medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Bill East wrote:
>
> Offertorium - 41
>
> The service for Good Friday is not a Mass, and has no Introit,
> Offertory or Communion.
The 'Liber Usualis' calls it the Mass of the Presanctified.
> After the second Tract comes the lengthy reading of the Passion
> according to Saint John (18:1-40; 19:1-42). This is followed by the
> Solemn Intercessions.
You missed out the Gospel :-)
> Each of these in two parts. First the priest
> sings the introduction, setting out the subject of the prayer. Then he
> invites the people to pray for it: 'Oremus'. The Deacon sings
> 'Flectamus genua', Let us kneel. When the people have knelt and
> prayed, the Subdeacon sings, 'Levate', Arise. The priest then sings a
> collect
> for the subject proposed. This is a very ancient pattern of liturgical
> prayer, surviving now only in these prayers.
In the Sarum Use, the Deacon says both 'Flectamus genua' and 'Levate'.
> The subjects of these prayers are (1) The Church; (2) The Pope; (3)
> All
> Bishops, Priests, Deacons, Subdeacons, Acolytes, Exorcists, Lectors,
> Doorkeepers, Confessors, Virgins, Widows, and all the holy people of
> God; (4) The Roman Emperor (prayed for long after he had ceased to
> exist);
This is not in the 'Liber Usualis' :-)
The Sarum Use has "christianissimo rege nostro, N,"
> (5) The Catechumens; (6) That God would purge all errors, take
> away diseases, drive away hunger, open the prisons, loose bonds, bring
> wanderers home, give healing to the sick, and a safe harbour to
> seafarers; (7) Heretics and schismatics; (8) The 'Perfidious Jews'
> (not very kindly phrased); (9) The Pagans.
>
> After the Prayers comes the Veneration of the Cross. The celebrant
> sings three times:
>
> Ecce lignum Crucis, in quo salus mundi perpendit.
>
> Each time he unveils a little more of the cross, until it is
> completely exposed.
> Each time the choir sings in reply:
>
> Venite, adoremus.
This tripartite strip-tease is not in the 'Liber Usualis' (it says the
Priest unveils the cross before the antiphon).
My version of the Sarum Use doesn't have it either. "Ecce lignum Crucis"
isn't sung at this point, and the cross remains veiled during the
Improperia.
> Eamon Duffy writes of what follows: 'Clergy and people then crept
> barefoot and on their knees to kiss the foot of the cross, held by two
> ministers ... Creeping to the cross was one of the most frequent
> targets of Protestant reformers from the 1530s onwards, and there can
> be no doubt of the place it held in lay piety: well into the
> Elizabetheran period Bishop Grindal would complain that on Good Friday
> "some certeyn persons go barefooted and barelegged to the churche, to
> creepe to the crosse." (The Stripping of the Altars, p. 29)
>
> During the veneration of the cross are sung the 'Improperia' or
> 'Reproaches', a series of scriptural verses contrasting the goodness
> of
> God and the ingratitude of his people. They begin,
>
> Popule meus, quid feci tibi? aut in quo contristivi te? responde mihi.
>
> Quia eduxi te de terra Aegypti: parasti Crucem Salvatori tuo.
Sarum: sung by two priest.
> Then is sung a chant familiar to Orthodox Christians, the Trisagion,
> in both Greek and Latin:
>
> Deacon: Agios o Theos.
Sarum: two deacons
> Subdeacon: Holy God. [recte: Sanctus Deus]
Sarum: Choir
> Deacon: Agios ischyros.
Sarum: two deacons
> Subdeacon: Sanctus fortis.
Sarum: Choir
> Deacon: Agios athanatos, eleison imas.
Sarum: two deacons
> Subdeacon: Sanctus immortalis, miserere nobis.
Sarum: Choir
> The celebrant continues:
Sarum : two priests
> Quia eduxi te per desertum quadraginta annis, et manna cibavi te, et
> introduxi te in terram satis bonam: parasti Crucem Salvatori tuo.
>
> And so on.
At Sarum, it is only after the third singing of the Agyos O theos / Sanctus
Deus sequence for the third time that the two priests uncover the cross and
sing "Ecce lignum".
> After the Improperia is sung the hymn 'Pange lingua gloriosi' of
> Venantius Fortunatus. I believe I have written a commentary on this
> hymn for this very list, some years ago, so I shall not repeat the
> exercise today.
Or rather, "Crux fidelis" sung between the verses of "Pange lingua
gloriosi".
> After the Veneration of the Cross is complete, the reserved Sacrament
> is brought to the altar for the priest's Communion, which concludes
> the service.
Not at Sarum: as with Maundy Thursday, a curtailed form of Vespers follows
immediately. The Postcommunion brings both Mass and Vespers to an end.
John Briggs
**********************************************************************
To join the list, send the message: join medieval-religion YOUR NAME
to: [log in to unmask]
To send a message to the list, address it to:
[log in to unmask]
To leave the list, send the message: leave medieval-religion
to: [log in to unmask]
In order to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write to:
[log in to unmask]
For further information, visit our web site:
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/medieval-religion.html
|