Per signum Crucis de inimícis nostris líbera nos, Deus noster, allelúia, alleluia...

Ant. Crucifíxus surréxit a mórtuis, et redémit nos, allelúja, allelúja.

R. Quia Dóminus regnávit a ligno, allelúja.
V. Dícite in natiónibus, allelúja.

Deus qui pro nobis Fílium tuum Crucis patíbulum subíre voluísti, ut inimíci a nobis expélleres potestátem: concéde nobis fámulis tuis; ut resurrectiónis grátiam consequámur. Per eúmdem Dóminum nostrum Jesum Christum Fílium tuum, qui tecum vivit et regnat in unitáte Spíritus Sancti, Deus, per ómnia sǽcula sæculórum.

Deus, qui in præclára salutíferæ Crucis Inventióne passiónis tuæ mirácula suscitásti: concéde; ut, vitális ligni prétio, ætérnæ vitæ suffrágia consequámur: Qui vivis et regnas.

Deus, qui fidélium mentes uníus éfficis voluntátis: da pópulis tuis id amáre quod prǽcipis, id desideráre quod promíttis; ut inter mundánas varietátes ibi nostra fixa sint corda, ubi vera sunt gáudia. Per Dóminum.

Today is the 4th Sunday post Octavam Paschae and the Mass is Cantate Domino canticum novum alleluia. It is, however, the feast of the Invention of the Most Holy Cross at Jerusalem and in the Traditional Rite this takes precedence before the Sunday Mass. This Mass is Nos autem gloriari oportet in Cruce Domini. Today is also the feast of Saints Pope Alexander I, Eventius and Theodulus, Martyrs, and of the Confessor Saint Juvenal, Bishop; this will have been commemorated. At Le Barroux, the feast of the Holy Cross is kept and its Mass was sung... although for whatever reason the recording isn't available online, tsk.

The Schola Saint-Cécile's page for today's feast is here. The livret for Holy Mass is here, and that for Vespers (including the commemoration of 1st Vespers of the Widow Saint Monica) and Benediction of the Most Blessed Sacrament is here.

The Roman Martyrology today, for tomorrow the 4th day before the Nones of May.

Introitus. Gal. 6, 14. Nos autem gloriári opórtet in Cruce Domini nostri Jesu Christi: in quo est salus, vita et resurréctio nostra: per quem salváti et liberáti sumus, allelúja, allelúja. Ps. 66, 2. Deus misereátur nostri, et benedícat nobis: illúminet vultum suum super nos, et misereátur nostri. V. Glória Patri.

Kyrie, Gloria.

Oratio. Deus, qui in præclára salutíferæ Crucis Inventióne passiónis tuæ mirácula suscitásti: concéde; ut, vitális ligni prétio, ætérnæ vitæ suffrágia consequámur: Qui vivis et regnas.

Oratio. Deus, qui fidélium mentes uníus éfficis voluntátis: da pópulis tuis id amáre quod prǽcipis, id desideráre quod promíttis; ut inter mundánas varietátes ibi nostra fixa sint corda, ubi vera sunt gáudia. Per Dóminum.

Oratio. Præsta, quǽsumus, omnípotens Deus: ut, qui sanctórum tuórum Alexándri, Eventii, Theodúli atque Juvenális natalítia cólimus; a cunctis malis imminéntibus, eórum intercessiónibus, liberémur. Per Dóminum.

Léctio Epístolæ beáti Pauli Apóstoli ad Philippenses.
Philipp. 2, 5-11.
Fratres: Hoc enim sentíte in vobis, quod et in Christo Jesu: qui, cum in forma Dei esset, non rápinam arbitrátus est esse se æquálem Deo: sed semetípsum exinanívit formam servi accípiens, in similitudinem hóminum factus, et habitu inventus ut homo. Humiliavit semetípsum, factus oboediens usque ad mortem, mortem autem crucis. Propter quod et Deus exaltávit illum: et dojiávit illi nomen, quod est super omne nomen: [hic genuflectitur] ut in nomine Jesu omne genu flectátur cœléstium, terréstrium et infernórum: et omnis lingua confiteátur, quia Dóminus Jesus Christus in glória est Dei Patris.

Allelúja, allelúja. V. Ps. 95, 10. Dícite in géntibus, quia Dóminus regnávit a ligno.

Allelúja. V. Dulce lignum, dulces clavos, dúlcia ferens póndera: quæ sola fuísti digna sustinére Regem cœlórum et Dóminum. Allelúja.

✠ Sequéntia sancti Evangélii secúndum Joánnem.
Joann. 3, 1-15.
In illo témpore: Erat homo ex pharisǽis, Nicodémus nómine, princeps Judæórum. Hic venit ad Jesum nocte et dixit ei: Rabbi, scimus, quia a Deo venísti magíster; nemo enim potest hæc signa fácere, quæ tu facis, nisi fúerit Deus cum eo. Respóndit Jesus et dixit ei: Amen, amen, dico tibi, nisi quis renátus fúerit denuo, non potest vidére regnum Dei. Dicit ad eum Nicodémus: Quómodo potest homo nasci, cum sit senex? numquid potest in ventrem matris suæ iterato introíre et renásci? Respóndit Jesus: Amen, amen, dico tibi, nisi quis renátus fúerit ex aqua et Spíritu Sancto, non potest introíre in regnum Dei. Quod natum est ex carne, caro est: et quod natum est ex spiritu, spíritus est. Non miréris, quia dixi tibi: opórtet vos nasci dénuo. Spíritus, ubi vult, spirat, et vocem ejus audis, sed nescis, unde véniat aut quo vadat: sic est omnis, qui natus est ex spíritu. Respondit Nicodémus et dixit ei: Quómodo possunt hæc fíeri? Respóndit Jesus et dixit ei: Tu es magíster in Israël, et hæc ignóras? Amen, amen, dico tibi, quia, quod scimus, lóquimur, et quod vídimus, testámur, et testimónium nostrum non accípitis. Si terréna dixi vobis et non creditis: quómodo, si díxero vobis cœléstia, credétis? Et nemo ascéndit in cœlum, nisi qui descéndit de cœlo, Fílius hóminis, qui est in cœlo. Et sicut Moyses exaltávit serpéntem in desérto: ita exaltári opórtet Fílium hóminis, ut omnis, qui credit in ipsum, non péreat, sed hábeat vitam ætérnam.

Credo.

Offertorium. Ps. 117, 16 et 17. Déxtera Dómini fecit virtútem, déxtera Dómini exaltávit me: non móriar, sed vivam et narrábo ópera Dómini, allelúja.

Secreta. Sacrifícium, Dómine, quod tibi immolámus, placátus inténde: ut ab omni nos éruat bellórum nequítia, et per vexillum sanctæ Crucis Fílii tui, ad conteréndas potestátis advérsa insídias, nos in tuæ protectiónis securitáte constítuat. Per eúndem Dóminum nostrum.

Secreta. Deus, qui nos, per hujus sacrificii veneránda commércia, uníus summæ divinitátis partícipes effecísti: præsta, quǽsumus; ut, sicut tuam cognóscimus veritátem, sic eam dignis móribus assequámur. Per Dóminum.

Secreta. Super has hóstias, quǽsumus, Dómine, benedíctio copiósa descéndat: quæ et sanctificatiónem nobis cleménter operátur, et de Sanctórum nos sollemnitáte lætíficet. Per Dóminum.

Præfatio de Cruce.

Vere dignum et justum est, æquum et salutáre, nos tibi semper et ubíque grátias ágere: Dómine sancte, Pater omnípotens, ætérne Deus: Qui salútem humáni géneris in ligno Crucis constituísti: ut, unde mors oriebátur, inde vita resúrgeret: et, qui in ligno vincébat, in ligno quoque vincerétur: per Christum, Dóminum nostrum. Per quem majestátem tuam laudant Angeli, adórant Dominatiónes, tremunt Potestátes. Cæli cælorúmque Virtútes ac beáta Séraphim sócia exsultatióne concélebrant. Cum quibus et nostras voces ut admítti júbeas, deprecámur, súpplici confessióne dicéntes:

Sanctus, Benedictus, Agnus Dei.

Communio. Per signum Crucis de inimícis nostris líbera nos, Deus noster, allelúja.

Postcommunio. Repléti alimónia cœlésti et spiritáli poculo recreati, quǽsumus, omnípotens Deus: ut ab hoste malígno deféndas, quos per lignum sanctæ Crucis Fílii tui, arma justítiæ pro salúte mundi, triumpháre jussísti. Per eúndem Dóminum.

Postcommunio. Adésto nobis, Dómine, Deus noster: ut per haec, quae fidéliter súmpsimus, et purgémur a vítiis et a perículis ómnibus eruámur. Per Dóminum nostrum.

Postcommunio. Refécti participatióne múneris sacri, quaesumus, Dómine, Deus noster: ut, cujus exséquimur cultum, intercedéntibus sanctis tuis Alexándro, Evéntio, Theodúlo et Juvenále, sentiámus efféctum. Per Dóminum.

✠ ✠ ✠

The Mass of the 4th Sunday post Pascha.

Introitus. Ps. 97, 1 et 2. Cantáte Dómino cánticum novum, alleluia: quia mirabília fecit Dóminus, allelúja: ante conspéctum géntium revelávit justítiam suam, allelúja, allelúja, allelúja. Ps. ibid, 1. Salvávit sibi déxtera ejus: et bráchium sanctum ejus. ℣. Glória Patri.

Kyrie, Gloria.

Oratio. Deus, qui fidélium mentes uníus éfficis voluntátis: da pópulis tuis id amáre quod prǽcipis, id desideráre quod promíttis; ut inter mundánas varietátes ibi nostra fixa sint corda, ubi vera sunt gáudia. Per Dóminum.

Léctio Epístolæ beáti Jacóbi Apóstoli.
Jac. 1, 17-21.
Caríssimi: Omne datum óptimum, et omne donum perféctum desúrsum est, descéndens a Patre lúminum, apud quem non est transmutátio nec vicissitúdinis obumbrátio. Voluntárie enim génuit nos verbo veritátis, ut simus in ítium áliquod creatúræ ejus. Scitis, fratres mei dilectíssimi. Sit autem omnis homo velox ad audiéndum: tardus autem ad loquéndum et tardus ad iram. Ira enim viri justítiam Dei non operátur. Propter quod abjiciéntes omnem immundítiam et abundántiam malítiæ, in mansuetúdine suscípite ínsitum verbum, quod potest salváre ánimas vestras.

Allelúja, allelúja. ℣. Ps. 117, 16. Déxtera Dómini fecit virtutem: déxtera Dómini exaltávit me.

Allelúja. ℣. Rom. 6, 9. Christus resúrgens ex mórtuis jam non móritur: mors illi ultra non dominábitur. Allelúja.

✠ Sequéntia sancti Evangélii secúndum Joánnem.
Joann. 16, 5-14.
In illo témpore: Dixit Jesus discípulis suis: Vado ad eum, qui misit me: et nemo ex vobis intérrogat me: Quo vadis? Sed quia hæc locútus sum vobis, tristítia implévit cor vestrum. Sed ego veritátem dico vobis: expédit vobis, ut ego vadam: si enim non abíero, Paráclitus non véniet ad vos: si autem abíero, mittam eum ad vos. Et cum vénerit ille. árguet mundum de peccáto et de justítia et de judício. De peccáto quidem, quia non credidérunt in me: de justítia vero, quia ad Patrem vado, et jam non vidébitis me: de judício autem, quia princeps hujus mundi jam judicátus est. Adhuc multa hábeo vobis dícere: sed non potéstis portáre modo. Cum autem vénerit ille Spíritus veritátis, docébit vos omnem veritátem. Non enim loquétur a semetípso: sed quæcúmque áudiet, loquétur, et quæ ventúra sunt, annuntiábit vobis. Ille me clarificábit: quia de meo accípiet et annuntiábit vobis.

Credo.

Offertorium. Ps. 65, 1-2 et 16. Jubiláte Deo, univérsa terra, psalmum dícite nómini ejus: veníte et audíte, et narrábo vobis, omnes qui timétis Deum, quanta fecit Dóminus ánimæ meæ, allelúja.

Vere dignum et justum est, æquum et salutáre: Te quidem, Dómine, omni témpore, sed in hoc potíssimum gloriósius prædicáre, cum Pascha nostrum immolátus est Christus. Ipse enim verus est Agnus, qui ábstulit peccáta mundi. Qui mortem nostram moriéndo destrúxit et vitam resurgéndo reparávit. Et ídeo cum Angelis et Archángelis, cum Thronis et Dominatiónibus cumque omni milítia cœléstis exércitus hymnum glóriæ tuæ cánimus, sine fine dicéntes:

Sanctus, Benedictus, Agnus Dei.

Communio. Joann. 16, 8. Cum vénerit Paráclitus Spíritus veritátis, ille árguet mundum de peccáto et de justítia et de judício, allelúja, allelúja.

Postcommunio. Adésto nobis, Dómine, Deus noster: ut per haec, quae fidéliter súmpsimus, et purgémur a vítiis et a perículis ómnibus eruámur. Per Dóminum nostrum.

The Neumz commentary for today is upon the antiphon Tanto tempore vobiscum sum, used in the Pauline Rite at the Communio. It was used on the feast of Saints Philip and James on the 1st in the Traditional Rite at both the Communio and as the text of the second Alleluia verse.

Four weeks of Easter have already passed and tomorrow we celebrate the Fifth one. Christians should not become tired of celebrating the main feast of the liturgical year, Easter, which lasts seven weeks. The Christian faith is fundamentally joyful and of optimistic vision. To celebrate this Sunday, in Neumz we have chosen the communion song from year A, Tanto tempore, that sounded also last Wednesday on the feast of the apostles Philip and James “the Less.” The text, taken from the Gospel of John 14:9-10, is the response that Philip received during Jesus’ speech after the Lord’s Supper. We proceed from the doubt of St. Thomas, which we sang three weeks ago, to the incomprehension of St. Philip. This is when our Lord shared with his apostles that “You have known me, you will also know my Father, and from now on you know him and have seen him,” Philip, who did not understand anything Jesus was saying, asked him the following: “Show us the Father and that is enough for us.” Jesus, somewhat surprised at having been so little understood, even though he had been with them for three years, with infinite benevolence, gave to everyone, but explicitly to Philip, the answer to the “enigma”: “He who has seen me has seen the father.” Like Philip, Christians at certain moments in their lives have asked the Lord a question or petition without making much sense, as a result of a great misunderstanding. However, the Lord, in his immense magnanimity, always responds to us in one way or another to clarify this misunderstanding and allows us to advance on the path toward the Truth.

On the other hand, this idea of the unity of Christ and the Father is sublime at the moment of the Communion, for through the Sacrament of the Eucharist we enter into this unity: “he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me and I in him,” and therefore, the one who remains in Christ also remains in the Eternal Father, since “I am in the Father and the Father is in me.”

As for the melody, composed in mode IV, it is full of great sweetness and tender delicacy, as well as a great expressive force in all the details of the text. The melody starts with the Re and after sounding the Fa, quickly settles on the Fundamental note, the Mi (the first two fa on the word tempore are in fact the Mi found in the restored version of the Graduale Novum). There is a beautiful melodic twist on the last syllable on tempore moving mostly on a semitonal distance, Mi-Fa. In this small melisma, the intimacy between Jesus and his apostles is sung, as well as the time that they had known each other, for so long. The same salicus, Mi-Mi-Fa, that appears in the melisma on the word tempore reappears in the vobiscum accent, with you, underlining and amplifying that closeness that has just been sung and that will continue to manifest itself even more, if possible, descending to the low register on sum with the Do-B flat, and that concludes the second phrase. This infrequent melodic turn in the lower range, in mode IV, also highlights the fact that Jesus is down here with them. He is incarnated as one of them, but it does not mean that he lost his divinity. The first musical phrase concludes with the first rhetorical question of the text that, far from being a reproach, expresses a certain surprise and a sort of disappointment in the Master. The melodic movement of et non cognovistis me is majestic. It is an echo of the incipit of the piece: the Re, the Fa, the Sol, and at the end, the Mi resonate again. Note, also, another touch of the compositional genius, after having heard above all the Fa in this last phrase, the cadence in Mi is the most adequate to formulate the question of Jesus.

On Philippe, the second phrase begins by reclaiming exactly the same melody as tempore (melodic restitutions included): full of tenderness, closeness, and a relationship of trust with Philip for years. Indeed, if in the first phrase, the addressee of Jesus’ message are all of the apostles, non cognovistis, then now one of them is made explicit, the one who has dared to make the observation: Philip. After this, in qui videt me, for the first time, the melody ascends towards the Dominant, the La. The lower register is left, to rise toward heaven, the divine nature of the Master, and to sing it surrounding the La. In the high range, the B flat adds at the same time the tenderness and semitonal closeness that appeared on the low register between the Mi and the Fa, and which confer to this piece its most important character. On the other hand, it is worth noting that the pronoun me that closed the first sentence on the Mi on the first phrase, and the one we find in this incise, around the Dominant La, refers to the Lord: who is on earth (low range) and in the highest with the Father (high range). In the last incise of this second phrase, the melodic movement descends and settles with great devotion on the Fa and on Patrem, on a tristropha, the only one in the piece, the soul sings full of loving veneration. The phrase closes with an alleluia that oscillates between the Mi and the Fa, always with that tenderness of closeness that marks this piece.

On the third and last musical phrase, a possible reproach from the Lord to Philip has been suppressed, which would have been discordant with the general character of this song: quomodo tu dicis ostende nobis Patrem? How, then, do you say: “Show us the Father?” After the affirmation on the second phrase, the Lord insistently reclaims Philip’s question, as if he still did not understand and wanted to persuade him of the great truth that he was manifesting. The virga with episema of Saint Gall, reinforces the non at the beginning of the rhetorical question, to what the firmness of credis follows, with a pes subbipunctis, in which we have a leap of a Fourth, the only one in the piece with a reverential character, with its two last notes with an episema and a bivirga on the Fa to end the word forcefully, don’t you believe... And after returning to the Re, the melody rises forcefully towards the heights where, in the high range, the heavenly Father dwells; once established in the Dominant in ego, it continues to ascend until it reaches the Do in the accent on Patre. I am in the Father: the soul sings with great devotion and reverence. Observe the masterful turn that concludes the word Patre with a neumatic cut on the B note followed by two climacus that lean with great fervor moving around the solidity of the Dominant that reappears musically and semantically uniting the pronoun me of the second phrase and Patre: I in the Father and the Father in me. This common-union between Jesus and his (our) Father is manifested countless times on the last phrase before the concluding alleluias. The melody unites the earthly with the heavenly, the Mi with the La on et Pater, and it even descends on in me to the Do again: the Son of God becomes man, and incarnate brings us the Father, here below, the melody sings it with a reverential climacus, before culminating with another majestic touch on the Master’s question thanks to a salicus that draws a suspensive cadence, Mi-Mi-Fa.

This communion song ends with two alleluias: the first one recalls the melody from the beginning, so much... And the second one condenses the tender closeness of Jesus and his apostles with the reappearance of the La and B flat, as in on me, and of the Dominant, from heaven, the melody reaches the Mi, to the earth, to conclude the piece with a turn almost identical to the alleluia that finishes the second phrase.

✠ ✠ ✠

Concéde, miséricors Deus, fragilitáti nostræ præsídium; ut, qui sanctæ Dei Genitrícis memóriam ágimus; intercessiónis ejus auxílio, a nostris iniquitátibus resurgámus. Per Christum Dóminum nóstrum.

Deus, a quo sancta desidéria, recta consília, et justa sunt ópera: da servis tuis illam, quam mundus dare non potest, pacem; ut et corda nostra mandátis tuis dédita, et hóstium subláta formídine, témpora sint tua protectióne tranquílla. Per Dóminum.

Deus, qui caritátis dona per grátiam Sancti Spíritus tuórum fidélium córdibus infudísti: da fámulis et famulábus tuis, pro quibus tuam deprecámur cleméntiam, salútem mentis et córporis; ut te tota virtúte díligant, et quæ tibi plácita sunt, tota dilectióne perfíciant. Per Dóminum.

Hic [fons baptismalis, in benedictione in Sabbato Sancto] ómnium peccatórum máculæ deleántur: hic natúra ad imáginem tuam cóndita, et ad honórem sua reformáta princípii, cunctis vetustátis squalóribus emundétur: ut omnis homo, sacraméntum hoc regeneratiónis ingréssus, in veræ innocéntiæ novam infántiam renascátur.
Per Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum, Fílium tuum: Qui ventúrus est judicáre vivos et mórtuos et sǽculum per ignem.
R. Amen.

Laus Deo Virginique Matri

in cínere et cilício

Search This Blog