Vade, Sátana; scriptum est enim: Dóminum, Deum tuum, adorábis, et illi soli sérvies...

Today is the Dominica prima Quadragesimae, the first Sunday of Lent. The livret for the Mass at Saint-Eugène is here; am listening to the audio recording of the Mass sung at Barroux now. The rain has returned; the temperature is in the mid-30s at the moment and predicted to reach... 40°. With the drizzle, however, it is remains cold and I believe that the heater in my little room has run constantly since 0330.

Lectio 7
Léctio sancti Evangélii secúndum Matthǽum
Matt 4:1-11
In illo témpore: Ductus est Jesus in desértum a Spíritu, ut tentarétur a diábolo. Et cum jejunásset quadragínta diébus et quadragínta nóctibus, póstea esúriit. Et réliqua.

Homilía sancti Gregórii Papæ
Homilia 16 in Evangelia
Dubitári a quibúsdam solet, a quo spíritu sit Jesus ductus in desértum, propter hoc quod súbditur: Assúmpsit eum diábolus in sanctam civitátem: et rursum: Assúmpsit eum in montem excélsum valde. Sed vere et absque ulla quæstióne conveniénter accípitur, ut a Sancto Spíritu in desértum ductus credátur: ut illuc eum suus Spíritus dúceret, ubi hunc ad tentándum malígnus spíritus inveníret. Sed ecce cum dícitur Deus homo vel in excélsum montem, vel in sanctam civitátem a diábolo assúmptus, mens réfugit crédere, humánæ hoc audíre aures expavéscunt. Qui tamen non esse incredibília ista cognóscimus, si in illo et ália facta pensámus.

R. Scíndite corda vestra, et non vestiménta vestra: et convertímini ad Dóminum Deum vestrum:
* Quia benígnus et miséricors est.
V. Derelínquat ímpius viam suam, et vir iníquus cogitatiónes suas, et revertátur ad Dóminum, et miserébitur ejus.
R. Quia benígnus et miséricors est.

Lectio 8
Certe iniquórum ómnium caput diabolus est: et hujus cápitis membra sunt omnes iniqui. An non diaboli membrum fuit Pilatus? an non diaboli membra Judæi persequéntes, et milites crucifigéntes Christum fuérunt? Quid ergo mirum, si se ab illo permisit in montem duci, qui se pértulit étiam a membris illíus crucifigi? Non est ergo indignum Redemptori nostro quod tentari vóluit, qui vénerat occídi. Justum quippe erat, ut sic tentatiónes nostras suis tentatiónibus vínceret, sicut mortem nostram vénerat sua morte superare.

R. Frange esuriénti panem tuum, et egénos vagósque induc in domum tuam:
* Tunc erúmpet quasi mane lumen tuum, et anteíbit fáciem tuam justítia tua.
V. Cum víderis nudum, óperi eum, et carnem tuam ne despéxeris.
R. Tunc erúmpet quasi mane lumen tuum, et anteíbit fáciem tuam justítia tua.

Lectio 9
Sed sciéndum nobis est, quia tribus modis tentátio agitur: suggestióne, delectatióne et consénsu. Et nos cum tentamur, plerumque in delectatiónem, aut étiam in consénsum lábimur: quia de carnis peccáto propagati, in nobis ipsis étiam gérimus, unde certámina tolerámus. Deus vero, qui in útero Vírginis incarnatus, in mundum sine peccáto vénerat, nihil contradictiónis in semetípso tolerábat. Tentari ergo per suggestiónem pótuit: sed ejus méntem peccáti delectátio non momórdit. Atque ideo omnis diabolica illa tentátio foris, non intus fuit.

R. Angelis suis Deus mandávit de te, ut custodiánt te in ómnibus viis tuis:
* In mánibus portábunt te, ne umquam offéndas ad lápidem pedem tuum.
V. Super áspidem et basilíscum ambulábis, et conculcábis leónem et dracónem.
R. In mánibus portábunt te, ne umquam offéndas ad lápidem pedem tuum.
V. Glória Patri, et Fílio, * et Spirítui Sancto.
R. In mánibus portábunt te, ne umquam offéndas ad lápidem pedem tuum.

Statio ad S. Joannem in Laterano

On some of the most solemn feasts of the year the Roman Liturgy celebrates the station in the basilica of the ancient house of Fausta, which under Nero was the property of the Laterani. Constantine gave it to Pope Melchiades (311-14), and from that time onwards through the whole of the Middle Ages the palace became the usual residence of the Popes, the episcopium, or seat, of the Lateran Patriarchate. St Peter’s is the ancient liturgical cathedral of the Roman Pontiffs, who repair there to officiate on all the great festivals, but the habitual seat, the normal residence of the Popes, is the Lateran, and for this reason the Basilica Salvatoris can claim the title of Mother and Head of all the churches of the city and of the world.

It is therefore fitting that the first sacrifice of the holy season of Lent should be offered on this day in the Lateran, in the glorious basilica dedicated to the Saviour, which only in later days came to be called after St John. In fact, only two small oratories near the baptistery were dedicated, one to St John the Evangelist and the other to St John the Baptist. These were erected by Pope Hilary (461-8), as a votive memorial of his fortunate escape in 449 from the violence of that heretical assembly which history has designated by the name of latrocinium Ephesinum [the 'Robber Council'; the phrase is Pope Saint Leo the Great's].

Many precious relics of the martyrs are preserved under the high altar of the Lateran, and in the oratories of St Venantius, St Lawrence, etc., for which reason the ancient papal chapel of the Patriarchate is still called Sancta Sanctorum. In the Middle Ages no less than four monasteries, with a numerous choir of singers, were engaged by day and by night in the performance of the office in the Lateran Basilica.

As today is not a day of fasting, there is no collecta previous to the stational procession, this being a rite of a distinctly penitential character, and therefore not in keeping with the Sunday festival.

In the Mass for this Sunday great prominence is given to Psalm 90, that psalm which was quoted by Satan when tempting Our Lord. It is repeated in the Introit, the Gradual, the Offertory, and the Communion, as though in protest and reparation for the sacrilegious suggestion of the Evil One. On the other hand, this psalm so well expresses the return of the soul to God through penitence and confidence in his mercy that the Church has chosen it as her favourite Lenten chant. (Blessed Ildefonso Schuster in his Liber Sacramentorum)

At Saint-E., the Mass began with the Audi benigne Conditor, sung in alternate verses with the polyphonic setting of Jean de Bournonville (1585-1632), maître de chapelle at the Cathedrals of Abbeville and of Amiens, and of the Sainte Chapelle at Paris.

Introitus. Ps. 90, 15 et 16. Invocábit me, et ego exáudiam eum: erípiam eum, et glorificábo eum: longitúdine diérum adimplébo eum. Ps. ibid., 1. Qui hábitat in adjutório Altíssimi, in protectióne Dei cœli commorábitur. ℣. Glória Patri.

Oratio. Deus, qui Ecclésiam tuam ánnua quadragesimáli observatióne puríficas: præsta famíliæ tuæ; ut, quod a te obtinére abstinéndo nítitur, hoc bonis opéribus exsequátur. Per Dóminum.

Léctio Epístolæ beáti Pauli Apóstoli ad Corínthios.
2 Cor. 6, 1-10.

Fratres: Exhortámur vos, ne in vácuum grátiam Dei recipiátis. Ait enim: Témpore accépto exaudívi te, et in die salútis adjúvi te. Ecce, nunc tempus acceptábile, ecce, nunc dies salútis. Némini dantes ullam offensiónem, ut non vituperétur ministérium nostrum: sed in ómnibus exhibeámus nosmetípsos sicut Dei minístros, in multa patiéntia, in tribulatiónibus, in necessitátibus, in angústiis, in plagis, in carcéribus, in seditiónibus, in labóribus, in vigíliis, in jejúniis, in castitáte, in sciéntia, in longanimitáte, in suavitáte, in Spíritu Sancto, in caritáte non ficta, in verbo veritátis, in virtúte Dei, per arma justítiæ a dextris et a sinístris: per glóriam et ignobilitátem: per infámiam et bonam famam: ut seductóres et veráces: sicut qui ignóti et cógniti: quasi moriéntes et ecce, vívimus: ut castigáti et non mortificáti: quasi tristes, semper autem gaudéntes: sicut egéntes, multos autem locupletántes: tamquam nihil habéntes et ómnia possidéntes.

The Gradual was sung to a melody of the 3rd tone proper to Paris, in use there continually from at least the 9th century.

Graduale. Ps. 90,11-1 2. Angelis suis Deus mandávit de te, ut custódiant te in ómnibus viis tuis. ℣. In mánibus portábunt te, ne umquam offéndas ad lápidem pedem tuum.

The Tract was sung in faux-bourdon of the 2nd tone, according to the use of Paris, from the 1739 edition of the Proper.

Tractus. Ibid., 1-7 et 11-16. Qui hábitat in adjutório Altíssimi, in protectióne Dei cœli commorántur. ℣. Dicet Dómino: Suscéptor meus es tu et refúgium meum: Deus meus, sperábo in eum. ℣. Quóniam ipse liberávit me de láqueo venántium et a verbo áspero. ℣. Scápulis suis obumbrábit tibi, et sub pennis ejus sperábis. ℣. Scuto circúmdabit te véritas ejus: non timébis a timóre noctúrno. ℣. A sagítta volánte per diem, a negótio perambulánte in ténebris, a ruína et dæmónio meridiáno. ℣. Cadent a látere tuo mille, et decem mília a dextris tuis: tibi autem non appropinquábit. ℣. Quóniam Angelis suis mandávit de te, ut custódiant te in ómnibus viis tuis. ℣. In mánibus portábunt te, ne umquam offéndas ad lápidem pedem tuum, ℣. Super áspidem et basilíscum ambulábis, et conculcábis leónem et dracónem. ℣. Quóniam in me sperávit, liberábo eum: prótegam eum, quóniam cognóvit nomen meum, ℣. Invocábit me, et ego exáudiam eum: cum ipso sum in tribulatióne, ℣. Erípiam eum et glorificábo eum: longitúdine diérum adimplébo eum, et osténdam illi salutáre meum.

✠ Sequéntia sancti Evangélii secúndum Matthǽum.

Matth. 4, 1-11.
In illo témpore: Ductus est Jesus in desértum a Spíritu, ut tentarétur a diábolo. Et cum jejunásset quadragínta diébus et quadragínta nóctibus, postea esúriit. Et accédens tentátor, dixit ei: Si Fílius Dei es, dic, ut lápides isti panes fiant. Qui respóndens, dixit: Scriptum est: Non in solo pane vivit homo, sed in omni verbo, quod procédit de ore Dei. Tunc assúmpsit eum diábolus in sanctam civitátem, et státuit eum super pinnáculum templi, et dixit ei: Si Fílius Dei es, mitte te deórsum. Scriptum est enim: Quia Angelis suis mandávit de te, et in mánibus tollent te, ne forte offéndas ad lápidem pedem tuum. Ait illi Jesus: Rursum scriptum est: Non tentábis Dóminum, Deum tuum. Iterum assúmpsit eum diábolus in montem excélsum valde: et ostendit ei ómnia regna mundi et glóriam eórum, et dixit ei: Hæc ómnia tibi dabo, si cadens adoráveris me. Tunc dicit ei Jesus: Vade, Sátana; scriptum est enim: Dóminum, Deum tuum, adorábis, et illi soli sérvies. Tunc relíquit eum diábolus: et ecce, Angeli accessérunt et ministrábant ei.

M Grodziski, outlining, before his homily proper, some of the doings at Saint-E. during this week, noted Fr de Blignières's second conference on the Pater noster later today (well, it ended half an hour or so ago); the recordings are at the parish YouTube site, Ite Missa Est. And the estimable Fr Claude Barthe, well known to those who defend the Traditional Mass, will give a presentation at Saturday's Marian recollection. I try not to make useless comparisons between hic et illic but sometimes fail at this resolve.

... Pope Clement XII commissioned the new façade, and that of St. Mary Major, at the dawn of the Enlightenment. Throughout Europe, intellectuals denigrated the Catholic Church as ignorant and superstitious; yet these same cultured despisers of religion flocked to Rome as tourists. Uninterested in the tombs of Peter and Paul, they only wanted to see the vestiges of the ancient Roman civilization they deemed superior to the Christian civilization that supplanted it.

In response, the pope restored the Lateran basilica, a church built by a Roman emperor who recognized the supremacy of the God of the Christians over the pagan deities of the Pantheon: the grandeur of Galilei’s façade, crowned with statues of Christ and his apostles, might make skeptical Enlightenment tourists reconsider their assumption that they were visiting the headquarters of a ramshackle sect whose glory days were in the distant past. 

The battered bronze panels of the processional doors leading from the porch into the basilica, encased in frames of acorns and stars in honor of Pope Alexander VII (who commissioned the portal in 1658–1659), are from the ancient Roman Senate building. That august body, which once ratified decrees of Christian persecution, was no more; but the Christians they endeavored to eradicate still worshipped here. 

Thus the arcaded entrance to the basilica, similar to a triumphal arch, proclaims victory: the victory of the thousands of martyrs whose witness helped persuade an empire to convert. The source of their strength and courage is embodied in the smallest set of doors in the porch, the Holy Door, evocative of those jubilee years that commemorate humanity’s redemption by the Cross of Christ.... (Dr Elizabeth Lev in Roman Pilgrimage)

After the homily, a brief motet by Marc Antoine Ingegneri (1545-1592), maître de chapelle of the Cathedral of Cremona, was sung.

O bone Jesu, miserére nobis : quia tu creásti nos, tu redemísti nos sánguine tuo pretiossíssimo.

The polyphonic setting of the Offertory (1581) by Orlando de Lassus (1532-1594), maître de chapelle of Saint John Lateran  and then of the Elector of Bavaria, was sung. 

Offertorium. Ps. 90, 4-5. Scápulis suis obumbrábit tibi Dóminus, et sub pennis ejus sperábis: scuto circúmdabit te véritas ejus.

Secreta. Sacrifícium quadragesimális inítii sollémniter immolámus, te, Dómine, deprecántes: ut, cum epulárum restrictióne carnálium, a noxiis quoque voluptátibus temperémus. Per Dóminum.

An anonymous setting from 1529 of the Emendemus in melius, the 4th response at Matins of today, was sung at the Communion.

R. Emendémus in mélius, quæ ignoránter peccávimus: ne súbito præoccupáti die mortis, quærámus spátium pœniténtiæ, et inveníre non possímus:

* Atténde, Dómine, et miserére, quia peccávimus tibi.

V. Adjuva nos, Deus salutáris noster, et propter honórem nóminis tui, Dómine, líbera nos.

R. Atténde, Dómine, et miserére, quia peccávimus tibi.

Communio. Ps. 90,4-5. Scápulis suis obumbrábit tibi Dóminus, et sub pennis ejus sperábis: scuto circúmdabit te véritas ejus.

Postcommunio. Qui nos, Dómine, sacraménti libátio sancta restáuret: et a vetustáte purgátos, in mystérii salutáris fáciat transíre consórtium. Per Dóminum.

Am happy to see that the Schola will be singing the Masses of the week's upcoming Ember Days (Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday)-- the Saturday Ember Days seem to be the only Saturdays when I turn on the machinae at 0030 to follow the Mass. 

LDVM