This morning, Fr Joseph Santos, pastor of the church of the Holy Name in Providence, Rhode Island, and long-time celebrant of the regular traditional Masses in that city (my native place), passed away after a long struggle with covid-19. Fr Santos, whose family was Portuguese, was a priest of the archdiocese of Braga; we have shared pictures of the Palm Sunday ceremony at Holy Name, which he would celebrate each year according to the Braga Missal. I would be remiss not to speak of my gratitude to him for his great generosity in the care which he took of my parents when they were dying. My sister said the same to another priest of Providence, and he replied, “There are so many other people who have said that.” Twelve years ago today or tomorrow (memoria fallitur), he gave my father Extreme Unction; shortly thereafter, he left his first-class relic of Padre Pio in the house for my mother, which she found a great comfort in her final illness. Two months later he anointed her, which required racing to the hospital in the deep of a cold night, and later celebrated her funeral Mass. (From this post of 2018, Fr Santos blessing the palms at Holy Name.)
Deus, qui inter apostolicos sacerdotes famulum tuum Joseph sacerdotali fecisti dignitate vigere: praesta quaesumus: ut eorum quoque perpetuo aggregetur consortio. Per Christum, Dominum nostrum. Amen.
God, who among the apostolic priests made Thy servant Joseph to flourish with priestly dignity: grant, we beseech Thee: that he may also be joined unto their perpetual society. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
The author of the blog “Alma Bracarense”, a Benedictine oblate named Brother Gregory, informs me that he has completed the scanning of the entire 1924 edition of Missal of Braga, whch is now available for consultation and download in a series of pdfs. The site contains lots of information about the Use of Braga, one of the few places in Europe that maintained its proper medieval Use after the Tridentine reform, and even into the 20th-century. It contains many of the classically medieval features of the liturgy, which will be familiar to those who use the Dominican, Premonstratensian or Old Carmelite liturgical books, or those who have studied the Uses of Sarum, Paris etc., but also many features unique to itself.
Before we tackle the mountain of photopost submissions for the Triduum and Easter, we have one last Palm Sunday set to share with you. The church of the Holy Name in Providence, Rhode Island, traditionally celebrates Palm Sunday according to the Use of Braga. (There are a lot of Portuguese people in Rhode Island and some of the cities in Massachusetts like Fall River; the pastor of Holy Name, Fr Joseph Santos, is incardinated in Braga, whose clergy have an automatic indult to celebrate according to their native Use anywhere, like the Ambrosian clergy.) Shawn Tribe published an article about this in 2009, with pictures from Holy Name, and a description of the ceremony from Archdale King’s book The Liturgies of the Primatial Sees. However, the pictures from that article are now gone (I have no idea why), so I here reproduce it with photos from this year’s ceremony. Note the tunicles worn by the acolytes, a fairly common custom in the Middle Ages, and one which it would not be a bad to revive more broadly at some point.
...the high altar is vested in purple, with the statues uncovered until after the procession, when the altar and statues are covered again as before. A cope is worn by the celebrant, and dalmatics by the assistant ministers; while the two thurifers, crucifer and taperers have girdled albs and dalmatics. ...a table was set in the middle of the nave, with a white cloth and two candles.... the palms are sprinkled and censed...
Mr Marco da Vinha, author of the blog Alma Bracarense about the Use of Braga, sent in some pictures of asterisks from three different Portuguese cathedrals, Braga, Lisbon, and Bragança. In the Byzantine Rite, the asterisk, the “little star”, is a collapsible stand which is used to hold up the veil that covers the diskos (paten), so that the veil itself does not touch the Prosphora, or “Lamb”, the bread which has been prepared for consecration. The article about it in the old Catholic Encyclopdia is not quite correct when it states that it “is not used in the Roman Rite at all.” A version of it, which is called an asterisk, although it does not close like the Byzantine one, was used at the old Papal Mass for the Pope’s communion of the Sacred Host, which the assistant bishop brought to him at the throne on a veiled plate, with the veil supported by an asterisk. It would appear that the use of it was granted to Lisbon, along with various other privileges, when that See was raised to the status of a Patriarchate in 1716, and from there passed to other Sees.
All three of these were made in the 18th century. The first, which has only six points, is from Braga; the second is from Lisbon, the third from Bragança, and like the Papal one, they have twelve points, each of which is inscribed with the name of one of the twelve Apostles.
In this set of vessels and instruments for the Byzantine Liturgy made in Moscow in 1679, now in the treasury of the Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg, the asterisk is seen standing on the diskos at the back left.
During the office of preparation, when it is time to incense the gifts, the priest touches the folded asterisk to the thurible, then opens it and places on the diskos, over the Lamb and the various particles which are on it, saying, “The star came and stood over the place where the Child lay with Mary, His Mother.” For this reason, many of them have a small star hanging from a small chain in the middle. The veils are removed before the Preface dialog, but the asterisk is left in its place; at the last words of the Preface, the deacon takes the asterisk, and knocks it lightly against the diskos at the four cardinal points, as the priest sings “singing the triumphal hymn, shouting, crying aloud, and saying.” (In some traditions, he also knocks it lightly against the chalice three times at the words “Holy, Holy Holy!”) He then folds it, presents it to the priest, who kisses it, and lays it on the altar.
Alma Bracarense, a blog dedicated entirely to the traditional Use of Braga, has been busily translating all its earlier posts into English to reach a wider audience. There is a lot of very interesting information over there, particularly concerning the rites of Holy Week, which were never touched by the reform of Pope Pius XII. Here is a video of a procession held at the end of the Mass of the Presanctified on Good Friday, with an explanation from one of their posts. As recorded here, it is of course part of the Novus Ordo Good Friday ceremony held in the cathedral.
“During Vespers four clerics, chosen according to dignity, go to the sacristy to prepare a bier/coffin, covered with a black cloth, where four black cloths will be placed which will receive: the books of the Old and New Testament, or the Missal; a small cross; a bell; empty jars and the keys to the church. The priest removes the chalice from on top of the altar, the ministers remove themselves to the Gospel side, and the four clerics place the bier upon the altar. The deacon then closes the bier and places the keys, hung by a silk cord, around the priest’s neck, who then imposes incense without the blessing and incenses the Blessed Sacrament while kneeling.
Once Vespers are over, there immediately follows something particular to the Bragan Rite on this day – a Theophoric Procession.
Immediately after Vespers the priest imposes, without blessing, incense in two thuribles, and incenses the Blessed Sacrament while kneeling. Two torchbearers then head the procession, followed by all the members of the clergy, vested in black, with their amices upon their heads as a sign of mourning. The clergy processes in pairs, with candles, with the younger members in the front. Four priests then transport the bier on their shoulders, beneath a black baldachin. When the two torchbearers being the procession, two clerics sing the verse Heu, heu, Domine: heu, heu, Salvator noster (Alas, alas, O Lord: alas, alas, O our Saviour); the choir responding Pupilli facti sumums absque Patre: Mater nostra vidua (We have been made orphans without a Father: our mother [has been made] a widow). The procession advances to the verse Heu, heu, stopping when the choir answers.
This goes on until the procession arrives at the place where the Blessed Sacrament will be put to rest. A veil or curtain is put up and the priest with his ministers go into the place where the bier is placed. The bier having been placed on the altar and the Blessed Sacrament having been incensed, the priest alternates with the choir (a series of versicles) ... the veil is taken away and the choir sings another responsory, Sepulto Domino, (in a form which) which varies somewhat from the third responsory of the third nocturn of Tenebrae for Holy Saturday. After a brief genuflection in adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, all return with their heads covered to the sacristy. ...”
Two updates on some important liturgical resources have recently been brought to my attention. The first is from Fr. Paolo Padrini, the creator of iBreviary, who informs us that the app is now available in three new languages, Portuguese, Arabic and Turkish. The latter two are especially important for those who live in countries where Bibles and Christian prayer books are illegal or under heavy restrictions. The app is free, and contains a truly remarkable number of resources for prayer, meditation and study, including the Liturgy of the Hours in both the Roman and Ambrosian Rites, the Roman Breviary of 1960 (in Latin only), the Roman and Ambrosian Missals, lives of the Saints, the Mass lectionary and much more. Full information is available at their website, http://www.ibreviary.org/en/, including a brief interview which Fr. Padrini gave to Shawn Tribe a while back. (Click here and scroll down a bit.) As a reminder, Shawn also posted a list of online resources for the Divine Office almost three years ago, to which you, our readership, made a number of useful additions in the combox.
Secondly, we noted back in February a new blog called “Alma Bracarense” about the Use of Braga. The editor has informed me that he is now posting in English, and will be translating his older posts from Portuguese. The blog has a number of really interesting posts with pictures from the Missal of Braga, as well as videos of a number of Braga Rite ceremonies. Braga is one of the few places in Europe that maintained its proper medieval Use after the Tridentine reform, and even into the 20th-century; the Use of Braga contains many of the classically medieval features of the liturgy, which will be familiar to those who use the Dominican, Premonstratensian or Old Carmelite liturgical books, or those who have studied the Uses of Sarum, Paris etc., but also many features unique to itself. (Click here for a video of the Good Friday Procession in the Cathedral of Braga from this year.)
A series of concerts devoted to the music of different Christian Rites will take place shortly. Initially conceived by Jonathan Ayers and his choir, the Capella Duriensis which featured in this post last summer, each concert will feature music from the Old Roman, Beneventan, Sarum, Braga, Byzantine, Ambrosian and Gallic rites. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) is disseminating the series across a number of European radio stations including Sarrländischer Rundfunk which will be broadcasting every concert live at 20h04 German time on the dates below at this link. More information can be found at musicofthemedievalrites.com
24 February 2014 Gallic Rite L'Académie Vocale de Paris and the Monks of Solesmes Abbey
Solesmes Abbey, France
3 March 2014 Sarum Rite Sospiri
Merton College, Oxford, England
10 March 2014 Byzantine Rite The Orthodox Choir of the University of Eastern Finland
Monastery of New Valamo, Finland
17 March 2014 Ambrosian Rite Kantores
Italy
21 March 2014 Sarum Rite BBC Singers
UK
24 March 2014 Braga Rite Capella Duriensis
Sé Catedral de Braga, Portugal
31 March 2014 Old Roman & Beneventan Rite Gregoriana
St Michael's Chapel, Kosice, Slovakia
A new blog called “Alma Bracarense” has begun posting pictures of the 1924 edition of the Missal according to the Use of Braga in Portugal. The author includes in his posts pictures of the pages of the Missal relevant to a particular feast day, a description of the proper features of that day, and a translation into Portuguese. He intends to add English texts in the future. Braga is one of the few places in Europe that maintained its proper
medieval Use after the Tridentine reform, and even into the
20th-century. The Use of Braga contains many of the classically medieval features of the liturgy, which will be familiar to those who use the Dominican, Premonstratensian or Old Carmelite liturgical books, or those who have studied the Uses of Sarum, Paris etc., but also many features unique to itself.
The beginning of the blessing of the candles, before the Mass of the Purification, according to the Missal of Braga, 1924. The chant with which the ceremony begins, O beata infantia, is not found in the Roman Rite. Photo courtesy of Alma Bracarense.
Braga has been one of the most significant centres of religion in Portugal for over 1600 years. During the Council of Trent, a special dispensation was granted to the Archdiocese of Braga which allowed the continued use of their own version of the Roman rite: the 'Rito Bracarense'.
Capella Duriensis is a professional Portuguese vocal ensemble based in Porto directed by Jonathan Ayerst. It is a vocal ensemble which specialises in training young Portuguese singers to a professional level. Maintaining a working schedule of rehearsals, concerts and recordings throughout the year, the choir prepares repertoire from the earliest medieval manuscripts to music of the present day. Since 2011 Capella Duriensis has been ensemble-in-residence at the Escola das Artes, Universidade Católica Portuguesa.
The Choir has recently released a CD of newly unearthed musical treasures from the Portuguese Rite of Braga, an early medieval rite such as the Ambrosian and Sarum rites. Entitled 'Música Sacra de Portugal Vol.1 - O Rito Bracarense', the project brings to fruition many years of research by musicologists Manuel Pedro Ferreira and João Pedrod'Alvarenga who have transcribed music from the archives of the Sé de Braga including Chant from the Braga Gradual, an early 16th century collection which contains music dating back to the 11th century. The recording includes the Infesta S Petri Ratensis and Missa Quinque Plagarum as well as works based on Chant of the Braga Rite by 16th century Mestres de Capela such as Lourenço Ribeiro, Pero de Gamboa and Miguel da Fonseca.
You can buy the CD from the Choir's website and it is also available for download in the USA here. A preview is available in the YouTube clip below. Next year the choir will be involved in a series of concerts each of which will be devoted to a different medieval rite: Sarum, Byzantine, Ambrosian, Gallican and Roman.
It was mentioned a bit ago that Palm Sunday at Holy Name in Providence, Rhode Island was being offered according to the Missal of Braga. Some photos were sent the NLM's way this morning, but I wanted to accompany them with some descriptions of the Palm Sunday rites in the Bragan rite from Archdale King's, The Liturgies of the Primatial Sees. I have chosen to limit myself primarily to what is being shown within the photos that were available.
"...the high altar is vested in purple, with the statues uncovered until after the procession, when the altar and statues are covered again as before. A cope is worn by the celebrant, and dalmatics by the assistant ministers; while the two thurifers, crucifer and taperers have girdled albs and dalmatics."
"...a table was set in the middle of the nave, with a white cloth and two candles.... the palms are sprinkled and censed..."
"Outside... is sung: Ave, Rex Noster, Fili David, Redemptor Mundi... The first words are repeated three times and three genuflections are made while the celebrant scatters leaves of blessed olive... The ceremony of Ave, Rex Noster was found in most churches which followed Franco-Roman customs, and it exists today in the Cistercian, Premonstratensian, Carmelite and Dominican rites. We find it at Cluny, from whence it may have come to Braga..."
"At the conclusion of the antiphon, Gloria, laus, et honor is sung... the celebrant strikes the doors with the end of the processional cross, as he says, Attolite portas, principes vestras: et elevamini portae aeternales, et introibit Rex gloriae. From within the church the choir respond: Quis est iste Rex gloriae? To which the celebrants answers, Dominus fortis et potens. This is repeated three times, but on the second occasion the celebrant says: Dominus potens in proelio, and on the third: Dominus virtutum ipse est Rex gloriae. The ceremony was common in France in the 11th century, and many examples of its use are given..."
"The procession enters the church singing the responsory Ingrediente, followed by the verse Cumque audissent: the organ peals out, and the Lenten veil is drawn back. The sacred ministers then go to the sacristy to vest for Mass: the deacon and subdeacon exchanging dalmatics for folded chasubles, with a second subdeacon similarly vested to carry the processional cross. The thurifer and taperers have girded albs, without dalmatics. Mass follows."
This description of the Arundina Serpentina, or Serpent Candlestick, can be found in Archdale King's Liturgies of the Primatial Sees, p. 224. It was the equivalent in the Rite of Braga of the old pre-1955 tripartite candle used during the Easter fire and lighting of the Paschal candle. I have never much missed the tripartite candle, until I read about this:
...is of considerable interest, as it takes the traditional form of a bronze winged dragon on a pole, with the three candles issuing from the mouth of the dragon.
King notes below, on pp. 281-282:
The use of a dragon or serpent as a candlestick for the tripartite candle was very general in the middle ages.
The Regularis Concordia (c. 965-75) prescribed its use at the blessing of the new fire on the three days of the Triduum Sacrum: 'On Maundy Thursday, after none, a procession went down to the church door, bearing with it a staff which ended at the top in the shape of a serpent. There, fire, struck with a flint, was first hallowed, and then used for lighting a candle which came out of the serpent's mouth. From this all other candles were ighted; and the same ceremonial was repeated on Good Friday and Easter Eve. A serpent figured also in the ceremonies of the three days in the Abbey of St. Mary at York. Here the blessing of the fire took place in the chapter house, and on the Thursday the sacristan in an aparelled alb walked first cum hasta habente serpentem in sumitate tres cereos affixos candelabro in ore ejus non accensos. On Good Friday, the serpent was carried by the prior, and on Holy Saturday by the principal chaplain of the abbot.
A rubric in the Mozarbic Missale Mixtum says that in the procession to the font on Holy Saturday: Hic exeat subdiaconus cum cruce hoc ordine: Ceroferarii cum cereis pergant coram cruce; et cereus paschalis coram cereis, et serpens coram cereo, et sic procedant ad fontem ordinatem. The Liber Ordinarium makes no mention of a 'serpent,' and the device was almost certainly borrowed from the Roman-Toledan use existing in the primatial church in 1500. [...]
The ordinarium of the Church of Bayeux, compiled at the end of the 13th century, refers to the bearer of the tripartite candle as the draconifer: Draconifer in suppelliceo et capa serica, et habeat draco in ore candelas plures retortas.
Maybe it's not a major part of the Reform of the Reform, but I wouldn't mind adapting the arunda serpentina to make a splendid Paschal Candle stand, with all the resonances of the Biblical bronze serpent.
