Lost in Translation #148
After the Memento and Ipsis, Domine, the priest prays:
Nobis quoque peccatóribus fámulis tuis, de multitúdine miseratiónum tuárum sperántibus, partem áliquam et societátem donáre dignéris, cum tuis sanctis Apóstolis et Martýribus: cum Joanne, Stéphano, Matthía, Bárnaba, Ignatio, Alexandro, Marcellíno, Petro, Felicitáte, Perpetua, Agatha, Lucia, Agnéte, Caecilia, Anastasia, et ómnibus Sanctis tuis: intra quorum nos consortium, non aestimátor mériti, sed veniae, quaesumus, largítor admitte. Per Christum Dóminum nostrum.
Which I translate as:
To us sinners as well, Thy servants hoping in the multitude of Thy mercies, deign to grant some part and fellowship with Thy holy Apostles and Martyrs: with John, Stephen, Matthias, Barnabas, Ignatius, Alexander, Marcellinus, Peter, Felicity, Perpetua, Agatha, Lucy, Agnes, Cecilia, Anastasia, and with all Thy Saints, into whose company, we beseech, admit us, not as an Assessor of merit but as a generous Bestower of pardon. Through Christ our Lord.
Having prayed for all other members of the Church Militant and the Church Suffering, the priest prays lastly for himself and for the other liturgical ministers, the servants of God’s house (famuli). [1] The 2011 ICEL translation renders the opening words “To us, also, your servants, who, though sinners…” but the Latin places the primary emphasis on their status as sinners: “To us sinners also, your servants…” The only time that the priest breaks the silence of the Canon besides the ending per omnia saecula saeculorum is to utter aloud the words nobis quoque peccatoribus as he strikes his breast. The historical reason for this anomaly is that the subdeacon formerly remained bowed down during the Canon; at the words nobis quoque peccatoribus, he straightened up and prepared for the fraction rite. When the Canon came to be recited silently, these three words needed to remain audible so that subdeacon could hear his prompt. [2]
But as with so many other elements of the Roman Rite, the historical or literal cause of a thing providentially yields a rich symbolic or allegorical meaning. In this case, the elevated volume and contrite gesture amplify and elucidate the prayer’s meaning. As with his Confiteor at the beginning of Mass, the priest leads his flock, in part, by public contrition. The medieval liturgist William Durandus sees even more. The elevated voice, he opines, calls to mind the confession of the centurion at the foot of the Cross (“Truly this was the Son of God”) as well as the contrition and confession of the Good Thief who was crucified at the same time as Our Lord. [3]
The Nobis quoque peccatoribus marks the second time in the Canon that a group of Saints is listed. In the Communicantes (which is also preceded by a Memento prayer), the Saints are organized in such a way as to stress the hierarchical nature of the Church, beginning with the Blessed Virgin Mary and descending from there according to ecclesiastical rank. In the Nobis quoque peccatoribus, the Saints are organized in such a way as to stress the charismatic nature of the Church, beginning with St. John the Baptist, who never held an ecclesiastical position but certainly had a charism as the prophet of the Most High, and continuing with seven male and seven female martyrs. [4]
The numbering is also significant. The Communicantes begins with the Blessed Virgin Mary and, before the insertion of St. Joseph’s name in 1962, continues with twelve Apostles and twelve martyrs, i.e., 1 + 12 + 12. The Nobis quoque peccatoribus begins with St. John the Baptist, followed by seven male martyrs and seven female, i.e., 1 + 7 + 7. [5] And, as Fr. Neil Roy observes, the placement of the Theotokos and the Precursor of the Lord at the head of each list (and on either side of the Consecration) creates a literary “deesis,” a triptych that depicts Christ flanked by His mother and His cousin. [6]
Deesis, Hagia Sophia
There are other differences as well. In the Communicantes, the priest describes “all here present” (omnes circumstantes) as communicating with (communicantes) the Saints before asking that their merits and prayers bring the help of God’s protection. In the Nobis quoque peccatoribus, the priest asks for communion with the Saints: first he asks for “some part and fellowship” with them, and then for their “company.” Some translations render communicantes in the first prayer as “in union with,” but if we are already in union with the Saints, why do we ask for fellowship with them here? (Unless, perhaps, it is another example of the liturgical stammer). I suspect, however, that the first prayer merely states that we are in touch with the Saints through our prayers, and that the second asks that we may enjoy their company for all eternity. But a note of humility and unworthiness pervades the petition. As Fr. Pius Parsch notes, in asking for “some part” of their company, the prayer essentially asks for “some obscure place in the realm of glory.” [7] The scene is redolent of the Publican who strikes his breast saying, “O God, be merciful to me a sinner.” (Luke 18, 9-14)
As for the order of the Saints, the male martyrs are organized according to rank while the women are organized according to vocation and region. For the men, the Apostles Stephen, Matthias, and Barnabas are followed by Ignatius the bishop, Alexander (who was a bishop or priest), Marcellinus the priest, and Peter the exorcist. For the women, Felicity was a Roman matron; she is not to be confused with the handmaid of Perpetua, the North African matron who follows her on the list. The next five are virgin martyrs (the same number as the five wise virgins in the Parable, Matthew 25, 1-13) Agatha and Lucy are from Sicily while Agnes, Cecilia, and Anastasia are from Rome. The Roman Rite, as we have seen before, is steeped in the history of the Eternal City, but it is not insular, and so it honors Saints outside its borders.
In preconciliar hand Missals, as in the 2011 ICEL translation, the clause non aestimator meriti, sed veniae, quaesumus, largitor is usually translated with verbs, e.g., “not weighing our merits but granting us your pardon.” The Latin, however, uses two nouns, aestimator and largitor (a liberal giver). The difference is between doing and being. In this prayer, the priest goes further than petitioning God to do or not do something; he asks Him not to be the kind of Person who measures our value (which we know is wanting) and instead to be the kind of Person who is generous to a fault. And we already know that God is a Liberal Giver of Pardon because elsewhere we address Him with that title [8] along with “Liberal Giver of all goods” (omnium largitor bonorum) [9] and “Liberal Giver of indulgences” (largitor indulgentiae) [10]
Notes
[1] As Fr. Josef Jungmann explains, it was common for the clergy to designate themselves as sinners. They even signed their signatures in this manner. See The Mass of the Roman Rite: Its Origins and Development, vol. 2 (New York: Benzinger Brothers, 1951), pp. 249-50.
[2] See Jungmann, vol. 1, p. 72.
[3] See William Durandus, Rationale Divinorum Officionorum IV.35.11, IV.46.1, resp.
[4] See Rev. Neil J. Roy, “The Roman Canon: deëis in euchological form,” in Benedict XVI and the Sacred Liturgy, eds. Neil J. Roy and Janet E. Rutherford (Four Courts Press, 2008), pp. 181-199.
[5] Pius Parsch, The Liturgy of the Mass, trans. Frederic C. Eckhoff (St. Louis, Missouri: Herder, 1940), p. 187.
[6] See Roy. pp. 191-92.
[7] See Parsch, pp. 249-50.
[8] The Collect Deus, veniae largitor et humanae salutis amator for All Souls’ Day, Office of Prime, and in the Office for the Dead.
[9] See the Collects for St. Bibiana (December 2) and St. Rose of Lima (August 30).
[10] The Lauds hymn Rex gloriose Martyrum for Several Martyrs.
