Lost in Translation #167
To resume “Our Lost in Translation” series on the Ordinary of the Mass, we turn to the Agnus Dei. After the Commingling, the priest recites (while the choir chants) the following:
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi: miserere nobis.Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi: miserere nobis.Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi: dona nobis pacem.
Which is typically translated:
Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, grant us peace.
The title for Christ and the clause about Him are taken from St. John the Baptist: “Behold the Lamb of God, behold Him who taketh away the sin of the world” (Ecce agnus Dei, ecce qui tollit peccatum mundi. ~ John 1, 29). Mystically speaking, since the Fraction and Commingling represent the Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ, respectively, then the Agnus Dei can be seen as the voice of John the Baptist shouting from Limbo that the Messiah has risen from the dead. Even on the other side of the grave, John remains the Precursor of the Lord.
John the Baptist, to the left of Jesus Christ, proclaiming Him in Limbo
Addressing Christ as the Lamb of God is also appropriate at this point of the Mass, since the Lamb has just been sacramentally immolated on the altar, and since the congregation is about to receive this Paschal Lamb in Holy Communion.
The Agnus Dei twice petitions the Lamb for mercy and once for peace. Pleading for mercy from Jesus is common in both the New Testament and in the Mass; what makes this plea distinctive is that it moves on to a plea for peace. Peace is a salient them of this part of the Mass, beginning with the priest adapting the words of the Risen Christ, “Peace be with you,” and continuing in a moment with the Kiss of Peace.
The priest accents the petitions of the Agnus Dei by striking his breast at each petition, a ritual acknowledgement that his need for mercy and his lack of peace are tied to his sinfulness.
In Requiem Masses, the Agnus Dei is changed to the following:
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi: dona eis requiem.Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi: dona eis requiem.Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi: dona eis requiem sempiternam.
Which is typically translated:
Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, grant unto them rest.Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, grant unto them rest.Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, grant unto them everlasting rest.
The petition has shifted from us the living to all the souls in Purgatory, even if it is a Requiem Mass for a single deceased person. That is why the priest does not strike his breast when reciting this version of the prayer, for it is no longer about him and the rest of the Church Militant.
The request for rest (requies) rather than peace (pax) is inspired by 4 Esdras 2, 34-35, the same apocryphal text that inspired the standard Catholic prayer for the dead: “Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord…”:
Wait for your shepherd; he will give you everlasting rest, because he who will come at the end of the age is close at hand. Be ready for the rewards of the kingdom, because perpetual light will shine on you forevermore.
But peace is still in the background. The final petition, which adds sempiternam to requiem, may be inspired by the Vulgate translation of 2 Thessalonians 3, 16:
Ipse autem Dominus pacis det vobis pacem sempiternam in omni loco.
Which the Douay Rheims translates as :
Now the Lord of peace himself give you everlasting peace in every place.
The Vulgate, incidentally, is rather loose with its choice of sempiternam, which is meant to translate the Greek dia pantos, or “through all.” The Greek text thus reads: “May the Lord of peace give you peace through all in every way.”
Praying for rest and praying for peace are ultimately praying for the same thing (beatific happiness), but the connotations are different. The Church Militant seeks peace in the midst of spiritual strife and war; the Church Suffering seeks rest after a lifetime of laboring in the Lord’s vineyard. For the souls in Purgatory, the war is over, the battle done, the victory won; all that remains is paying the debt owed God through pain. And since that pain is intense, the Church Militant prays and offers sacrifice that it be over soon.
