For the Feast of St Theresa of Avila - A Film of Mass in the Ancient Carmelite Rite

I posted this video nine years ago on the feast of St Theresa of Avila, but the YouTube channel which originally hosted it has since been deleted, which seems like a good reason to update and repost. It is a recording of a Mass celebrated according to the Use of the Old Observance Carmelites, essentially the Use which St Theresa herself would have known. The Discalced Reform of the Order which she and St John of the Cross founded adopted the liturgical Use of Rome (as represented by the Missal and Breviary of St Pius V), but only after St Theresa’s death, and by some reports, very much against her intentions.

This recording was made at Aylesford Priory in England, where St Simon Stock was elected head of the Carmelite Order in 1245. The priory was suppressed at the Reformation, but the property was bought back by the Old Observance branch of the Order in 1949, and the house re-established. The video begins with some account of the works for the rebuilding of the compound, still ongoing at the time it was made; the Mass itself begins at the 4:00 mark.

The Mass which is celebrated here, filmed on a Sunday in September according to the narration, is a Votive Mass of the Resurrection, a custom which originated in the Use of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem during the Crusades, when that church was occupied by canons of the Latin Rite. The early Carmelites adopted that Use as their own, and maintained this custom; where the main Mass on a Sunday was normally said after Terce, the Votive Mass of the Resurrection was celebrated right after Prime, the hour of the Resurrection itself. The text of the Mass is the same as that of Easter Sunday; however, the words “hodierna die - on this day” are omitted from the Collect, and the Sequence is not sung. The Scriptural readings are given in English by the narration, unfortunately in the Knox translation; we may also note that, in keeping with a common use which is sadly still not dead, the Gradual and Alleluia are done in Psalm tone. Despite these small flaws, this remains an incredibly precious document of one of the Church’s most venerable liturgical rites.

A Carmelite Prayer to the Virgin

In the Breviary of the Carmelite Order, which keeps its patronal feast today, the following antiphon is appointed to be said every day after Vespers or Compline.

Ave, Stella matutina, Peccatorum medicina, Mundi princeps et Regina. Virgo sola digna dici, Contra tela inimici Clypeum pone salutis Tuae titulum virtutis. Tu es enim virga Jesse, In qua Deus fecit esse Aaron amygdalum, Mundi tollens scandalum. Tu es area compluta, Caelesti rore imbuta, Sicco tamen vellere. Tu nos in hoc carcere Solare propitia, Dei plena gratia. O Sponsa Dei electa, Esto nobis via recta Ad aeterna gaudia, Ubi pax est et gloria. Tu nos semper aure pia, Dulcis, exaudi, Maria

Hail, morning star, Medicine of sinners, Ruler and Queen of the world, Alone worthy to be called a virgin, Against the spears of the enemy Set the shield of salvation, The sign of Thy virtue. For you are the rod of Jesse, In whom God made to be Aaron’s almond, taking away the scandal of the world. Thou are the ground rained upon, Imbued by heaven’s dew, Though the fleece stayed dry. In this prison do thou console us , Mercifully console us, Who art full of God’s grace O chosen spouse of God Be for us the straight road To eternal joys Where peace and glory are. Do Thou ever hear us With devoted ear, sweet Mary.

In the following recording of it, note that the cantor has taken the common medieval habit of pronouncing Latin more or less like the vernacular to extremes, exaggerating the U of modern French. (The ensemble who recorded this, Diabolus in Musica, takes its name from a common term for the tritone, a dissonance which, according to a very modern popular legend, was generally disliked and avoided in medieval music theory, hence the name “the devil in the music.”)

According to Archdale King in his book The Liturgies of the Religious Orders, Fr Benedict Zimmerman O.Carm., a great scholar of his order’s liturgy, claimed that this antiphon was “without any doubt” composed by St Simon Stock himself, the English Carmelite and general of the Order to whom the Virgin revealed the brown scapular. However, Guido Dreves, in the 48th volume of the Analecta hymnica, attributed it to Peter the Venerable, an abbot of Cluny who died a century before St Simon’s time. The words “Aaron’s almond” refer to the episode of the flourishing of Aaron’s staff in Numbers 17, generally understood in the Middle Ages as a prophetic symbol of the Mother of God’s virginity, as was the episode of Gideon’s fleece in Judges 6, 36-40.

The antiphon is then followed by a versicle and prayer.
V. Pray for us, Holy Mother of God.
R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
Let us pray. Defend, we ask, o Lord, by the intercession of the Blessed Mary ever-Virgin, this Thy family, from every adversity, and in Thy great mercy protect it, that boweth before Thee with all its heart, from the snares of all enemies. Through Christ, our Lord. R. Amen. (Defende, quaesumus, Domine, beata Maria semper Virgine intercedente, istam ab omni adversitate familiam tuam, et toto corde tibi prostratam, ab hostium proitius tuere clementer insidiis. Per Christum...)

Then the following invocation is said.
V. In omni tribulatione et angustia, sucurrat nobis pia Virgo Maria. R. Amen.
(In every tribulation and anguish, may the Holy Virgin Mary come to our aid.)

And a final prayer, which mentioned several of the more important Carmelite Saints.

Oremus. Omnipotens, et clementissime Deus, qui Montis Carmeli Ordinem gloriosissimae Virginis Mariae Genitricis Filii tui Domini nostri Jesu Christi, sacrato titulo insignitum, Sanctorum tuorum Patris nostri Eliae, et Elisaei Prophetarum, Angeli et Anastasii Martyrum, Cyrilli et Alberti Confessorum, Euphrasiae, Teresiae et Mariae Magdalenae Virginum, et aliorum plurimorum meritis decorasti: tribue nobis quaesumus, ut per eorum suffragia ab instantibus malis animae et corporis liberati, ad te verum Carmeli verticem gaudentes pervenire valeamus. Per eundem... (Almighty and most merciful God, who hast adorned the order of Mount Carmel, that is distinguished by the sacred title of the most glorious Virgin Mary, the Mother of Thy Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, with the merits of Thy Saints, the prophets Elijah, our father, and Elisha, the martyrs Angelus and Anastasius, the confessors Cyril and Albert, the virgins Euphrasia, Theresa and Mary Magdalene, and very many others; grant us, we ask, that, being delivered by their prayers from present evils of soul and body, we may be able to come rejoicing to Thee, the true height of Carmel. Through the same...)

The Virgin Mary and Carmelite Saints, by Pietro Novelli, 1641; from the Carmelite church of Palermo, Siciliy.

I have written previously about the Carmelite tradition by which the order regards the Prophets Elijah and Elisha as its founders. The martyr Angelus named here was a converted Jew from Sicily, who was murdered by a man of notoriously evil life whom he had publically rebuked ca. 1220; his feast is kept on May 5th. The martyr Anastasius is the same traditionally celebrated on January 22nd together with St Vincent of Saragossa; he was a Persian who died in the 7th century, and whom the Carmelites claim as one of their own. This is part of a rather dubious hagiographical tradition by which the Order expropriated a number of Saints of the distant past (among them the 8th Pope, St Telesphorus, who reigned ca. 125-136) to establish its antiquity among the mendicant orders that emerged in the early 13th century. Of the two Confessors named here, St Albert was the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem (1205-14) who gave them the earliest written form of their rule; St Cyril was an early prior general of the Order in the Holy Land, to whom an extravagant hagiographical legend was later attached. St Euphrasia, a kinswoman of the Roman Emperor Theodosius I, was one of the most famous of the ascetic Saints of the Egyptian desert, and died in 420 AD; her life is well and reliably attested, and was also later expropriated by the Carmelites. The Theresa named here is she of Avila, who died before the formal separation of the Order into two branches; the Mary Magdelene is a Florentine nun surnamed de’ Pazzi, who died in 1607.

Carmelite Mass for Our Lady of Mt Carmel in Troy, New York

On Friday, July 16th, the church of St Joseph in Troy, New York, will hold a sung Mass in the traditional Carmelite Rite for the solemnity of Our Lady of Mt Carmel. The Mass will begin at 6:30 pm; the church is located at 416 3rd Street.

A Comparison of the Roman and Carmelite Rites

Our thanks to a Carmelite friar for sharing with us this summary of some of the differences between the Roman and Carmelite Masses, and the accompanying pictures.

By the late 12th century, a community of hermits had formed on Mount Carmel, northwest of Jerusalem. Around 1210, the Carmelites requested and received their Rule from St Albert of Vercelli, Patriarch of Jerusalem, which prescribed Conventual Mass and Canonical Hours “according to the practice of the holy Fathers and the approved custom of the Church.” The church mentioned here is the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem, in which the liturgy was celebrated by a community of Canons Regular which originated in Paris. Thus Archdale A. King writes, “The rite which [the Canons of the Holy Sepulcher] observed was therefore a Gallo-Roman variant in which local influence played an important part.” (Liturgies of the Religious Orders, p. 247) As the Crusader States became more dangerous, the Carmelites migrated back to Europe, and they brought their liturgy with them. Before the Order was officially approved in the West at the Council of Lyon in 1274, Pope Innocent IV appointed Dominicans to revise their Rule and Constitutions, and their liturgy was likewise “Dominicanized”. However, the Ordinal of 1312, produced by Sibert de Beka, which helped regularized liturgy throughout the Order, sought to restore the original customs of the Carmelite liturgy. Thus the Constitutions of 1324 stipulated, “Let the brothers celebrate the Divine Office with uniformity according to the Rite of the Holy Sepulcher.”

Frontispiece of the last edition of the Carmelite Missal

Although the bull Quo Primum, issued by St Pius V in 1570, protected the continued celebration of the Carmelite Rite, as an approved Rite practiced for over 200 years, the Carmelite Missal was subsequently revised several times to conform more to the Roman Rite. The last edition of the Missale Carmelitarum, published in 1935, was the result of a revision made to comply with the 1911 constitution Divino Afflatu of St Pius X. Therefore, the Carmelite Rite could be described as a Gallo-Roman liturgy from the Holy Land, Dominicanized and Romananized through its history.

In this essay, I will compare the Carmelite Rite of the 1935 Missal to the Roman Rite of the 1962 Missal in five areas of difference. This will not be an exhaustive comparison, and I will not even approach matters of the calendar, but only a brief summary of some notably unique elements of the Carmelite Rite. I will also comment on the origins and meanings of these unique elements with help from a series of articles written on the Rite by Fr Leo Walter, O.Carm., published in the May 1946 issue of the Carmelite journal The Sword. (pp. 136-215)

Prayers at the Foot of the Altar

In the Roman Rite the priest and the server alternately recite Psalm 42, Judica me, Deus, with its antiphon, Introibo ad altare Dei, after having arrived at the altar, but in the Carmelite Rite the priest alone recites Psalm 42, with no antiphon, while going to the altar accompanied by the server. Additionally, in the Roman Rite, after their Confiteors, the priest and the server recite the verses Deus, tu conversus, etc., but the Carmelite Rite does not include this dialogue; instead the verse Adjutorium nostrum in nomine Domini follows the Confiteors, and then the priest prays Aufer a nobis, and ascends to the altar. Leo Walter writes that the practice of the priest reciting Psalm 42 secretly while going to the altar is a primitive custom, as deduced from Ordos and Ceremonials of the 11th through the 13th centuries.

Preparation of the Chalice and Offertory

In the Roman Rite, the chalice is prepared after the Offertory Prayer, but in the Carmelite Rite the chalice is prepared at the beginning of a Low Mass, before the Confiteors, and between the Epistle and the Gospel in a Solemn Mass. The custom of preparing the chalice at the beginning of Low Masses is also found in the Dominican, Carthusian, Cistercian and other Rites. According to Walter, this practice probably originates from the Gallican Rite, in which the oblations were prepared by ministers before the entrance of the priest to the altar. The practice of preparing the chalice after the Epistle in Solemn Masses was also common in many churches in France. Additionally, in the Roman Rite the host is offered with the prayer Suscipe, sancte Pater, and then the chalice is offered similarly with the prayer Offerimus tibi, Domine, but in the Carmelite Rite, the chalice, on which rests the paten with the host, is offered together with the prayer:

“Suscipe, sancta Trinitas, hanc oblationem quam tibi offerimus in commemorationem passionis, resurrectionis, ascensionisque in caelum Domini nostri Jesu Christi: et honore beatae et gloriosae Dei Genitricis semperque Virginis Mariae, et omnium Sanctorum, qui tibi placuerunt ab initio mundi: ut illis proficiat ad honorem, nobis autem ad salutem: et omnibus illis pro nobis intercedentibus in caelis, sit in salutem vivorum, et requiem defunctorum: Qui vivis et regnas in saecula saeculorum.

Accept, most Holy Trinity, this offering, which we are making to Thee in remembrance of the passion, resurrection, and ascension into heaven of Our Lord Jesus Christ, and in honor of the glorious mother of God, the Virgin Mary, and of all the saints who have been pleasing to Thee from the beginning of the world, in order that it may add to their honour and aid our salvation. Through the intercession of all the saints in heaven, may it prove to be the salvation of the living and eternal rest of the dead. Who livest and reignest world without end. Amen.”

According to Walter, the rite of offering bread and wine together is found in several ancient churches and ancient monastic missals. The Suscipe, sancta Trinitas prayer is derived from collects of the ancient Gallican liturgy.

Pictures of a solemn Carmelie Mass celebrated on a priest’s silver jubliee in 1946.

Gestures at the Altar

There are several unique gestures at the altar in the Carmelite Rite, but I will only discuss three. First, during the post-elevation rites, while praying Unde et memores, in the Roman Rite the priest assumes an orans posture with arms raised and extended to chest height, but in the Carmelite Rite the priest extends his arms in the form of a cross (ad modum crucis). Splitting the difference, in the Dominican Rite the priest extends his hands more than usual (mediocriter tamen). Leo Walter writes that this usage of extending the arms in the form of a cross is derived from the Gallican liturgy, adding, “The Gallic usage no doubt received a special meaning when it was carried to Jerusalem to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, in the territory of which the very place of Christ’s crucifixion can be seen.”

Secondly, during the Supplices te rogamus, in the Roman Rite the priest bows profoundly with hands joined, but in the Carmelite Rite the priest bows profoundly with arms crossed over his chest.

Third, during the Libera nos, quaesumus, in the Roman Rite the priest takes up the paten, signs himself with it, kisses it, and then slides it under the Sacred Host, but in the Carmelite Rite, the priest takes up the paten, kisses it, covers first his left eye with the paten, then his right eye, and then crosses himself. He then places the paten on the corporal to the right of the Sacred Host. According to Walter, the gesture of reverently touching the eyes with the paten was customary in several Gallican and Roman churches in the Middle Ages. The meaning of kissing the paten is debated among liturgists, and most favor the opinion that the purpose of the gesture is to venerate the paten on which the Sacred Host is to be placed, but Leo Water notes a liturgical anomaly. “According to our Rite, the Sacred Host is never placed on the paten, unless something has disappeared from our Rite or the Gallo-Roman Rite of the Holy Sepulchre.”

Continue Reading this Article. . .

Photos of the Recent Solemn Carmelite Mass

Last month, we shared a video of a Mass celebrated in the traditional Carmelite rite at the National Shrine of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Middletown, New York, the motherhouse of the order’s North American Province. We are glad to now be able to share some pictures of the ceremony, courtesy of Genevieve Holmes. This Mass was the work of more than a year of research and collaboration, done with the permission and encouragement of Fr Mario Esposito, OCarm, Prior Provincial of the Carmelite Friars Saint Elias Province, as an official Year of Vocations event. To properly celebrate it, a variety of liturgical texts were consulted under the guidance of the celebrant, Fr Lucian Beltzner, OCarm, who offered this Mass in his youth. Research and liturgical support was provided by the Laudate Omnes community at St. Joseph’s in Troy, NY, the parish at which Fr Beltzner regularly offers the Traditional Carmelite Rite; Fr Donald Kloster of the Diocese of Bridgeport served as deacon, and  Mr. James Griffin served as the subdeacon and designed the booklet for this Mass, which you can consult here.

A procession took place before Mass, including the major relic of the jawbone of St. Simon Stock, to carry the relics of the Carmelite saints to their places at the high altar.

Following the procession came the chanting of the Carmelite Litany of the Saints. Mass began with the Veni Sancte Spiritus and responsory, followed by the Asperges.

Carmelite prayers at the foot of the altar. The Carmelite Confiteor specifically invokes the prophet Elijah, and is similar to the Dominican one.

Incensation of the altar

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Video of a Recent Mass in the Carmelite Rite

This past Sunday, a solemn High Mass for the feast of the Prophet Elijah, who is honored as the founder of the Carmelite Order, was celebrated in the traditional Carmelite Rite at the National Shrine of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Middletown, New York, the motherhouse of the order’s North American Province. We expect to have some pictures available soon, but in the meantime, here is a video of the complete ceremony, with very nice music indeed! The Mass itself begins at about 19:00; it is preceded by the Litany of the Saints, an invocation of the Holy Spirit, and the Asperges.

Some ritual particularities of note, which are typical of medieval Uses of the Mass: The acolytes wear full albs, and stand in front of the altar with the clergy. When the priest reads from the Introit, the deacon and subdeacon stand to either side of him, rather than behind him. The Epistle book is held in front of the subdeacon by an acolyte; the subdeacon then brings the chalice to the altar while the Gradual is sung. Since there is no MC, at the Offertory, it is the subdeacon who moves the missal out of the way and puts it back; he then washes the priest’s hands, while the deacon goes on with the incensation. (At 1:19:25, the video freezes for about 9 minutes, but the audio continues. It resumes in the middle of the embolism. The rest of the Mass is essentially very similar to the Roman Mass.)

UPDATE: A reader has brought to my attention a second video of the Mass taken from the choir loft.

Solemn Carmelite Mass in Middletown, NY, on July 19th

On Sunday, July 19th, a solemn High Mass will be celebrated according to the traditional Carmelite Rite, also known as the Rite of the Holy Sepulcher, at the National Shrine of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Middletown, New York, the motherhouse of the order’s North American Province of St Elias. The liturgy will begin at 10:30 am with a solemn procession of relics of Carmelite Saints, followed by the Mass at 11. This effort is happening with the blessing and support of the Prior Provincial, Very Rev. Mario Esposito, and the Director of Vocations, Fr. Francis Amodio, as part of the Year of Vocations festivities. The events is open to the public; the friars ask that those who wish to attend RSVP at CarmeliteRiteSEL@gmail.com. The shrine is located at 70 Carmelite Drive in Middletown, NY.

Burying the Alleluja 2020 (Part 2)

Here are two more examples of churches burying the Alleluja on Septuagesima Sunday. The first comes from the Cebuano Summorum Pontificum Society in Cebu in the Philippines.

The second comes from the church of St Joseph in Troy, New York, a parish of the Carmelite Friars of the Old Observance. Since this is a purely informal custom, one is free to observe it as one deems best, so here the Alleluja is “buried” under the altar-cloth of the altar of the Virgin Mary.

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Christmas Eve in the Carmelite Rite in Troy, New York

The church of St Joseph in Troy, New York, which is served by the Carmelites of the Ancient Observance, will celebrate the vigil Mass of Christmas, followed by First Vespers, both in the traditional Carmelite Rite, beginning at 7pm; the church is located at 416 3rd Street.

A Carmelite Prayer to the Virgin

In the Breviary of the Carmelite Order, which keeps its patronal feast today, the following antiphon is appointed to be said every day after Vespers or Compline. (The English translation is taken partly from this post on Vultus Christi, the blog of Silverstream Priory, with several alterations of my own.)

Ave, Stella matutina, Peccatorum medicina, Mundi princeps et Regina. Virgo sola digna dici, Contra tela inimici Clypeum pone salutis Tuae titulum virtutis. Tu es enim virga Jesse, In qua Deus fecit esse Aaron amygdalum, Mundi tollens scandalum. Tu es area compluta, Caelesti rore imbuta, Sicco tamen vellere. Tu nos in hoc carcere Solare propitia, Dei plena gratia. O Sponsa Dei electa, Esto nobis via recta Ad aeterna gaudia, Ubi pax est et gloria. Tu nos semper aure pia, Dulcis, exaudi, Maria

Hail, morning star, Medicine of sinners, Ruler and Queen of the world, Alone worthy to be called a virgin, Against the spears of the enemy Set the shield of salvation, The sign of Thy virtue. For you are the rod of Jesse, In whom God made to be Aaron’s almond, taking away the scandal of the world. Thou are the ground rained upon, Imbued by heaven’s dew, Though the fleece stayed dry. In this prison do thou console us , Mercifully console us, Who art full of God’s grace O chosen spouse of God Be for us the straight road To eternal joys Where peace and glory are. Do Thou ever hear us With devoted ear, sweet Mary.

In the following recording of it, note that the cantor has taken the common medieval habit of pronouncing Latin more or less like the vernacular to extremes, exaggerating the U of modern French. (The ensemble who recorded this, Diabolus in Musica, takes its name from a common term for the tritone, a dissonance which was generally disliked and avoided in medieval music theory, hence the name “the devil in the music.”)

According to Archdale King in his book The Liturgies of the Religious Orders, Fr Benedict Zimmerman O.Carm., a great scholar of his order’s liturgy, claimed that this antiphon was “without any doubt” composed by St Simon Stock himself, the English Carmelite and general of the Order to whom the Virgin revealed the brown scapular. However, Guido Dreves, the author of the 48th volume of the Analecta hymnica, attributed it to Peter the Venerable, an abbot of Cluny who died a century before St Simon’s time. The words “Aaron’s almond” refer to the episode of the flourishing of Aaron’s staff in Numbers 17, generally understood in the Middle Ages as a prophetic symbol of the Mother of God’s virginity, as was the episode of Gideon’s fleece in Judges 6, 36-40.

The antiphon is then followed by a versicle and prayer.
V. Pray for us, Holy Mother of God.
R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
Let us pray. Defend, we ask, o Lord, by the intercession of the Blessed Mary ever-Virgin, this Thy family, from every adversity, and in Thy great mercy protect it, that boweth before Thee with all its heart, from the snares of all enemies. Through Christ, our Lord. R. Amen. (Defende, quaesumus, Domine, beata Maria semper Virgine intercedente, istam ab omni adversitate familiam tuam, et toto corde tibi prostratam, ab hostium proitius tuere clementer insidiis. Per Christum...)

Then the following invocation is said.
V. In omni tribulatione et angustia, sucurrat nobis pia Virgo Maria. R. Amen.
(In every tribulation and anguish, may the Holy Virgin Mary come to our aid.)

And a final prayer, which mentioned several of the more important Carmelite Saints.

Oremus. Omnipotens, et clementissime Deus, qui Montis Carmeli Ordinem gloriosissimae Virginis Mariae Genitricis Filii tui Domini nostri Jesu Christi, sacrato titulo insignitum, Sanctorum tuorum Patris nostri Eliae, et Elisaei Prophetarum, Angeli et Anastasii Martyrum, Cyrilli et Alberti Confessorum, Euphrasiae, Teresiae et Mariae Magdalenae Virginum, et aliorum plurimorum meritis decorasti: tribue nobis quaesumus, ut per eorum suffragia ab instantibus malis animae et corporis liberati, ad te verum Carmeli verticem gaudentes pervenire valeamus. Per eundem... (Almighty and most merciful God, who hast adorned the order of Mount Carmel, that is distinguished by the sacred title of the most glorious Virgin Mary, the Mother of Thy Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, with the merits of Thy Saints, the prophets Elijah, our father, and Elisha, the martyrs Angelus and Anastasius, the confessors Cyril and Albert, the virgins Euphrasia, Theresa and Mary Magdalene, and very many others; grant us, we ask, that, being delivered by their prayers from present evils of soul and body, we may be able to come rejoicing to Thee, the true height of Carmel. Through the same...)

The Virgin Mary and Carmelite Saints, by Pietro Novelli, 1641; from the Carmelite church of Palermo, Siciliy.

I have written previously about the Carmelite tradition by which the order regards the Prophets Elijah and Elisha as its founders. The martyr Angelus named here was a converted Jew from Sicily, who was murdered by a man of notoriously evil life whom he had publically rebuked ca. 1220; his feast is kept on May 5th. The martyr Anastasius is the same traditionally celebrated on January 22nd together with St Vincent of Saragossa; he was a Persian who died in the 7th century, and whom the Carmelites claim as one of their own. This is part of a rather dubious hagiographical tradition by which the Order expropriated a number of Saints of the distant past (among them the 8th Pope, St Telesphorus, who reigned ca. 125-136) to establish its antiquity among the mendicant orders that emerged in the early 13th century. Of the two Confessors named here, St Albert was the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem (1205-14) who gave them the earliest written form of their rule; St Cyril was an early prior general of the Order in the Holy Land, to whom an extravagant hagiographical legend was later attached. St Euphrasia, a kinswoman of the Roman Emperor Theodosius I, was one of the most famous of the ascetic Saints of the Egyptian desert, and died in 420 AD; her life is well and reliably attested, and was also later expropriated by the Carmelites. The Theresa named here is she of Avila, who died before the formal separation of the Order into two branches; the Mary Magdelene is a Florentine nun surnamed de’ Pazzi, who died in 1607.

The Carmelite Rite Procession on the Feast of the Ascension

Yesterday, St Joseph’s Church in Troy, New York, which is served by Carmelites of the Ancient Observance, celebrated the feast of the Ascension with the traditional stational procession before the Mass, as prescribed in the order’s ancient rite. (Similar processions are done on Candlemas, Palm Sunday and the Assumption.) The four stations of the procession are accompanied by the singing of responsories at the first and third station, and their verses at the second and fourth; on entering the church, the antiphon of Vespers O Rex gloriae is sung, and on entering the sanctuary, the versicle of Lauds, and the Collect of the feast. Here are a few photos, with our thanks to Genevieve Holmes for sharing them with us; the texts sung at the stations are given below from the 1935 edition of the Carmelite Missal.

Extinguishing the Paschal candle after the Gospel.

R. O ye men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up to heaven? alleluia.* As ye saw Him going to heaven, so shall He come, alleluja, alleluja.
V. And while they were looking at Him going to heaven, behold two men stood nigh to them in white garments.

who also said: As ye saw Him going to heaven, so shall He come, alleluja, alleluja.

R. Father, while I was with them, I kept them, whom Thou gavest to me; but now I come to Thee. * I pray not that thou shouldst take them out of the world, but that thou shouldst keep them from evil.
V. Holy Father, keep them in thy name whom thou has given me; I pray not...

Aña O King of glory, Lord of hosts, Who in triumph hast ascended this day above all the heavens: leave us not as orphans, but send the Promise of the Father unto us, even the Spirit of truth, alleluia.

V. God hath ascended with rejoicing.
R. And the Lord with the sound of trumpet, alleluia.
(In the Carmelite Use, alleluja is not said with the verse, but only with the response.)
Let us pray. Grant, we ask, almighty God, that we who believe that Thy Only-Begotten Son, our Redeemer, hath on this day ascended into the heavens, may also in mind dwell with Him in heaven. Through the same Christ, our Lord. Amen.

Procession and Mass of the Ascension in the Traditional Carmelite Rite in Troy, New York

This coming Thursday, St Joseph’s Church in Troy, New York, which is served by Carmelites of the Ancient Observance, will celebrate the feast of the Ascension in the ancient Carmelite Rite. Before the Mass, a procession will be held with a series of four stations, as proscribed by the Carmelite Missal; similar processions are done on Candlemas, Palm Sunday and the Assumption. The ceremony will begin at 7pm, the church is located at 416 3rd St.

How Carmelite Spirituality Informs the Design of a Monastery Today

Readers of the New Liturgical Movement may be wondering how the Carmelite nuns in Fairfield, Pennsylvania, whom we have featured before, are getting on with their project to build a new convent in a traditional style. I think that both architecturally and liturgically this is something that is worthy of note.

They seem to be making good progress, but could still do with prayers and financial support. For those who wish to know more, and perhaps even donate, you can do so through their website: FairfieldCarmelites.org.

They are an offshoot of the Valparaiso Carmel, and describe their liturgy as follows:

We celebrate Holy Mass and the Divine Office in Latin, using the rubrics and texts pre- Novus Ordo; generally those of the 1962 Extraordinary Form. We have sung-Masses with incense on Sundays and other feasts regulated by our ancient Carmelite ritual books. We chant all the Hours of the Divine Office including Matins each day, but (except on feast days) this is done recto tono. We sing polyphony pieces and hymns during Holy Mass on feast days. On other days we attend Holy Mass in silence. 

Their convent is modeled after St Teresa’s original plans in Avila, Spain. Here are the architect’s drawings and some photos of the buildings taking shape.

I asked one of their nuns about their aims for the monastery and also about Carmelite life.

First of all, what style is the monastery?
In the 1500’s, Our Holy Mother St Teresa of Avila would take the large haciendas, and country and city homes of the time, and join them together to form her first monasteries; she would also ensure large garden spaces and build an encircling wall. Our style choice was instinctively informed by this. Ten years ago, when the idea of building a new monastery took flight, I spoke to Mother about the style it was going to be and said it should just be a simple Pennsylvania stone farmhouse behind a chapel. This concept has remained constant up until this day: taking what is natural and fits with this area, acknowledging the wisdom of our forefathers who originally settled this land. It is a farmhouse complex made up of several smaller buildings connected by “covered cloisters”. Like Saint Teresa envisioned, this monastery will be a “micro village” - a Church at the center, with living quarters and workshops surrounding it. The chapel facade is modeled after San Jose’s chapel in Avila. It is being built with large, rough cut heavy timbers, plain plaster walls washed with a milk/lime paint, brick floors, open fireplaces, as well as wood stoves, candle and lamplight, and hand pumps at the sink. No central heating, A/C or electricity, cooking with wood, shutters on single-pane windows. The Chapel will with a marble altar, stained glass, and small pipe organ - the sanctuary being the jewel set in the rough. Of course, the stone is on the outside with slate roofs, big chimneys, and a 40’ bell tower.

All the rooms/spaces are specifically geared to the monastic life. The Choir is behind a double grill adjacent to the sanctuary. There is the Chapter Room, Refectory, individual cells, and a Novitiate. Basically, we are striving to build how a farmer might have two hundred years ago, but not what he built - essentially using the PA stone farmhouse language to speak a 15th-century Spanish text.
Can you tell me something about the Carmelite charism and spirituality?

Discalced Carmelite life is centered around interior, silent prayer along with a definite strong note of the eremetical. Both these characteristics distinguish it from the monastic forms, such as Benedictines, who center their spiritually on the Divine Office. Some things that result from this would be: two hours of mental prayer in silence in the Choir before the tabernacle (but not - except very occasionally - before the exposed Blessed Sacrament); the only occasional sung Mass; and only on some days certain Hours of the Divine Office are chanted in Gregorian chant. The Nuns are very strictly enclosed, behind grills, walls, and a turn, but also within the monastery each sister must work alone in her cell or an office and keep strict silence during the day. On the other hand, there is an intense family atmosphere with two full hours of recreation, one after dinner and one after supper. Very few religious houses have this amount of time set aside each day. There are no games but work is done while one common conversation takes place.

How many are there in your community?
Eleven now; and 21 is ideal.

Who is doing the construction?
First of all, we have had an excellent architect (Riccardo Vincenzino) from the very beginning. At heart, he desires all the things we are striving for, but is prudent too and makes sure we understand the difficulties (and expense) of trying to build an authentic way in today’s building world.

Last summer, Neil Rippingale of Scotland - a master stone mason - headed up the building crew in erecting our fist building. It was dedicated on June 27. Then into the fall and winter, our next building was completed: the guest cottage. Built by Brian Post from the Stone Trust, it is a small two-story building that will be used for visiting priests and aspirants.

This spring, work begins on our next building. The Recreation and Work Rooms (Vestry) building is 3750 sq. ft, and will be built in the same style as our guest cottage - using only reclaimed wood and structural stone masonry. It is the largest building so far and should take approximately 12 months to finish. The stone masonry will be headed up by a master mason, Justin Money, of Irish Rock Art. Stone masonry begins in May, and excavation is already completed. With minimal plumbing and no electricity, the building will be heated by wood burning stoves and have a rainwater system. The plastered walls will keep the building cool and in the summer, and warm in the winter.

Once the stonework is finished, local craftsmen will hand make the windows and doors, while timber framers will do the roof, and the interior will be completed by Patrick Lemmon, resident Project Manager, and owner of Orthodox Masonry. Floors and fireplaces will be built using Old Carolina Brick - a company which specializes in hand making brick. Each brick is hand molded using the beautiful and lasting traditions of colonial craftsmanship. The roof will be finished with authentic Virginia slate. Once it is finished, we will be able to move out of the barn and trailer and into something much more suitable for living. After this building is completed, plans for 2020 will commence.

Here is a picture of the monastery in Avila.

Announcing A New Contemplative Religious Community of Men

New Liturgical Movement is pleased to share this important news with our readers. Please keep the hermits in your prayers and spread the word to men who might be called to the eremitical life.

In Cujus Conspectu: A New Contemplative Religious Community of Men

“Vivit Dominus Deus Israel, in cujus conspectu sto” (3 Kings 17:1). His Excellency, Bishop Ronald Gainer of the Diocese of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania has warmly given his blessing to a new religious community of men, the Hermits of Our Lady of Mount Carmel (www.eremitaednmc.org), erecting the community as an Association of the Faithful on February 22nd, the 15th anniversary of His Excellency’s episcopal consecration.

This community observes the eremitical Carmelite charism according to the life of the original community of hermits on Mount Carmel and the primitive Carmelite Rule written for them by St. Albert of Jerusalem in the early 1200s. Strictly following the Rule in its original character of eremitical contemplative religious life, they are reviving the life of those ancient religious, who “in imitation of that holy anchorite the prophet Elijah, led solitary lives” (Jacques de Vitry, Bishop of Acre, History of Jerusalem). “Let each stay in his cell or nearby it, day and night meditating on the law of the Lord and keeping vigil in prayers unless occupied by other just occasions” (Primitive Carmelite Rule of St. Albert).

Divine Charity in the Heart of the Church

“Deus caritas est” (1 Jn. 4:16). Without charity the soul dies and the Church withers. St. Thomas Aquinas explains that charity is the life of the soul, even as the soul is the life of the body. The specific end of charity is to be united to God, and thus prayer, which is the raising of the mind and heart to God, is necessary for perfect charity. “Limitless loving devotion to God, and the gift God makes of Himself to you, are the highest elevation of which the heart is capable; it is the highest degree of prayer. The souls that have reached this point are truly the heart of the Church” (St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross).

To assist the life of the other members of the Mystical Body of Christ, God provides, as the heart of the Church, contemplative religious who are especially dedicated to striving for consummate union with the Redeemer, and to perpetuating the redemptive and sanctifying power of His crucified love through the offering of continual prayer and penance united to the holy Sacrifice of the Mass: “Salve, Salus mundi, Verbum Patris, Hostia sacra, viva Caro, Deitas integra, verus Homo” (Priest’s Prayer Before Communion in the Carmelite Rite). Therefore, clothed in the holy Habit of Our Lady, Mater Pulchrae Dilectionis, the Mother of Fair Love, and in union with Him Whose Heart is Fornax Ardens Caritatis, the Burning Furnace of Charity, the Hermits of Our Lady of Mount Carmel immolate themselves for the glory of the one true God, the honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and the spiritual benefit of the Church, so that God may be known, adored, loved, and served in every soul.

To Enkindle Many Hearts for God

“Zelo zelatus sum pro Domino Deo exercituum” (3 Kings 19:10). The Hermits came to the Diocese of Harrisburg to live an eremitical religious life of prayer and penance. Nicholas, the Prior General of the Carmelite Order (1266-1271) records that the first religious on Mount Carmel “tarried long in the solitude of the desert, conscious of their own imperfection. Sometimes, however, though rarely, they came down from their desert, anxious, so as not to fail in what they regarded as their duty, to be of service to their neighbors, and sowed broadcast of the grain, threshed out in preaching, that they had so sweetly reaped in solitude with the sickle of contemplation.”

Therefore, in an age when the charity of many has grown cold, the Hermits also labor to help souls to advance in the spiritual life and in perfect charity so as to produce enduring fruits in their proper vocations and states of life. Being located in Fairfield, Pennsylvania makes it possible for the Hermits to help to provide traditional priestly and sacramental services for the holy daughters of St. Teresa in the area, the Discalced Carmelite Nuns in the Carmel of Jesus, Mary & Joseph in Fairfield.

In addition, once the Hermits receive the necessary resources, they will establish a guest and retreat house available for a prayerful retreat for priests, seminarians, religious, and the lay faithful, or a religious setting for those visiting the area or the beautiful chapel of the Discalced Carmelite Nuns in order to be refreshed and enkindled by the rich liturgical and spiritual life that resounds therein. Committed to a full religious observance, manual labor, and priestly service to souls, the community does not operate any regular business, but subsists on alms and the charity of the faithful.

The community’s location in Fairfield, is only minutes from Emmitsburg, MD, near Mount Saint Mary’s Seminary, the National Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes, and the National Shrine of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, and is also within driving range of Harrisburg, Washington DC, Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Richmond, and even New Jersey or New York.

For More Information

To contact or learn more about the ancient charism, religious observance, and community of the Hermits of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, or for vocation inquiries, please visit: www.eremitaednmc.org or write to:

Hermits of Our Lady of Mount Carmel
P.O. Box 485
Fairfield, PA 17320

“Confidito, Petre; religio enim Carmelitarum in finem usque saeculi est perseveratura; Elias namque ejus Institutor jam olim etiam a Filio meo id impetravit.” “Have confidence, Peter; for the Order of the Carmelites is to persevere until the end of the world; for indeed Elias, its Founder, has already obtained that from my Son.” -- Words of the Blessed Virgin Mary to St. Peter Thomas in the Carmelite Rite Breviary

For the Feast of St Theresa of Avila - A Film of Mass in the Ancient Carmelite Rite

I discovered this video a while ago, and have been saving it for today’s feast of St Theresa of Avila. It is a recording of a Mass celebrated according to the Use of the Old Observance Carmelites, essentially the Use which St Theresa herself would have known. The Discalced Reform of the Order which she and St John of the Cross founded adopted the liturgical Use of Rome (as represented by the Missal and Breviary of St Pius V), but only after St Theresa’s death, and by some reports, very much against her intentions.

This recording was made at Aylesford Priory in England, where St Simon Stock was elected head of the Carmelite Order in 1245. Suppressed at the Reformation, the property was bought back by the Old Observance branch of the Order in 1949, and the house re-established. The video begins with some account of the works for the rebuilding of the compound, still ongoing at the time it was made; the Mass itself begins at the 4:00 mark.

The Mass which is celebrated here, filmed on a Sunday in September according to the narration, is a Votive Mass of the Resurrection, a custom which originated in the Use of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem during the Crusades, when that church was occupied by canons of the Latin Rite. The early Carmelites adopted that Use as their own, and maintained this custom; where the main Mass on a Sunday was normally said after Terce, the Votive Mass of the Resurrection was celebrated right after Prime, the hour of the Resurrection itself. The text of the Mass is the same as that of Easter Sunday; however, the words “hodierna die - on this day” are omitted from the Collect, and the Sequence is not sung. The Scriptural readings are given in English by the narration, unfortunately in the Knox translation; we may also note that, in keeping with a common use which is sadly still not dead, the Gradual and Alleluia are done in Psalm tone. Despite these small flaws, this remains an incredibly precious document of one of the Church’s most venerable liturgical rites. 

The Theology of the Offertory - Part 7.1 - The Missals of the Religious Orders

Like the prayers before the altar at the beginning of Mass and the priest’s communion prayers, the Offertory prayers are a medieval addition to the Order of the Mass, one of the many ways in which the Church has enriched the center of Her prayer life. In all three of these additions, there is a great deal of variety to be found between the different Uses of the Roman Rite; this series will continue by examining the various forms of the Offertory prayers and the rites that accompany them. It is not my intention to be exhaustive, of course, but merely to present a selection of some of the more widely used and interesting texts. I will begin with those of the three non-monastic religious orders which maintained their own proper uses after the Council of Trent and until the post-Conciliar liturgical reform.

(In these descriptions, the incensing at the Offertory will for the most part be omitted, partly because it is not especially important to the specific topic of the series, partly because there is no description of it in many of the missals of the medieval Uses. The term “medieval” here is used in reference to Uses of the Roman Rite that trace their origins to the Middle Ages, even though the printed sources out of which I will describe them are post-Medieval.)

Two fundamental texts

First of all, we must make note of two texts which occur in the great majority of Offertory Rites. One is the prayer Suscipe sancta Trinitas, which first appears in the basic form used throughout the Middle Ages in the Sacramentary of Echternach, written in the year 895; it occurs with variants in the great majority of medieval Uses.

Suscipe, sancta Trinitas, quam tibi offero in memoriam Incarnationis, Nativitatis, Passionis, Resurrectionis, Ascensionisque Domini nostri Jesu Christi, et in honore omnium Sanctorum tuorum, qui tibi ab initio mundi placuerunt, et quorum hodie festivitates celebrantur, et quorum hic nomina et reliquiae habentur, ut illis proficiat ad honorem, nobis ad salutem, quatinus illi omnes pro nobis intercedere dignentur in caelis, quorum memoriam facimus in terris.

Receive, o holy Trinity, this offering, which I offer to Thee in memory of the Incarnation, Birth, Passion, Resurrection and Ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ, and in honor of all the Saints who have pleased you from the beginning of the world, and whose feasts are celebrated today, and whose names and relics are kept here; that it may profit unto their honor and our salvation; that all those whose memory we keep on earth, may deign to intercede for us in Heaven.

The second is the prayer In spiritu humilitatis, which I give here in the form used in the Roman Missal of St. Pius V. The medieval variants in this texts are usually no more than small differences in the order of the words.

In spiritu humilitatis, et in animo contrito suscipiamur a Te, Domine: et sic fiat sacrificium nostrum in conspectu Tuo hodie, ut placeat Tibi, Domine Deus. - In a spirit of humility, and in contrite heart, may we be received by Thee, o Lord; and so may our sacrifice take place in Thy sight this day, that it may please Thee, o Lord.

The Dominican Use

In the Dominican Missal, as in many other medieval Uses, the chalice is prepared before the Mass begins. The priest pours wine into the chalice, and then the server offers him the cruet with the water and says “Benedicite”. (“Bless” in the imperative.) The priest makes the sign of the Cross once over the water, saying “In nomine Patris et Filii + et Spiritus Sancti. Amen.”, and pours a small amount of water into the chalice as in the Roman Rite. The chalice is then covered with the pall and veil.

At the Offertory, the priest uncovers the chalice, then lifts and closes his hands as he says the words of Psalm 115, “What shall I render to the Lord, for all the things he hath rendered unto me? I will take the chalice of salvation; and I will call upon the name of the Lord” He then lifts the chalice, together with the paten and host that rest on top of it, saying the following prayer, a much simplified version of Suscipe, sancta Trinitas.

Suscipe, sancta Trinitas, hanc oblationem, quam tibi offero in memoriam passionis Domini nostri Jesu Christi; et præsta ut in conspectu tuo tibi placens ascendat, et meam et omnium fidelium salutem operetur æternam.

Receive, o Holy Trinity, this offering, which I offer to Thee in memory of the passion of our Lord, Jesus Christ; and grant that in Thy sight it may be pleasing and ascend to Thee, and effect my eternal salvation and that of all the faithful.

After laying the host on the corporal, he washes his fingers, saying only three verses of Psalm 25, where the Roman Rite has seven and the doxology. “I will wash my hands among the innocent; and will compass thy altar, O Lord: that I may hear the voice of thy praise: and tell of all thy wondrous works. I have loved, O Lord, the beauty of thy house; and the place where thy glory dwelleth.” He then returns to the middle of the altar, and bowing lay says the Dominican version of In spiritu humilitatis, with the addition noted in bold type.

In a spirit of humility, and in contrite heart, may we be received by Thee, o Lord; and so may our sacrifice take place in Thy sight this day, that it may be received by Thee, and please Thee, o Lord.

Turning to the people, he then says “Orate, fratres: ut meum ac vestrum pariter in conspectu Domini sit acceptum sacrificium. – Pray, brethren, that my sacrifice, which is equally yours, may be accepted in the sight of the Lord.” As in a number of medieval uses, no response is made to the Orate fratres. Before the Secret, the priest adds “Hear, o Lord, my prayer: and let my cry come to thee. Let us pray.”

Here we must note in particular the presence in the Orate fratres of the word “pariter – equally”, an adverb modifying the word “vestrum”, to express the union of the faithful with the priest in the offering of the Eucharistic sacrifice. This is a variant common to a number of medieval Uses, including the two which follow here, those of the Carmelites of the Old Observance and the Premonstratensians.

A page of the Ritus servandus of a Dominican Missal from 1687, explaining the Offertory ritual. (available on googlebooks)

The Old Carmelite Use

The traditional Use of the Carmelite Order derives from that of the Latin Rite canons installed in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem at the time of the Crusades. As such, it is, like the Dominican Use, a tradition whose earliest roots lie in France; the Carmelites Offertory, however, is longer and more complex than that of the Dominicans. (In 1584, the Discalced Carmelites, as part of the process of separating themselves from the Old Observance, passed over to the use of the Roman books.)

The chalice is prepared before the Mass, as noted above in the Dominican Use. After saying the Offertory antiphon, the priest uncovers the chalice, then makes the sign of the Cross over the chalice and host, saying “In nomine Patris etc.” He then lifts them all together with both hands, “raising his eyes to God”, as the rubric says, “and with devout mind” says the Carmelite version of Suscipe, sancta Trinitas.

Suscipe, sancta Trinitas, hanc oblationem, quam tibi offerimus in commemorationem Incarnationis, Nativitatis, Passionis, Resurrectionis Ascensionisque Domini nostri Jesu Christi: et adventus Spiritus Sancti, et in honore beatæ et gloriosæ Dei Genitricis semperque Virginis Mariæ, et omnium sanctorum tuorum, qui tibi placuerunt ab initio mundi; et pro salute vivorum et requiem omnium fidelium defunctorum.
Receive, o holy Trinity, this offering, which we offer to Thee in commemoration of the Incarnation, Birth, Passion, Resurrection and Ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ, and of the coming of the Holy Spirit, and in honor of the blessed and glorious Mother of God and ever-Virgin Mary, and of all the Saints who have pleased you from the beginning of the world, and for the salvation of the living, and the rest of all the faithful departed.

The priest lays the chalice and host on the corporal, and arranges the paten, the pall and the purificator in their places. He then lifts his eyes, opens and closes his hands, bows, and makes the sign of the Cross once again over the host and chalice saying, “Benedictio Dei omnipotentis, Patris et Filii + et Spiritus Sancti, descendat super hanc oblationem, et maneat semper. – May the blessing of Almighty God, the Father, Son + and Holy Spirit, come down upon this offering and abide forever.”

There follows the washing of the fingers, with the same verses of Psalm 25 and as in the Roman Missal. Returning to the middle of the altar, he once lifts his eyes, opens and closes his hands, and bows, saying In spiritu humilitatis as in the Dominican Use (with a slight difference in word order). He then makes the sign of the Cross over himself.

The Orate fratres reads as follows: “Orate pro me, fratres: ut meum pariter et vestrum Deo sit acceptabile sacrificium – Pray for me, brethren, that my sacrifice, which is equally yours, may be acceptable to God.” An edition of the Carmelite Missal printed at Brescia, Italy, in 1490 indicates no response, but pre-Tridentine missals are sometimes rather imprecise. In the 1621 edition printed at Venice, a response is given, words of Psalm 19, “May the Lord be mindful of all thy sacrifices: and may thy whole burnt offering be made fat. May he give thee according to thy own heart; and confirm all thy counsels.” (A similar response was given in the Use of York in England.) The priest then says “Hear O Lord... Let us pray.” as noted above in the Dominican Use, before the Secret.

The frontispiece of a Carmelite Missal printed in 1621, showing the lamentable habit of updating liturgical books in ink. (available on googlebooks) 

The Premonstratensian Use

Shortly after the Council of Trent, the Abbot of Prémontré, Jean des Pruets, elected in 1572, ordered the publication of a new edition of the order’s Missal. This edition, printed six years later in Paris, remained closely faithful to the pre-Tridentine customs of the Order, retaining the medieval form of the Offertory, and, inter alia, a large corpus of sequences and proper votive Masses. In 1622, however, under Abbot Pierre Gosset, the Missal was heavily Romanized; most of the sequences were suppressed, and both the corpus of votive Masses and the Offertory assimilated to that of the Roman Missal. Here I shall give the text of the 1578 des Pruets edition, which, however, contains no Ritus servandus, (the general rubric on how to say the Mass), and is rather sparse on rubrics generally. (More recent Premonstratensian liturgical books go quite far in the opposite direction.)

When pouring water into the chalice, the priest says “Fiat hæc commixtio vini et aquæ pariter in nomine Domini nostri Jesu Christi, de cujus latere exivit sanguis et aqua. – May this mingling of water and wine together be done in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whose side there came forth blood and water.” This reference to the blood and water that flowed from Christ’s side, as recounted in John 19, 34, is found in other missals as well, such as those the Ambrosian Rite and the Carthusians.

The rubric that follows says “While the host and chalice are offered”, but it is not specified how. The words said here are “Panem cælestem + et calicem + salutaris accipiam, et nomen Domini invocabo. – I will take up the bread of heaven and the chalice of salvation, and call upon the name of the Lord.” Presumably he makes the sign of the Cross over them at the places marked. After the chalice has been covered, the priest says, “Veni, invisibilis sanctificator; sanctifica hoc sacrificum tibi praeparatum. – Come, invisible Sanctifier; sanctify this sacrifice prepared unto Thee.”

Bowing before the altar, he then says the Suscipe sancta Trinitas as follows.

Suscipe, sancta Trinitas, hanc oblationem, quam tibi offerimus in memoriam passionis, resurrectionis et ascensionis Domini nostri Jesu Christi: et in honorem beatæ Mariæ semper Virginis, et sancti Joannis Baptistæ, et omnium cælestium virtutum, et omnium sanctorum qui tibi placuerunt ab initio mundi; ut illis proficiat ad honorem, nobis autem ad salutem: et ut illi omnes pro nobis et pro cunctis fidelibus vivis et defunctis orare dignentur in cælis, quorum memoriam facimus in terris. Qui vivis et regnas in sæcula sæculorum. Amen.
Receive, o holy Trinity, this offering, which we offer to Thee in memory of the Passion, Resurrection and Ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ, and in honor of the blessed Mary ever-Virgin, and of Saint John the Baptist, and all of the heavenly powers, of all the Saints who have pleased you from the beginning of the world, that it may profit unto their honor, and to our salvation; and that all those whose memory we keep on earth, may deign to pray in Heaven for us and for all the faithful, living and deceased. That livest and reignest for ever and ever. Amen.

In spiritu humilitatis is not said. The Orate fratres is labelled in the rubric “The priest’s supplication to the people.” “Orate, fratres, pro me peccatore: ut meum pariter ac vestrum in conspectu Domini sit acceptum sacrificium. – Pray for me, a sinner, brethren, that my sacrifice, which is equally yours, may be accepted in the sight of the Lord.” The people’s response begins with words taken from the prayer by which the celebrant blesses the deacon before he sings the Gospel. “Dominus sit in corde tuo et in ore tuo; suscipiatque Dominus Deus de manibus tuis sacrificium istud, et orationes tuæ ascendant in memoriam ante Deum pro nostra et totius populi salute. – May the Lord be in thy heart and in thy mouth, and may the Lord God receive this sacrifice from thy hands, and may thy prayers ascend in remembrance before God, for our salvation and that of all the people.”

The same Orate fratres and response to it are found in the Use of the Cistercians, an order contemporary with the Premonstratensian; the offertory of the Cistercian and Carthusian Missals will be described in the next article in this series.

A page of the 1578 Premonstratensian Missal. The Offertory prayers are on the left side, and various intonations of the Gloria, with the corresponding Ite, missa est, on the right. Pre-modern liturgical books were often printed with a surprising lack of logic in ordering the material. At the bottom, the Roman Offertory prayers were written in after the Romanization of the Premonstratensian liturgical books (in ink, again.)

Carmelite EF Liturgical Books Needed for a Seminarian

A Carmelite seminarian from Mexico recently contacted me saying that he can not find all the necessary books to celebrate the liturgy in the EF specific to the Carmelites.

If you have any of the following books, or can lead to someone who can, send me an email in the sidebar, and I'll connect you with him. He expressed a preference for books published before 1958.

• Breviarium Romanum pro fratribus et monialibus discalceatis ordinis beatae Mariae Virginis de Monte Carmelo or- Breviarium Romanum... Carmelitis discalceatis...etc
• Missale...ordinis beatae Mariae Virginis de Monte Carmelo...etc
• Rituale or Ordinarium...ordinis beatae Mariae Virginis de Monte Carmelo...
• Antiphonarium...ordinis beatae Mariae Virginis de Monte Carmelo...

He is also possibly interested in other related books, even if they are not listed.