Constítues eos príncipes super omnem terram: mémores erunt nóminis tui, Dómine, in omni progénie et generatióne...

Deus, qui hodiérnam diem Apostolórum tuórum Petri et Pauli martýrio consecrásti: da Ecclésiæ tuæ, eórum in ómnibus sequi præcéptum; per quos religiónis sumpsit exórdium. Per Dóminum nostrum.

Deus, qui præséntem diem honorábilem nobis in beáti Joánnis nativitáte fecísti: da pópulis tuis spirituálium grátiam gaudiórum; et ómnium fidélium mentes dirige in viam salútis ætérnæ. Per Dóminum.

Today is Monday in the 5th week post Pentecosten and it is the 6th day infra Octavam Sancti Ioannis Baptistae. It is the great Feast of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul. The Mass is Nunc scio vere quia misit Dominus Angelum suum. 

At Saint-Eugène, M l'Abbé Cuchet is celebrating Holy Mass today, the Mass Nunc scio vere quia misit Dominus Angelum suum.

The Roman Martyrology today, for tomorrow June 30, the day before the Kalends of June.

Introitus. Act. 12, 11. Nunc scio vere, quia misit Dóminus Angelum suum: et erípuit me de manu Heródis et de omni exspectatióne plebis Judæórum. Ps. 138, 1-2. Dómine; probásti me et cognovísti me: tu cognovísti sessiónem meam et resurrectiónem meam. V. Glória Patri.

Kyrie, Gloria.

Oratio. Deus, qui hodiérnam diem Apostolórum tuórum Petri et Pauli martýrio consecrásti: da Ecclésiæ tuæ, eórum in ómnibus sequi præcéptum; per quos religiónis sumpsit exórdium. Per Dóminum nostrum.

Léctio Actuum Apostolórum.
Act. 12, 1-11.
In diébus illis: Misit Heródes rex manus, ut afflígeret quosdam de ecclésia. Occidit autem Jacóbum fratrem Joánnis gládio. Videns autem, quia placeret Judǽis, appósuit, ut apprehénderet et Petrum. Erant autem dies azymórum. Quem cum apprehendísset, misit in cárcerem, tradens quatuor quaterniónibus mílitum custodiéndum, volens post Pascha prodúcere eum pópulo. Et Petrus quidem servabátur in cárcere. Orátio autem fiébat sine intermissióne ab ecclésia ad Deum pro eo. Cum autem productúrus eum esset Herodes, in ipsa nocte erat Petrus dórmiens inter duos mílites, vinctus caténis duábus: et custódes ante óstium custodiébant cárcerem. Et ecce, Angelus Dómini ástitit: et lumen refúlsit in habitáculo: latere Petri, percussóque excitávit eum, dicens: Surge velóciter. Et cecidérunt caténæ de mánibus ejus. Dixit autem Angelus ad eum: Præcíngere, et cálcea te cáligas tuas. Et fecit sic. Et dixit illi: Circúmda tibi vestiméntum tuum, et séquere me. Et exiens sequebátur eum, et nesciébat quia verum est, quod fiébat per Angelum: existimábat autem se visum vidére. Transeúntes autem primam et secundam custódiam, venérunt ad portam férream, quæ ducit ad civitátem: quæ ultro apérta est eis. Et exeúntes processérunt vicum unum: et contínuo discéssit Angelus ab eo. Et Petrus ad se revérsus, dixit: Nunc scio vere, quia misit Dóminus Angelum suum, et erípuit me de manu Heródis et de omni exspectatióne plebis Judæórum.

At Neumz, their commentator looks at this Graduale, which evidently has remained in its place in the Pauline Rite. I've added the text infra.

Graduale. Ps. 44, 17-18. Constítues eos príncipes super omnem terram: mémores erunt nóminis tui. Dómine. V. Pro pátribus tuis nati sunt tibi fílii: proptérea pópuli confítebúntur tibi.

Allelúja, allelúja. V. Matth. 18, 18. Tu es Petrus, et super hanc petram ædificábo Ecclésiam meam. Allelúja.

✠ Sequéntia sancti Evangélii secúndum Matthǽum.
Matth. 16, 13-19.
In illo témpore: Venit Jesus in partes Cæsaréæ Philippi, et interrogábat discípulos suos, dicens: Quem dicunt hómines esse Fílium hóminis? At illi dixérunt: Alii Joánnem Baptístam, alii autem Elíam, álii vero Jeremíam aut unum ex Prophétis. Dicit illis Jesus: Vos autem quem me esse dícitis? Respóndens Simon Petrus, dixit: Tu es Christus, Fílius Dei vivi. Respóndens autem Jesus, dixit ei: Beátus es, Simon Bar Jona: quia caro et sanguis non revelávit tibi, sed Pater meus, qui in cœlis est. Et ego dico tibi, quia tu es Petrus, et super hanc petram ædificábo Ecclésiam meam, et portæ ínferi non prævalébunt advérsus eam. Et tibi dabo claves regni cœlórum. Et quodcúmque ligáveris super terram, erit ligátum et in cœlis: et quodcúmque sólveris super terram, erit solútum et in cœlis.

Credo, per totam Octavam.

Offertorium. Ps. 44. 17-18. Constítues eos príncipes super omnem terram: mémores erunt nóminis tui, Dómine, in omni progénie et generatióne.

Secreta. Hóstias, Dómine, quas nómini tuo sacrándas offérimus, apostólica prosequátur orátio: per quam nos expiári tríbuas et deféndi. Per Dóminum.

Præfatio de Apostolis, quæ dicitur per totam Octavam in omnibus Missis, quæ aliam Præfationem non exigant, juxta Rubricas.

Vere dignum et justum est, æquum et salutáre: Te, Dómine, supplíciter exoráre, ut gregem tuum, Pastor ætérne, non déseras: sed per beátos Apóstolos tuos contínua protectióne custódias. Ut iísdem rectóribus gubernétur, quos óperis tui vicários eídem contulísti præésse pastóres. 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. Matth. 16, 18. Tu es Petrus, ei super hanc petram aedificabo Ecclésiam meam.

Postcommunio. Quos cœlésti, Dómine, alimento satiásti: apostolicis intercessiónibus ab omni ad versitáte custódi. Per Dóminum nostrum.

The Neumz commentary on the Graduale.

Every June 29th, during the Solemnity of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, apostles, we remember these great witnesses of Jesus Christ. According to the Chronograph of 354, this solemnity was attested in the fourth century. Peter, the fragile and passionate friend of Jesus, is the man chosen by Christ to be the rock of the Church: “You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church” (Matthew 16:16). He humbly accepted his mission to the end, until he died as a martyr. His tomb is in St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City. It is a place of pilgrimage for millions of people from all over the world. Also, Paul of Tarsus, the persecutor of Christians who became the Apostle of the Gentiles, is a model as an ardent evangelist. After encountering Jesus on his journey, he gave himself without reservation to the cause of the Gospel. These great apostles always held a special place among the Benedictines, who chose them as patron saints for many of their abbeys.

We have chosen at Neumz the gradual responsory Constitues eos to celebrate this solemnity, from the Common of the Apostles. The text is taken from Psalm 44:17-18. It celebrates the union of Christ and the Church, it refers particularly to the new generation, the priestly and royal race of Christ, which will gradually cover the earth and establish the kingdom over the world of God. The order in which the composer has arranged the text is curious: the second hemistich of verse 17, followed by the first hemistich of verse 18. And for the responsory verse, the first hemistich of verse 17 and the second hemistich of verse 18. This redistribution of the verses has a purpose, without a doubt, since nothing in the Gregorian repertoire is by chance or simply by personal taste. The text of our piece changes its meaning regarding the psalm of origin, in addition to the fact that a new cause-effect relationship is clearly established, and a certain hierarchy or priority in the facts:

Constítues eos príncipes super omnem terram: mémores erunt nóminis tui, Dómine.
You shall make them Princes through all the land; they shall remember Your name, O Lord.

First of all, the Lord (Domine has been added to the text to make the subject of the verb explicit in a clearer way) established princes, spiritual leaders over the whole earth, that is, the Apostles, to preserve and spread his message, to extend the Kingdom of Heaven in the world and to honor the memory of his Most Holy name. That was the priority.

Pro pátribus tuis nati sunt tibi fílii: proptérea pópuli confitebúntur tibi.
The place of your fathers your sons shall have; therefore shall nations save you.

The Apostles began the mission and after them, others continued: the children who were born to replace their fathers are the Apostles. The Apostles were sent as fathers, and in their place sons have been born, and they have been constituted bishops. In fact, the bishops of today, who are all over the world, the Church herself has begotten them, and she herself has established them in the chairs of the fathers. I no longer see Peter and Paul, but not for that reason did our Lord abandon his Church. To replace the founding fathers, children have been born who have strengthened and spread the message of Jesus Christ and his Apostles throughout the earth. Peter and Paul, all the Apostles, today, already from eternity, can see how the Kingdom is spreading throughout the world. There are still conquests to be made, but children continue to be born to continue the work, and the day will come when peoples and kings will be submitted to the unconditional Love of the Eternal Father.

As for the melody, it is composed in mode V, it is a praise deeply penetrated by the joy of homage to the Princes of Christ, the Apostles. In this gradual responsory, it is the Church that chants, and she sings with the immense joy of those who are her Princes: the first, Peter and Paul, and also the other apostles who, as sons who succeeded their fathers, ruled the world after them. Hence the greatness, full of immense joy, that pervades this chant. Before beginning with the musical analysis, it is worth remembering that like all gradual responsories, this piece includes centons, that is, melodic formulas proper to this or that mode, in our case mode V with its characteristic centons, which are reused from one piece to another. The gradual Constitues eos is a jewel in this mode V, we find it in other pieces, sometimes utilized again identically, like in the Gradual of the Mass of the Holy Trinity, Benedictus es Domine qui intueris.

The grandeur of which we spoke above is found from the incipit, Constítues eos, you shall make them, in the firm bivirga on the fundamental, Fa-Fa, of the accent of Constitues and even more in the cadenza of eos, with another bivirga, Sol-Sol, and a clivis with episema. The melody firmly, solidly establishes this designation, this most sublime distinction. In principes, princes, all is reverence, the melody progressively bows before the dignity it sings: such high distinction conferred by Christ deserves nothing less. The melodic movement begins by capturing that loving tenderness towards our Apostles, visible heads of the Church, the use of the B-flat is masterful. After that, a series of reverences happen, the melody progressively bows, note the two reverent pes subbipuncti with the last two elongated notes, which rest on the virga with episema, on the Mi, and end in a genuflection in the form of a torculus, Re-Mi-Do, in the lowest range of the body of the responsory. This incise closes with a cadential formula full of fervent adoration, with the melody resting peacefully on the Fa.

In super omnem terram, through all the land, the melody finally comes into full bloom and shines in all its splendor. The enthusiasm, which we feel latent from the beginning, suddenly bursts forth in the attack on the Do, dominant of mode V, the melodic movement develops in the heights of the mode, a praise that moves over the whole earth, it ranges from the high Re to the low Fa, almost the entire modal range. An enthusiasm that progressively increases until it reaches the last syllable of terram where it flourishes in the beautiful intervals of fifths that rise and fall majestically. The melodic-rhythmic articulation of the virga with episema in Re, right in the center of the melisma is like the axis that receives and transmits the strength of all that enthusiasm: the influence of these princes, the Apostles, the apostolic authority is imposed on the whole earth. The B-flat resounds again in this passage, conferring to this overflowing enthusiasm, a touch of tenderness, of closeness. In any case, it should be noted that the use of the B-flat marks this piece in a significant way.

In the second phrase, this melodic strength is resumed with the same extremely bright ardor in memores erunt, they shall remember, the high range is not abandoned, the melody moves around the dominant, and it invites us to raise our voice to honor that memory: magnificent is the quilismatic movement toward the Re, full of adoration in the accent of the word memores, as is the reverent melodic descent on the posttonic syllable and, to conclude the incise the four-note salicus in the accent of erunt that stands strong and firm toward the dominant, Sol-La-B-flat-Do. The melody appeases momentarily at the cadence of the La, like in the previous one.

The end of the second phrase, nóminis tui, Dómine, Your name, O Lord, presents one of the compositional geniuses of this piece: the melodic-verbal parallelism that unites the vocative Lord, which was added to the original text, and the word name. The melodic design is practically the same, a very reverent melodic descent from the dominant to the fundamental, to ascend again with firmness and immense joy to the dominant, from heaven to earth and from earth to heaven: Do-La-B-flat Sol-Fa Fa La-Sol Do-Do, Domine, appears with a sort of coda in which the melody reaches the Re, in a contemplative movement in which the gaze is set on the heights and then descends with great devotion by thirds, Do-La-Fa, to become ardent in the admirable cadential formula that concludes the body of the responsory.

In Pro pátribus tuis, the place of your fathers, the agile ascent to the dominant from the fundamental and the marked patribus attack in the bivirga marks the melody, from the beginning, with the same enthusiastic ardor. This perfectly adapts to these words that exalt the race of Christ and, first and foremost, those who were his first messengers. Everything is full of reverence with pronounced descending movements like the series of two climacus, Do-Si-La Do-Si-Sol, reverence that combines with fervent exaltation, like the joyous melodic ascent of the scandicus subbipunctis followed by the climacus resupinus, Fa-Sol-La-Do-Si-La La-Sol-Fa-Sol. Little by little, the melodic movement gives the word great brilliance: in crescendo, it ends up being sung in the high range with immense adoration, the dominant is surpassed and even the high Mi resounds for the first time. In tuis ends up becoming a brilliant exaltation, overwhelmingly splendid: rhythmically everything is fluid, immense devotion, leaps of jubilation over and over again, the high Fa is reached, from Do to Fa and from Fa to Do.

In the following incise, nati sunt tibi fílii: your sons shall have, this exaltation again rises in the accent of nati, solemn, majestic with the quilismatic movement, from the dominant to the high Fa, the fundamental to the octave: like a cry in which the prayerful one expresses admiration, joy, and pride for these children, heirs of the Apostles. After a beautiful reverence in tibi, La-Do-Do-Sol, a pronoun referring to our Lord, in filii, the melodic movement becomes extremely reverent. Note, for example, the elongated double pes subbipunctis, La-B-flat-La-Sol La-B-flat-La-Fa, in that melodic descent to the fundamental enveloped in deep veneration. In a way, there is a marked echo of the reverence with which patribus is sung.

In proptérea pópuli, therefore shall nations, the melody is still wrapped in that joy, in that veneration that characterizes this gradual responsory. Note in proptérea the firm melodic ascent from the fundamental with two pes quadratus, Fa-Sol Sol-La, and the reverent descent from the dominant with two clivis, Do-La Do-Sol, before closing the word with a magnificent ascent that sets the melody on the Do. The enthusiasm and the joy that is barely contained continues in populi around the dominant with some reverent punctuation toward the low range. The people raise their eyes to heaven and contemplate with joy the heights from where Christ and his apostles watch his work spread everywhere.

In the final incise, confitebúntur tibi, praise you, that universal veneration, full of loving gratitude continues to spread. Now from the fundamental, it rises gradually, first to the La and then to the Do, in a gesture of adoration and admiration. Note in tibi, the magnificent quilismatic movement reminds us of the accent of nati and the reverent leap of a fourth, Do-Sol, which is used again from the previous tibi. The piece concludes with a sort of double melodic arc, Do-Fa-Do, where the turn of nóminis and Domine, Do-La-B-flat Sol-Fa, resounds. How not to end this piece singing with immense joy in our hearts, meditating, contemplating in the depths of our being that we owe everything to you Christ, our Lord? And for this, we venerate you, we adore you, we thank you. In your Holy Name, your Apostles and their heirs perpetuate your legacy: the Good News will reach all nations!

✠    ✠    ✠

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.

Laus Deo Virginique Matri