when I am lifted up, I will draw all men unto me." (John 12:32)

Tertullian, in his De Corona (3:2), written around AD 211, says that Christians seldom do anything significant without making the sign of the cross. Certainly by his time the practice was well established. Justin Martyr, in chapters 55 and 60 of his First Apology (Defence of the Christian Faith, addressed to the Emperor Antoninus Pius and therefore written between 148 and 155 Ad), refers to the cross as a standard Christian symbol, but not explicitly to tracing the sign of the cross as a devotional gesture. In the ruins of Pompeii (destroyed 79 Ad), there is a room with an altar-like structure against one wall, and over the altar the appearance of the plaster shows that a cross-shaped object had been nailed to the wall, and forcibly pulled loose, apparently shortly before the volcano buried the city. It is suggested that this house may have belonged to a Christian family, and that they took the cross and other objects of value to them when they fled the city. This is not the only possible explanation, but I do not know of a likelier one.

Much more at the link.


The Collect for this day is beautiful:

Almighty God, whose Son our Savior Jesus Christ was lifted high upon the cross that he might draw the whole world to himself: Mercifully grant that we, who glory in the mystery of our redemption, may have grace to take up our cross and follow him; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, in glory everlasting.

The readings, too, are among the most beautiful in Scripture; they include the lovely hymn from Philippians 2:5-11 -  to my way of thinking one of the most glorious passages to be found anywhere in the Bible (and from which comes the beautiful gradual for today and for Palm Sunday, Christus factus est.):

Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,
who, though he was in the form of God,
    did not regard equality with God
    as something to be exploited,
but emptied himself,
    taking the form of a slave,
    being born in human likeness.
And being found in human form,
    he humbled himself
    and became obedient to the point of death--
    even death on a cross.
Therefore God also highly exalted him
    and gave him the name
    that is above every name,
so that at the name of Jesus
    every knee should bend,
    in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue should confess
    that Jesus Christ is Lord,
    to the glory of God the Father.

Here are links to the other readings for today; the Collect comes directly from the Gospel reading from John:

Isaiah 45:21-25
Psalm 98 or 98:1-4
Philippians 2:5-11
or Galatians 6:14-18
John 12:31-36a 

Here's a really lovely piece, based in this chant with perhaps an polyphony alternatim; I can't quite tell what's going on here.  As you can see, this is "Sacred Music from 12th-Century Paris," apparently composed by Magister Leoninus.  The first "Alleluia" clearly comes from this chant proper - but I can't quite follow the rest so far.  Beautiful, though!




And here's a nice version of Crux fideles; there is something at the page about "Crux fidelis - R. Kühnel & Gregoriano."  I think that's a reference to the composer - this, perhaps - and the fact that there's some chant in the middle verse; I'm not sure what that is yet, though.  The YouTube page says it's a "Live recording: ex parish choir "S.Stefano" of Mozzanica (BG) Italy, 14 september 2008."  Interesting, anyway:




Fr. Jay Smith, of New York's Church of St. Mary the Virgin, has written a beautiful meditation on this day, using the San Damiano Cross as a lens through which to see the day.  Here's an extract from that meditation; I encourage you, though, to click over to the website and read the whole thing.

The story of Francis of Assisi’s conversion is well known to many Christians. Of course, there is the confrontation with Francis’s seriously displeased father; but there is also Francis’s experience in the run-down Church of San Damiano, just outside of Assisi. Francis is walking by the church and goes in to pray. He gazes upon a large crucifix, painted in the Byzantine style; and he hears Christ saying to him, “Go, repair my Church, which as you see is falling completely in ruin.” These are loaded, prophetic, words. Francis starts fixing the church and in doing so, he too is “repaired.” The Lord comes up close and Francis is converted. He is turned toward Christ in a new way. Eventually, Francis gathers brothers and sisters around him. He founds his famous order and the rest is history.

The San Damiano Crucifix is a familiar image to many people, especially to those interested in Franciscan history and spirituality. It is large, nearly seven feet tall and over four feet wide. It was probably created around 1100 by an Umbrian artist working in what is known as the Syro-Byzantine style. There are some truly wonderful things about this crucifix. It comes as no surprise that it moved Francis so. First, like much Christian art, in particular much Western Christian art, it is an image that is meant to teach. It has been pointed out that, taken together, the many figures on the cross tell the story of Our Lord’s passion, death, resurrection, and ascension. (Michael D. Guinan, O.F.M., does a detailed and fascinating interpretation of the Cross in his book, The Franciscan Vision and the Gospel of John: The San Damiano Cross, St. Bonaventure, NY, 2006. His book got me thinking about the cross for this article.) Second, the cross is an icon and like all icons “written” in the Eastern Christian tradition, it invites the viewer to meditate and pray, to enter into an encounter with the reality depicted in the image.

Father Guinan reminds us that the San Damiano Crucifix, that most Franciscan of images, is in some ways, not typically Franciscan (Franciscan Vision, 2). For one thing, it was created before Francis was born. More important, the cross does not accentuate Jesus’ suffering on the cross, and therefore it does not stress Jesus’ humanity, which was an important focus in later Franciscan theology, spirituality, and art. Jesus’ humanity is not denied. This is a human body, nailed to a cross. Blood flows both from Jesus’ hands and from his feet. But Jesus does not wear the crown of thorns and the iconographer makes no attempt to depict the suffering of a crucified criminal with any sort of realistic, historical, or physiological accuracy.

In this image, the artist carefully balances humanity with divinity. The inscription above Jesus’ head tells us that he is a king. The clean white garment, edged in gold, may tell us that he is a priest. The attitude of his body, the expression on his face, and the brilliant halo around his head tell us that the Crucified One is also the Risen Lord. As Father Guinan points out, the blood from Jesus’ hands and feet flows forth and down upon the other figures in the image. (If one didn’t know better, the very idea would be gory and distasteful; but for those with “eyes to see,” it is a richly symbolic, deeply scriptural and sacramental idea.) Moreover, angels attend Jesus on the cross and, at the top of the image, angels greet Jesus as he “returns” to the heavenly places, to be seated at the Father’s right hand. As in the Gospel of John, so also here, the Cross is not so much the locus of abandonment and desolation, it is the place where the glory of God is already being revealed: “Jesus said, ‘And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.’ He said this to indicate the kind of death he was to die” (John 12:32).

If icons are meant to be an encounter with the Holy One, what do we encounter when we look at this image? That will be different for each one of us. Perhaps the encounter will be different every time we look at it. (If God is working to “repair,” transform, and convert us, are we ever exactly the same today as we were yesterday?) This is what I see as we arrive at Holy Cross Day: the cross was invented by human beings, acting on their cruelest impulses, to torture, shame, deter, terrorize, and kill. Jesus Christ, “though he was in the form of God” (Philippians 2:6), becomes fully human, “being born in human likeness” (2:7). He does not recoil from the worst and most painful elements of the human condition: sin, death, and terrible cruelty. He does not flee from us in horror or distaste. He comes up close. He sees what we sometimes forget: we were created in the very image of God. Jesus Christ “descends” deeply into the human condition in order to heal us and set us free; and by doing that he shows us who God is. He shows us that God is more powerful than sin and death. He shows us God’s tenacious, unyielding love. He shows us, in his deep humility, the very Glory of God.

On the Feast of the Decollation of S. John the Baptist (Aug. 29)

August 29 is the day the church (most all of it, although some on the old Orthodox calendar use September 11) observes the beheading of John the Baptist; this is one of the few occasions when a saint's primary feast day is not the day of his death.   (John's major feast day is June 24, the Feast of his Nativity.)

Here's what Hymn melodies for the whole year from the Sarum service books prescribes for today, short and sweet:

On the Feast of the Decollation of S. John the Baptist (Aug 29), as on the Feast of one Martyr.

So, let's back up and talk about the hymns for "the Feast of one Martyr"; again from Hymn melodies for the whole year from the Sarum services books:

1st Ev. & Matt.: Martyr Dei, qui unicum

At 1st Ev. (except in Xmas & Paschal-tides) ... ... 25
At 1st Ev. in Xmas-tide & М. throughout the year (except in Paschal-tide ) ... ... 26
During Paschal-tide (1st Ev. & М.) ... ... 39
On Simple Feasts of the lowest class throughout the year (1st Ev. & M.) ... ... 6 or 76

Lauds & 2nd Ev.: Deus, Tuorum Militum

At L. (except in Xmas & Paschal-tides) ... ... 25
At 2nd Ev. (& L. when no 2nd Ev.) ... ... 49
During Xmas-tide (L. & 2nd Ev.) ... ... 27
During Paschal-tide (L. & 2nd Ev.) ... ... 39
On Simple Feasts of the lowest class throughout the year (L.) ... ... ... 40

Follow along with the Offices for this feast at Breviary Offices, from Lauds to Compline Inclusive (Society of St. Margaret, Boston) (published in 1885). You can get all the Psalms, the collect, Chapter, antiphons, etc., for each of the offices of the day at that link, although no music is provided; check the iFrame look-in at the bottom of this post.)

The Latin words for Martyr Dei, qui unicum are these:

Martyr Dei, qui (quæ) unicum
Patris sequendo Filium,
victis triumphas hostibus,
victor (victrix) fruens cælestibus.

Tui precatus munere
nostrum reatum dilue,
arcens mali contagium,
vitæ repellens tædium.

Soluta sunt iam vincula
tui sacrati corporis;
nos solve vinclis sæculi,
amore Filii Dei.

Honor Patri cum Filio
et Spiritu Paraclito,
qui te corona perpeti
cingunt in aula gloriæ.

Here's an English translation of this hymn, at Cyberhymnal, where it is called "Martyr of God, whose strength was steeled." Cyberhymnal notes that the hymn is by an: "Unknown au­thor, 10th Cen­tu­ry (Mar­tyr Dei qui un­i­cum); trans­lat­ed from La­tin to Eng­lish by Per­cy Dear­mer in The Eng­lish Hymn­al (Lon­don: Ox­ford Un­i­ver­si­ty Press, 1906), num­ber 180."

Martyr of God, whose strength was steeled
To follow close God’s only Son,
Well didst thou brave thy battlefield,
And well thy heavenly bliss was won!

Now join thy prayers with ours, who pray
That God may pardon us and bless;
For prayer keeps evil’s plague away,
And draws from life its weariness.

Long, long ago, were loosed the chains
That held thy body once in thrall;
For us how many a bond remains!
O Love of God release us all.

All praise to God the Father be,
All praise to Thee, eternal Son;
All praise, O Holy Ghost, to Thee
While never ending ages run.

Deus tuorum militum can be found at "Early christian hymns," listed as a "Vesper hymn, for the feast of a martyr." CPDL offers a couple of Latin versions; here's one:

Deus, tuorum militum
sors et corona, præmium,
laudes canentes martyris
absolve nexu criminis.

Hic (Hæc) nempe mundi gaudia
et blandimenta noxia
caduca rite deputans,
pervenit ad cælestia.

Pœnas cucurrit fortiter
et sustulit viriliter;
pro te refundens sanguinem,
æterna dona possidet.

Ob hoc precatu supplici
te poscimus, piissime;
in hoc triumpho martyris
dimitte noxam servulis.

Ut consequamur muneris
ipsius et consortia,
lætemur ac perenniter
iuncti polorum sedibus.

Laus et perennis gloria
tibi, Pater, cum Filio,
Sancto simul Paraclito
in sæculorum sæcula.
Amen

 Here are the English words to this hymn, noted as from an unknown author in the sixth century, with a translation by J.M. Neale:

O God, thy soldiers' crown and guard,
and their exceeding great reward;
from all transgressions set us free,
who sing thy martyr's victory.

The pleasures of the world he spurned,
from sin's pernicious lures he turned;
he knew their joys imbued with gall,
and thus he reached thy heavenly hall.

For thee through many a woe he ran,
in many a fight he played the man;
for thee his blood he dared to pour,
and thence hath joy for evermore.

We therefore pray thee, full of love,
regard us from thy throne above;
on this thy martyr's triumph day,
wash every stain of sin away.

O Christ, most loving King, to thee,
with God the Father, glory be;
like glory, as is ever meet,
to God the holy Paraclete.

Below are all the chant scores for this great variety of melodies, along with music files where I've found them.   In use again are the Christmas and Christmastide melodies (25, 26, and 27), one from Easter (as at the Most Sweet Name of Jesus), plus a few others, a couple of which we haven't seen before.

Melody #6 is used at Terce "on Feasts throughout the Year" (Nunc sancte nobis Spiritus) and at None "on Feasts throughout the Year" (Rerum Deus tenax vigor). Unfortunately, I don't have a sound file to post for it; working on that!

Here again is LLPB's recording of melody #25, as used for the familiar Christmas First Vespers hymn Veni, Redemptor Gentium.

LLPB also provides a recording of Hymn tune #26;  the cantor is singing the Christmas Evensong hymn "Jesus, the Father's Only Son."  

LLPB has a recording of melody #27;  here's a recording of it sung as "From East to West, from shore to shore" (A solis ortus cardine), the Lauds and 2nd Vespers hymn for Christmas Day. 

Here's an mp3 of an example of alternate melody #39,  again from LLPB;  it's the same melody as that used for the Easter Mattins hymn, Aurora Lucis Rutilat ("The Day Draws on with Golden Light").

Melody #40 (mp3) is used for the (ferial) Eastertide Sarum hymn for 2nd Evensong, Ad cenam Agni providi ("The Lamb's High Banquet").

The LLPB offers this mp3 of Hymn #49, "O God Thy Soldiers Crown and Guard," as a "Hymn about the Martyrs (male)."   (Hymn #49 is also the tune used for "O Glorious King of Martyr Hosts" (mp3) at LLPB; that's sung on the feast days of several martyrs, such as the Feast of Constance and her Companions.)

I have no information about Melody #76 - nor do I know anything about Hereford hymnal.  As always, though:  I'll return to post audio of it if I find it.


Here's a peek-through to the SSM Breviary; rather than clicking the link above, you can just scroll through the day's offices here, if you'd rather:





There are, as you can imagine, many paintings and other works that deal with this subject; some in Western art are quite gruesome.   Here's one, painted in 1869 by Pierre Puvis de Chavannes , that's not, so much:

Here's a very complicated icon of the beheading of St. John the Baptist; I'm assuming it's Greek (the artist is given as "unknown") because it's today in the Benaki Museum in Athens.  The Wikipedia page says that it's from the 18th Century:

A standard iconographic representation of this event, though, presents John as carrying his own head in a basket (or perhaps on a platter?):

  

The Wikipedia description says that this is "Russian: John the Baptist, Angel of the Desert, with Life in 16 marginal scenes.  School or bad. center: Yaroslavl XVI century. 142 × 96 cm Yaroslavl Art Museum, Yaroslavl, Russia."

I didn't know he was referred to as "the Angel of the Desert"; it's a beautiful name.