From the Breviary according to the use of the Roman Curia, 1529, the end of the sermon for the second day in the Octave of All Saints.
We believe that this day’s festivity also belongs to the priests of Christ, to the doctors, levites and other confessors and monks; in whose hearts virtue flourished, because the world had faded away. Because the will of the flesh was mortified, true charity was fervent in them, and because they were dead to the world, they lived within in it as the Saints live in Heaven. For the more a man takes delight in this world below, the more is he separated from the love of the things of Heaven. Therefore, these holy men, fleeing the world that passes and the corrupting passions of the soul, had God before them and the Angels at their sides, and so merited to be brought by the Angels into the kingdom of Heaven.
Scenes from the Lives of the Holy Hermits, or “Thebaid”, by Paolo Uccello, 1460s; now in the Academia Gallery in Florence. (Public domainimage from Wikimedia Commons.)
From the Breviary of St Pius V, 1568, a passage from the fifth sermon on the feast of All Saints by St. Bernard of Clairvaux, Abbot and Doctor of the Church, read on November 6th. (In the painting above, St Bernard is represented in the lower left hand corner as the Virgin Mary appears to him.)
What does it profit the Saints that we should praise them or glorify them? What does this solemnity of ours benefit them? What are earthly honors to them whom, according to faithful promise of the Son, the heavenly Father honors? What are our commendations to them? They are full. It is indeed so, dearly beloved; the Saints have no need of our goods, and our devotion gives them nothing. It is for our sake, and not for theirs, that we honor their memory. … It is commonly said, “Out of sight, out of mind”. (literally “What the eye sees not, the heart does not long for.”) The memory is a kind of sight, and to think of the Saints, is to see them in a certain way. Such is our portion in the land of the living; no small portion, indeed, if love accompany remembrance as it ought. And so I say, our dwelling is in heaven, though in manner very different from theirs. For they are truly there, where we long to be; they are there in presence, we only in thought.
The Glory of All the Saints, by the Tuscan painter Giovanni da San Giovanni, 1630; fresco in the apse of the church of the Four Crowned Martyrs, Rome; the titular Saints of this church share their feast day with the octave of All Saints.
For many years now, the Fraternity of St Peter’s church in Rome, Santissima Trinità dei Pellegrini, has had the custom of exposing all its relics for the veneration of the faithful on All Saints’ day. In the evening, before Vespers, each reliquary is presented before the congregation, and the name of the Saint or Saints whose relics in it are read out. On the side altar of St Matthew, St Phillip Neri, who founded the confraternity that built the church, is given special prominence. (The bronze reliquary seen to the left side of the altar here is also of St Phillip, but is not held up before the faithful, since it is incredibly heavy.) Our thanks once again for the pictures to Don Elvir Tabaković, a former professional photographer from Croatia who is now in religious life, and using his skills to celebrate the beauty of the liturgy.
The sacristan returns one of the relics to its place on the altar.
Relics on the high altar.
At the end, the church’s piece of the True Cross is processed down and up the central aisle, before the faithful are blessed with it.
A friend recently brought to my attention a Taiwan-based YouTube channel called “The Heritage of Chinese Sacred Music by Fr Vincent Lebbe.” Fr Frédéric-Vincent Lebbe (1877 – 1940) was a Belgian, born in the Flemish city of Ghent, who entered the Congregations of the Mission (a.k.a. Lazarists) in 1895, and spent much of his life in China, from 1901-20, and again from 1928 until his death in 1940.
One of the great challenges for missionary work in a country with such a proud and ancient history, but then in the throes of a decades-long series of civils wars and political crises, was to present the Christian faith not as an instrument to further the domination and exploitation of China by foreign powers, but as a call to salvation in Christ valid for all nations and cultures. Fr Lebbe’s views on this subject were expressed by a slogan he promoted through the Chinese-language newspaper he founded, “Return China to the Chinese and the Chinese will go to Christ.” They were the cause of much controversy within his congregation, and with the French government, leading to his recall to Europe for a period of about 8 years. But he was thoroughly vindicated by the publication in 1919 of Benedict XV’s apostolic letter Maximum illud, which among other things, says (paragraph 20):
We have been deeply saddened by some recent accounts of missionary life, accounts that displayed more zeal for the profit of some particular nation than for the growth of the kingdom of God. We have been astonished at the indifference of their authors to the amount of hostility these works stir up in the minds of unbelievers. This is not the way of the Catholic missionary, not if he is worthy of the name. No, the true missionary is always aware that he is not working as an agent of his country, but as an ambassador of Christ. And his conduct is such that it is perfectly obvious to anyone watching him that he represents a Faith that is alien to no nation on earth, since it embraces all who worship God in spirit and in truth, a Faith in which “there is neither Gentile, nor Jew, neither circumcised nor uncircumcised, no barbarian, no Scythian, no slave, no free man, but Christ is all in all.” (Col. 3, 11).
The enduring importance of this letter as a charter for missionary work may be noted in the fact that it is the only one of Benedict XV’s apostolic letters which is available on the Vatican website in any language other than Latin. While in Europe, Fr Lebbe continued to promote the cause of reform of the missions, and in no small part because of his influence, the first native Chinese bishops, six of them, were consecrated by Pope Pius XI personally in St Peter’s basilica on October 28, 1926. (It is surely not a coincidence that Maximum illud was issued on the feast of the St Andrew, and these consecrations were done on the feast of Ss Simon and Jude, three Apostles known for evangelizing lands to the east of Europe and the Roman Empire, and whose relics are (or were) kept in St Peter’s.)
The first six native Chinese bishops of modern times, photographed outside St Peter’s basilica after their episcopal consecration. On the left, Bishops Joseph Hu Ruoshan, Simon Zhu Kaimin, and Philip Zhao Huaiyi; in the middle, Bp (later Cardinal) Francesco Marchetti, then Secretary of Propaganda Fide, Willem Cardinal Van Rossum, Prefect of Propaganda Fide, and Abp Celso Costantini, then the papal delegate to China, (later cardinal, and secretary of Propaganda Fidei); on the right, Bishops Melchior Sun Dezhen, Odoric Cheng Hede, and Aloysius Chen Guodi. (Copyright of the Société des Auxiliaires des Missions, with permission for educational use.)
In Fr Lebbe’s time, the Church had not yet made the great leap forward into the deleterious modern understanding of inculturation, in which the liturgy is absorbed by the culture of the surrounding society. Rather, the culture of each society, the best of it, was put into the service of the liturgy, but it was a given, as it always had been, that the liturgy itself was received by the local church along with the Faith from the church that evangelized it. Fr Lebbe therefore set a large portion of the Roman liturgy to Chinese, while retaining the original liturgical forms, literary content and music as far as possible. (I am given to understand, however, that the Chinese language represents a unique challenge for translation from any European language, and that many Chinese Catholics were opposed to the use of their native tongue in the liturgy, on the grounds that it was simply incapable of expressing the full and true sense of the original texts. If anyone can comment further on this, I would be interested to hear from you in the combox.)
Here then is a selection of just a few videos from among the more than 300 on the channel. Since it is Saturday, Our Lady’s day, I have chosen the hymns of Her Little Office; the fact that they were all set to music in more than one version indicates that the Little Office was in fact being sung in the churches of these missions, and often enough that some variety was felt to be desirable in the music, since the text changes very little from day to day for most of the year.
The hymn for Vespers, Ave, Maris Stella.
For Compline and the other little Hours, Memento, rerum Conditor.
The antiphon Sub tuum praesidium, one of the oldest Marian liturgical texts that exists, with the canticle Nunc dimittis.
At Matins, Quem terra, pontus, sidera.
At Lauds, O gloriosa virginum.
The solemn Salve, Regina.
I have also recently become acquainted via YouTube with the work of Dr Sarah Paine, who teaches history at the US Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island; there are several of her lectures on this channel, https://www.youtube.com/@DwarkeshPatel, and her presentation style is witty and very engaging. Although she doesn’t talk about the Church in China, these two lectures will give you a good sense of the context, and the extraordinary difficulties, faced by Fr Lebbe and other missionaries in that country in the later 19th and early 20th centuries, and particularly of the resentments which the Chinese felt against the foreign powers operating on their soil.
From the Breviary according to the use of the Roman Curia, 1529, the continuation of the sermon for the second day in the Octave of All Saints.
It is well-known that at first this day’s glorious solemnity honored the triumphal name of the holy martyrs, for the church whose dedication we recall was first called Saint Mary of the Martyrs, and the feasts of holy martyrs alone were celebrated therein. There are many Saints before those times who passed from this present life without shedding their blood; nevertheless they are honored with the title of martyrdom, because they suffered in some way, namely, by exile, by the loss of their goods, by long imprisonment, or harsh beatings, though at last they died in peace. Therefore, no outward savagery of the wicked was strong enough to disturb the spiritual tranquility of these and all the other holy martyrs, even though their members were tormented with every sort of torture, and to every degree. In these the Lord has given use both a defense and an example, so that we may be helped by the protection of their prayers, and be encouraged by the perseverance of their constant faith to overcome all temptations.
The chapel of St Eusebius in the cathedral of Vercelli, Italy, where he served as bishop from 340-71. Eusebius was one of the very first Western Saints to be venerated as a martyr because of the lengthy exile he suffered, although he did not die by shedding his blood. (Below, a closer view of the reliquary above the main altar.)
Memento etiam, Dómine, famulórum famularumque tuárum N.et N. qui nos praecessérunt cum signo fídei, et dormiunt in somno pacis.
Ipsis, Dómine, et ómnibus in Christo quiescéntibus, locum refrigerii, lucis et pacis, ut indúlgeas, deprecámur. Per eundem Christum Dóminum nostrum. Amen.
Which I translate as:
Remember also, O Lord, Thy servants and handmaids N. et N., who are gone before us with the sign of Faith and rest in the sleep of peace.
We beg that You indulge these, O Lord, and all who rest in Christ, with a place of refreshment, light, and peace. Through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.
The language mirrors that which is in the standard Catholic prayer for the faithful departed: “Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace.” What the Ipsis, Domine in particular adds is the notion of refreshment or refrigerium, a word upon which we dwell in this essay at some length.
The Ipsis, Domine is of special interest to those who are curious about what is lost in translation since one of its expressions was used by the liturgical reformers of the 1960s as a reason to reject literal translations of the sacred liturgy, and to embrace what would come to be called “dynamic equivalence.” On January 25, 1969, the Consilium for Implementing the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy issued “Comme le Prevoit – On the Translation of Liturgical Texts for Celebrations with a Congregation.” The document, which argues that translations should be “suited to the greater number of the faithful who speak it in everyday use, even ‘children and persons of small education’” (15a) (might we dare say “baby talk”?) includes the following clause:
The metaphors must be changed to keep the true sense, as in locum refrigerii in northern regions. (23b)
The authors are referring to the fact that refrigerium literally refers to a “cooling” since it is from the verb refrigero, “to cool off” (hence the name for our modern appliance, the refrigerator). Their assumption is that the idea of a cool space only appeals to people in hot climates, and so the metaphor needs to be changed for colder parts of the globe. [1]
Whether that assumption is valid is debatable. When describing the “small but richly diverse world” of his character Virginia Troy, who lives in the northern regions of England and Scotland, Evelyn Waugh writes approvingly that it “was one of coolness, light and peace”—an obvious allusion to this prayer. [2] A locum refrigerii can also refer not to the temperature of a room but to a place that provides a cool, refreshing drink, which appeals to anyone who has been working outside and develops a hot thirst, even in the coldest of weather (see illustration below).
According to Comme le Prevoit, he should not be enjoying that.
There are four other problems as well with Comme le Prevoit 23b. First, refrigerium does not only mean coolness and therefore does not require a radical reinterpretation based on climate. Second, even if it did, every Apostolic liturgy, in imitation of the Incarnation itself, has some “scandal of particularity.” Third, the particular “scandal” of refrigerium is that it is ideally suited to designate the remedy for the souls in Purgatory. Fourth, a locum refrigerii is not, as the authors of Comme le Prevoit presume, a metaphor at all but another “scandalously” particular allusion.
1. The Christian Meaning of Refrigerium
It is true that refrigerium denotes coolness. In the devilishly godly humor of (Eastern Orthodox believer) Jason Peters, locum refrigerii is code for the kitchen – “whence all sickness, sorrow, and sighing have fled” – in part because it is where “Mr. Freezer” gets to meet “Mr. Martini glass.” [3] Peters even makes full use of the Ipsis, Domine, albeit in a way its pious author(s) never intended:
You ignore [Walker Percy’s essay] on bourbon at your own peril. One thing you’ll miss out on is Uncle Will’s mint julep recipe, to say nothing of Percy on the topic of college girls and nurses, where he’s without rival among the writers of the century he graced and helped make bearable. Ipsis, Domine, et Walker Percy et omnibus in Christo quiescentibus, locum refrigerii, lucis, pacis et bourbon, ut indulgeas, deprecamur. Per eumdem Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen. [4]
But as this citation illustrates, locum refrigerii can also mean a place of refreshment and consolation, and indeed it has had this usage in ecclesiastical Latin since the days of Tertullian. In his Apologeticus, Tertullian even uses the word in the same way as the Ipsis, Dominine, that is, as a description of the Beatific Vision. Christian beliefs about the afterlife, he writes,
make all who believe them better men and women, under the fear of eternal punishment and the hope of eternal refreshment [refrigerium].[5]
The Vulgate translation of the Bible also employs the broader definition of refrigerium:
Thou hast set men over our heads. We have passed through fire and water, and thou hast brought us out into a refreshment [refrigerium]. (Psalm 65, 12)
For they have said, reasoning with themselves, but not right: ‘The time of our life is short and tedious, and in the end of a man there is no remedy [refrigerium], and no man hath been known to have returned from Hell.’ (Wisdom 2, 1)
To whom he said: ‘This is my rest, refresh the weary, and this is my refreshing [refrigerium].’ And they would not hear. (Isaiah 28, 12)
The Lord give mercy to the house of Onesiphorus: because he hath often refreshed [refrigeravit] me, and hath not been ashamed of my chain. (2 Timothy 1, 16)
Curiously, the Consilium that issued Comme le Prevoit seems entirely unaware of the Christian usage of the word, fixating only on its original, pagan meaning. Other Catholics, however, were aware of the word’s deeper meaning. Evelyn Waugh includes a breathtaking description of a skydive in his Sword of Honour trilogy:
Guy jumped. For a second, as the rush of air hit him, he lost consciousness. Then he came to himself, his senses purged of the noise and smell and throb of the machine. The hazy November sun enveloped him in golden light. His solitude was absolute. He experienced rapture, something as near as his earthbound soul could reach to a foretaste of paradise, locum refrigerii, lucis et pacis. The aeroplane seemed as far distant as will, at the moment of death, the spinning earth. As though he had cast the constraining bonds of flesh and muscle and nerve, he found himself floating free… He was a free spirit in an element as fresh as on the day of its creation. [6]
Several (though not all) official translations of the Mass also evince a greater awareness of the Christian meaning of refrigerium. The 2011 English translation has “a place of refreshment, light, and peace,” replacing the earlier translation inspired by Comme le Prevoit: “May these…find in your presence light, happiness, and peace.” [7] The Missal in use in Mexico is similar to the improved 2011 English edition: concédeles el lugar del consuelo, de la luz y de la paz.[8]
2. Scandal of Particularity
A second point to be considered is that Christianity, and Judaism before it, radiates outward from what theologians call the “scandal of the particular.” [9] In the Old Testament, the Lord God chose Abraham and his seed out of all other nations to be His Chosen People. In the New, the eternal Word of God chose to take flesh in the Person of Jesus Christ, the foster son of a carpenter in the “fly over” town of Nazareth at a particular historical epoch, when the Romans had conquered much of the known world.
Apostolic liturgies followed suit, reveling in the cultural context in which they first received the Gospel. In the Byzantine Rite, homage is paid to St. John Chrysostom, the patriarch of their liturgy. In the Armenian Rite, it is St. Gregory the Illuminator. In the Roman Rite, it is the new founders of Christian Rome, Saints Peter and Paul, as one sees in the Confiteor and elsewhere. Apostolic liturgies do not abstract from the particular hands that bequeathed them the universal Gospel (itself a product of particular Revelation) but add them to the narrative, thereby providing a concrete link between our current age and that of the Apostles. As Pope Benedict XVI writes in his memoirs:
It was becoming more and more clear to me that here I was encountering a reality that no one had simply thought up, a reality that no official authority or great individual had created. This mysterious fabric of texts and actions had grown from the faith of the Church over the centuries. It bore the whole weight of history within itself, and yet, at the same time, it was much more than the product of human history. [10]
The traditional Roman Rite bears the whole weight of its Roman history, which is why it contains “metaphors” of coolness coming from a hot climate, and which is why it metaphorically conceives of the North as the realm of heathenism (the Germans!) when it points the celebrant northward to proclaim the Gospel, towards the barbarians on the other side of the Alps. Such particularity is not to be disdained but honored in an incarnational religion.
3. Souls in Purgatory
A third consideration is that the Ipsis, Domine is a prayer for the poor souls in Purgatory, and a petition to grant them a place of refreshment is a suitable remedy for their condition. As Fr. Martin Jugie writes in his classic Purgatory and the Means to Avoid It, the Magisterium has never formally defined Purgatory as a realm of fire, but it is by far the most common way to imagine it. [11] Western Christian art most often depicts Purgatory as such, and so does private revelation. In every vision that Saint Faustina had of Purgatory or of a soul in it, flames were involved. Indeed, Faustina describes Purgatory in her journal as “a misty place full of fire.” And if Purgatory is a misty place full of fire, then the antidote, so to speak, is a lightsome and peaceful place of refreshment. Appropriately, when Salvian of Marseilles (d. 480) discusses the Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus, when the damned Dives asks for Lazarus to “dip the tip of his finger in water, to cool [his] tongue, for [he is] tormented in this flame,” (Luke 16, 24) he calls it a petition for a “drop of refreshment” (gutta refrigerii). [12]
Souls in the flames of Purgatory, 15th century Missal
4. Not a Metaphor
Finally, the Consilium authors assume that locum refrigerii is a metaphor when in fact it is an allusion to a historic location.
During the Roman persecutions of Christianity, the sacred sites where Saints were martyred or buried and the places where the faithful gathered to celebrate Mass were not one and the same. And when the persecutions ceased, this custom of maintaining separate places continued for a while. At martyrs’ shrines like Saint Lawrence Outside the Walls and Saint Agnes in Rome, there were two buildings: a smaller basilica ad corpus where the bones of the martyr were kept and a larger basilica major or coemeterium, a roofed cemetery where Christians were either interred in the ground or in mausolea. The basilica major was occasionally used for the celebration of Mass, but its main function was to house funerary banquets. Despite the protests of some Church Fathers like Saints Ambrose and Augustine, these banquets were enormously popular among early Christians. And the name of these banquets? A refrigerium. [13] There is, then, an actual historical locum refrigerii: it is the basilica major or coemeterium. The Ipsis, Domine, then,is essentially praying that the souls of the faithful departed may rest as peacefully as their bodies do in the places where funerary banquets are held, surrounded by joy and confidence.
Saint Lawrence Outside the Walls in the fourth century.
Conclusion
The Consilium’s disregard of the aforementioned considerations calls to mind an additional scriptural verse containing the word we have been tracing:
Thus saith the Lord: ‘Stand ye on the ways, and see and ask for the old paths which is the good way, and walk ye in it, and you shall find refreshment for your souls.’ And they said: ‘We will not walk.’ (Jeremiah 6, 16)
Notes
[1] Some readers may wish to forgive the Northern-Hemisphere bias of this statement, which ignores the cold southernmost regions of the Southern Hemisphere, e.g., Chile, Argentina, Australia, etc.
[3] Jason Peters, The Culinary Plagiarist: (Mis)Adventures of a Lusty, Thieving,
God-Fearing Gourmand (Eugene, Oregon: Front Porch Republic Books, 2020), 209; see also 203.
[4] Peters, 234.
[5] Apologeticus 49.2. See 39.16, where Tertullian uses the word to describe the post-liturgical agape meal designed to refresh the poor.
[6] Evelyn Waugh, 102.
[7] For the 1985 Missal, see The Roman Missal (New York: Catholic Book Publishing, 1985), p. 547; for the 2011 Missal, see The Roman Missal, 3rd ed. (Washington, DC: USCCB Publishing, 2011), p. 642. The French and Italian translations are similar to the 1985 English Missal even though as southern regions they should not have to “change the metaphor”: Qu’ils demeurent dans la joie, lumière et la paix. (Missel Romain, 3rd. ed. [MAME Desclée, 2001], p. 473, no. 95) and la beatitudine, la luce e la pace (Messale Romano, 3rd ed. [Fond.ne di Religione San Francesco d’Assisi E Ca, 2020], p. 627), resp.
[8] Misal Romano (2017), p. 92, no. 95.
[9] See Peter Kwasniewski, The Once and Future Roman Rite, (Gastonia, NC:
TAN Books, 2023), p. 228, n. 15.
[10] Joseph Ratzinger, Milestones: Memoirs 1927–1977, trans. Erasmo Leiva- Merikakis (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1998), 20.
[11] Purgatory and the Means to Avoid It (Fortin Collins, Colorado: Roman Catholic Books, 2022),15. Nor has the Church weighed in on whether this fire is to be taken literally or as an ardent pain.
[12] Salvianus Massiliensis, Adversus avaritiam 3.11.
[13] See Kelsey Anne Bell, “The Use of Sacred Space in Hellenistic, Roman, and Christian Religious Sites” (Baylor University Honors Thesis, May 2015), pp. 30-49.
From the Breviary according to the use of the Roman Curia, 1529, the continuation of the sermon for the second day in the Octave of All Saints.
But now let us turn to those in the New Testament whom the waters of baptism and the shedding of the Christ’s Blood washed clean from the error of their fathers’ sin, and from the squalor of the ancient manner of the gentiles, by the grace of the Holy Spirit. Blessed are the eyes of those who merited to see Christ coming in the flesh (Luke 10, 23). The blessed Apostles and disciples had their share in this happy vision and the redemption that was wrought by the precious blood, and imparted it to others. As princes of the Church and founders of the faith, models of the saints and judges of the earth, they have illuminated the whole world with the holiness, their teaching, and their miracles. So great did they show themselves to the world in their holiness, their miracles and their suffering, that they drew every sort of men to hear and wonder at them.
Christ and the Twelve Apostles, by the Master of Seu d’Urgell, ca. 1100. Altar panel, now in the Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya in Barcelona. (Public domainimage from Wikimedia Commons.)
On All Souls’ Day, I posted a description of the Ambrosian Requiem Mass; as a follow-up, here is a description of the Ambrosian Absolution at the catafalque.
When the Mass is over, the celebrant and major ministers go to the Epistle side and remove their maniples; the celebrant removes his chasuble and dons a black cope. They then process out to the catafalque and stand at the head of it, preceded by two acolytes, one carrying the thurible and boat, and the other the holy water vessel and aspergil. In the meantime, the following antiphons are sung; the ninth, “In paradisum”, is sung only for the funeral of a bishop, priest or deacon. The music for these is quite simple, much of it with only one note per syllable, and the total length by note-count is less than that of the responsory Libera me which is sung at the Roman Absolution. (There are a number of other rites in the Ambrosian liturgy at which several antiphons are sung in a row without psalmody in this fashion, e.g. the Rogation days.)
Usque in vita mea laudavi te,
Domine: da requiem mihi cum
Sanctis tuis in regione vivorum,
et salva me.
In my life I have always praised
Thee, o Lord; grant me rest with
Thy Saints in the land of the living,
and save me.
Memorare, Domine, quae sit
mea substantia; quis est homo
qui vivit, et non videbit mor-
tem?
Remember, O Lord, what I am
made of; what man liveth, and
shall not see death?
Adhaesit pavimento anima mea:
vivifica me, Domine, secundum
verbum tuum.
My soul hath cleaved to the pave-
ment: quicken Thou me according
to thy word. Ps. 118, 25
Portio mea in terra viventium:
me expectant justi, donec retri-
buas mihi.
My portion in the land of the living;
the just wait for me, until Thou re-
ward me. Ps. 141, 6 & 8
Vide, Domine, humilitatem me-
am, et dimitte omnia peccata
mea.
See, o Lord, my abjection, and for-
give all my sins. Ps. 24, 18
Tu jussisti nasci me, Domine;
repromisisti, ut resurgerem.
Jussione tua venio, Sanctissime;
ne derelinquas me, quia pius es.
Thou didst command me to be born,
o Lord, that I might rise again. At
Thy command I come, o most
Holy one; abandon me not, for
Thou art gracious.
Credo, quod Dominus non me
derelinquet, nec condemnabit
me, cum venerit ad judicandum,
sed miserebitur mei Redemptor
meus, pius Deus.
I believe that the Lord will not
abandon me, nor condemn me,
when He shall come to judge, but
my Redeemer, the gracious God,
will have mercy on me.
Etenim pauci fuerunt dies mei;
da mihi requiem cum Sanctis
tuis, Domine.
And indeed my days have been few;
give me rest with Thy Saints, o
Lord.
In paradisum deducant te An-
geli, et cum gaudio suscipiant
te sancti Martyres Dei.
May the Angels lead thee into Para-
dise, and may the holy Martyrs of
God receive thee with joy.
Tu es, Domine, protector meus;
in manus tuas, Domine, com-
mendo spiritum meum.
Thou art my protector, o Lord; into
Thy hands, o Lord, I commend my
spirit. Ps. 30, 5-6
In the following video, the antiphons are sung (from 0:36 to 4:43) alternating between the women’s and men’s sections of the choir; In paradisum is included, with the object “te” changed to the plural “vos”.
Once the antiphons are finished, the deacon intones another: “Redemptor meus vivit, * et in novissimo me renovabit. V. Renovabuntur denuo ossa mea, et in carne mea videbo Dominum Deum. – My Redeemer liveth, and at the end he shall renew me. V. My bones shall be renewed again, and in my flesh I shall see the Lord my God.” (Job 19, 25-26) This is a rare example of an “antiphona duplex”, an antiphon which is sung in full both before and after the psalm; the two parts (before and after the V.) are sung by two groups within the choir. The choir then begins Psalm 50, and the celebrant imposes incense in the thurible without blessing it.
At the verse “Asperges me hyssopo”, the celebrant takes the aspergil, and accompanied by the acolytes, who hold up the ends of the cope, he makes a circuit around the catafalque as in the Roman Rite, sprinkling each side of it with holy water three times. At the same time, the deacon takes the thurible and, walking immediately behind him, incenses the catafalque three times on each side. They return together to their place at the head of the catafalque. When the psalm is finished (without Gloria Patri or Requiem aeternam, neither of which is said with the psalms and canticles in the Office of the Dead), and the antiphon repeated, the celebrant says “Dominus vobiscum”, and a prayer appropriate to the occasion.
The deacon incensing the catafalque.
There follows a responsory from the Office of the Dead, which is also sung at the Requiem Mass as the Psalmellus, the Ambrosian equivalent of the Gradual. The rubric lectoris indicates that the chant is to be led by a lector; there are many parts of the Ambrosian liturgy which are assigned to specific members of the clergy or choir in this way.
Responsorium lectoris Qui suscitasti Lazarum quatriduanum foetidum, tu dona eis requiem, et locum indulgentiae. V. Requiem aeternam dona eis, Dómine: et lux perpétua lúceat eis. Tu dona eis requiem, et locum indulgentiae. – Thou who raised Lazarus that stank on the fourth day, grant to them rest, and a place of indulgence. Eternal rest grant to them, o Lord; and let perpetual light shine upon them. Grant to them rest, and a place of indulgence.
However, on All Souls’ Day, and at the Requiem of bishops, including the Pope, and on their anniversaries, the following is sung instead.
Responsorium diaconi Rogamus te, Domine Deus, quia peccavimus tibi: veniam petimus quam non meremur. * Manum tuam porrige lapsis, qui latroni confitenti paradisi januas aperuisti V. Vita nostra in dolore suspirat, et in opere non emendat: si expectas, non corripimur, et si vindicas, non duramus. Manum tuam... – We ask Thee, Lord God, because we have sinned against Thee: we seek forgiveness, which we do not deserve. * Stretch out Thy hand to the fallen, Who didst open the gates of Paradise to the thief that confessed. V. Our life sigheth in sorrow, and emendeth not in deed; if Thou forbear, we are not reproved, and if Thou avenge, we cannot endure. Stretch out ...
The celebrant and servers standing at the head of the catafalque. This absolution was celebrated at the end of a Requiem Mass for our departed friend Mons. Angelo Amodeo, with our own Nicola dei Grandi serving as the master of ceremonies.
After the responsory, a special form of the Litany of the Saints is said, with all present kneeling. Two cantors begin with “Domine, miserere – Lord, have mercy” three times, each repeated by the choir, then “Christe, libera nos – Christ, deliver us” three times, to which the choir answers “Salvator, libera nos – o Savior, deliver us.” The names of the Saints are then sung by the cantors, to which all others answer “intercede pro eo (ea, eis).” In the Roman Rite, the list of the Saints in the litany is always the same, although other names may be added by immemorial custom; in the Ambrosian Rite, the Saints named in the litany change from one occasion to another. At the Absolution, after the Virgin Mary, the three Archangels are named, followed by Ss John the Baptist and Joseph, and the Apostles Peter, Paul, and Andrew; the martyrs Stephen, Lawrence, Vincent, Nazarius, Celsus, Protasius, Gervasius, George and Sebastian; the Virgin Martyrs Thecla, Catherine, Lucy, Apollonia, Agnes, Euphemia, Cecilia and Ursula; then Martha, Mary Magdalene, and Anne; the bishops Dionysius, Simplician, Eustorgius, Pope Gregory the Great and Augustine; the confessors Jerome, Anthony, and Martin; then Galdinus, Charles Borromeo, and Ambrose, who always conclude the litanies in the Ambrosian Rite, and lastly, “All ye Saints.” The litany ends with three repetitions of “Exaudi, Christe. R. Voces nostras. Exaudi, Deus. R. Et miserere nobis.”, (Hear, o Christ, our voices. Hear o God, and have mercy on us.), and three Kyrie eleisons. (In the first video, it runs from 10:07 to 13:17, sung in an abbreviated form.)
As in the Roman Rite, the celebrant makes the sign of the Cross over the catafalque, saying “Requiem aeternam dona ei (eis) Domine. R. Et lux perpetua luceat ei (eis).” He adds “Anima istius, et animae omnium fidelium defunctorum per misericordiam Dei requiescant in pace. R. Amen.” The celebrant and ministers then all return in procession to the sacristy.
From the Breviary according to the use of the Roman Curia, 1529, the continuation of the sermon for the second day in the Octave of All Saints.
And because this venerable day is dedicated to all the Saints that have been born since the beginning of the world, we must not think it unknown to the ancient fathers, who shone forth with many signs and wonders, curing men of their infirmities, delivering them from every evil, and raising their bodies from the dead. They closed heaven, holding back the rains, and in mercy opened it again. They wept for the sins of the people, setting themselves against the avenging thereof, placating and appeasing the Lord’s wrath. Taught by the Lord, they foretold the Birth of Christ from the Virgin, His Passion and Resurrection, His Ascension unto Heaven, the coming of the Holy Spirit, and the judgment that shall come to pass at the end of the world. And most assuredly do we believe them to also partake in this venerable festivity, and have a share therein.
A relief sculpture of the prophet Isaiah, holding a scroll with the first two words of the prophecy “Behold a virgin shall conceive” (7, 14); on the pulpit of the cathedral of St Clement in Teano, Italy. (Image from Wikimedia Commons by Pufui PcPifpef, CC BY-SA 4.0)
Following up on a post from last week, here are some photographs of the Mass celebrated by His Eminence Raymond Cardinal Burke on Saturday, October 25th, in St Peter’s basilica in Rome, as part of the annual Summorum Pontificum Pilgrimage. The Mass was attended by more than 3,000 people from all over the world. Dr Joseph Shaw, President of Una Voce International and Chairman of the Latin Mass Society, stated “As part of the organising coalition, we are delighted not only with the numbers, but with the welcome from the officials and staff at the Basilica, who went to great trouble to accommodate numbers which exceeded everyone’s expectations. Pope Leo has shown a truly pastoral heart in giving permission for this Mass, and Catholics attached to the ancient Mass have responded with great enthusiasm to this opportunity to show their unity with the Holy Father.”
These pictures were taken by Don Elvir Tabaković, a former professional photographer from Croatia who is now in religious life, and putting his skills to excellent use in the service of the Church. This set includes some very impressive shots taken from up in the cupola of the basilica. Our thanks to Cardinal Burke for his paternal solicitude for the faithful who love the traditional liturgy - ad multos annos!
The pilgrims pass through the piazza to enter the basilica.
Cardinal Burke reads the vesting prayers in the sacristy.
From the Breviary according to the use of the Roman Curia, 1529, the continuation of the sermon for the second day in the Octave of All Saints.
Since the fall of the holy Angels was to be made good by their dealings with men, and for this reason they rejoice in the conversion of sinners, longing for the salvation of men, and willingly submit themselves to the will (of men), we must likewise raise our prayers up to them. Oh! if someone had his eyes open, as the prophet by praying opened up those of his servant (4 Kings 6, 17-20), he would see how princes go forth joined with singers (Psalm 67, 26), he would see with what care and solemnity they dance among them, are present to their prayers, are in the midst of their meditations, surround them as they rest, guide those that rule and serve. Therefore, since we know that they so graciously visit those who lie in dung and mud, and joyfully gather them into the heavenly fatherland, it is worthy that we strive to invite them to the joy of our solemnity.
The Assumption of the Virgin Mary, with Music-making Angels, 1340, by the Sienese painter Lippo Memmi (1291 ca. - 1365)
This somewhat opaque passage seems to require a brief translator’s note, since the very clever rhetoric of the Latin original does not translate well into English. The words of Psalm 67, “Praevenerunt principes conjuncti psallentibus – Princes went before joined with singers ” are understood to mean Angels joined to the choirs of men as the latter sing God’s praises. In Latin, each of the verbs that follows, describing the actions of the Angels (“they dance… guide them”) is a compound of the verb “esse – to be”: “intersint cantantibus, adsint orationibus, insint meditantibus, supersint quiescentibus, ordinantibus et procurantibus praesint.” This beautifully expresses the idea that in every aspect of our religious life, we accompanied by the presence of the Holy Angels.
I was recently asked about resources for learning about the symbolism traditionally used in Christian sacred art. These are the books I recommended my inquirer read, which might also be of interest to some of you. I would be happy to hear about any other good sources you can recommend.
If you are after books on the symbolism in Christian art, I would go for the following, starting with foundational references and progressing to more specialized liturgical and narrative sources:
First, Signs and Symbols in Christian Art by George Ferguson, which lists individual symbols, e.g., the lily represents purity. Next, the Getty Museum has published a series of excellent books, which are particularly valuable because they focus on particular images and explain the content—for example, paintings of particular saints or feasts of the Roman liturgy.
Another resource is the Golden Legend, or Legenda Aurea, which is a medieval compilation of 153 hagiographies of saints, written around 1298 by Jacobus de Voragine, a Dominican friar and later Archbishop of Genoa. (A modern publication of this by Princeton University Press has an introduction by Eamon Duffy). Intended to edify and encourage devotion, it combines historical accounts, legends, and moral lessons, becoming one of the most influential and widely disseminated books of the Late Middle Ages in Europe, and a huge influence on popular piety. Some of the details from the lives of the saints are contested by contemporary historians, but if, like me, you are not concerned about contradicting the judgements of those who doubt tradition and promote the historical-critical method, then there is much of value here.
Finally, I often pray the Canons (or at least sections of them), which are hymns sung at Orthros (Morning Prayer), in the Byzantine Rite. You can start by looking at these books, called the Festal Menaion and the Sunday Octoechos. The Canons are poetic commentaries on the Old Testament canticles that relate to the feast being celebrated. They were written mostly in the 7th, 8th, and 9th centuries, and reflect earlier commentaries and homilies of the Church Fathers. Contained within them are many Old Testament prototypes for Mary and Christ, which reflect the basis of much traditional imagery across all Christian churches, Roman and Orthodox. For example, I wrote an article on the Marian imagery embedded within the icon of the Hospitality of Abraham, and Mary as the Tree of Life, which Bears the Sweet Fruit, which were derived from my praying of these canons.
I find allegories and symbols described in these hymns for which, as far as I am aware, there are no images currently, but which could become images in the future. For example, I wrote an article on one, Mary, as the Untilled Field That Bears the ‘Wheat Divine’.
From the Breviary according to the use of the Roman Curia, 1529, the continuation of the sermon for the second day in the Octave of All Saints.
Since the most blessed Virgin Mary, by a miracle beyond our understanding, became the handmaid of man through the divinity, and the mother of the Word through the flesh, and since She is accordingly our most sure refuge, and also has made ready for us our eternal reward, She merits the constant and everlasting love of our devotion. Taught by Her example, holy virgins strive with great zeal to conform themselves to Her in their actions. Not only in regards to the purity of virginity, but also in the richness of their progeny have they sought to follow Mary, as by the seed of the Divine Word, which is watered by sacred discourse, and by fervent and fruitful prayer, they bear spiritual children, and thus have they gathered a fruitful harvest into the granary of the Lord.
The Virgin and Child with Ss Catherine and Barbara, early 1480s, by Hans Memling (1433 ca. - 1494)
It is generally the case that minority liturgical traditions to various degrees adopt the customs of the majority traditions with which they live in close proximity, and the Ambrosian Rite is no exception. One of the places where it has been most evidently Romanized is in its liturgy for the dead; both the Mass and Office have incorporated several features of the Roman Rite, and in some cases, have retained the specifically Roman form of those features, even where it might just as easily been conformed to the normal pattern of the Ambrosian Rite. Here we will sum up the proper texts of the Ambrosian Requiem Mass; the ritual features (e.g. the use of black vestments, omission of the Peace, etc.) are not sufficiently different to call for much comment. The two photos here were provided by Nicola; a follow-up post will describe the Ambrosian form of the Absolution at the catafalque.
Mass for all the faithful departed celebrated in the Ambrosian Rite on November 2, 2022, in the church of Santa Maria della Consolazione in Milan.
The Ambrosian equivalent of the Introit is called the Ingressa, and is sung without a Psalm verse, Gloria Patri, or repetition. At the Requiem Mass, however, it is identical to the Roman form, with the addition of the single word “Domine” to the Psalm verse. (In the Missal, the Psalm verse is called “Psalmellus”, which is also the name of the Ambrosian equivalent of the Gradual.)
Requiem aeternam dona eis, Dómine: et lux perpétua lúceat eis. Psalmellus (Ps. 64, 2-3) Te decet hymnus, Deus, in Sion, et tibi reddétur votum in Jerúsalem: exaudi oratiónem meam, Dómine, ad te omnis caro veniet. Réquiem… – Eternal rest grant to them, o Lord; and let perpetual light shine upon them. Ps. A hymn becometh thee, o God in Sion: and to Thee shall a vow shall be paid in Jerusalem. Hear Thou my prayer, o Lord: all flesh shall come to thee. Eternal rest…
The Ambrosian Mass has no Kyrie, so the first prayer, called the “super populum”, follows immediately. (The prayers are always introduced by “Dominus vobiscum” and “Et cum spiritu tuo”, but “Oremus” is not said.) The prayers of the first two Masses on November 2nd are the same as in the Roman Rite; at the third it is as follows. “Praesta, quaesumus, Domine, animabus famulorum famularumque tuarum misericordiam sempiternam; ut mortalibus nexibus expeditas, lux eas aeterna possideat. – Grant, we ask, o Lord, eternal mercy to the souls of Thy servants and handmaids; that, being set free from mortal bonds, the eternal light may keep them.”
At the first and second Masses, there are three Scriptural readings, at the third only two. The Old Testament readings of the first two Masses are 2 Maccabees 12, 43-46 (the Epistle of the Roman second Mass and anniversary Mass), and Job 14, 13-16 (the sixth reading of Roman Matins of the Dead).
The Psalmellus which follows is uniquely Ambrosian, and one of the very few not taken from the Psalms; it is also sung as a responsory in the Office of the Dead in Lent.
Psalmellus Qui suscitasti Lazarum quatriduanum foetidum, tu dona eis requiem, et locum indulgentiae. V. Requiem aeternam dona eis, Dómine: et lux perpétua lúceat eis. Tu dona eis requiem, et locum indulgentiae. – Thou who raised Lazarus that stank on the fourth day, grant to them rest, and a place of indulgence. Eternal rest grant to them, o Lord; and let perpetual light shine upon them. Grant to them rest, and a place of indulgence.
The Epistle readings of the three Masses are as follows:
– 1 Corinthians 15, 51-57 (the Epistle of the Roman first Mass, and the burial Mass of priests)
– 1 Thessalonians 4, 13-18 (the Epistle of the Roman burial Mass for non-priests)
– Apocalypse 14, 13 (the Epistle of the Roman third Mass, also said at the daily Requiem)
The Ambrosian equivalent of the Tract is called a Cantus; the repertoire of these chants for ferial days is very small, and they are all very short. The one used at the Requiem Masses is also sung on the Thursdays of Lent, and consists of only the first four words of Psalm 101, “Domine exaudi orationem meam. – Lord, hear my prayer.” (Coincidentally, I suppose, in chant it is exactly 101 notes long.)
The Ambrosian Rite never adopted the Sequence, and so the Gospel follows immediately after the Cantus. The Gospels of the first Mass is John 5, 25-29, the same as at the Roman first Mass; those of the second and third Masses, John 6, 44-47 and 5, 21-24, are specifically Ambrosian.
Following the Gospel, the Ambrosian Mass has a series of features which have no true analog in the Roman Mass. The priest says “Dominus vobiscum”, to which the choir replies “Et cum spiritu tuo. Kyrie eleison, Kyrie eleison, Kyrie eleison,” and then sings an antiphon called “post Evangelium – after the Gospel.” At a Requiem, however, the three Kyrie eleisons are omitted, and the antiphon is quite short. “Requiem sanctam dona eis, Dómine: et lux misericordiae lúceat eis. – Holy rest grant to them, o Lord; and let the light of mercy shine upon them.”
During the antiphon, the deacon spreads the corporal in its place on the altar; he then turns to the people and says “Pacem habete”, to which the choir answers “Ad te, Domine”, but this is also omitted at a Requiem. The priest then says “Dominus vobiscum” again, followed by a prayer called “super sindonem – over the shroud.” The form of this prayer is the same as that of the Roman Collect, and there are many Ambrosian Masses in which it is the same as the Roman Collect of the same day. The “super sindonem” of the Third Mass, however, is used in the Roman Rite as a Post-Communion prayer for several deceased. “Deus, cui soli cómpetit medicínam praestáre post mortem: praesta, quáesumus; ut ánimae famulórum famularumque tuárum, terrenis exútae contagiis, in tuae redemptiónis parte aggregentur: Qui vivis. – O God, to Whom alone it belongeth to grant healing after death; grant, we ask, that the souls of Thy servants and handmaids, being rid of earthly contagion, may be joined unto the portion of Thy redemption. Who livest.”
The Offertory chant of the first Mass is the same as the Roman one, with one very small variant that hardly changes the sense (“laci” instead of “lacu”), and the music has many similarities. At the second and third Masses, however, an entirely different chant is used, which is also said at the daily and anniversary Requiems.
Libera me, Domine Deus, in die illa tremenda judicii: quando Angeli offerent tibi chirógrapha peccatorum hominum. V. Miserere mei, Deus, miserere mei; quoniam in te confidit anima: quando Angeli… – Deliver me, Lord God, on that fearful day of judgment, when the Angels shall offer Thee the writing-down of the sins of men. V. Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me: for my soul trusteth in thee. When the Angels …
The incensation at the Offertory during a traditional Ambrosian Requiem Mass; note that the deacon wears his stole on top of the dalmatic. The Ambrosian custom is to hold the chasuble very high during the incensations, parallel to the floor.
The Ambrosian equivalent of the Secret is introduced by “Dominus vobiscum” like the other prayers, and is said outloud. Those of the first and second Masses are the same as in the Roman Rite; that of the third is taken from the Ambrosian daily Requiem for several deceased. “Hostias tibi, Domine, humili supplicatione deferimus: ut animae famulorum famularumque tuarum per haec piae placationis officia tuam misericordiam consequantur. Per. – We bring Thee offerings o Lord, with humble supplication, that the souls of Thy servants and handmaids, by this holy office of propitiation, may obtain Thy mercy. Through…”
The Preface for the Dead is attested in many ancient Roman sacramentaries, and inspired the neo-Gallican preface of the 1738 Parisian Missal, which Pope Benedict XV later added to the Roman Missal.
Qui es assumptor animarum sanctarum. Quamvis enim mortis humano generi illata conditio pectora humana mentesque contristet: tamen clementiae tuae dono spe futurae immortalitatis erigimur, et memores salutis aeternae, non timemus lucis huius subire dispendium. Quia misericordiae tuae munere fidelibus vita mutatur, non tollitur: et in timoris tui observatione defunctis domicilium perpetuae felicitatis acquiritur. Tibi igitur, clementissime Pater, preces supplices fundimus, et maiestatem tuam devotis mentibus exoramus, ut animae famulorum famularumque tuarum, quorum diem Commemorationis celebramus, mortis vinculis absolutae transitum mereantur ad vitam: et in ovium tibi placitarum benedictione, aeternum numerentur ad regnum. Per Christum.
Truly it is worthy… Who receivest the holy souls. For although the condition of death brought upon the human race saddeneth human hearts and minds, nevertheless by the gift of Thy clemency, we are raised up in the hope of future immortality; and mindful of eternal salvation, we do not fear to undergo the loss of the light of this world; fecause by the gift of Thy mercy, life is changed for the faithful, not taken away, and in keeping the fear of Thee, a place of everlasting happiness is obtained for the dead. To Thee, therefore, most clement Father, we humbly pour forth our prayers, and beseech Thy majesty with devout hearts, that the souls of Thy servants and handmaids, whose day of commemoration we celebrate, may be set free from the bonds of death, and merit to pass over to life, and in the blessing of the sheep that have pleased Thee, be numbered unto the eternal kingdom.
The Fraction is done immediately after the Canon, while the choir sings an antiphon called the Confractorium; the text at the Requiem Mass is based on the reading of the Apocalypse listed above, and is also said as the versicle of Roman Vespers and Lauds of the Dead. “Audivi vocem de caelo dicentem: Beati mortui qui in Domino moriuntur. – I heard a voice from heaven, saying: Blessed are the dead, who die in the Lord.”
As in the Roman Rite, the Peace is not given in a Requiem Mass. The Ambrosian Rite does not normally have the Agnus Dei, but in a Requiem, it is said, with a longer addition to the third invocation. “Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccáta mundi: dona eis requiem * sempiternam, et locum indulgentiae cum Sanctis tuis in gloria. – Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, grant them rest * everlasting, and a place of forgiveness with Thy Saints in glory.”
The final proper chant of the Mass, the equivalent of the Roman Communio, is called the Transitorium. The text from John 11, 25-26 is said in the Roman Rite as the Benedictus antiphon at Lauds of the Dead. “Ego sum resurrectio et vita : qui credit in me, etiam si mortuus fuerit, vivet: et omnis qui vivit et credit in me, non morietur in aeternum: dicit Dominus. – I am the Resurrection and the Life: he that believeth in Me, although he be dead, shall live: and every one that liveth, and believeth in Me, shall not die for ever, saith the Lord.”
The prayer “after Communion” is identical in form and function to the Roman prayer. That of the second Mass is not found in the Roman Missal. “Inclina, quaesumus, Domine, precibus nostris aures tuae pietatis, et animabus famulorum famularumque tuarum remissionem tribue omnium peccatorum: ut his sacrificiis purificati, consortio mereantur perfrui Beatorum. – Incline the ears of Thy mercy, we ask, o Lord, unto our prayers, and grant to the souls of Thy servants and handmaids forgiveness of all their sins; that, being purified by these sacrifices, they may merit to enjoy the company of the blessed.”
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