Today is the feast of Our Lady of Mercy or of Ransom...

And I did say the Night Office... Matins and Lauds of the feast, but am reading the lessons for the Saturday Ember Day in this hour; it is some three hours before sunrise.  

Léctio sancti Evangélii secúndum Lucam Luc 13:6-17

In illo témpore: Dicébat Jesus turbis hanc similitúdinem: Arborem fici habébat quidam plantátam in vínea sua et venit quærens fructum in illa et non invénit. Et réliqua.

That verse is what is usually read by those who pray at Matins; the presumption I think is that we know the text or substance of the text of the following verses; the continuation of the Gospel passage:

7 Dixit autem ad cultorem vineæ: Ecce anni tres sunt ex quo venio quærens fructum in ficulnea hac, et non invenio: succide ergo illam: ut quid etiam terram occupat? 8 At ille respondens, dicit illi: Domine dimitte illam et hoc anno, usque dum fodiam circa illam, et mittam stercora, 9 et siquidem fecerit fructum: sin autem, in futurum succides eam. 10 Erat autem docens in synagoga eorum sabbatis. 11 Et ecce mulier, quæ habebat spiritum infirmitatis annis decem et octo: et erat inclinata, nec omnino poterat sursum respicere. 12 Quam cum videret Jesus, vocavit eam ad se, et ait illi: Mulier, dimissa es ab infirmitate tua. 13 Et imposuit illi manus, et confestim erecta est, et glorificabat Deum. 14 Respondens autem archisynagogus, indignans quia sabbato curasset Jesus, dicebat turbæ: Sex dies sunt in quibus oportet operari: in his ergo venite, et curamini, et non in die sabbati.

The three lessons are from Saint Gregory the Great's 31st homily on the Gospels; the 1st follows. Unless one is aware of the complete Gospel passage then Saint Gregory's rhetoric here and his introduction of the mulier curva is perhaps... confusing. 

Dóminus ac Redémptor noster per Evangélium suum aliquándo verbis, aliquándo rebus lóquitur: aliquándo áliud verbis, atque áliud rebus; aliquándo autem hoc verbis, quod rebus. Duas étenim res ex Evangélio, fratres, audístis: ficúlneam infructuósam, et mulíerem curvam; et utríque rei est píetas impénsa. Illud autem dixit per similitúdinem: istud egit per exhibitiónem. Sed hoc signíficat ficúlnea infructuósa, quod múlier inclináta; et hoc ficúlnea reserváta, quod múlier erécta.

But what also caught my attention was this responsorium, about which inter alia Dr DiPippo posted an essay yesterday at New Liturgical Movement, here

R. Tribulatiónes civitátum audívimus, quas passæ sunt, et defécimus: timor et hebetúdo mentis cécidit super nos et super líberos nostros: ipsi montes nolunt recípere fugam nostram: * Dómine, miserére. V. Peccávimus cum pátribus nostris, injúste égimus, iniquitátem fécimus. R. Dómine, miserére.










Palestrina's setting, and William Byrd's. Holy Mass of the Saturday Ember Day was to have been celebrated at Saint-Eugène at 0030 my time but I was unfortunately (well, as a matter of fact, it is fortunate that I can sleep for a period of five and a half hours uninterruptedly) sound asleep: I write 'was to have been' only because the video recording isn't yet up at YouTube. 



LDVM


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