The Station Churches of the Christmas Season (Part 1)

The Station Churches of Rome are nowadays perhaps thought of as a particular feature of Lent, since that season is the only one that has a station for every day, and the Lenten stations are the only ones which are still kept in Rome itself. However, the Missal of St Pius V, preserving the ancient traditions of the Roman Church, lists stations for several other periods of the liturgical year, such as the Sundays and Ember days of Advent, the pre-Lenten Sundays, and the octaves of both Easter and Pentecost. Prior to the 70-year long removal of the Papacy to Avignon, it was still the custom for the Pope to personally celebrate the principal liturgies at the stations, although one safely assume that this was kept more assiduously by some and less so by others. The following article in three parts will examine the station churches of the Christmas season, from the vigil of Christmas to the feast of the Epiphany.

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day
According to a very ancient custom of the Church of Rome, Christmas Day is celebrated with three Masses: one at midnight, preceded by Matins and followed by Lauds; one at dawn, after the hour of Prime; and a third during the day, to be celebrated, as on all major feasts, after Terce. In the Roman Breviary, we still read a homily of St Gregory the Great (590-604) at Christmas Matins, which begins with the words “Because, by the Lord’s bounty, we are to celebrate Mass three times today…” Like most of the great solemnities, Christmas is also preceded by a vigil day, particularly dedicated to fasting and penance in preparation for the feast. Thus, there are in fact four Masses on the twenty-fourth and twenty-fifth of December.

Of these four Masses, three currently have the same station listed, the great Basilica of Saint Mary Major. This is, of course, the oldest church in the world dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, and the most important of the many Marian churches in Rome. It was built by Pope St Sixtus III (432-440) to honor Her after the third Ecumenical Council at Ephesus had rejected the heresy of Nestorius, and formally defined Her title “Mother of God.” It is the traditional home of the famous icon known as the “Salus Populi Romani – Salvation of the Roman people”, one of the oldest icons in existence. Almost directly above the main altar of the church, the great arch still preserves the original mosaics of Pope Sixtus’ time, depicting events from the life of the Virgin. The Nativity of Christ, however, is not shown among them; it seems that the Annunciation and Epiphany, prominently depicted one above the other on the left side, were felt to contain between them the whole of the Nativity story.

Santa Maria Maggiore in an 18th century engraving by Giuseppe Vasi.

It is almost certain that already in St Gregory’s time, on the twenty-fourth of December, the canonical hour of None and the vigil Mass of the Nativity were both celebrated by the Pope and his court in the main basilica of Mary Major, to be followed by solemn First Vespers of Christmas. After a rest of some hours, the Pope and clergy would arise in the early part of the night for Matins, the first Mass of Christmas, and Lauds; thus, the Church kept watch for the Nativity of the Lord alongside the Virgin Mary in the stable at Bethlehem. By the middle of the seventh century, however, a small oratory had been built on the right side of the basilica, called “Sancta Maria ad Praesepe”, that is, Saint Mary at the Crib. This chapel was for many centuries the home of the relics reputed to be those of the Lord’s Crib, first attested in Rome in the reign of Pope Theodore (640-49). From roughly that time, the station of the Midnight Mass was kept in the chapel, while the services properly belonging to the Vigil of Christmas remained in the main basilica.

The second Mass is kept at the church of St Anastasia, located at the base of the Palatine hill, very close to the site of the great chariot racing stadium of Rome, the Circus Maximus. The standard opinion among liturgical scholars has long been that this was originally not part of the celebration of Christmas at all, but a Mass in honor of the church’s titular Saint, who was martyred during the persecution of Diocletian in the city of Sirmium, the modern Mitrovica in Serbia. (See the article on St Anastasia by J.P. Kirsch in the Dictionnaire d’archéologie chrétienne et de liturgie, vol. 1.2, col. 1923, and Bl. Ildephonse Schuster’s The Sacramentary, vol. 1, p. 368.) This strikes me as extremely improbable, since her feast is not included in the oldest liturgical books of the Roman Rite. The so-called Leonine Sacramentary gives her name last among a group of seven martyrs whose feast is on December 25th, but there is no mention of her (or any of the others) in any of the nine different Mass formulae for Christmas that follow; she is completely absent from the Gelasian Sacramentary. The lectionary of Wurzburg, the oldest of the Roman Rite (ca. 650 AD) lists the Gospel for the second Mass as Luke 2, 15-20, the account of the shepherds coming to Bethlehem, which continues the Gospel of the first Mass, Luke 2, 1-14. This does not exclude the possibility that the station was chosen because the day was also St Anastasia’s feast; in the later Gregorian Sacramentary, her Mass and that of Christmas are given together, with the proper texts of the martyr first. In the Missal of St Pius V and its late medieval predecessors, she is kept as a commemoration at this second Mass.

The third Mass of Christmas was originally celebrated not at Mary Major, but at Saint Peter’s in the Vatican. This would certainly be because the sheer size of the church, just over 100 meters long, would allow for a greater crowd to attend the most solemn of the three Nativity Masses, that which commemorates the eternal birth of God the Son from God the Eternal Father. St Ambrose tells us in the De Virginibus that his sister Marcellina was veiled as a nun by Pope Liberius in St Peter’s on Christmas Day; it is also known that Pope St Celestine I (422-32) read the decisions of the Council of Ephesus to the faithful on the same occasion. One of the most important events in the history Christendom is also connected with this stational observance; on Christmas Day, 800 A.D., Charlemagne was crowned as the Emperor of Rome by Pope St Leo III, before the celebration of the Mass.

The Coronation of Charlemagne, from the Grand Chronique de France, ca. 1455

In about 1140, a canon of St Peter’s Basilica named Benedict records in his account of the ceremonies held in his church, now known as the eleventh Ordo Romanus, that the station of this third Mass was still kept there, but a half a century later, the twelfth Ordo tells us that it is at Mary Major. For most of the Middle Ages, the population of Rome was roughly 20,000 people, living in a city built for a million and a half, and a large church was no longer necessary for the papal Mass of Christmas. Furthermore, for much of the period, the city was ruled by military strongmen, and the Pope, though nominally temporal sovereign of the city, had little or no control over it. For these practical reasons, the station was sometimes kept in the 12th century at Mary Major, which is very much closer than St Peter’s to the Pope’s residence at the Lateran Basilica, and would have been easier and safer for the Papal court to reach. There were in fact several such “double stations” at various periods, and the definitive transfer of this one was probably not made until the later 14th century. The liturgical writer Sicard of Cremona still speaks of the station at St Peter’s in roughly 1200, and explains that “in the Communion of this Mass… ‘All the ends of the earth (have seen the salvation of our God.’); and because the blessed Peter saw this, and confessed it more than the others, as the Father that is in Heaven revealed it to him, therefore the station is at St Peter.”

On the mosaic arch over the altar of Mary Major, the lowest part of the right side depicts the city of Bethlehem, and the left side the city of Jerusalem; this pairing of the two holy cities is a common motif in early Christian art. It is interesting to note that the oratory of the Crib was also frequently called “Sancta Maria in Bethlehem”, and represented, as it were, the city of Christ’s Birth within the Eternal City. For this reason, when the relics of Saint Jerome were moved to Rome from the real Bethlehem, where he died, they were placed once again “in Bethlehem.” In like manner, the church which housed the relics of the True Cross was called “Holy Cross in Jerusalem.” The union of the two holy cities was further shown by the fact that the relics of the Crib of Christ, who was born in this world so that He might die for our sakes, were formerly arranged in the shape of a cross.

(Pictured right: the relics of the Lord's Crib in a reliquary of 1830.)

This chapel also has a special connection with two of the great Saints of the Counter-reformation. St Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Company of Jesus, celebrated his first Mass on the principal altar of the Crib chapel; so great was his devotion to the Mass that he deemed a full year necessary to prepare himself properly to celebrate it. In the same place, St Cajetan of Thiene, founder of the first order of Clerks Regular, was graced on Christmas Eve with a vision, in which the Blessed Virgin appeared to him and handed him the Infant Jesus to hold. Both of these events are still commemorated by marble plaques near the altar of the now rebuilt Sancta Maria ad Praesepe.

The chapel was severely damaged during the sack of Rome in 1527, and almost entirely rebuilt in the later 16th-century; it is now often called “the other Sistine Chapel” in honor of the Franciscan Pope Sixtus V (1585-90), under whose auspices the rebuilding was carried out. Like many of the Popes of this era, he was not buried at St Peter’s, which was still under construction during his pontificate. The place which he chose for his monument, therefore, was the great chapel of the Crib, placing opposite himself the monument of his now sainted predecessor, Pius V. To this day, their spiritual brothers are still present in the Virgin Mary’s most ancient church; Dominican friars hear confessions in several languages through most of the day, and Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate serve as sacristans and chaplains. The relics of the Crib have long since been moved to the main altar, so that they may be seen more easily by the many pilgrims who come to church each day.

The second part of this article will discuss the Station churches of the feast days within the Christmas Octave.

The Ambrosian Vesperal Mass of Christmas Eve

The following post is largely based on notes written by our Ambrosian writer Nicola de’ Grandi.

Christmas Eve is one of three occasions, along with Epiphany and Pentecost, on which the Ambrosian Mass is celebrated in a special form in the middle of First Vespers of the feast. (An analogous custom is followed on Holy Thursday, but with some significant differences.) This is one of the oldest traditions of the Ambrosian Rite, and long predates its adoption of the Roman custom of having three different Masses for Christmas. Although the service shares some of penitential character of the Roman vigil of Christmas, it is celebrated in white, and was originally the Milanese equivalent of the Roman Midnight Mass.

The beginning of the Mass of Christmas Eve in an Ambrosian Missal printed in 1594.

In the Ambrosian Office, almost every feature is introduced by “Dominus vobiscum”; I will omit the frequent repetition of it from this description. Vespers begins with a responsory which is called a lucernarium; the repertoire of these is very limited, but Christmas does have its own.

R. (Psalm 131) Paravi lucernam Christo meo: inimicos ejus induam confusione; * super ipsum autem florebit sanctificatio mea. V. Memento, Domine, David et omnis mansuetudinis ejus: Super ipsum... Paravi lucernam… sanctificatio mea.

(I have prepared a lamp for my anointed one; his enemies I will clothe with confusion, but upon him will my sanctification flourish. O Lord, remember David, and all his meekness.)

There follows the hymn Intende qui regis Israël, which was composed by St Ambrose himself. This is not found in the Breviary of St Pius V or its medieval predecessors, but was sung in many other Uses of the Roman Divine Office, omitting the first stanza (a paraphrase of some verses of Psalm 79.) It is therefore more commonly known by the opening words of the second stanza, Veni, Redemptor gentium. (Full text at this post: https://www.newliturgicalmovement.org/2019/12/st-ambroses-christmas-hymn-veni.html)

A recording of part of the Ambrosian version by the mighty Schola Hungarica:

The hymn is regularly followed by another responsory, call “in Choro”, since in the cathedral it was sung by the clergy standing around the throne of the archbishop, who led the chanting of it. (Many features of the Ambrosian Office are assigned to specific offices within the cathedral chapter.) The text is repeated from parts of the preceding hymn.

R. Praesepe jam fulget tuum, lumenque nox spirat novum. * Veni, Redemptor gentium, ostende partum Virginis. V. Non ex virili semine, sed divino spiramine. Veni…

(Thy cradle already shines, and the night breathes a new light: come, Redeemer of the nations, show forth the Virgin’s childbirth, not from the seed of man, but by the breath of the Spirit.)

At this point, Vespers is interrupted, and four prophecies from the Old Testament are sung, each concerning the promise of the birth of a child. Each of these is followed by a chant called a Psalmellus, similar to a Roman gradual, and then a prayer.

1. Isaiah 7, 10-17; 8, 4 (Emmanuel, i.e. God is with us, the prophecy of the Messiah and the Virgin Birth, cited in the Gospel of this Mass.)

Psalmellus Tui sunt caeli, et tua est terra: orbem terrarum, et plenitudinem ejus * tu fundasti. V. Misericordias tuas, Domine, in æternum cantabo: in generatione, et progenie pronunciabo veritatem tuam in ore me. Tu fundasti.

(Thine are the heavens, and thine is the earth; the world and the fullness thereof didst Thou found. V. Thy mercies, o Lord, forever will I sing; to generation and generation I will speak forth Thy truth with my mouth.)

Oratio Omnipotens sempiterne Deus, qui in Filii tui Domini nostri Jesu Christi Nativitate tribuisti totius religionis initium perfectionemque constare: da nobis, quæsumus, in ejus portione censeri, in quo totius salutis humanæ summa consistit. Qui tecum.

(Almighty and everlasting God, who in the birth of Thy Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, did grant that the beginning and perfection of all religion should be established; grant us, we ask, to be counted among His portion in whom the fullness of all human salvation consists, even Him who with Thee…)

2. Judges 13, 2-9 (Sampson, who like Christ is called a “Nazarene”, i.e. one consecrated to God.)

Psalmellus Nascetur nobis parvulus, et vocabitur Deus fortis: * ipse sedebit super thronum David, et imperabit. V. Magnus Dominus, et laudabilis nimis in civitate Dei nostri, in monte sancto ejus. Ipse sedebit…

(A child shall be born to us, and he shall be called the mighty God: he shall sit upon the throne of David and rule. V. Great is the Lord, and exceedingly to be praised in the city of our God upon his holy mountain. He shall sit…)

Oratio Deus, qui populo tuo integrum præstitisti redemptionis effectum, ut non solum Unigeniti tui Nativitate corporea, sed etiam Crucis ejus patibulo salvaretur: hujus, quæsumus, fidei famulis tuis tribue firmitatem; ut usque ad promissum gloriæ tuæ præmium, ipso gubernante, perveniant. Qui tecum.

(God, who granted to Thy people the complete effect of redemption, so that it might be saved not only by corporeal Birth of Thy only-begotten Son, but also by the gibbet of his cross; grant, we ask, to thy servants constancy in this faith, that they may come unto the promised reward of Thy glory, under the governance of Him who with thee…)

3. Genesis 15, 1-10 (Isaac)

Psalmellus Salvator noster descendit de coelo, per Mariæ Virginis uterum: ab Angelis collaudatur, * et vocatur admirabilis Deus. V. Regnum teneo virginitatis, et Regem genui. Et vocatur admirabilis Deus.

(Our Savior has come down from heaven through the womb of Mary the Virgin; He is praised by the angels, and is called the wonderful God. V. I hold the kingdom of virginity, and I have begotten the king, and he is called…)

Oratio Exaudi nos, Domine Redemptor noster, beata tempora celebrantes, quibus tua caelestis æternitas humanis infusa pectoribus assumpsit hominem liberandum. Qui cum Patre.

(Hear us, o Lord our Redeemer, as we celebrate these blessed times, in which Thy heavenly eternity, poured forth upon the breasts of men, took up the liberation of man. Who with the Father…)

Hannah Presents Samuel to Eli, 1665, by the Dutch painter Gerbrand van den Eeckhout (1621-74).

4. 1 Samuel 1, 7-17 (Samuel)

Psalmellus Obsecro, Domine, ut Angelus, quem misisti, veniat iterum, et doceat nos, quid operemur in puerum, * qui nasciturus est nobis. V. Tollite portas Principis vestri, et elevamini, portæ æternales; ut introeat Rex gloriæ, qui nasciturus est nobis.

(I beseech Thee, o Lord, that the Angel whom Thou sent they come again, and teach us what we should do for the boy who is to be born unto us. V. Lift up the gates of your Prince, and be lifted up, you everlasting doors, that the king of glory may come in who is to be born unto us.)

While this last psalmellus is being sung, the celebrant changes from cope to chasuble, and approaches the altar for beginning of the Mass, the first prayer of which serves as the prayer to this last prophecy.

The Mass is celebrated in a form which is particular to these vigils, in which all the antiphons are omitted, with the exception of a brief chant called a cantus between the Epistle (itself only two verses long, Hebrews 10, 38-39) and the Gospel, Matthew 1, 18-25. The Ambrosian Mass has no Kyrie or Agnus Dei, and the Gloria and Creed are omitted, so the Sanctus is the only part of the Ordinary which is used.

Oratio super populum (the equivalent of the Roman Collect) Deus, qui hunc diem sacratissimum per Incarnationem Verbi tui, et partum Mariæ Virginis consecrasti, da populis tuis in hac celebritate consortium : ut, qui tua gratia sunt redempti, tua sint protectione securi. Per eundem…

(God, who consecrated this most sacred day through the incarnation of Thy word and the childbirth of the Virgin Mary; grant to thy peoples a share in this celebration, that they who have been redeemed by Thy grace maybe safe under Thy protection. Through the same…)

Cantus Qui regis Israel, intende: qui deducis, velut ovem, Joseph. (Thou who rulest Israel hearken, who leadest forth Joseph like a sheep. Ps. 79, 1)

Oratio super sindonem (i.e. ‘over the shroud’ said after the deacon has spread the corporal on the altar at the beginning of the Offertory rite.) Deus, qui humanæ substantiæ dignitatem mirabiliter condidisti, et mirabilius reformasti: da nobis, quæsumus, Jesu Christi Filii tui divinitatis esse consortes, qui humanitatis nostræ dignatus est fieri particeps. Qui tecum…

(O God, who did wonderfully create human nature, and more wonderfully reform it; grant us, we ask, that we may have a share in the divinity of Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who deigned to become a partaker of our humanity. Who with Thee…)

This very ancient prayer for Christmas is found in the oldest surviving collection of Roman liturgical texts, the so-called Leonine Sacramentary, and was, of course, later added to the Offertory prayers of the Mass.

Oratio super oblatam (i.e. the Secret, but sung out loud in the Ambrosian Rite.) Præ cæteris solemnitatibus gloriantes, hodie tibi, Domine, vota persolvimus: quia ipse, cujus corpus immolamus, immaculatus Agnus est editus Jesus Christus Dominus noster. Qui tecum.

(Glorying more than on the other solemn feasts, today, o Lord, we offer Thee our prayers, because He himself whose body we sacrifice, the immaculate Lamb, is brought forth, Jesus Christ our Lord, who with Thee…

The Preface Per Christum, Dóminum nostrum: Cuius hodie faciem in confessióne praevenímus, et voce súpplici exorámus, ut superventúrae noctis officiis nos ita pervígiles reddat: ut sincéris méntibus eius percípere mereámur Natále ventúrum. In quo invisíbilis ex substantia tua, visíbilis per carnem appáruit in nostra. Tecumque unus non témpore génitus, non natúra inferior, ad nos venit ex témpore natus. Per quem maiestátem tuam…

Truly... Through Christ our Lord. Before whose presence we come today in thanksgiving, and pray with humble voice, that by the offices of the coming night, He may make us ever watchful, such that we may merit to receive the feast of His Birth that is to come with all our heart. On which feast, though of Thy substance invisible, through the flesh He appeared as one visible in ours; and being one with Thee, begotten, but not in time, nor less than Thee in nature, was born in time and came to us. Through whom the Angels praise Thy majesty etc.

Oratio post Communionem Sacrosancti Corporis et Sanguinis Domini nostri Jesu Christi refectione vegetati, supplices te rogamus, omnipotens Deus: ut hoc remedium singulare ab omnium peccatorum nos contagione purificet. Per eundem…

Quickened by the refreshment of the most holy Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, we humbly ask Thee, almighty God, that this singular remedy may purify us from the contagion of all sins. Through the same…

When the Mass is completed, Vespers resumes with the psalms and Magnificat, which are arranged in a very ancient manner unique to the Ambrosian Rite. The first psalm is verses 2-7 of Psalm 84 (verse 1 is the title), to which are attached psalms 133 and 116, all sung together as if they were a single psalm, with the following antiphon, “Veniet ex Sion qui eripiat et avertat impietatem ab Iacob.” (He shall come from Sion to deliver and turn away impiety from Jacob. ~ It begins at 4:42 in this recording.)

 

This is followed by a prayer: “Tribue nobis, quaesumus, omnipotens Deus: ut, qui Unigenitum tuum manentem in tua gloria Deum, in carne nostri corporis natum per sacrosanctam Mariam Virginem confitentur, nulla possint adversa schismaticorum opinione perverti. Per eundem...” (Grant to us, we ask, almighty God, that they who confess that Thy only-begotten Son, God abiding in Thy glory, was born in the flesh of our body through the most holy Virgin Mary, may not be able to be led astray by any contrary opinion of schismatics. Through the same Christ our Lord...).

Next is the rest of Psalm 84 (verses 8-14), with the antiphon “Veni, Redemptor gentium, ostende partum Virginis”, and another prayer in a very similar vein to the previous one. “Da, quaesumus, Domine, populo tuo inviolabilis fidei firmitatem: ut, qui Unigenitum tuum in tua gloria tecum sempiternum, in veritate nostri corporis natum de Matre Virgine confitentur, et a praesentibus liberentur adversis, et mansuris gaudiis inserantur. Per eundem...” (Grant to Thy people, we ask, o Lord, the firmness of inviolable faith, that they who confess that Thy only-begotten Son, everlasting with Thee in Thy glory, was born in the reality of our body from the Virgin Mother, may be delivered from present adversities, and be brought unto abiding joys. Through the same Christ our Lord...)

Finally, the Magnificat is sung (7:08 in the video above), followed by yet another prayer. The antiphon is one of a handful of Ambrosian “double” antiphons, which are sung in full before and after their psalm or canticle. The text is the same verses of Exodus (16, 6 and 17) used for the invitatory and Mass Introit of Christmas Eve in the Roman Rite, and the concluding prayer is that of the Roman vigil Mass.

Aña Hodie scietis, quia veniet Dominus, et mane videbitis gloriam Dei. (Today ye shall know that the Lord will come, and in the morning, ye shall see His glory.)

Oratio Deus, qui nos redemptiónis nostrae ánnua exspectatióne laetíficas: praesta; ut Unigénitum tuum, quem Redemptórem laeti suscípimus, venientem quoque Júdicem secúri videámus, Dóminum nostrum Jesum Christum, Fílium tuum... (O God, Who dost gladden us with the yearly expectation of our redemption, grant that we, who now welcome with joy Thy only-begotten Son as our Redeemer, may also gaze upon Him without fear when He comes as our judge, even our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son...)

Durandus on the Vigil of Christmas

On the vigil of the Lord’s Nativity, the Invitatory is “Today you shall know that the Lord will come, and in the morning, you shall see His glory.” This is taken from Exodus, chapter 16 (verse 6-7), where it is said, “In the evening you shall know that the Lord hath brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, and in the morning you shall see the glory of the Lord.” And it can be said that this sentence pertains in part to the Nativity, and in part to the Resurrection, as follows: Today, meaning, in the present life, you shall know that the Lord will come, that is, the living bread, who comes down from heaven, and in the morning, you shall see His glory, that is, the glory of the Resurrection …

Introitus Hodie sciétis, quia veniet Dóminus et salvábit nos: et mane vidébitis glóriam ejus. V. Dómini est terra, et plenitúdo ejus, orbis terrárum, et universi, qui hábitant in eo. Gloria Patri... Hódie sciétis...

Introit Ex. 16 Today you shall know that the Lord will come, and save us: and in the morning you shall see His glory. Ps. 23 The Lord’s are the earth and its fullness; the world and all those who dwell in it. Glory be... Today you shall know...

On this vigil, the Church instructs and invites Her children to be ready to receive the Lord; for which reason, at Matins the first responsory is “Be sanctified”, that is, you spiritual men, who will see God through faith, and be prepared to be prepared to take part in the wedding feast…

But the intention of the Office during the day is to show that Christ is born, and this is said in the Epistle (of the Mass, Romans 1, 1-6), and in the Gospel (Matthew 1, 18-21). And on this day is read the story of Mary’s betrothal, that it may be know that she was betrothed to one, namely, Joseph, but made fruitful by another, namely, the Holy Spirit. And in order that this may be a matter of greater certitude to the unbelieving, some churches put a prophecy from Isaiah 62 (verses 1-4) before (the Epistle), in which it is shown that He would be born.

The Mass of the vigil of the Nativity in a Premonstratensian Missal printed in 1578, with the prophecy Isaiah 62, 1-4 (upper left), before the Epistle. (Note that there is no chant between them.) Uses which follow this tradition also have readings from Isaiah (9, 2 & 6-7; 61, 1-3 & 62, 11-12a; 52, 6-10) before the Epistles at the three Masses of Christmas itself.

But He was born that He might save the people, and blot out the iniquity of the land, today in hope through the sacraments of grace, tomorrow in fact, through the revelation of (His) glory. These things are clear in the introit, and in the gradual “Today you shall know” and in the Alleluja, “Tomorrow”... when the vigil falls on Sunday, and it is said because of the Lord’s Resurrection.

Graduale Hodie sciétis, quia veniet Dóminus et salvábit nos, et mane vidébitis glóriam ejus. V. Qui regis Israël, intende: qui dedúcis, velut ovem, Joseph: qui sedes super Chérubim, appáre coram Ephraim, Bénjamin, et Manasse.

Allelúja, allelúja. V. Crástina die delébitur iníquitas terræ: et regnábit super nos Salvátor mundi. Allelúja.

Gradual Today you shall know that the Lord will come and save us: and in the morning you shall see His glory. V. (Ps. 79) O Thou who rulest Israel, hearken, who leadest Joseph like a sheep:, who sittest upon the Cherubim, appear before Ephraim, Benjamin and Manasse.

Allelúja, allelúja. V. On the morrow the iniquity of the earth shall be blotted out, and the Saviour of the world will rule over us. Allelúja.

The same is also clear in the Communio “The glory of the Lord shall be revealed”, which is from Isaiah chapter 40.

Communio, Isa. 40 Revelábitur gloria Dómini, et vidébit omnis caro salutáre Dei nostri. (The glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see the salvation of our God.)

And because in His Incarnation the dispersal of the Jews was to happen, therefore in the gradual is added the verse “O Thou who rulest Israel”, in which a prayer is offered for them. The Psalm which is sung at the Introit shows how great He is, namely, “The earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof.” (Psalm 23), from which is also taken the Offertory, “Lift up your gates, o ye princes.” (William Durandus, Rationale Divinorum Officiorum, 6, 12, 1-3)

Offertorium, Ps 23 Tóllite portas, principes, vestras: et elevámini, portae aeternáles, et introíbit Rex gloriae. (Lift up your gates, o ye princes, and be lifted up ye everlasting doors, and the King of glory shall come in.)

Liturgical Notes on the Vigil of Christmas

A vigil is traditionally a full liturgical day, penitential in nature, in preparation for a major feast, including the whole day’s Office from Matins to None. The Mass of a vigil is not an anticipation of the feast, but a part of the preparation for it, said after None, without Gloria in excelsis, Alleluia or the Creed; First Vespers said after Mass is then the official beginning of the feast itself.

In various medieval uses of the Roman Rite, although not in that of Rome itself, the vigil of Christmas was often extended back to include the Vespers of the preceding day, December 23rd, with the addition of a special responsory to be sung between the chapter and the hymn. (A similar custom is found in the Breviary of St. Pius V on the Epiphany, the vigil of which runs from Vespers of January 4th to None of the 5th.)

R. De illa occulta habitatione sua egressus est Filius Dei; descendit visitare et consolari omnes, qui eum de toto corde desiderabant. V. Ex Sion species decoris ejus, Deus noster manifeste veniet. Descendit. Gloria Patri. Descendit.

R. From that hidden habitation of His, the Son of God shall go forth; He hath come down to visit and console all those, who long for Him with all their heart. V. Out of Sion the loveliness of His beauty, our God shall come manifestly. He hath come down. Glory be. He hath come down.

In his curious work On the Correction of the Antiphonary, the first liturgy critic, Agobard of Lyon (ca. 780-840), says that this responsory should be rejected “with great severity”, since its “vain and presumptuous author … lyingly asserts that He visited and consoled all those who long for Him, when rather He caused those whom He deigned to visit to acknowledge and long for Him.” His opinion was not accepted, and the responsory is found in a great number of medieval antiphonaries and breviaries; in the post-Tridentine period, however, it appears to have been retained only by the Premonstratensian Order and a few local uses.

A page of the breviary according to the Use of Prague, 1502; the responsory De illa occulta is in the middle of the left column.

The Office and the Mass of the Vigil begin with almost the same words, adapted from Exodus chapter 16: “This day ye shall know that the Lord shall come, and will save us, and on the morrow ye shall see His glory.” The medieval commenter Rupert of Deutz (a man of much finer poetic sensibility than Agobard), explains the sense of this text in the liturgy of the day. Speaking first of the Office, in which these words are sung six times:

On the vigil of the Lord’s Birth, that beautiful prophecy of divine consolation is most frequently and solemnly spoken by the Church. “This day ye shall know that the Lord shall come, and on the morrow ye shall see His glory.”

And then, in reference to Introit of the Mass:

When the Lord had said to the sons of Israel, “Behold, I will rain bread from Heaven for you,” Moses and Aaron said to them, “In the evening you shall know that the Lord hath brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, and in the morning you shall see the glory of the Lord.” (Exod. 16, 4 and 6-7) … (this) invites us to consider that that manna, which was given to the sons of Israel when they had come out of the land of Egypt, and were marching for the promised land, was a figure of the Word of God, which took on the flesh through the Virgin, and came to feed us that believe in Him, … The interpreter of this similitude is not just any man, but the very One who said, “I am the bread of life. Your fathers did eat manna in the desert, and are dead. This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that if any man eat of it, he may not die.” (John 6, 48-51)

The Miracle of the Manna in the Desert, by Tintoretto, 1577

The homily at Matins in the Breviary of St Pius V, is taken from St. Jerome’s commentary on the day’s Gospel, Matthew, 1, 18-21, explaining the reasons why Christ was born of a virgin.

Why was the Lord conceived not simply of a virgin, but of one espoused? First, that by the begetting of Joseph, the origin of Mary may be shown. Secondly, lest she be stoned by the Jews as an adulteress. Third, that She might have a protector as She fled to Egypt. The martyr Ignatius (of Antioch) added a fourth reason why He was conceived of one espoused, saying, “that His birth might be concealed from the devil, who would think that He was begotten not of a virgin, but of one married. “Before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.” She was found so by no other, but only by Joseph, who had already almost an husband’s privilege to know all that concerned his wife. But where it is said “Before they came together,” it followeth not that they came together afterwards; but the Scripture showeth what did not happen.

On Christmas Day itself, there are three different Masses; at Matins of Christmas, therefore, there is read in the third nocturn a brief homily on the Gospel of each of the three, the first by St Gregory the Great, the second by St Ambrose, the third by St Augustine. The inclusion of a passage of St Jerome completes the number of the four doctors of the Latin Church; between the vigil and feast, each of the four preaches to us on the Nativity of the Lord.

The Ascension of Christ, depicted in the cupola of the church of Saint John the Evangelist in Parma, Italy. In the corners are depicted the Four Evangelists, each of which is accompanied by one of the Four Doctors. St. Matthew and St. Jerome are depicted together in the lower right.

Nowadays, the most famous liturgical text of Christmas Eve is certainly the notice of the feast of Christmas from the Martyrology. In the traditional Office, the Martyrology’s entry for the following day is read at the Hour of Prime, after the first prayer. Christmas Eve is the only day on which this is done with a particular ceremony, rather than simply being sung by a reader. A priest in violet cope, accompanied by a thurifer and two candles, incenses the book, and then sings the following notice of the Christ’s Birth.

In the year from the creation of the world, when in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth, five-thousand, one hundred and ninety-nine; from the Flood, two-thousand, nine hundred and fifty-seven; from the birth of Abraham two-thousand and fifteen; from Moses, and the going forth of the people of Israel out of Egypt, one-thousand five-hundred and ten; from the anointing of David as King, one-thousand and thirty-two; in the sixty-fifth week, according to the prophecy of Daniel; in the one-hundred and ninety-fourth Olympiad; in the seven-hundred and fifty-second year from the foundation of the city of Rome; in the forty-second year of the reign of the Emperor Octavian Augustus; while the whole earth was at peace, in the sixth age of the world, Jesus Christ, Eternal God and Son of the Eternal Father, wishing to hallow the world by His most gracious coming, having been conceived of the Holy Spirit, nine months having passed after His conception, at Bethlehem of Juda is born of the Virgin Mary, having become Man.
The Birth of Our Lord Jesus Christ according to the flesh.

At the words “at Bethlehem of Juda” he raises his voice, and all kneel. The final words, “The Birth of Our Lord Jesus Christ according to the flesh,” are sung “in the tone of the Passion” according to the Martyrology’s rubric, a reminder that the coming of Christ was also so that He might suffer, die and rise for our salvation.

In the Roman Use, the priest who has sung the Martyrology departs at the end of this notice, and those of the other Saints of December 25th are sung by another reader. In the Premonstratensian Use, however, the Breviary directs that all shall prostrate themselves and say Psalm 84 Benedixisti, followed by Kyrie, eleison, Pater noster, a versicle, and the prayers of the vigil of Christmas and the Advent Mass of the Virgin.

O God, who gladden us by the annual expectation of our redemption, grant that we who now joyfully welcome thy Only-begotten Son as our Redeemer, may also behold Him without fear when He cometh as our Judge.
O God, Who didst will that Thy Word should, by the message of an Angel, take flesh in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary, grant unto us, we beseech thee, that all we who do believe Her to be truly the Mother of God, may be helped by Her prayers before Thee.

The rubric continues thus: “Giving thanks to God, who emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, let them for a time in silence, with devout elevation of the mind, consider the grace of the divine goodness, which is so great towards man.”

With the abolition of the Hour of Prime, the liturgical use of the Martyrology has all but vanished from the post-Conciliar Rite; a new version was not published until 2001. A prominent exception is the proclamation of the notice for Christmas, which is now often read before Midnight Mass. In the following video, taken in St. Peter’s Basilica, a more-or-less official revised version of the text is sung in a special tone written for the purpose, a tone which was also widely used before the modern reform. It begins with the date according to the famously inconvenient and complicated Roman dating system, in which “December 25th” is “the eighth day before the Kalends of January”. This is followed by the phase of the moon, the nineteenth in this case.

When numberless ages had passed from the creation of the world, when in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth, and made man according to His image; and likewise many ages, from when after the Flood, the Most High had placed the rainbow among the clods, as a sign of His covenant and peace; in the twenty-first century from the migration of Abraham, our father in the Faith, from Ur of the Chaldees; in the thirteenth century the going forth of the people of Israel out of Egypt, led by Moses; in roughly the one-thousandth year from the anointing of David as King; in the sixty-fifth week, according to the prophecy of Daniel etc. (The rest of the text is the same as above, except for the omission of the words “in the sixth age of the world”)

Great Rites Think Alike!

On Christmas Eve, an old and dear friend of mine asked an interesting question on a Facebook discussion group for the Breviary and Divine Office, of which I am a moderator. On the same day, I happened to discover a very interesting parallel between the Roman and Byzantine Rites which ties in with his question.

My friend asked, “Does anyone know a particular significance to the ‘cras(tina die)’ in most of today’s Little Hours, while Terce and the Mass have ‘hodie (scietis)’? Why do Prime, Sext and None focus on tomorrow, while Terce and the Mass focus on today?”

The first two antiphons of Lauds of the vigil of Christmas, Judaea et Jerusalem and Hodie scietis, in an antiphonary made in 1757 for the Swiss abbey of St Gallen. (St. Gallen, Stiftsbibliothek, Cod. Sang. 1762: antiphonary, winter part, p. 45; https://www.e-codices.unifr.ch/en/list/one/csg/1762).

As a premise to the answer: from the absence of Advent in the so-called Leonine Sacramentary and the oldest list of Roman Gospel readings, from the fact that the most ancient Roman liturgical books all start with the vigil of Christmas, and from the fact that the oldest Roman sacramentary puts Advent at the end of the Sanctorale, rather than in the Temporale, it seems clear that the season was added to the Roman Rite sometime between the compilation of the Leonine Sacramentary in the mid-6th century, and the days of St Gregory the Great, who died in 604. This would mean that originally, the vigil of Christmas did ALL the liturgical work of preparing for Christmas, just as the other great solemnities (Ss Peter and Paul, Lawrence, Assumption) only have the one day of preparation.

All of the HODIEs on the vigil of Christmas (Today ye shall know that the Lord will come) are joined to the statement “et mane videbitis gloriam ejus – and in the morning ye shall see His glory.” Which is to say, today, on the vigil, you shall know that God’s salvation is revealed in the Birth of Christ, but you will not actually see it until tomorrow. This forms a parallel with the vigil of Easter, at which we know that the Lord will rise, but we only come to see Him risen on Easter morning.

The verses of which “Hodie scietis” is a paraphrase, Exodus 16, 6-7, are part of the Epistle added in the post-Carolingian era to the blessing of palms on Palm Sunday. As I explained in an article last year, in the context of that blessing, the precise words of that verse, “Vespere scietis quod Dominus eduxerit vos de Aegypto – In the evening you shall know that the Lord hath led you out of Egypt”, refer to the Gospel of the Easter vigil, Matthew 28, 1-7, which begins with the words “Vespere autem Sabbati – on the eve of the Sabbath.” The second part of it, “et mane videbitis gloriam Domini – and in the morning you shall see the glory of the Lord,” look forward to the second verse of the Gospel of Easter morning, Mark 16, 1-7, “Et valde mane una sabbatorum – And very early in the morning, the first day of the week.” (We may reasonably guess that the medieval cleric who added this Epistle to the blessing of Palms was inspired not only by the reference to palms at its beginning, but also by the use of this verse on the vigil of Christmas.) In exactly the same way, the Gospel of the vigil of Christmas, Matthew 1, 18-21, quotes the Angel saying to St Joseph that the Virgin “will give bring forth a Son”, with the verb in the future. The Gospel of the Midnight Mass of Christmas, Luke 2, 1-14, says that “she brought forth Her firstborn Son”, with the same verb in the past, to signify that what is foretold “today”, i.e. on the vigil, is fulfilled “tomorrow”, i.e., on the feast.

The contrast of Hodie and Cras, today and tomorrow, therefore expresses the vigil’s purpose, which is not an early show of the feast itself, but a day of preparation; today we make ready for what we know is coming tomorrow.

The Introit of the Vigil of Christmas

Later in the day, I just happened to take a look at the Byzantine liturgical texts for December 24th, and made a fascinating discovery of a similar parallel between the vigil of Christmas and Holy Saturday. The Hour of Orthros, the longest and most complex part of the Divine Office, has every day one or more Canons, a group of chants based on a series of Biblical canticles called Odes. (I explained this feature in greater detail on the feast of the Transfiguration.) The Canon of Holy Saturday is rightly considered one of the finest masterpieces of this liturgical genre; on the vigil of Christmas, it is partly rewritten to make it appropriate for that occasion. For example, these are the first chants from the two versions of the Canon sung with the first Ode, Exodus 15, 1-19, the song which Moses sang at the crossing of the Red Sea. A decent English translation requires changing the word order, but the parallels are even more evident in the original Greek.

Holy Saturday, First Ode: The children of them that were saved hid beneath the earth Him that of old hid the persecuting tyrant beneath the wave of the sea. But let us, like the young women, sing to the Lord, for He is greatly glorified. (This is a poetic way of saying that the Israelites buried Christ, who had saved them from Pharaoh at the crossing of the Red Sea; the “young women” are Miriam and the other Israelite women who repeat the Song of Moses in Exodus 15, 20-21.)

Christmas Eve, First Ode: Herod seeketh to kill Him that is hidden in the manger, who of old hid the persecuting tyrant beneath the wave of the sea. But let us sing with the Magi, let us sing to the Lord, for He is greatly glorified.

There are over 30 examples of these parallel texts between the two Canons, so I will give only the first from each set. (The second of the Biblical Odes, Deuteronomy 32, 1-43, is only sung in Lent, and has no corresponding chants for the Canon on either of these days, which is why we skip from first to third.)

The canticle of Anna, 1 Samuel, 2, 1-10

Holy Saturday, Third Ode: Beholding Thee, who without restraint hung the whole earth upon the waters, hanging upon Golgotha, creation was seized with much amazement, crying out “There is none holy beside Thee, o Lord!”

Christmas Eve, Third Ode: Beholding Thee, who without restraint hung the whole earth upon the waters, being born in the cave, creation was seized with amazement, crying out “There is none holy beside Thee, o Lord!”

The canticle of Habbakuk, 3, 1-19

Holy Saturday, Fourth Ode: Foreseeing Thy divine emptying upon the Cross, Habakkuk was astonished and cried out, “Thou didst break the might of the powers (i.e. of hell), o Good one, speaking to those in hell, as the Almighty.”

Christmas Eve, Fourth Ode: Foreseeing Thy coming from the Virgin, Habakkuk was astonished and cried out, “Being incarnate, Thou didst come from Theman (vs.), o Redeemer, to call back Adam who had been rejected.” (Here there is a something of a pun between “Adei - hell” and “Adam” in Greek.)

The canticle of Isaiah, 26, 9-20

Holy Saturday, Fifth Ode: Isaiah, having seen the light that knows no setting of Thy manifestation, o Christ, which was made unto us in Thy compassion, he woke before done from the night and cried out, “The dead shall rise, and they that are in the tombs shall be raised up, and they that are on the earth shall rejoice.”

Christmas Eve, Fifth Ode: Isaiah, having seen the light that knows no setting of Thy manifestation, o Christ, which was made unto us in Thy compassion, he woke before done from the night and cried out, “Behold the Virgin shall conceive, and shall bear the Word made flesh, and they that are on the earth shall rejoice.”

The canticle of Jonah, 2, 3-10

Holy Saturday, Sixth Ode: Jonah was caught but not held in the belly of a whale, for bearing the type of Thee, who suffered and wast given to burial, he leapt up from the beast as from a bridal chamber, and cried out to the guards, “Ye who keep guard falsely and in vain have forsaken your own mercy.”

Christmas Eve, Sixth Ode: Jonah was caught but not held in the belly of a whale, for bearing the type of Thee, who wast born and made manifest in the flesh, he leapt up from the beast as from a bridal chamber; for having been begotten according to the flesh, and undergone burial and death in the flesh, Thou shalt rise up on the third day.

The Prayer of Azariah, Daniel 3, 26-56

Holy Saturday, Seventh Ode: O ineffable wonder! He who in the furnace delivered the Holy Children from the fire, being dead in the tomb, is laid down without breath for the salvation of them that sing, “O Redeemer, Thou art the blessèd God.”

Christmas Eve, Seventh Ode: O ineffable wonder! He who in the furnace delivered the Holy Children from the fire, as an infant is laid down in a poor manger for the salvation of them that sing, “O Redeemer, Thou art the blessèd God.”

The Song of the Three Children, Daniel 3, 57-88

Holy Saturday, Eighth Ode: Be astonished and shudder, o heaven, and let the foundations of the earth be shaken; for behold, He is reckoned among the dead, who dwelleth on high, and received as a stranger in a small tomb; whom do ye bless, o children, and lift up in song, ye priests; exalt Him above all, ye people, unto all ages.

Christmas Eve, Eighth Ode: Be astonished and shudder, o heaven, and let the foundations of the earth be shaken; for behold, He is wrapped in swaddling clothes, who beareth all things in His hand, and received as a stranger in a small manger; whom do ye bless, o children, and lift up in song, ye priests; exalt Him above all, ye people, unto all ages.

The Magnificat, Luke 1, 46-55

Holy Saturday, Ninth Ode: Weep not over me, Mother, as Thou beholdest me in the tomb, Thy Son whom Thou didst conceive in the womb without seed; for I shall rise and be glorified, and as God, shall unceasingly exalt in glory them that magnify Thee in faith and love.

Christmas Eve, Ninth Ode: Be not now astonished, Mother, as Thou beholdest me an infant, whom the Father begot from the womb before the daystar (Ps. 109, 3); for of this counsel to raise up glorified with me the fallen nature of mortals, that magnifieth Thee in faith and love.

A Greek icon of the Nativity of Christ, by Moskos Ilias, 1658. (Public domain image from Wikimedia Commons.) 

The Key to the Season: The Collect for the Vigil Mass of Christmas Eve

Geertgen tot Sint Jans, Nativity at Night, ca. 1490

Lost in Translation #31

In order to understand the meaning of Christmas, let us turn to tomorrow’s Collect:

Deus, qui nos redemptiónis nostrae ánnua exspectatióne laetíficas: praesta; ut Unigénitum tuum, quem Redemptórem laeti suscípimus, venientem quoque júdicem secúri videámus, Dóminum nostrum, Jesum Christum, Filium tuum: Qui tecum

Which I translate as:

O God, who makest us glad with the yearly expectation of our redemption, grant that we who now joyfully receive Thine only-begotten Son as our Redeemer, may also confidently behold Him coming as our Judge, our Lord Jesus Christ Thy Son: Who with Thee.

Tomorrow in the 1962 Calendar is the Vigil Mass of Christmas, which is not an anticipatory Mass that “counts” for the next day, nor is it the Midnight Mass, which is the first Mass of Christmas. Vigil Masses are penitential events immediately preceding a great feast. Prior to Vatican II, December 24 was a day of complete fast and abstinence.

Tomorrow’s vigil, however, cannot hide the Church’s joy about the arrival of the Messiah. The Secret tells of “the soon-to-be-adored birthday” (adoranda natalitia) of the Son of God, while the Postcommunion prays that we may “catch our breath again” (respirare) by celebrating the Nativity. 

The Collect is also joyful albeit with a twist. God “makes us glad” each year with an annual expectation of our redemption. Redemptiónis nostrae ánnua exspectatio can be taken in two ways. The predominant meaning is an expectation of the feast of our redemption, namely, Christmas Day (the Roman orations often speak in shorthand). On the other hand, it can also mean an expectation of Doomsday, which St. Paul calls the “day of redemption” (Ephesians 4, 30). Both meanings are the subject of the Collect’s apodosis (second half): just as we are currently glad about celebrating Christ as our Redeemer who has come, we pray that we may be glad to meet Him as the Judge who is to come. 

The ambivalence of Redemptiónis nostræ ánnua exspectatió is, I strongly suspect, deliberate. The Church wants us to blur the lines between the two events in order to indicate the relation between Christ’s three comings. The purpose of annually celebrating Christ’s earthly Nativity is to renew our faith and receive Christ more fully into our hearts; and the more fully Christ has come into our hearts, the more we will be ready for His Second Coming. The goal, as the Collect implies, is to be so well prepared that seeing Jesus Christ as our Judge on the Last Day will be no more fearful than seeing Him as a Babe in the manger.

That is quite a goal. Although as Christians we should be looking forward to the end of the world and Christ’s glorious return, it is understandable if most of us aren’t exactly giddy with excitement at the prospect of Armageddon. Moreover, anyone with half an ounce of self-knowledge has cause for concern about the prospect of beholding Christ in all His terrifying splendor on Judgment Day. As St. Augustine writes:

And when men look for Him to come from heaven as the judge of the quick and the dead, it strikes great terror into the neglectful, so that they wheel themselves around to a diligent [preparation] and [learn how] to long for His approach by acting well rather than fearing it by acting badly. [On Christian Doctrine, 1.15.14]

The last Sundays after Pentecost and the entire Christmas season are designed to offer “diligent preparation” that can convert a terrified and “negligent” person into a holy soul “who longs for His approach.” Beginning around the Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost, the Mass propers address the fears of a negligent person as they take on an apocalyptic note that crescendos with the Last Sunday after Pentecost and its Gospel reading, St. Matthew’s detailed description of the end of the world (24, 15-35). The next week, the First Sunday of Advent, continues the theme of holy terror; on the other hand, the Gospel reading for that Sunday is St. Luke’s description of the end of the world, which is shorter and arguably less frightening. A shift is therefore underway, and by the time we get to Christmas Day, fear has been replaced by joy, even to the point that we can imagine ourselves so transformed by our ongoing redemption that we are actually looking forward to Doomsday: as the Collect puts it, we aspire to be confident or securi, which literally means “without a care” (sine cura) in the world. (I punted somewhat when I translated laeti and securi as “joyfully” and “confidently.” They are not adverbs but adjectives, attributes of our state of being [real or aspirational], not mere qualifiers of a passing action.) What a Christmas present it would be to be truly securus! And happily, it is one which Almighty God, through the conditioning of His Church’s calendar, makes possible every year.

Station Churches of the Christmas Season (Part 1)

The Station Churches of Rome are nowadays perhaps thought of as a particular feature of Lent, since that season is the only one that has a station for every day, and the Lenten stations are the only ones which are still kept in Rome itself. However, the Missal of St Pius V, preserving the ancient traditions of the Roman Church, lists stations for several other periods of the liturgical year, such as the Sundays and Ember days of Advent, the pre-Lenten Sundays, and the octaves of both Easter and Pentecost. Prior to the 70-year long removal of the Papacy to Avignon, it was still the custom for the Pope to personally celebrate the principal liturgies at the stations, although one safely assume that this was kept more assiduously by some and less so by others. The following article in three parts will examine the station churches of the Christmas season, from the vigil of Christmas to the feast of the Epiphany.

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day
According to a very ancient custom of the Church of Rome, Christmas Day is celebrated with three Masses: one at midnight, preceded by Matins and followed by Lauds; one at dawn, after the hour of Prime; and a third during the day, to be celebrated, as on all major feasts, after Terce. In the Roman Breviary, we still read a homily of St Gregory the Great (590-604) at Christmas Matins, which begins with the words “Because, by the Lord’s bounty, we are to celebrate Mass three times today…” Like most of the great solemnities, Christmas is also preceded by a vigil day, particularly dedicated to fasting and penance in preparation for the feast. Thus, there are in fact four Masses on the twenty-fourth and twenty-fifth of December.

Of these four Masses, three currently have the same station listed, the great Basilica of Saint Mary Major. This is, of course, the oldest church in the world dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, and the most important of the many Marian churches in Rome. It was built by Pope St Sixtus III (432-440) to honor Her after the third Ecumenical Council at Ephesus had rejected the heresy of Nestorius, and formally defined Her title “Mother of God.” It is the traditional home of the famous icon known as the “Salus Populi Romani – Salvation of the Roman people”, one of the oldest icons in existence. Almost directly above the main altar of the church, the great arch still preserves the original mosaics of Pope Sixtus’ time, depicting events from the life of the Virgin. The Nativity of Christ, however, is not shown among them; it seems that the Annunciation and Epiphany, prominently depicted one above the other on the left side, were felt to contain between them the whole of the Nativity story.

Santa Maria Maggiore in an 18th century engraving by Giuseppe Vasi.

It is almost certain that already in St Gregory’s time, on the twenty-fourth of December, the canonical hour of None and the vigil Mass of the Nativity were both celebrated by the Pope and his court in the main basilica of Mary Major, to be followed by solemn First Vespers of Christmas. After a rest of some hours, the Pope and clergy would arise in the early part of the night for Matins, the first Mass of Christmas, and Lauds; thus, the Church kept watch for the Nativity of the Lord alongside the Virgin Mary in the stable at Bethlehem. By the middle of the seventh century, however, a small oratory had been built on the right side of the basilica, called “Sancta Maria ad Praesepe”, that is, Saint Mary at the Crib. This chapel was for many centuries the home of the relics reputed to be those of the Lord’s Crib, first attested in Rome in the reign of Pope Theodore (640-49). From roughly that time, the station of the Midnight Mass was kept in the chapel, while the services properly belonging to the Vigil of Christmas remained in the main basilica.

The second Mass is kept at the church of St Anastasia, located at the base of the Palatine hill, very close to the site of the great chariot racing stadium of Rome, the Circus Maximus. The standard opinion among liturgical scholars has long been that this was originally not part of the celebration of Christmas at all, but a Mass in honor of the church’s titular Saint, who was martyred during the persecution of Diocletian in the city of Sirmium, the modern Mitrovica in Serbia. (See the article on St Anastasia by J.P. Kirsch in the Dictionnaire d’archéologie chrétienne et de liturgie, vol. 1.2, col. 1923, and Bl. Ildephonse Schuster’s The Sacramentary, vol. 1, p. 368.) This strikes me as extremely improbable, since her feast is not included in the oldest liturgical books of the Roman Rite. The so-called Leonine Sacramentary gives her name last among a group of seven martyrs whose feast is on December 25th, but there is no mention of her (or any of the others) in any of the nine different Mass formulae for Christmas that follow; she is completely absent from the Gelasian Sacramentary. The lectionary of Wurzburg, the oldest of the Roman Rite (ca. 650 AD) lists the Gospel for the second Mass as Luke 2, 15-20, the account of the shepherds coming to Bethlehem, which continues the Gospel of the first Mass, Luke 2, 1-14. This does not exclude the possibility that the station was chosen because the day was also St Anastasia’s feast; in the later Gregorian Sacramentary, her Mass and that of Christmas are given together, with the proper texts of the martyr first. In the Missal of St Pius V and its late medieval predecessors, she is kept as a commemoration at this second Mass.

The third Mass of Christmas was originally celebrated not at Mary Major, but at Saint Peter’s in the Vatican. This would certainly be because the sheer size of the church, just over 100 meters long, would allow for a greater crowd to attend the most solemn of the three Nativity Masses, that which commemorates the eternal birth of God the Son from God the Eternal Father. St Ambrose tells us in the De Virginibus that his sister Marcellina was veiled as a nun by Pope Liberius in St Peter’s on Christmas Day; it is also known that Pope St Celestine I (422-32) read the decisions of the Council of Ephesus to the faithful on the same occasion. One of the most important events in the history Christendom is also connected with this stational observance; on Christmas Day, 800 A.D., Charlemagne was crowned as the Emperor of Rome by Pope St Leo III, before the celebration of the Mass.

The Coronation of Charlemagne, from the Grand Chronique de France, ca. 1455

In about 1140, a canon of St Peter’s Basilica named Benedict records in his account of the ceremonies held in his church, now known as the eleventh Ordo Romanus, that the station of this third Mass was still kept there, but a half a century later, the twelfth Ordo tells us that it is at Mary Major. For most of the Middle Ages, the population of Rome was roughly 20,000 people, living in a city built for a million and a half, and a large church was no longer necessary for the papal Mass of Christmas. Furthermore, for much of the period, the city was ruled by military strongmen, and the Pope, though nominally temporal sovereign of the city, had little or no control over it. For these practical reasons, the station was sometimes kept in the 12th century at Mary Major, which is very much closer than St Peter’s to the Pope’s residence at the Lateran Basilica, and would have been easier and safer for the Papal court to reach. There were in fact several such “double stations” at various periods, and the definitive transfer of this one was probably not made until the later 14th century. The liturgical writer Sicard of Cremona still speaks of the station at St Peter’s in roughly 1200, and explains that “in the Communion of this Mass… ‘All the ends of the earth (have seen the salvation of our God.’); and because the blessed Peter saw this, and confessed it more than the others, as the Father that is in Heaven revealed it to him, therefore the station is at St Peter.”

On the mosaic arch over the altar of Mary Major, the lowest part of the right side depicts the city of Bethlehem, and the left side the city of Jerusalem; this pairing of the two holy cities is a common motif in early Christian art. It is interesting to note that the oratory of the Crib was also frequently called “Sancta Maria in Bethlehem”, and represented, as it were, the city of Christ’s Birth within the Eternal City. For this reason, when the relics of Saint Jerome were moved to Rome from the real Bethlehem, where he died, they were placed once again “in Bethlehem.” In like manner, the church which housed the relics of the True Cross was called “Holy Cross in Jerusalem.” The union of the two holy cities was further shown by the fact that the relics of the Crib of Christ, who was born in this world so that He might die for our sakes, were formerly arranged in the shape of a cross.

(Pictured right: the relics of the Lord's Crib in a reliquary of 1830.)

This chapel also has a special connection with two of the great Saints of the Counter-reformation. St Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Company of Jesus, celebrated his first Mass on the principal altar of the Crib chapel; so great was his devotion to the Mass that he deemed a full year necessary to prepare himself properly to celebrate it. In the same place, St Cajetan of Thiene, founder of the first order of Clerks Regular, was graced on Christmas Eve with a vision, in which the Blessed Virgin appeared to him and handed him the Infant Jesus to hold. Both of these events are still commemorated by marble plaques near the altar of the now rebuilt Sancta Maria ad Praesepe.

The chapel was severely damaged during the sack of Rome in 1527, and almost entirely rebuilt in the later 16th-century; it is now often called “the other Sistine Chapel” in honor of the Franciscan Pope Sixtus V (1585-90), under whose auspices the rebuilding was carried out. Like many of the Popes of this era, he was not buried at St Peter’s, which was still under construction during his pontificate. The place which he chose for his monument, therefore, was the great chapel of the Crib, placing opposite himself the monument of his now sainted predecessor, Pius V. To this day, their spiritual brothers are still present in the Virgin Mary’s most ancient church; Dominican friars hear confessions in several languages through most of the day, and Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate serve as sacristans and chaplains. The relics of the Crib have long since been moved to the main altar, so that they may be seen more easily by the many pilgrims who come to church each day.

The second part of this article will discuss the Station churches of the feast days within the Christmas Octave.

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.

Liturgical Notes on the Vigil of Christmas

A Vigil is traditionally a full liturgical day, penitential in nature, in preparation for a major feast, including the whole day’s Office from Matins to None. The Mass of a Vigil is not an anticipation of the feast, but a part of the preparation for it, said after None, without Gloria in excelsis, Alleluia or the Creed; First Vespers said after Mass is then the official beginning of the feast itself.

In various medieval uses of the Roman Rite, although not in that of Rome itself, the Vigil of Christmas was often extended back to include the Vespers of the preceding day, December 23rd, with the addition of a special responsory to be sung between the chapter and the hymn. (A similar custom is found in the Breviary of St. Pius V on the Epiphany, the vigil of which runs from Vespers of January 4th to None of the 5th.)

R. De illa occulta habitatione sua egressus est Filius Dei; descendit visitare et consolari omnes, qui eum de toto corde desiderabant. V. Ex Sion species decoris ejus, Deus noster manifeste veniet. Descendit. Gloria Patri. Descendit.

R. From that hidden habitation of His, the Son of God shall go forth; He hath come down to visit and console all those, who long for Him with all their heart. V. Out of Sion the loveliness of His beauty, our God shall come manifestly. He hath come down. Glory be. He hath come down.

In his curious work On the Correction of the Antiphonary, the first liturgy critic, Agobard of Lyon (ca. 780-840), says that this responsory should be rejected “with great severity”, since its “vain and presumptuous author … lyingly asserts that He visited and consoled all those who long for Him, when rather He caused those whom He deigned to visit, to acknowledge and long for Him.” His opinion was not accepted, and the responsory is found in a great number of medieval antiphonaries and breviaries; in the post-Tridentine period, however, it appears to have been retained only by the Premonstratensian Order and a few local uses.

A page of the Breviary according to the Use of Prague, 1502; the responsory De illa occulta is in the middle of the left column.

The Office and the Mass of the Vigil begin with almost the same words, adapted from Exodus chapter 16, “This day ye shall know that the Lord shall come, and will save us, and on the morrow ye shall see His glory.” The medieval commenter Rupert of Deutz, (a man of much finer poetic sensibility than Agobard), explains the sense of this text in the liturgy of the day. Speaking first of the Office, in which these words are sung six times:

On the vigil of the Lord’s Birth, that beautiful prophecy of divine consolation is most frequently and solemnly spoken by the Church. “This day ye shall know that the Lord shall come, and on the morrow ye shall see His glory.”

And then, in reference to Introit of the Mass:

When the Lord had said to the sons of Israel, “Behold, I will rain bread from Heaven for you,” Moses and Aaron said to them, “In the evening you shall know that the Lord hath brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, and in the morning you shall see the glory of the Lord.” (Exod. 16, 4 and 6-7) … (this) invites us to consider that that manna, which was given to the sons of Israel when they had come out of the land of Egypt, and were marching for the promised land, was a figure of the Word of God, which took on the flesh through the Virgin, and came to feed us that believe in Him, … The interpreter of this similitude is not just any man, but the very One who said, “I am the bread of life. Your fathers did eat manna in the desert, and are dead. This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that if any man eat of it, he may not die.” (John 6, 48-51)

The Miracle of the Manna in the Desert, by Tintoretto, 1577

The homily at Matins in the Breviary of St. Pius V, is taken from St. Jerome’s commentary on the days’ Gospel, St. Matthew, 1, 18-21, explaining the reasons why Christ was born of a virgin.

Why was the Lord conceived not simply of a virgin, but of one espoused? First, that by the begetting of Joseph, the origin of Mary may be shown. Secondly, lest she be stoned by the Jews as an adulteress. Third, that She might have a protector as She fled to Egypt. The martyr Ignatius (of Antioch) added a fourth reason why He was conceived of one espoused, saying, “that His birth might be concealed from the devil, who would think that He was begotten not of a virgin, but of one married. “Before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.” She was found so by no other, but only by Joseph, who had already almost an husband’s privilege to know all that concerned his wife. But where it is said “Before they came together,” it followeth not that they came together afterwards; but the Scripture showeth what did not happen.

On Christmas Day itself, there are three different Masses; at Matins of Christmas, therefore, there is read in the Third Nocturn a brief homily on the Gospel of each of the three, the first by St. Gregory the Great, the second by St. Ambrose, the third by St. Augustine. The inclusion of a passage of St. Jerome completes the number of the four doctors of the Latin Church; between the vigil and feast, each of the four preaches to us on the Nativity of the Lord.

The Ascension of Christ, depicted in the cupola of the church of Saint John the Evangelist in Parma, Italy. In the corners are depicted the Four Evangelists, each of which is accompanied by one of the Four Doctors. St. Matthew and St. Jerome are depicted together in the lower right.

Nowadays, the most famous liturgical text of Christmas Eve is certainly the notice of the feast of Christmas from the Martyrology. In the traditional Office, the Martyrology’s entry for the following day is read at the Hour of Prime, after the first prayer. Christmas Eve is the only day on which this is done with a particular ceremony, rather than simply being sung by a reader. A priest in violet cope, accompanied by a thurifer and two candles, incenses the book, and then sings the following notice of the Christ’s Birth.

In the year from the creation of the world, when in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth, five-thousand, one hundred and ninety-nine; from the Flood, two-thousand, nine hundred and fifty-seven; from the birth of Abraham two-thousand and fifteen; from Moses, and the going forth of the people of Israel out of Egypt, one-thousand five-hundred and ten; from the anointing of David as King, one-thousand and thirty-two; in the sixty-fifth week, according to the prophecy of Daniel; in the one-hundred and ninety-fourth Olympiad; in the seven-hundred and fifty-second year from the foundation of the city of Rome; in the forty-second year of the reign of the Emperor Octavian Augustus; while the whole earth was at peace, in the sixth age of the world, Jesus Christ, Eternal God and Son of the Eternal Father, wishing to hallow the world by His most gracious coming, having been conceived of the Holy Spirit, nine months having passed after His conception, at Bethlehem of Juda is born of the Virgin Mary, having become Man.
The Birth of Our Lord Jesus Christ according to the flesh.

At the words “at Bethlehem of Juda” he raises his voice, and all kneel. The final words, “The Birth of Our Lord Jesus Christ according to the flesh,” are sung “in the tone of the Passion” according to the Martyrology’s rubric, a reminder that the coming of Christ was also so that He might suffer, die and rise for our salvation.

In the Roman Use, the priest who has sung the Martyrology departs at the end of this notice, and those of the other Saints of December 25th are sung by another reader. In the Premonstratensian Use, however, the Breviary directs that all shall prostrate themselves and say Psalm 84 Benedixisti, followed by Kyrie, eleison, Pater noster, a versicle, and the prayers of the vigil of Christmas and the Advent Mass of the Virgin.

O God, who gladden us by the annual expectation of our redemption, grant that we who now joyfully welcome thy Only-begotten Son as our Redeemer, may also behold Him without fear when He cometh as our Judge.
O God, Who didst will that Thy Word should, by the message of an Angel, take flesh in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary, grant unto us, we beseech thee, that all we who do believe Her to be truly the Mother of God, may be helped by Her prayers before Thee.

The rubric continues thus: “Giving thanks to God, who emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, let them for a time in silence, with devout elevation of the mind, consider the grace of the divine goodness, which is so great towards man.”

With the abolition of the Hour of Prime, the liturgical use of the Martyrology has all but vanished from the revised Roman Rite; a new version for the post-Conciliar liturgy was not published until 2001. A prominent exception is the proclamation of the notice for Christmas, which is now often read before Midnight Mass. In the following video, taken in St. Peter’s Basilica, a more-or-less official revised version of the text is sung in a special tone written for the purpose, a tone which was also widely used before the modern reform. It begins with the date according to the famously inconvenient and complicated Roman dating system, in which “December 25th” is “the eighth day before the Kalends of January”. This is followed by the phase of the moon, the nineteenth in this case.

When numberless ages had passed from the creation of the world, when in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth, and made man according to His image; and likewise many ages, from when after the Flood, the Most High had placed the rainbow among the clods, as a sign of His covenant and peace; in the twenty-first century from the migration of Abraham, our father in the Faith, from Ur of the Chaldees; in the thirteenth century the going forth of the people of Israel out of Egypt, led by Moses; in roughly the one-thousandth year from the anointing of David as King; in the sixty-fifth week, according to the prophecy of Daniel etc. (The rest of the text is the same as above, except for the omission of the words “in the sixth age of the world”)