Give peace, o Lord, to those who wait for Thee, that Thy prophets may be found true: hear the prayers of Thy servant, and of Thy people Israel. Ps. 121 I rejoiced in what was said to me, ‘We will go unto the house of the Lord.’ Glory be... Give peace, o Lord... (The introit of the 18th Sunday after Pentecost.)
Introitus Da pacem, Dómine, sustinéntibus te, ut prophétae tui fidéles inveniantur: exaudi preces servi tui et plebis tuae Israël. Ps 121 Laetátus sum in his, quae dicta sunt mihi: in domum Dómini íbimus. Gloria Patri... Da pacem, Dómine...This Introit is the first among those of the Sundays after Pentecost whose text is not taken from the Psalms. In the modern editions of the missal, it is noted as “Ecclesiasticus 36, 18”, but this is somewhat inexact. In the Vulgate, the first part of this verse says “da mercedem – give a reward”, rather than “da pacem – give peace.” The second part continues as follows: “et exaudi orationes servorum tuorum – and hear the prayers of Thy servants”, but the text of the introit changes “servants” to the singular, uses a different word for prayers, and then adds the words “and of Thy people Israel.”
The words “exaudi preces servi tui” are actually taken from an Old Latin text of the book of Daniel, 9, 17, preserved in a letter of St Augustine (111, to the priest Victorian.) The liturgical commentator Sicard of Cremona (1155-1215), an important source for our friend William Durandus, therefore comments on this Sunday as follows (Mitrale VIII, 18):
“Daniel, placed in servitude (i.e. during the Babylonian exile) prayed for the deliverance of the people (9, 4-19), and an angel appeared to Him, and foretold both that the people would be set free, and that Christ would be born. (20-27). ... The introit is therefore the voice of Daniel, praying for peace for the people that returns (from exile), which rejoices in the gradual ‘I rejoiced in what was said to me,’ (the same text as the verse of the introit), since it is foretold that the people will enter into the house of the Lord. In the offertory and in the communion, he invites and advises the returning people to raise up altars and offer sacrifices, following the example of Moses.”
Offertorium, Exod. 24 Sanctificávit Móyses altáre Dómino, ófferens super illud holocausta et ímmolans víctimas: fecit sacrificium vespertínum in odórem suavitátis Dómino Deo, in conspectu filiórum Israël. (Moses sanctified an altar to the Lord, offering upon it holocausts, and sacrificing victims: he made an evening sacrifice to the Lord God for an odor of sweetness, in the sight of the Israelites.)
A polyphonic setting by Palestrina
Communio Ps. 95 Tóllite hostias, et introíte in atria ejus: adoráte Dóminum in aula sancta ejus. (Bring sacrifices and enter into His courts; worship ye the Lord in His holy court.)
