The Numinous and the Roman Rite, Part I

The concept of the numinous was first articulated by the German Lutheran Rudolf Otto in his seminal work The Idea of the Holy: An Inquiry into the Non-Rational Factor in the Idea of the Divine and its Relation to the Rational. Since its publication in 1917, the monograph has influenced an impressive array of thinkers with vastly different points of view: Paul Tillich, Karl Barth, Carl Jung, Joseph Campbell, Martin Heidegger, Karl Rahner, Leo Strauss, and C.S. Lewis, to name a few. Otto’s thought is not perfect (it has been rightly criticized for working within a post-Kantian framework), but it is sufficient for our purposes, namely, as a means of exploring something in worship that cannot be explained away by rationalist reduction. In fact, I would go so far as to count among the most reliable ways to measure the health of a liturgy its ability to generate a sense of the numinous.

And so, to substantiate my claim, I will in this post summarize Otto’s concept and argue that every Eucharistic liturgy is and should be an encounter with the numinous. Then, next week I will describe three ways in which the 1962 Roman Missal successfully encourages a sense of the numinous.

Rudolf Otto

I. Otto and the Numinous

Otto’s idea of the holy is predicated on the observation that the holy and the just are not synonymous. While every holy person is just, not every just person is holy. You might, for example, call Socrates just, and you might even call him pious, but would you ever call him holy? For Otto, the difference is that the holy person has an encounter with the “numinous,” a word he coins from a Latin word for divinity in general and divine will or sway in particular (numen). And the numinous object, Otto writes, is the “wholly other” that is experienced as a mysterium tremendum et fascinans, a formidable and fascinating mystery. [1]

Regarding the “formidable,” Otto has in mind the full range of meanings for tremendus, which, like its cognate tremor, means both fear and trembling (literally).

First, the mystery is tremendus because it contains an element of awefulness, a shuddering before God that is, paradoxically, a gift from God, for “the natural man is quite unable to shudder or feel horror in the real sense of the word.” [2]

Second, the mystery is tremendus because it contains an element of overpowering, or what the Romans called majestas. It is in the face of this Majesty that one feels a sense of one’s own miniscule creatureliness and utter dependence like never before.

Third, the mystery is tremendus because it contains an element of energy, which Otto compares to a sense of urgency and of divine wrath. In and of Himself, God is beyond emotion, but as we experience Him, the living God is a jealous God, filled with passion and power. Otto quotes with approval a line from an unnamed mystic: “Love is nothing else than quenched Wrath.” [3]

St. Bernard of Clairvaux

This tremendous mystery is also fascinans—in fact, it is “uniquely attractive and fascinating.” [4] This aspect of the mystery explains the “moment of rapture that breathes in our tenderest and most heart-felt hymns of salvation,” such as the poetic compositions of St. Bernard of Clairvaux. “Mere love” and “mere trust,” Otto contends, do not account for the ecstasies that a Saint experiences in his intimate encounters with the numinous. [5]

And the numinous can generate a variety of feelings:

The feeling of it may at times come sweeping like a gentle tide pervading the mind with a tranquil mood of deepest worship. It may pass over into a more set and lasting attitude of the soul, continuing, as it were, thrillingly vibrant and resonant, until at last it dies away and the soul resumes its “profane,” non-religious mood of everyday experience. [...] It has its crude, barbaric antecedents and early manifestations, and again it may be developed into something beautiful and pure and glorious. It may become the hushed, trembling, and speechless humility of the creature in the presence of—whom or what? In the presence of that which is a Mystery inexpressible and above all creatures. [6]

Perhaps the clearest commentator on Otto’s work is C.S. Lewis, who works up to a sense of the numinous with the help of a mental exercise. Lewis asks us to imagine someone coming in and saying that there is a tiger in the next room. Aware of the danger, we would probably experience fear. Now imagine someone saying that there is a ghost in the next room and that we believe it. Lewis conjectures that we would experience a special kind of fear called Dread, which puts us at the “fringes of the Numinous.” Finally, imagine someone saying, “There is a mighty spirit in the room,” and that we believe it. Lewis opines:

Your feelings would then be even less like the mere fear of danger: but the disturbance would be profound. You would feel wonder and a certain shrinking—a sense of inadequacy to cope with such a visitant and of prostration before it—an emotion which might be expressed in Shakespeare’s words “Under it my genius is rebuked.” This feeling may be described as awe, and the object which excites it as the Numinous. [7]

II. The Numinous in Eucharistic Liturgy

Otto’s Idea of the Holy contains an appendix entitled “The Numinous in Poetry, Hymn, and Liturgy,” but it is a treacly collection of passages from the Bhagavad-Gita and Protestant hymnists. Still, we can at least credit him for thinking about liturgy when thinking about the numinous; for a truly sacred liturgy facilitates the greatest of encounters with the numinous, as is witnessed by the Saints who experienced ecstasies while celebrating or assisting at Mass.

Our own argument is simple:

The Mass, as consistently affirmed by the Magisterium from time immemorial to the present day, is the unbloody re-presencing of the death of the Son of God on the cross as well as His Resurrection and Ascension. [8]

This Paschal mystery that is being represenced is truly a mysterium tremendum et fascinans. For how can the Passion, Death, Resurrection, and Ascension of Jesus Christ be deemed otherwise?

Therefore, the Mass should do everything it can to foster an encounter with the numinous through its rites. Certainly, the Mass was experienced as numinous from an early age. Consider the following passages from the Patristic era:

In a sermon, St. Augustine admonishes:

Approach the partaking of this altar with fear and trembling (see Phil. 2, 12-13). Recognize in the bread that which hung on the cross, in the chalice that which flowed from his side. [9]

In his poem On Faith, Ephraim of Syria (ca. 350) writes:

I saw the mixed vessel of faith, which was filled with blood instead of wine; and instead of bread the slain body was placed upon the table. I saw the blood and shuddered; the sacrificed body and terror seized me. [10]

St. Cyril of Jerusalem calls the Mass “a holy and tremendous Sacrifice” and “a holy mystery”; similarly, he calls the time of Sacrifice “a sublimely dread hour.” [11]

Finally, the Liturgy of St. James includes the admonition:

Let all mortal flesh be silent, standing there in fear and trembling, let all things of earth vanish from our thoughts; for the King of kings, the Lord of lords, Christ our God, is about to be sacrificed and to be given as food to the faithful. Before Him choirs of angels go, clothed with power and dominion, with faces veiled, chanting the hymn, Alleluia. [12]

Such is the numinous in the Eucharistic liturgy, according to the Fathers.Next week, we shall how this principle is instantiated in the classical Roman Rite.

This essay appeared in The Latin Mass magazine 35:2 (Summer 2026), pp. 34-38. Many thanks to its editors for allowing its publication here.

Notes

[1]The Idea of the Holy (Martino Fine Books, 2010), 25-30.

[2] Otto, 15.

[3] Otto, 24.

[4] Otto, 31.

[5] Otto, 34.

[6] Otto, 12-13.

[7] C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain (Zondervan, 2001), 5-6.

[8] See Catechism of the Catholic Church 1354.

[9] Sermon Denis 3.

[10] Cited in Nicholas Gihr, The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass Dogmatically, Liturgically and Ascetically Explained (Herder, 1902), 104.

[11] Cited in Gihr, 105.

[12] Cited in Gihr, 111.

An Italian Chapel in the Orkney Islands

This post is just a very brief follow-up on one we posted exactly a month ago, which showed pictures of a chapel built by Italian POWs in the British colony of Rhodesia (now called Zimbabwe) during World War II. A different friend happened to recently another such chapel built on the island of Lamb Holm one of the Orkney islands off the northern coast of Scotland. This chapel was built between 1943 and 1945, after a group of 550 Italian soldiers were captured by the British during the North African campaign, and sent to the island as prisoners for the duration. My friend who visited it informs me that Mass is still said there once a month by the parish priest of Orkney; the chapel is under the jurisdiction of the bishop of Aberdeen. 

Most of the painting of the interior was done by a single man, a fellow named Domenico Chiochetti, who hailed from a little town called Moena in the northern region of the Trento Alto-Adige. Mr Chiochetti returned to the island in 1960 to work on the restoration of the chapel, and again in 1964.
 

Outside stands a monument to the prisoners who lived and worshipped here, with a figure of St George, undoubtedly chosen as something of a tribute to their British hosts.

A Medieval Hymn of St Bernard

Here is a very nice medieval hymn for the feast of St Bernard of Clairvaux, which is used in the Cistercian Divine Office at both Vespers of his feast. According to the Analecta hymnica, the great catalog of medieval liturgical hymns, both the author and the date of composition are unknown, but it appears in several Cistercian sources in the 13th century, and has been in continual use within the order ever since. (It does not seem that any of the great translators like Neale or Caswell ever put their pens to this, so we must be content with my poor English prose translation.) This recording from the abbey of Marienstatt in Germany also includes the versicle that follows the hymn, “Ora pro nobis, sancte Bernarde”, in a more solemn tone which is different from the Roman one.

Bernardus Doctor inclytus, Caelos conscendit hodie, Quem attraxit divinitus Splendor paternae gloriae.	Bernard, the renowned doctor ascends the heavens today Whom the splendor of the Father’s glory drew from on high.
Exsultet caelum laudibus De Bernardi consortio, Quem conjungis caelestibus, Jesu, nostra redemptio.	Let heaven exult in praises for Bernard’s company, Whom You join to the citizens of heaven, Jesus, our redemption.
Rufum dorso per catulum Praefigurasti puerum Fore Doctorem sedulum, Conditor alme siderum.	By the figure of a dog with a red back, you showed that the boy would be a zealous teacher, O maker of the stars.
Nascentis ei claruit Clara Christi nativitas, Hoc a te donum habuit, O lux, beata Trinitas.	For him shined most brightly The glorious birth of Christ; This gift he had from you, o light, o blessed Trinity.
Arcana sacrae paginae Declarat, et mysterium Quod effecit in Virgine Deus, creator omnium.	He set forth the mysteries of the holy book, which God, the creator of all things, wrought in the Virgin.
Rore perfusum gratiae Monstrat dulcor eloquii; Per te fons sapientiae, Summi largitor praemii.	The sweetness of his speech showed him to be filled with grace, though Thee, o font of wisdom, giver of the highest reward.
Detentos a daemonibus Sanat, morbos languentium Curat, confert doloribus Magnum salutis gaudium.	He heals those held by devils, he cures the ailments of the sick, and gives the great joy of salvation to their griefs.
Vita vivit feliciter Cum Maria Christifera Cum qua degustat dulciter Aeterna Christi munera.	Happily he lives (eternal) life with Mary, the bearer of Christ, with whom he sweetly tastes the eternal gifts of Christ.
Summae Deus potentiae, Tibi sit laus et gloria: Da post cursum miseriae Beata nobis gaudia. Amen.	God of highest power, to thee be praise and glory: after the way of wretchedness give us blessed joys. Amen.

There are some interesting things to note. The hymn is an acrostic, the first letters of each stanza spelling his name BERNARDVS. The meter is the iambic dimeter, that of the original hymns of St Ambrose and other early Christian poets, short and long syllables alternating four times for a total of eight. (Substitutions are very common, especially since vowel quantities were already weakened in the 5th century, and hardly perceived as such in the High Middle Ages.) As such, it could in theory be sung in any one of a great many melodies, and other common hymns in this meter were often sung with different music from one church to another. However, it was an essential characteristic of the medieval Cistercians to keep a strict uniformity of observance in all their houses, and it is almost certain that they would have all used the same music.

The words of the third stanza “By the figure of a dog with a red back” refer to an episode recorded in the life of St Bernard. When his mother Aleth was pregnant with him (the third of her seven children, of whom four others are Blesseds), she dreamt that she was carrying a barking white dog with some red hair on its back. A religious man whom she consulted explained this dream to mean that the child she bore would be like the dogs mentioned in Psalm 67, “The tongues of your dogs lick the blood of their enemies”, guarding the house of God against its enemies, a preacher, and a healer of souls. This latter idea derives from St Gregory the Great’s symbolic interpretation of the dogs that licked the sores of Lazarus (hom. 40 in Evang.), in a passage which is read in the Roman Breviary on Thursday of the second week of Lent. “A dog’s tongue heals the sore which it licks; and so do holy teachers, when they instruct is in the confession of our sins, touch the sores of our souls by their tongues (i.e. their speech).” The following stanza refers to a vision of the Child Jesus which Bernard himself had when he was a boy, and fell asleep while waiting with his family to go out to Matins and the Midnight Mass of Christmas.

Christ Embracing St Bernard, ca. 1625, by Francisco Riablta (1565-1628). Public domain image from Wikimedia Commons.

Medieval hymnographers loved the trick performed by the author of this hymn, in which the last line of each stanza is the title (i.e. first line) of another hymn. (A similarly constructed piece is sung in the proper Office of St Anthony the Abbot.)

Splendor paternae gloriae – an original hymn of St Ambrose himself, which the
      Cistercians sing at Sunday Lauds, the Roman Office at Monday Lauds.
Jesu, nostra redemptio – from the feast of the Ascension, pre-Urban VIII
Conditor alme siderum – from Vespers of Advent, pre-Urban VIII
O lux, beata Trinitas – Saturday Vespers, pre-Urban VIII
Deus, creator omnium – the Ambrosian hymn for Sunday Vespers
Summi largitor praemii – a hymn for Lent sung by the Cistercians at Matins;
      also used at Sarum, but not in the Roman Office.
Magnum salutis gaudium – processional hymn for Palm Sunday
Aeterna Christi munera – Matins hymn of the Apostles.
Beata nobis gaudia – Lauds hymn of Pentecost.

In addition, the first line of the second stanza, “Exsultet caelum laudibus”, is the title of the pre-Urban VIII version of the Vespers hymn of the Apostles. (Like all the religious orders that retained their own Uses of the Divine Office, the Cistercians never adopted Pope Urban VIII’s reform of the hymns.)

The difficulty of this trick is to integrate the titles into the words of a new composition in a new sense. Some of the expressions in the vocative case, such as “Jesu, nostra redemptio,” could be interchanged with any of the others, (I do not say this as a critique of the author; medievals valued originality far less than we do,) but the last three are particularly well chosen.

The Cistercians were founded at the very end of the 11th century as “strict constructionalists” of the original Rule of St Benedict, which they felt had been unhappily compromised by later developments and customs that emerged within the Cluniac monastic empire. The term which St Benedict uses for “hymn” in the Rule (capp. 9, 12, 13 and 17) is “ambrosianum”, since it was St Ambrose who first introduced the use of hymns into the West. This led the Cistercians to the believe that St Benedict’s original intention was not merely that monks should sing “a hymn” at certain Hours, but that they should use the specific corpus of hymns used by Ambrose himself. This corpus would be found, as they thought, in the Ambrosian Divine Office; they therefore sent people to Milan to copy out the Ambrosian hymnal then in use, and bring it back to Citeaux. It was incorporated into their Office to the despite of many hymns which at that point had long been in general use within the broad liturgical family of the Roman Rite. This was very controversial, even for an age in which there was a great deal of liturgical variation, and the Order was eventually pressured into adopting the traditional corpus of hymns, with some variations. This is why some of the original Ambrosian hymns such as “Splendor paternae gloriae” are given a more prominent place within the Cistercian Office than they were elsewhere.

Eucharistic Prayer II and the Anaphora of Hippolytus: A Critical Analysis (Conclusion)

We complete today the publication of Ignacio Gallardo Tampe’s guest article on the history of the so-called Anaphora of Hippolytus and its relationship to the Second Eucharistic Prayer. Part one was published last Wednesday, and part two on Friday.

Observations on Liturgical Practice

In this final section, I will offer some observations on the ars celebrandi and liturgical practice, as well as make a proposal for normative guidelines.

First, the Missale Romanum, reformed after the Second Vatican Council, has four core Eucharistic prayers, to which are added those contained in its appendix, some of which are recognized to be quite regrettable, such as the Eucharistic prayers for children’s Masses.

Second, the use of these is regulated poorly in Article 365 of the General Instruction of the Roman Missal, which says that “the choice” between them is merely “guided” by the following norms.

Article 365 letter a) of the GIRM states that “Eucharistic Prayer I, or the Roman Canon, which may always be used, […]; likewise it is especially suited for use on Sundays, unless for pastoral reasons Eucharistic Prayer III is preferred.”

The Sanctus and the beginning of the Canon in the Gellone Sacramentary, one of the oldest of the Roman Rite, ca. 780 AD. 

For its part letter b) states that “Eucharistic Prayer II, on account of its particular features, is more appropriately used on weekdays or in special circumstances.”

In turn, letter c) states that “Eucharistic Prayer III may be said with any Preface. Its use should be preferred on Sundays and festive days.”

Letter d) concludes by stating “Eucharistic Prayer IV has an invariable Preface and gives a fuller summary of salvation history. It may be used when a Mass has no Preface of its own and on Sundays in Ordinary Time.”

The problem with this norm is that it merely makes suggestions (“The choice between the Eucharistic Prayers […] is suitably guided by the following norms”) instead of establishing a clear rule, rendering it useless as such; moreover, this is evident in the fact that many priests use Eucharistic Prayer II almost exclusively, as it is the shortest and takes the least time, seemingly overlooking the fact that the Eucharistic Prayer is precisely the most important part of the Mass, for it is here that the transubstantiation of the elements takes place, transforming the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ.

This is disconcerting, considering that the GIRM recommends Eucharistic Prayers I and III, and, with certain limitations, IV, for Sundays and other major days, yet Eucharistic Prayer II, which is recommended for weekdays, is used as the standard.

This must change; it should be clearly established that Eucharistic Prayer I is the one to be recommended. Let us recall the Council of Trent’s description of it as the perfect prayer, free from error: “If any one saith, that the Canon of the Mass contains errors, and is therefore to be abrogated; let him be anathema.” [1]

Furthermore, it should be established that Eucharistic Prayer II may only be used on weekdays, and its use on Sundays or solemnities should be definitively prohibited. It would also be advisable to prohibit bishops from using it at any Mass with a congregation, even on weekdays, in order to give their Masses a more “pontifical” character, thereby restoring the distinctions that existed between priests and bishops prior to the reform. [2]

The restrictions on Eucharistic Prayers III and IV should be maintained and made stricter.

It is important to regulate this aspect, for never in the history of the Roman Rite has there been more than one Eucharistic Prayer; this anomaly has led to the heritage of the Western Church (the Roman Canon) being replaced by an imitation of a Eucharistic Prayer that not only originates from the East, but (as mentioned earlier) was likely never used in actual practice.

For their part, the Churches of the Eastern rites, which do have the custom of using multiple Eucharistic prayers, do not leave the choice to the discretion of their priests; in all of them, it is expressly regulated. Let us look at some examples, though this list is not exhaustive of all rites:

First, the Churches of the Greek (or “Byzantine”) rite routinely use the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom. This liturgy is said every Sunday and weekday of the year, unless it is expressly stipulated that another must be used, the Divine Liturgy of St. Basil the Great, which is said only ten times throughout the year: on the five Sundays of Great Lent, Holy Thursday, Holy Saturday, on the vigils of Christmas and Theophany (January 6), and the feast of St. Basil (January 1). [3]

The beginning of the liturgy of St John Chrysostom in a Byzantine euchologion, printed in Venice in 1602.   

The Liturgy of Saint Basil is characterized by longer prayers, especially in the anaphora, which is much longer than that of St. John Chrysostom. It is worth noting that the Churches of the Greek rite did not abolish the Divine Liturgy of St. Basil, which was their original liturgy for Sundays and feast days, when that of St. John Chrysostom was introduced, but rather relegated it to the most important days. Could this also be a lesson for us? Should we require that on certain days only Eucharistic Prayer I be used, given its antiquity and length?

For their part, the Copts use three liturgies: that of St. Basil the Great, that of St. Gregory of Nazianzus, and that of St. Cyril I of Alexandria. According to this rite, the choice is not free either; the liturgy of St. Basil is the general rule and is used for most of the year, while that of St. Gregory is used at midnight on Christmas, Theophany, and Easter. This liturgy is characterized by being deeply Christ-centered, which is why it is reserved for the so-called “feasts of the Lord.” Finally, the Liturgy of St. Cyril, the longest of the three, is reserved exclusively for Great Lent.

The Churches of the East Syriac rite use three anaphoras: the Anaphora of Addai and Mari, which is said to date back to the third century, making it the oldest anaphora still in use [4], the Anaphora of Theodore of Mopsuestia, and finally that of Nestorius. According to this rite, the Anaphora of Addai and Mari is the general rule and is used unless it is specified that another is to replace it; as for the Anaphora of Theodore of Mopsuestia, it is used from the first Sunday of the season of the Annunciation (equivalent to Advent) through Palm Sunday; finally, Nestorius’ anaphora is used five days a year: on Epiphany, the feast of St. John the Baptist, the Commemoration of the Greek Fathers, the Wednesday of the Fast of the Ninevites, and on Holy Thursday.

Given the above, it follows that the Church, in its current liturgical maturity [5], establishes strict criteria for determining which Eucharistic prayer is to be used. The freedom of the modern Roman rite is an anomaly in comparison to the Eastern rites.

But, on the other hand, as mentioned earlier, the very existence of multiple Eucharistic Prayers in the Roman Rite is also an anomaly, since we know that this rite has always had only one, the famous Roman Canon, which, due to its exclusivity, came to be simply called the Canon Missæ (the Canon of the Mass) in the liturgical books prior to the post-conciliar reform.

This exclusivity does not indicate “liturgical poverty” in comparison to the Eastern rites, but rather a legitimate difference in them, for, as is well known, the Roman Rite has always been characterized by its simplicity compared to the Eastern rites or the now defunct Gallican rites of the West; therefore, introducing multiple Eucharistic prayers into it is nothing more than a corruption of the rite. [6]

Furthermore, what is the problem with having a single Eucharistic prayer? There are rites other than the Roman one that also have a single anaphora; in the East, for example, we find the Armenian rite, which uses only the Divine Liturgy of St. Gregory the Illuminator. [7] For their part, other Western rites, the Ambrosian Rite, native to Milan, and the nearly extinct Visigothic Rite (also known as Mozarabic or Hispanic Rite) [8], native to present-day Spain, also effectively use only a single Eucharistic prayer.

Without going into too much detail, the Ambrosian Rite uses the Roman Canon with slight modifications. The Visigothic rite uses an anaphora in which some parts vary depending on the day of the year, but maintains the same structure, as follows: the illatio, equivalent to the Roman preface, which is variable; the Sanctus, which is invariable; the post-Sanctus, which is variable; the pridie, which is invariable; and the post-pridie, which is variable. These variable parts are not at the priest’s discretion, as the Missal [9] itself dictates which text must be used for each day of the year.

The fixed part of the canon in a Mozarabic Missal printed in 1804.

In light of what has been said, it is evident that the current system, as set forth in the Missale Romanum introduced by Paul VI, constitutes an unprecedented historical and liturgical anomaly. A comparative analysis demonstrates that the Church never conceived of the anaphora as a text subject to the convenience, haste, or personal taste of the celebrant. [10]

Both Eastern and Western rites establish imperative norms for the use of the anaphora: in the case of the Eastern rites, through strict adherence to the calendar and the liturgical season; and in the case of the Western rites (as well as the Armenian rite, which, despite being Eastern, follows the same logic as the Western rites), through a fixed anaphora, which is invariable in some cases, such as in the Roman or Ambrosian rites, and variable in others, such as in the Visigothic rite. In any case, the Eucharistic prayer consists of a standardized element that takes precedence over individual discretion.

The laxity of Article 365 of the General Instruction of the Roman Missal, by limiting itself to offering suggestions rather than prescriptions, has led to an undeniable impoverishment of contemporary practice, allowing the abhorrent and widespread practice of using Eucharistic Prayer II as the daily and Sunday standard to the detriment of the others which possess greater merit.

Consequently, a revision of the current liturgical legislation, in the manner already indicated, is urgently needed. The guidelines of the General Instruction of the Roman Missal must be transformed from mere recommendations into binding norms. [11]

Only through restrictive regulation, analogous to that wisely preserved by the Eastern Churches, will the Roman Rite be able to escape the disorder and mediocrity that currently corrode it.

Finally, let us recall that Eucharistic Prayer II is not the Anaphora of Hippolytus, as has been demonstrated; therefore, defending it by virtue of its supposed antiquity is nonsensical. Furthermore, when compared with the other three Eucharistic Prayers of the Missal, it is theologically poor and sparse, little more than an “express” consecration.

Let us not forget that one of its authors, Louis Bouyer, referred to it as a “distorted specimen” containing “incredible weaknesses”, and stated the necessity of a “revision that sooner or later will be inevitable.” [12]  Therefore, considering that even one of its creators deemed it in need of reform, the Church would do well to limit its use or even abrogate it. [13]

It could be said that the lesson here is not to undertake liturgical reforms based on incomplete archaeological evidence, for it may happen, as in this case, that in the future it is proven that everything, absolutely everything, was a falsehood. And to think that Duchesne, at the beginning of the twentieth century, asserted with total certainty that “There is nothing to hinder us from assigning it to the time of Hippolytus himself.” [14]

NOTES 

[1] Council of Trent, XXII Session, Canon VI.

[2] By this we obviously mean to the distinctions made by the traditional Roman rite between Missa lecta, cantata, solemnis and pontificalis. Today many bishops celebrate Mass in an almost identical manner to priests; in the traditional Roman rite even the Missa lecta (Low Mass) of the bishop has remarkable differences from that of the priest. For instance, the bishop puts on the maniple only after the acolytes have finished praying the Confiteor, whereas the priest is already wearing it before leaving the sacristy. In the new rites, generally, the bishops often do not even bother to wear the dalmatic under the chasuble on solemnities, even though article 56 of the Ceremonial of Bishops clearly stipulates it, saying: “... it is appropriate that, in solemn celebrations, according to ancient custom, the dalmatic be worn beneath the chasuble”.

[3] For obvious reasons, we make no mention of the Divine Liturgy of the Presentified Gifts, as it does not contain an anaphora; in any case, it may only be used on weekdays during Great Lent and the first three days of Holy Week, and not whenever the priest deems it appropriate.

[4] Michael Uwe Lang, The Roman Mass: From Early Christian Origins to Tridentine Reform. (Cambridge University Press, 29 September 2022), Chapter 3, Kindle.

[5] Let us recall that, as centuries pass, rites become solidified; therefore, matters that were once not well regulated are now firmly established.

[6] It would be the inverse of the “Latinisation” that Eastern Christians so heavily despise.

[7] It is interesting to note that the Armenian rite in ancient times had ten anaphoras, but the rite evolved to favour one exclusively over the others; this has also been seen in other rites, albeit to a lesser extent, for example, the Greeks have not used the Divine Liturgy of St. James for centuries.

[8] Today, it survives only in the so-called Mozarabic chapel of the Cathedral of Toledo, thanks to the efforts of Cardinal Francisco Jiménez de Cisneros.

[9] Missale omnium Offerentium.

[10] Even in the early centuries, when not all prayers were written down and were instead transmitted orally, the priest was not permitted to choose the prayers freely; rather, if he chose to vary them, a practice that was permitted in those times, the priest was required to follow a certain structure and content. See footnote No. 30.

[11] By this we mean that the norm becomes a «norma imperativa propiamente tal», an imperative norm in the strict sense, that is, one that simply commands something.

[12] See Louis Bouyer, Memoirs, 125.

[13] Just as with the Eucharistic Prayers for Masses with children, which must undoubtedly be abolished.

[14] Louis Duchesne, Christian Worship: Its origin and evolution, a study of the Latin Liturgy up to the time of Charlemagne, trad. M. L. McClure (Londres: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1910), 524.

Photos of the Annual Eucharistic Procession by Boat in Louisiana on the Assumption

On Saturday, August 15th, the twelfth annual Eucharistic Procession by boat down Bayou Teche, Louisiana, was held as part of the celebration of the feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Patroness of the Acadian people and of the Acadiana region. This day also marks the anniversary of the arrival of French-Canadian immigrants to the area in 1765, those who brought the Catholic faith to Acadiana after enduring great trials and suffering. (The procession was first held in this manner in 2015 for the 250th anniversary.)

After Vespers and Final Benediction, it was announced that next year, the procession will run all the way from St Louis Missouri to St Louis Cathedral in New Orleans, an 8-day long pilgrimage down the Mississippi to commemorate the 300th anniversary of the consecration of the first St. Louis Church. It will arrive on December 9, the anniversary of the dedication of the present basilica of St Louis, which is the oldest continuously functioning cathedral in America. The event will also commemorate the 300th anniversary of the arrival of the Ursuline nuns from France to New Orleans; they still have the oldest continuously functioning school of its kind in America. Feliciter!

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The Election of Pope Benedict XIV

Today marks the anniversary of the election in 1740 of Pope Benedict XIV, who is rightly regarded as one of the most learned men ever to sit on the throne of St Peter. He was born in 1675 as Prospero Lambertini, to a noble family of Bologna, the second city of the Papal States. When he was 13, he was sent to Rome to pursue the typical course of ecclesiastical studies, including Latin, philosophy and theology; by the age of 19, he had obtained his doctorate in theology, and the prestigious laurea utriusque, a doctorate in both canon and civil law. In 1698, he was ordained a priest, and soon after began his career as a canon lawyer in the Roman Curia, where he would serve for over a quarter of a century. He was also the “Promotor Fidei” (popularly known as “the devil’s advocate”) for the causes of various Saints, whose job was to raise every possible objection to a canonization, so as to guarantee its credibility when every possible objection had been answered. This led him to write a massive treatise called “Doctrina de servorum dei beatificatione et beatorum canonizatione – the teaching on the beatification of the servants of God, and the canonization of blesseds”, still to this day considered an essential work on the subject.

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Portrait of Benedict XIV, 1741, by the French artist Pierre Subleyras (1699-1749). Public domain image from Wikimedia Commons.

In 1727, he was made bishop of Ancona in the Italian Marches, a major Adriatic port, then also part of the Papal States. The following year he was made a cardinal, and thus participated in the conclave of 1730 that saw the election of Clement XII, who transferred him to his native Bologna ten months later. During his time as archbishop, he wrote another major treatise on diocesan synods, which has been as influential as his work on canonizations.

Clement XII died in February of 1740, leading to one of the longest conclaves in history (six months), long enough for four of the fifty-five participants to die, including the initial favorite. After several different candidates had failed to reach the necessary two-thirds majority of votes, Cardinal Lambertini was proposed as a compromise candidate unlikely to offend any of the political interests that had thus far blocked all others. He is famously supposed to have clinched his own election by saying to his fellow cardinals, “If you wish to elect a Saint, choose Gotti; if you want a statesman, choose Aldrovandi; and if you want an honest man, choose me.” (This statement is also reported with the cardinal describing himself rather more colorfully; Lambertini was known all his life for the use of language not wholly befitting his clerical station.) He was elected on the 255th ballot, and took the name Benedict in honor of his predecessor-but-one, Benedict XIII, who had made him a bishop.

The popes of that era had to govern not only the Church as a whole in matters spiritual, but also rule as the sovereigns of the Papal States. On both fronts, Benedict XIV had many difficulties to confront: the papacy was in conflict with several of the Catholic states of Europe over matters pertaining to the governance of the Church; anti-clericalism and anti-Christian sentiment were on the rise, fueled by the so-called Enlightenment; and the finances of the Papal States were in very rough shape. (In regard to this last matter, he once said of Benedict XIII that “he simply had no idea how to govern.”) On all these fronts, over the course of his nearly 18-year reign, he served very well. He restored peace between the Church and the Catholic states, and achieved a tremendous amount by way of stabilizing the finances and improving the civil administration of the Papal States, thus earning the admiration and good-will of his temporal subjects. The arts and sciences flourished in Rome during his pontificate: he established two important new collections of the Vatican Museums, and another of Apostolic library.

He was well-known as a cheerful and talkative man, and respected by many non-Catholics, with whom he enjoyed very good relations. Exemplary of this is the Latin epigram composed for him by the most notorious Church-hater of the era, Voltaire:

“Lambertinus hic est, Romae decus et pater orbis, / qui mundum scriptis docuit, virtutibus ornat. ~ This is Lambertini, the glory of Rome and father of the globe, who taught the world by his writing, and adorned it with his virtues.”

Vespers and Procession of the Assumption in Paris

In February of 1638, the wife of King Louis XIII of France, Anne of Austria, was in the early months of her fifth pregnancy, after four stillbirths; this was in the twenty-third year of their marriage, the queen then being thirty-seven years old. Hoping to obtain by the Virgin Mary’s intercession the safe birth of a royal heir, the king declared a vow of consecration to Her of his own person and family, and of France itself, promising to honor Her by a special procession every year on the feast of the Assumption. On September 5 of that year, the Queen gave birth to a son who was called Louis “Dieudonné - given by God”, the future Louis XIV, who would rule France for so long (1643-1715) that he was succeeded by his great-grandson. In the 19th-century editions of the Parisian Missal and Breviary, this event was even marked by a special feast on the Sunday within the Octave of the Assumption, called “The Commemoration of the Vow of the Most Christian King Louis XIII.”

The Vow of Louis XIII by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, an 1824; from the Cathedral of the Assumption in Montauban. (Public domain image from Wikipedia.)

In this video taken yesterday at the church of St Eugène in Paris, you can hear Second Vespers of the feast of the Assumption sung by our friends of the Schola Sainte-Cécile, followed by the procession. The Litany of Loreto is sung as the procession passes outside, then returns and makes it way to the Lady altar, where the choir sings Sub tuum praesidium, followed by a versicle and prayer; the celebrant then reads the text of the vow of King Louis. Psalm 19 is sung as the procession returns to the main sanctuary, followed by another versicle and the following prayer. “O God, governor and guardian of kings and kingdoms, Who will that Thy only-begotten Son our Lord should be subject upon the earth to the most holy Virgin Mother, that Thou might show us in Him an example of humility and obedience; bestow Thy merciful favor upon the vows of Thy servant the most Christian King Louis: so that those who consecrate themselves to the protection of the same Virgin by this devout promise, may obtain the rewards of perpetual tranquility in this life, and everlasting freedom in heaven.” The full program of the ceremony can be seen here in Latin and French; the text of the vow is available here in English.

The Mass of the Assumption

A Glorious Byzantine Chant for the Assumption

At the command of almighty God, the God-bearing Apostles were caught up from wherever they were, and lifted up on high by the clouds; coming to Thy all-pure and life-creating body, they venerated it with great honor. And the most exalted hosts of heaven, having arrived with their Master, accompanied the most pure body which had received God; being seized with awe, they went forth in a heavenly manner, and cried aloud invisibly to the hierarchies above, “Behold! the Queen of all, the divine Maiden, has come! Lift up your gates, and receive her above the world, who is the Mother of the everlasting Light; for through her hath come all the salvation of mortals; upon her we cannot gaze, it is impossible to pay her due honor; for her excellence surpasseth all understanding!” Wherefore, O all-pure Mother of God, ever living with the life-bearing King, Thy Son, pray without ceasing that He closely guard and save thy new people from every assault of the adversary; for we have acquired thine intercession, gloriously blessing Thee unto the ages. (The dogmatikon of Vespers of the Dormition of the Virgin Mary in the Byzantine Rite.)

An icon of the Dormition of the Virgin Mary, painted in the second half of the 15th century by an anonymous artist of the Cretan school. Public domain image from Wikimedia Commons.

At Byzantine Vespers, a set of hymns called “stichera” is sung between the verses of a group of four psalms which do not change from day to day. (These are Psalms 140, 141, 129 and 116, in the traditional numeration of the Septuagint; similar sets of hymns are sung or read on many other occasions.) The last of these is almost always a “theotokion”, a hymn about the Virgin Mary, but on Her own feasts, it is known as a dogmatikon.

This particular composition is unusual in that each part of it is sung in a different chant mode, in ascending order, and concluding by returning to the first; the different parts would originally have been sung by alternating choirs. In Greek, the modes are named first through fourth, then first and second plagal, the “grave” or “heavy” mode (“βαρύς”, never “third plagal”), and fourth plagal; in the Slavic tradition, they are simply numbered in ascending order.

1st mode Θεαρχίῳ νεύματι, πάντοθεν οἱ θεοφόροι Ἀπόστολοι, ὑπὸ νεφῶν μεταρσίως αἰρόμενοι, 1st plagal καταλαβόντες τὸ πανάχραντον, καὶ ζωαρχικόν σου σκῆνος, ἐξόχως ἠσπάζοντο. 2nd Αἱ δὲ ὑπέρτατοι τῶν οὐρανῶν Δυνάμεις, σὺν τῷ οἰκείῳ Δεσπότῃ παραγενόμεναι, 2nd pl. τὸ θεοδόχον καὶ ἀκραιφνέστατον σῶμα προπέμπουσι, τῷ δέει κρατούμεναι, ὑπερκοσμίως δὲ προῴχοντο, καὶ ἀοράτως ἐβόων ταῖς ἀνωτέραις ταξιαρχίαις· Ἰδοὺ ἡ παντάνασσα θεόπαις παραγέγονεν! 3rd Ἄρατε πύλας, καὶ ταύτην ὑπερκοσμίως ὑποδέξασθε, τὴν τοῦ ἀενάου φωτὸς Μητέρα. grave Διὰ ταύτης γὰρ ἡ παγγενὴς τῶν βροτῶν σωτηρία γέγονεν, ᾗ ἀτενίζειν οὐκ ἰσχύομεν, καὶ ταύτῃ ἄξιον γέρας ἀπονέμειν ἀδύνατον. 4th Ταύτης γὰρ τὸ ὑπερβάλλον ὑπερέχει πᾶσαν ἔννοιαν. 4th pl. Διὸ, ἄχραντε Θεοτόκε, ἀεὶ σὺν ζωηφόρῳ Βασιλεῖ καὶ τόκῳ ζῶσα, πρέσβευε διηνεκῶς περιφρουρῆσαι καὶ σῶσαι ἀπὸ πάσης προσβολῆς ἐναντίας τὴν νεολαίαν σου· τὴν γὰρ σὴν προστασίαν κεκτήμεθα, 1st εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας ἀγλαοφανῶς μακαρίζοντες.

In the following recording, a “canonarch”, or chief cantor, sings the text out bit by bit before the choir sings it. This custom originated from the impossibility of having a book for each of the cantors (who might well number several dozen in a large monastery), given the unbelievably vast repertoire of liturgical texts used in the Byzantine Rite. (The Dormition is typical in having almost 100 proper hymns in the Divine Office.) He also announces the shifts in mode; so for example, at 4:32, he says “plagal of the first mode. ‘Coming to Thy all-pure’ ”. This extends the full recording, from the doxology at the end of the psalms to the last word of the hymn, to over 28 minutes.

The modern Slavic choral tradition, which is very heavily indebted to Western influences, and especially to the Italians, often blurs out or removes distinctions of the original Byzantine chant. In the following Slavonic version, the hymn is sung in the same melody throughout, reducing the time to just under 2½ minutes. However, partly out of respect for the older tradition of singing with a canonarch, it is still the common custom for a cantor to announce the tones of the hymns during the Office, and this recording begins with the conductor singing, ‘Glory (to the Father)’ and ‘Both now’ in the same tone” (i.e. as that of the preceding chants.)

Finally, here is splendid English version (in a different translation from my own given above), recorded at St Mary’s Byzantine Catholic Church in Whiting, Indiana, eight years ago. 

The holy Apostles were taken up from every corner of the world, and carried upon clouds by the command of God. They gathered around your pure body, O Source of Life, and kissed it with reverence. As for the most sublime powers of heaven, they came with their own leader to escort and to pay their last respects to the most honorable body that had contained Life itself. Filled with awe, they marched together with the apostles in silent majesty, professing to the princes of heaven in a hushed voice: Lift up your gates and receive, with becoming majesty, the Mother of the Light that never fades, because, through her, salvation was made possible for our human race. She is the One upon whom no one may gaze, and to whom no one is able to render sufficient glory; for the special honor that made her sublime is beyond understanding. Therefore, O most pure Theotokos, forever alive with your Son, the Source of Life, do not cease to intercede with Him that he may guard and save your people from every trouble; for you are our intercessor. To you we sing a hymn of glory with loud and joyful voices, now and forever.