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medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture Offertorium – 12 The 1st of January, or Octave Day of Christmas, is nowadays celebrated as the feast of Mary, Mother of God. In the old Missal it was celebrated as the Circumcision of the Lord, and such was the Gospel reading ((Luke 2:21). However, neither the prayers nor the antiphons make any reference to circumcision, the Collect and Postcommunion both referring to Mary, and the chants being simply those from the previous Sunday, which we have already examined. A rather half-hearted feast, and one may feel the revisers did it a favour by suppressing it. It may be a surprise to our members of the Anglican persuasion that the Collect for the Circumcision in the Book of Common Prayer is not a translation from the Latin but a new composition, which does indeed explore the theology of the Circumcision in a way which the Latin Mass never did: Almighty God, who madest thy blessed Son to be circumcised, and obedient to the law for man: grant us the true circumcision of the spirit; that our hearts, and all our members, being mortified from all worldly and carnal lusts, we may in all things obey thy blessed will. Through the same . . . The Feast of the Most Holy Name of Jesus is appointed to be celebrated on the Sunday between the Circumcision and the Epiphany, or, if there is no such Sunday, on 2nd January. For this feast, unlike the Circumcision, the chants were evidently chosen with some care as to their suitability. The Introit begins with a passage from St Paul’s letter to the Philippians, 2:10-11. In nomine Jesu omne genu flectatur, caelestium, terrestrium, et infernorum: et omnis lingua confiteatur, quia Dominus Jesus Christus in gloria est Dei Patris. ‘At the Name of Jesus, every knee shall bow.’ The psalm-verse too (8:2) is well chosen for the feast: Domine Dominus noster, quam admirabile est nomen tuum in universa tua! The Gradual consists of two scriptural verses, Psalm 105:47 and Isaiah 63:16, both referring to the holy Name, as does the Alleluia, Psalm 144:21 Salvos fac nos, Domine Deus noster, et congrega nos de nationibus: ut confiteamur nomini sancto tuo, et gloriemur in gloria tua. Tu, Domine, pater noster, et redemptor noster: a saeculo nomen tuum. Alleluia, alleluia. Laudem Domini loquetur os meum, et benedicat omnis caro nomen sanctum eius. Alleluia. Unusually, Offertorium and Communio are selected from the same psalm, no. 85, the former verses 12 and 5, the latter verses 9 and 10. Both are a little longer than is usual, both end in an alleluia, and again, both explicitly refer to the holy Name: Off.: Confitebor tibi, Domine Deus meus, in toto corde meo, et glorificabo nomen tuum in aeternum: quoniam tu, Domine, suavis et mitis es: et multae disericordiae omnibus invocantibus te, alleluia. Com.:Omnes gentes quascumque fecisti, venient, et adorabunt coram te, Domine, et glorificabunt nomen tuum: quoniam magnus es tu, et faciens mirabilia: tu es Deus solus. Alleluia. The care and consistency with which these texts were selected indicate a single mind, and in fact we know a good deal about the history of this feast. It was celebrated locally at the end of the Middle Ages – just squeezing into our period – and was officially granted to the Franciscans in 1530 for observance on 14th January. The observance gradually spread until it was finally prescribed in 1721 by Innocent XIII for the whole Church on the Second Sunday after the Epiphany. The Office and Mass were composed by Bernardino dei Busti (d. 1500) – anybody know anything about him? I think George’s dictum about longue durée would allow us to say something about him. The office hymns, ‘Jesu dulcis memoria’, ‘Jesu Rex admirabilis’ and ‘Jesu decus angelicum’ were adapted for the feast from the work of a 12th century author. I shall do some work on these and let you know more anon! It was Pius X who fixed the date of the feast on the Sunday between the Circumcision and the Epiphany, and – alas, I feel – it was suppressed altogether in 1969. I hope I will not be accused of stealing anyone’s thunder if I point out that the feast was observed on 7th August in the Sarum Calendar. Bill. --------------------------------- Yahoo! Messenger NEW - crystal clear PC to PCcalling worldwide with voicemail ********************************************************************** 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