medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Offertorium – 37
The readings for the Tuesday of Holy Week were Jeremiah 11:18-20 (I was
like a meek lamb being led to the slaughter) and the Passion according
to St Mark (Mark 14:1-72, 15:1-46). The Introit which leads us into
these solemn accounts of Christ’s suffering is surprisingly upbeat. The
Antiphon is Galatians 6:14
Nos autem gloriari oportet in cruce Domini nostri Jesu Christi: in quo
est salus, vita, et resurrectio nostra: per quem salvati, et liberati
sumus.
Holy Week is about the sufferings of Christ, but the resurrection and
the glory of the redeemed can be seen through it: ‘in whom is our
salvation, life, and resurrection.’
The Psalm-verse is 66:2, a cheerful psalm rather than one foretelling
the sufferings of Christ. Indeed there is nothing anywhere in the psalm
that could easily be interpreted, even allegorically, as referring to
the Passion:
Deus misereatur nostri, et benedicat nobis: illuminet vultum suum super
nos, et misereatur nostri.
‘God be merciful to us, and bless us, and shed the light of his face
upon us, and be merciful to us.’
The Gradual however returns to Psalm 34, so much a feature of the
previous day’s Mass, and very much in keeping with the theme of the
Passion which follows it. The verses selected are nos 13 and 1-2:
Ego autem, dum mihi molesti essent, induebam me cilicio, et humiliabam
in jejunio animam meam: et oratio meam in sinu meo convertetur.
Judica, Domine, nocentes me, expugna impugnantes me: apprehende arma,
et scutum, et exsurge in adjutorium mihi.
The Offertorium, ps. 139:5, is appropriate, and to the point:
Custodi me, Domine, de manu peccatoris: et ab hominibus iniquis eripe
me.
The same can be said of the Communio, ps. 68:13-14
Adversum me exercebantur, qui sedebant in porta: et in me psallebant,
qui bibebant vinum: ego vero orationem meam ad te, Domine: tempus
beneplaciti, Deus, in multitudine misericordiae tuae.
I don’t see a verb in verse 14, but that is how it appears in the
Missal. In the Vulgate verse 13 reads ‘Adversum me loquebantur’, which
makes a better parallel:
Against me they spoke: who sat at the gate
About me they sang: who drank wine.
One of these verbs can then be understood to supply what is lacking in
the following sentence:
But I [sang or spoke] my prayer to you, O Lord.
More anon.
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