medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Bill East wrote:
> > There remain the Gradual and Alleluia. The former consists of two
> > verses (18 and 21) of psalm 144, and its opening words 'Prope est
> > Dominus' - the Lord is near - are a sufficient justification for its
> > use on this Sunday before Christmas:
> >
> > Prope est Dominus omnibus invocantibus eum: omnibus qui invocant eum
> > in veritate. Laudem Domini loquetur os meum: et benedicat omnis caro
> > nomen sanctum eius.
> > . . .
> > The verse of the Alleluia, unusually, is not identified as a
> > scriptural text either in the Missal or the Graduale Romanum, but
> > seems to be simply a prayer. Perhaps Stan or some other member can
> > inform us about its origin:
> >
> > Veni, Domine, et noli tardare: relaxa facinora plebis tuae Israel.
John Briggs replied:
> It's not scriptural: the words tardare, relaxa, facinora, aren't in the
> Vulgate!
This oft repeated Advent text, used in both Mass and Office formularies, is
based on two verses of Scripture. Hab 2, 3 reads: quia adhuc visus procul et
apparebit in finem et non mentietur si moram fecerit expecta illum quia
veniens veniet et non tardabit. 3 Kings 8, 34a reads: exaudi in cælo, et
dimitte peccatum populi tui Israël. (Clementine Vulgate)
It's not uncommon for composers of antiphons or other liturgical texts to
take a scripture text and adapt it into a prayer format. There are a number
of reasons why this might happen, including musical, theological emphasis,
personal meditation or spirituality. In this instance, the changes from
dimitte to relaxa, from peccatum to facinora, and from populi to plebis are
ripe for theological speculation. Alas, as most writers on the subject of
the composition and origins of liturgical formularies have already stated,
rarely can we determine anything about what may have been in the mind of the
composer/compiler with any reliable evidence.
[TAN - comments with mild rant] I have a particular interest in the
evolution of liturgical texts and their compilation into formularies. These
have had enormous and pervasive cultural influence, especially in the West,
enduring right up to our own day. It's an area that I would personally love
to research. (Perhaps when/if I can ever retire!) Most of the literature
I've seen about them, though, are studies done with a musical focus, with
perhaps passing comments about the underlying theology that I strongly
suspect drove much of the development. Many volumes of commentary have been
written mining this rich treasure after the fact, not to mention countless
sermons and guided meditations through the centuries of their usage. But
other than hymns, I haven't seen much work that attempts to get back to very
specific questions of origins or authorship of texts and compilation of
formularies. [ Of course, much of that work was deliberately anonymous, a
tradition that often continues even today. E.g., the scarcity of info about
Consilium documentation about composition of new texts after the Council, or
the attribution of much specific restoration work at Solesmes. ] Peter
Jeffery at Princeton says on his website that he has a study for the Mass
based on an 8c manuscript 'Actively in progress' but again his perspective
has usually been that of a musicologist.
Stan Metheny
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