The Fifth Sunday after Easter

Proclaim ye the voice of joy, alleluia, and let it be heard, alleluia, proclaim it unto the end of the earth: the Lord hath delivered his people, alleluia, alleluia. Ps. 65 Shout with joy to God, all the earth, sing ye a psalm to his name; give glory to his praise. Glory be to the Father... Proclaim ye... (The Introit of the Fifth Sunday after Easter,)

Introitus (Isa 48) Vocem jucunditátis annuntiáte, et audiátur, allelúja: annuntiáte usque ad extrémum terræ: liberávit Dóminus pópulum suum, allelúja, allelúja. Ps 65 Jubiláte Deo, omnis terra, psalmum dícite nómini ejus: date gloriam laudi ejus. Glória Patri... Vocem jucunditátis...

The Third Sunday after Easter

On this third Sunday, and on the two that follow before the Ascension, the Church exhorts us to rejoicing and exultation for the Resurrection and Ascension of Christ, for which reason, the introit of this Sunday begins, ‘Shout with joy to God, all the earth.’ And there follows Alleluia, because this shout of joy is the exultation which the mind has for eternal things, and is to be made only to God; then ‘Sing a psalm to His name’, that is, praise him with cheerful work, and again a single Alleluia, because all other things arise from a single root, which is charity. Then is sung ‘Give glory to His praise’, and at the end a triple Alleluia, because from the power of the Father, and the wisdom of the Son, and the goodness of the Holy Spirit does it come about that He delivered us through His Passion and Resurrection, and therefore is God to be praised. But although there is exultation, nevertheless fear is also inculcated, lest hope without fear grow wanton unto presumption. (William Durandus, Rationale Divinorum Officiorum, 6, 94, 1)

Introitus (Ps 65) Jubiláte Deo, omnis terra, allelúia: psalmum dícite nómini ejus, allelúja: date glóriam laudi ejus, allelúja, allelúja, allelúja. V. Dícite Deo, quam terribilia sunt ópera tua, Dómine! in multitúdine virtútis tuæ mentientur tibi inimíci tui. Glória Patri. Sicut erat. Jubiláte Deo.

Introit Shout with joy to God, all the earth, alleluia, sing ye a psalm to His name, alleluia; give glory to His praise; alleluia, alleluia, alleluia. V. Say ye unto God, How terrible are thy works, o Lord! in the multitude of thy strength thy enemies shall lie to thee. Glory be to the Father... As it was in the beginning... Shout with joy to God...

This Psalm has in the title the inscription, ‘For the end, a song of a psalm of resurrection’. When you hear ‘for the end’ (in the titles of various psalms), understand it to mean ‘for Christ’, as the Apostle says, ‘For the end of the law is Christ, for righteousness to every one that believeth.’ (Rom. 10,4) ... ‘Jubilate unto God every land.’ What is jubilate? Break forth into the voice of rejoicings, if you cannot break forth into words. For jubilation is not of words, but the sound alone of men rejoicing is uttered, as of a heart laboring and bringing forth into voice the pleasure of a thing imagined which cannot be expressed. ... ‘Say ye to God, How to be feared are Your works!’ Wherefore to be feared and not to be loved? Hear another voice of a Psalm (2, 11): ‘Serve the Lord in fear, and exult unto Him with trembling.’ What does this mean? Hear the voice of the Apostle: ‘With fear, he says, and trembling, work out your own salvation.’ Wherefore with fear and trembling? He has also given the reason: for God it is that works in you both to will and to work according to good will. (Phil. 2, 12-13) If therefore God works in you, by the Grace of God you work well, not by your own strength. (St Augustine, Treatise on Psalm 65. The term ‘a psalm of resurrection’ is in the title of the Greek and Latin translations of the Psalter.)

St Augustine, ca. 1465, by Piero della Francesca (1415-92)

The Eastertide Hymns of the Apostles

In the Roman Breviary, the feasts of the Apostles and Martyrs share a special proper Office which is used only in Eastertide, with different antiphons, responsories, chapters and versicles from those said during the rest of the year. This tradition is common to all Uses of the Roman Rite; many medieval breviaries (e.g. that of the Premonstratensians) develop it further, and extend at least some of these features to other categories of Saints. The Apostles, however, are the only ones whose Office also has proper hymns for Eastertide. This applies to the feasts of St Mark the Evangelist, whose First Vespers are celebrated this evening, of Ss Philip and James on May 1st, and the feast of St John at the Latin Gate on the 6th. It also applies to the feast of St Barnabas on June 11, but only in the extremely rare years when Easter falls on its latest possible date, April 25. (This has happened only 4 times since the Gregorian calendar was promulgated in 1582, and will happen only ten times in this millennium.)

Properly speaking, the Vespers hymn Tristes erant Apostoli, (which is repeated at Matins), and the Lauds hymn Claro paschali gaudio are both parts of the hymn Aurora lucis rutilat, which is sung at Lauds of the Sundays and ferias of the Easter season. This hymn is undoubtedly very ancient, and was often attributed to St Ambrose, but this attribution is now regarded as incorrect, and it is not used at all in the Ambrosian Office. In the Mozarabic Rite, which has a strong tendency toward the prolix in its use of hymns, all twelve stanzas are sung daily at Prime in Eastertide. Here we see it in the edition published in 1775.

Pope Urban VIII’s classicizing revision of both parts is one of the least successful aspects of that reform, and fully justifies the famous bon mot often said against it, “Accessit latinitas, recessit pietas – Latinity came in, and piety went out.” Fortunately, the mighty Tomás Luis de Victoria composed this splendid version in alternating chant and polyphony before the reformed versions became standard. (The version in the post-Conciliar Liturgy of the Hours is much closer to the original. See the Latin original and an English translation by John Mason Neale at this link:
https://www.preces-latinae.org/thesaurus/Hymni/AuroraLucis.html)

Another version, also in alternating chant and polyphony, by Victoria’s fellow Spaniard, priest and composer Francisco Guerrero (1528-99).

The Lauds section in chant.

Durandus on the Minor Litanies

The following excerpts are taken from book VI, chapter 102 of William Durandus’ treatise on the Divine Offices.

On the three days before the feast of the Lord’s Ascension, the Rogations, which are also called the Litanies: the Greek word “litania” in Latin is “supplication”, or “rogation” (from ‘rogare – to ask’), on which the Holy Church asks God… to destroy the counsel of those who wish to live outside Her peace. At the same time, we also beseech God that He may defend us from a sudden death, and from every infirmity, and we ask the Saints, that they may intercede for us before God. …

The Procession of St Gregory the Great, by an anonymous Sienese painter of the mid-16th century. The traditional story recounts that when the procession described below reached the Mausoleum of Hadrian, which is fairly close to St Peter’s Basilica, an angel appeared over it with a drawn sword in his hand, which he then sheathed, symbolizing the end of the plague as in 2 Samuel 24.

Now the Litanies are two, the Greater and the Lesser. The Greater is on the feast of the blessed Mark, and was created by the blessed Gregory (the Great), because of a plague, which caused a swelling of the groin. Paul, a monk of Monte Cassino, the author of “The History of the Lombards”, wrote the story of its institution, saying that in the time of Pope Pelagius (II, 579-90) there was so great a flood in Italy, that the waters rose as high as the upper windows of the temple of Nero in Rome … Then there came forth up the Tiber a multitude of serpents, and one very large dragon among them, whose breath corrupted the air; from this came the plague in the groin, from which men died suddenly all over the place. When nearly the whole population of Rome had been destroyed, Pelagius declared a fast and procession for all, but during it, he himself died, along with seventy others. Gregory I, who is also called the Great, took his place, and commanded that this Litany be observed throughout the world; it is therefore called the Gregorian or Roman Litany. It is also called “Black Crosses”, since, as a sign of mourning for the death of so many men, and as a sign of penance, people wear black clothing, and the crosses and altars are veiled in black.

A folio of the Echternach Sacramentary, 895AD, with the stational prayers for the Greater Litanies as they were done in Rome; the stations are at the church of San Lorenzo in Lucina, St Valentine (very far up the Tiber), “ad Pontem Olbi”, a corruption of “ad Pontem Milvium – at the Milvian bridge”, “at the Cross”, which was a station set up along the way, and two “in the atrium” of St Peter’s Basilica. (Bibliothèque nationale de France. Département des Manuscrits. Latin 9433; folio 76r.)

The Lesser Litanies, which are also called Rogations and processions, take place on the three days before the Ascension, … they were created in Vienne by the blessed Mamertus, bishop of that city. Because of a plague of wolves and other wild beasts, who were ferociously killing men in Gaul, and because of the dangerous earthquakes which were frequently taking place there, he enjoined a fast of three days on the people, and instituted the Litanies. But when the danger had passed, the fast became a custom of annual observance … This latter is called the Lesser Litany, because it was instituted by a lesser person, that is, by a simple bishop, and in a less important place, Vienne, while the Greater (Litany) is so called because it was instituted in a more important place, namely, Rome, and by a greater person, namely, Gregory the Great, and because of a great and very serious plague. However, the Lesser Litany is older, since it was instituted when Zeno was Emperor (ca. 470 AD), and the Greater in the time of the Emperor Maurice (582-602)

Litanies are also held for many other reasons, wherefore Pope Liberius established that a litany should be held for war, famine, pestilence, and other imminent adversities of this sort, so that we may escape from them by supplications, prayers and fasts. Therefore, because in this time of the year especially wars are wont to break out, and the fruits of the earth, which are still in bud or flower, can easily be corrupted in many different ways, the litanies are held, so that we may ask God to turn these things away from us, and to defend and deliver us from bad weather, and war, and the enemies of the Christian religion, as we also implore the patronage of the Saints …

… we beseech the Saints, because of our poverty, and their glory, and reverence for God. And when we celebrate the Litany because of imminent dangers, in penitential and mournful garb, we represent that last procession of the women who wept after the Lord when He was being led to the Cross, weeping, according to the Lord’s command, for ourselves and our children.

The imposition of ashes before the Rogation procession celebrated in 2017 in Milan; in the Ambrosian Rite, the penitential character of the Rogation days is far more marked than in the Roman Rite.

The Litanies also take place in this time, since the Church now asks more confidently, because Christ ascends, Who said, “Ask and ye shall receive.” (In the Gospel of the Sunday before the Ascension, John 16, 23-30.) She fasts at this time and prays, that through the mortification of the flesh, She may have little to do with it, and gain wings for herself through prayer, which is the wing by which the soul flies up to heaven. Thus is She is able to freely follow Christ as He ascends, and opens the way for us, and flies upon the wings of the wind. This is the reason why we join the last litany, the last fast, to the Ascension, so that through prayers and fasts, we may be able to lay aside the weight of the flesh, and follow Christ as He ascends.

Therefore, during the Litanies, there is a procession, and in some churches, (the antiphon) Exsurge, Domine is sung at the beginning. The Gospel canticle “Holy God, holy mighty one, holy immortal one, have mercy on us,” is also to be sung repeatedly by the boys’ choir, for John of Damascus tells the story … that in Constantinople, litanies were held because of some trouble, and a boy was taken up to heaven from the midst of the people, and there taught this chant; and returning to the people, sang it before everyone, and at once the trouble ceased. This chant was approved by the Council of Chalcedon, and therefore it is considered praiseworthy and authoritative …

… in the procession itself, the Cross goes first, and the reliquaries of the Saints, so that by the banner of the Cross, and the prayers of the Saints, demons may be repelled…

A banner is also carried to represent the victory of Christ’s Resurrection and Ascension, since He went up to heaven with great spoils … just as the multitude of the faithful follow the banner in the procession, so also a great gathering of the Saints accompanies Christ as He ascends. Banners are also carried in imitation of that which is said by Isaiah (11, 12), “And he shall set up a standard unto the nations, and shall assemble the fugitives of Israel, and shall gather together the dispersed of Juda from the four quarters of the earth.” The Church took the carrying of banners and crosses from Constantine, who, when in a dream he saw the sign of the Cross, and heard the words ‘By this sign thou shalt conquer’, ordered the Cross to be marked on his war banners. The fact that in the Litanies the cross-bearer takes his cross from the altar reminds us that Simon of Cyrene took it from Christ’s shoulders.

A Rogation procession held in the village of Balatonderics, Hungary in 2017.

In some places, the litany is done in the fields, so that demons may be expelled from the crops, or rather, so that the crops may be preserved by the Lord. … It has also become the custom that a dragon with a long tail, upright and inflated, should go before the Cross and banners on the first two days, but on the last day, looking back, with its tail deflated and lowered, it follows behind. For this dragon symbolizes the devil, who in three periods, that is, before the law, and under the law, and in the time of grace, which these three days symbolize, has deceived men, and even now seeks to deceive them. In the first two periods, he reigned, and as if he were the lord of the world, had a long tail, which shows his power, and inflated, which symbolizes his pride. For this reason, Christ calls him the prince of this world (John 12, 31) and John says in the Apocalypse (12, 4) that the dragon, falling from heaven, drew with him the third part of the stars, which symbolize people. And the Lord says in the Gospel, “I saw Satan falling like a lightning bolt from heaven” (Luke 10, 18), as a figure of which, on two days he goes at the head … But in the time of grace, he is beaten by Christ, and power is given to the Apostles to cast out unclean spirits; therefore, on the third day he follows after the Cross, to show that his power is lost through the spread of the Faith, and his tail is deflated, and hangs down, and is not long, because he does not dare to reign as mightily as he formerly did, but rather seduces men through suggestion, and in a hidden way, those whom he sees to be lazy and remiss in good works, and who follow not the way of life, as if he were looking back like a thief, to see if someone may wander and fall away from the righteousness of the Faith, so that he can draw that person to himself …

A page from an 1882 scholarly edition of the Sarum Processional, by W.G. Henderson, showing the order of the Rogation procession. The rubric above the image mentions both a dragon and a lion carried in the procession, the latter presumably in reference to the words of Apocalypse 5, 5, “Behold the lion from the tribe of Judah hath conquered.”

On the Litanies, all must abstain from servile labor, … and be present for the procession until the end, so that, just as all have sinned, so all may ask for forgiveness, and all raise their hearts to God, with their hands, that is, raise up their zeal for prayer.

But since on the preceding days, a double Alleluia, is sung, why on these days is only one sung? And again, since Alleluia is not said on other fast days, why is it said on this one? To the first question, we answer that ... a double Alleluia is sung on the preceding days because of the double stole which will be given in the general resurrection, namely, that of the soul and of the body. But the liturgy of Easter, which this signifies, is now finished, and therefore, the cause being taken removed, the effect is also removed . To the second, we answer that on the other fast days, Alleluia is not sung because it is a song of joy, and those fasts are held because of sins, wherefore they are called fasts of mourning; but this fast, and that of Pentecost, are matters of rejoicing, because they are not held for sins, but so that the power of the devil, and the plague, may be removed; and therefore, Alleluia is sung on them.

The Fifth Sunday after Easter 2025

Benedícite, gentes, Dóminum, Deum nostrum, et obaudíte vocem laudis ejus: qui posuit ánimam meam ad vitam, et non dedit commovéri pedes meos: benedictus Dóminus, qui non amóvit deprecatiónem meam et misericordiam suam a me, allelúja. (The Offertory of the Fifth Sunday after Easter.)

Bless the Lord our God, ye nations: and harken to the voice of His praise, Who hath set my soul to live, and not given my feet to be moved: Blessed be the Lord, who hath not turned away my prayer, nor His mercy from me, allelúja.

A polyphonic setting by Palestrina.

From the Breviarium in Psalmos, a commentary on the Psalms traditionally attributed to either St Jerome or St Augustine, which was highly influential on the creators of the Roman chant repertoire.

“Bless the Lord our God, ye nations, and make heard the voice of his praise.” The Apostles preach these things, so that the nations may bless God Himself... and obey Him into whom they have been reborn through baptism.

“Who hath set my soul to live”, lest everlasting death consume it. Death has killed death, that is, Christ has killed our death. “And not given my feet to be moved”, but hath established me in the preaching which I have brought unto the gentiles.

“Blessed be the Lord, who hath not turned away my prayer, nor His mercy from me.” Being full of mercy, he hath not turned away my prayer from himself, because what I was asking was just, for his holy ears are always open to the prayers of the just. But let us humbly beseech the Lord, that He may open His ears to our prayers, and having granted forgiveness of sins, deliver us from our present troubles, and having made us a pure offering unto Himself, our vices being slain, join us to the multitudes of the Saints. Amen.

The Blessing Christ, ca. 1498, by the Spanish painter Fernando Gallego (1440 ca. - 1507). Public domain image from Wikimedia Commons. 

The Offertory Jubilate Deo, Universa Terra

Shout with joy to God, all the earth, sing ye a psalm to his name; come and hear, and I will tell you, all ye that fear God, what great things the Lord hath done for my soul. allelúja. V. My mouth hath spoken, when I was in trouble; I will offer up to thee holocausts full of marrow.

This recording of the Offertory of the Fourth Sunday after Easter, the text of which is taken from Psalm 65, includes one of the extra verses with which the Offertories were generally sung in the Middle Ages (in this case, the second of two), with a long melisma on the word “offeram - I will offer.” It is also used on the Second Sunday after Epiphany, on which the Gospel of the Wedding of Cana is read; in his commentary on that day, Durandus explains the repetition of certain words within it. “We sing out for joy, doubling the words both in the Offertory and its verses, an effect of spiritual inebriation.” The text and music can be seen in this pdf, starting on page 69:

https://media.musicasacra.com/books/offertoriale1935.pdf

Jubiláte Deo, universa terra, psalmum dícite nómini ejus: veníte et audíte, et narrábo vobis, omnes qui timétis Deum, quanta fecit Dóminus ánimae meae, allelúja. V. Locútum est os meum in tribulatióne mea, holocausta medulláta ófferam tibi.

The Byzantine Feast of Mid-Pentecost

In the Byzantine Rite, today is the feast of Mid-Pentecost (Μεσοπεντηκοστή in Greek; Преполовенїе in Church Slavonic, literally, “mid-way”), the twenty-fifth day after Easter, and thus the half-way point between it and Pentecost. This feast is very ancient, older even than the great Marian feasts which the Roman Rite borrowed from the East at the end of the 7th century. It is also of such importance that, although it is not counted among the Twelve Great Feasts, it nevertheless has an eight-day long After-feast, the Byzantine equivalent of an octave, in the midst of the ongoing After-feast of Easter, which occupies the whole Paschal season until the Ascension.

A Greek icon for the feast of Mid-Pentecost, which represents not the discourse recounted in its Gospel, but the young Christ in the temple speaking with the Doctors of the Law, as narrated in Luke 2, 42-52. This shows Him as the giver of a greater Law which will displace that which governs the worship in the temple, a prominent theme of the Gospel of the feast, John 7, 14-30, and those of the second half of the Easter season. This is also indicated by the fact that although He is a child of twelve, He is physically bigger than the adults around Him. (There does also exist a type of icon for this feast which simply shows Him as an adult speaking in the temple.)

Mid-Pentecost represents an unusual, but by no means unique, Byzantine example of a “feast of devotion” or “Ideenfest.” The latter term was coined by German liturgical scholars to distinguish those feasts which have as their object a truth of the Faith from those which celebrate an event in the Lord’s life. It is highly misleading, both historically and theologically. It is typically applied to Western feasts like Trinity Sunday or Corpus Christi, which alone suffices to demonstrate its gross unsuitability, since the objects of these feasts are not “ideas”, but things that really exist.

Like the feasts of the Saints, feasts of devotion are intimately connected with the life of Christ, which does not end with the Ascension or Pentecost, but continues in His Mystical Body, the Church. For example, the feast of the Holy Trinity is placed on the octave of Pentecost, to indicate that at Pentecost, the Church began to preach the doctrine of the Trinity, which is also the doctrine that man’s salvation is achieved through the Incarnation of God. Corpus Christi celebrates Christ’s abiding presence in His Church in the Sacrament by which He continually renews His life within us, and of which He said, “Except you eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, you shall not have life in you.”

It is sometimes alleged that the absence of such feasts in the East proves that they are “inauthentic.” This seems to rest on the unjustifiable assumption that the West is for some reason not allowed to develop anything on its own, but also certainly rests on a more basic factual error, since Mid-Pentecost is essentially Corpus Christi for Baptism. The feast of the Protection of the Mother of God on October 1st, which is very popular among the Slavs, is another feast of the same kind, while the version of the Midnight Office used on Sundays is conceptually no different from the western Office of the Holy Trinity.

Jesus and the Samaritan Woman, depicted in a 16th fresco in the Stavronikita Monastery on Mt Athos, by Theophanes the Cretan. (Public domain image from Wikimedia Commons.)

As I explained on Sunday, the six Sundays of the Easter season are divided into two groups in the Byzantine Rite. The first three, Easter itself, and the Sundays of St Thomas and the Myrrh-bearing Women, are dedicated to the Resurrection. The three that follow are named for their Gospels, all taken from St John: of the Paralytic (5, 1-15), of the Samaritan Woman (4, 5-42) and the Blind Man (9, 1-38). All three refer prominently to water, and thus serve as a trait d’union between the two great baptismal feasts of Easter and Pentecost. They also all refer in various ways to the replacement of the Law of Moses by the Law of Christ. This looks back to the final verse of the Gospel of Easter, John 1, 17, “For the law was given by Moses; grace and truth came by Jesus Christ”, and forward to Pentecost, which was instituted to commemorate the giving of the Old Law on Mt Sinai, but under the New Covenant, celebrates the coming of the Holy Spirit, and the preaching of the Gospel to the whole world.

At Vespers of Mid-Pentecost, there are read three lessons from the Old Testament, as on many other great feasts. The first is a cento of verses from chapters 4-6 of the Prophet Micah, which begins with the words, “The Law will go out from Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.” “Go out” can also mean “depart”, and in a season when the Gospels are almost all taken from St John, “the word of the Lord” should certainly be understood to mean the Incarnate Word. The Word therefore departs from Jerusalem; this refers to the removal of the worship of God from the city where the healing of the paralytic takes place, made holy by the presence of the temple, which, however, is soon to be destroyed.

The second is a cento of verses from Isaiah 55 and 12, which speak about the waters of baptism; both passages are also read at the solemn blessing of the waters on Theophany, the feast of Christ’s Baptism. “Ye that thirst, come to the water… draw water with joy from the well-springs of salvation.” This refers to the Samaritan woman, who comes to the well to draw water; there she meets the Man whom the Samaritans, a people who keep the law of Moses, but do not worship at the Jerusalem temple, confess to be “truly the Savior of the world.” When the Word has departed from Jerusalem, then “the hour cometh, when neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem shall you adore the Father. … (but) the true adorers shall adore (Him) in spirit and in truth.” (John 4, 21 and 23)

A painting in the cathedral of Holy Wisdom in Kyiv, Ukraine, based on Proverbs 9, 1-11, the first words of which are written in Greek on the building’s cornice. God the Father, with the seven great archangels to either side sends the Holy Spirit down upon the Virgin Mary, who stands in the middle of Wisdom’s house, with the Christ Child in a halo on Her chest, the icon type known as the “Virgin of the Sign.” The steps ascending towards Her are labelled “Faith (cut off by the frame), Hope, Love, Purity, Humility, Grace, Glory”; to the left are shown David, Aaron and Moses, to the right, the four Major Prophets. (Public domain image from Wikimedia Commons.)

In the third passage, Proverbs 9, 1-11, the personified figure of Wisdom, whom the Church Fathers also understand to be the Eternal Word, [1] “built for herself a house”, which is the Church. She then “sent out her servants” to call the unwise and those who lack understanding (i.e. the pagans) to “come, eat my bread, and drink the wine which I have mixed for you”, an obvious symbol of the Eucharist. The word “sent – apesteile” is from the same root as “apostle”, and also of the word “apestalmenos – sent”, which St John gives as the translation of “Siloam”, the name of the pool in which the blind man is healed.

These three readings therefore mirror the three Gospels of the second part of the Easter season.

The Gospel of Mid-Pentecost, John 7, 14-30, is chosen in part for its opening words, “Now about the midst of the feast, Jesus went up into the temple, and taught.” Much more important, however, are Christ’s words about the Old Law: “Did Moses not give you the law? and yet none of you keepeth the law? … If a man receive circumcision on the sabbath day, that the law of Moses may not be broken; are you angry at me because I have healed the whole man on the sabbath day?” This man is the paralytic healed in the Gospel of the previous Sunday.

To this, some in the crowd say, “Have the rulers known for a truth, that this is the Christ? But we know this man, whence he is: but when the Christ cometh, no man knoweth whence he is.” This echoes the words of the Samaritan woman, “I know that the Messiah cometh, who is called Christ.”

Jesus Himself says, “You both know me, and you know whence I am: and I am not come of myself; but he that sent me is true, whom you know not. I know him, because I am from him, and he hath sent me.” This refers once again to the word “sent” both as the translation of the name of the pool of Siloam, and as the origin of the word “apostles”, those to whom Christ says on the day of the Resurrection, “as the Father hath sent me, I also send you.” (John 20, 21)

Perhaps it is not too much to posit that the ordering of the three Gospels given above, which places the story of the paralytic in chapter 5 before that of the Samaritan woman in chapter 4, may have been inspired by this very Gospel.

Every Byzantine liturgical day has an abundance of hymns [2] from which to choose to highlight its significance; those of Mid-Pentecost are particularly beautiful. The two which carry over into the Divine Liturgy, the troparion and kontakion, are as follows.

Troparion The feast being at its mid-point, give Thou my thirsting soul to drink of the streams of piety; for Thou, o Savior, didst cry out to all, “Let Him that is thirsty come to Me and drink. O well-spring of life, Christ our God, glory to Thee.

Kontakion At the coming of the mid-feast of the Law, o Maker and and Master of all, Thou didst say to those present, o Christ God, “Come ye, and draw forth the water of immortality.” Wherefore, we fall down before Thee and faithfully cry out, “Grant to us Thy mercies, for Thou art the Well-spring of our life.”

A very ancient poetic form which builds on the theme of the Kontakion, and almost always ends with the same words is called the Ikos.

With the streams of Thy Blood do Thou Water my soul, which is grown dry and barren with the iniquities of my offences, and show it forth to be fruitful in virtues. For Thou didst say to all to come unto Thee, all-holy Word of God, and to draw the water of incorruption, which is living, and purifieth the sins of those who praise Thy glorious and divine Resurrection, granting also, o Good One, to them that know Thee as God, the strength of the Spirit which truly was borne from on high to Thy disciples, for Thou art the Well-spring of our life.

Notes

[1] The liturgical texts of the feast itself also speak of Christ as the “wisdom of God” five times. Before the fall of Constantinople, Mid-Pentecost was celebrated as a patronal feast of Hagia Sophia, the church “of Holy Wisdom.”

[2] In the Byzantine Rite, “hymn” is the generic term for compositions which, from a literary point of view, are similar to Roman antiphons, although they tend to be rather longer. They are not at all like the compositions in regular stanzas which we call “hymns” in the West. Their specific names (kontakion, ikos, exapostilarion etc.) refer to their functions, which are now in many cases effectively obsolete.

“The Angel Cried Out” - The Byzantine Easter Hymn to the Virgin Mary

In the Byzantine Divine Liturgy, there are several places where the priest sings a part of the anaphora out loud, and the choir makes a response, while he continues the anaphora silently. In the liturgy of St John Chrysostom, which is by far the more commonly used of the two anaphoras, the priest commemorates the Saints after the consecration and epiclesis, praying in silence “Again we offer unto Thee this rational service for them that in faith have gone to their rest before us: the Forefathers, Fathers, Patriarchs, Prophets, Apostles, Preachers, Evangelists, Martyrs, Confessors, Ascetics, and for every righteous spirit in faith made perfect.” He then sings out loud, “Especially for our most holy, immaculate, blessed-above-all and glorious Lady, the Mother of God, and ever-Virgin Mary,” and the choir sings a hymn to the Virgin, which in the Easter season reads as follows.

The Angel cried out to Her that is full of grace: “Hail, o holy Virgin, and again will I say ‘Hail!’ Thy Son is risen from the tomb on the third day, and has overthrown death; o people, rejoice. Be enlightened, be enlightened, o new Jerusalem, for the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. Rejoice and be glad, o Sion; and Thou, o Holy Mother of God, exult in the resurrection of Thy Son!” (The words in italics are missing in the Greek version.)

Not surprisingly, this beautiful text has inspired some of the best efforts of composers who have written for the Byzantine Rite, such as this version by the Ukrainian composer Dmitro Bortniansky (1751-1825).

Аггел вопїѧше благодатнѣй: чистаѧ Дѣво, радуйсѧ! и паки реку: радуйсѧ! Твой Сынъ воскресе тридневенъ ωт гроба, и мертвыѧ воздвигнувый: людїе веселитесѧ! Свѣтисѧ, свѣтисѧ, новый Іерусалиме! слава бо Господнѧ на тебѣ возсїѧ: ликуй нынѣ и веселисѧ, Сїωне! Ты же чистаѧ, красуйсѧ, Богородице, ω востанїи рождества Твоегω.

Here is another very commonly used version in Church Slavonic (starts at 0:15):

The same setting in English, a perfect example of how to use the vernacular without destroying the musical patrimony of a rite.

And one in Greek (even though the title is given in Slavonic):

Ὁ Ἄγγελος ἐβόα τῇ Κεχαριτωμένῃ· Ἁγνὴ Παρθένε, χαῖρε, καί πάλιν ἐρῶ, χαῖρε· ὁ σὸς Υἱὸς ἀνέστη τριήμερος ἐκ τάφου. Φωτίζου, φωτίζου, ἡ νέα Ἱερουσαλήμ, ἡ γὰρ δόξα Κυρίου ἐπὶ σὲ ἀνέτειλε· χόρευε νῦν, καὶ ἀγάλλου Σιών. Σὺ δὲ ἁγνή, τέρπου, Θεοτόκε, ἐν τῇ ἐγέρσει τοῦ τόκου σου.

(You can discover many more versions yourself by putting the words “The Angel Cried”, “ Ὁ ῎Αγγελος ἐβόα ” or “Ангел вопияше” as the search criterion on YouTube.)

A Medieval Hymn for Eastertide

Many medieval breviaries, including those of the Sarum Use, the Cistercians, Carmelites and Premonstratensians, have a hymn for the Easter season which is not found in the Roman Breviary, Chorus novae Jerusalem by St Fulbert, bishop of Chartres, who died in 1029. The original version of the Latin text, and the English translation of John Mason Neale (1867), are given below. In this recording, the monks of the French abbey of Ligugé sing the revised version which Dom Anselmo Lentini made for the Liturgy of Hours; the differences are explained in the notes below the table.

Chorus novae Jerusalem, Novam meli dulcedinem, Promat, colens cum sobriis Paschale festum gaudiis.	Ye Choirs of New Jerusalem! To sweet new strains attune your theme; The while we keep, from care releas’d, With sober joy our Paschal Feast:
Quo Christus, invictus leo Dracone surgens obruto Dum voce viva personat A morte functos excitat.	When Christ, Who spake the Dragon’s       doom, Rose, Victor-Lion, from the tomb, That while with living voice He cries, The dead of other years might rise.
Quam devorarat improbus Praedam refudit tartarus; Captivitate libera Jesum sequuntur agmina.	Engorg’d in former years, their prey Must Death and Hell restore to-day: And many a captive soul, set free, With Jesus leaves captivity.
Triumphat ille splendide, Et dignus amplitudine, Soli polique patriam Unam facit rempublicam	Right gloriously He triumphs now, Worthy to Whom should all things bow; And, joining heaven and earth again, Links in one commonweal the twain.
Ipsum canendo supplices, Regem precemur milites Ut in suo clarissimo Nos ordinet palatio.	And we, as these His deeds we sing, His suppliant soldiers, pray our King, That in His Palace, bright and vast, We may keep watch and ward at last.
Esto perenne mentibus Paschale, Jesu, gaudium, Et nos renatos gratiae Tuis triumphis aggrega.	(in the recording, but not in the original text)
Per saecla metae nescia Patri supremo gloria, Honorque sit cum Filio Et Spiritu Paraclito. Amen.	Long as unending ages run, To God the Father laud be done; To God the Son our equal praise, And God the Holy Ghost, we raise.

A literal translation of the hymn’s first two lines would read “Let the choir of the new Jerusalem bring forth the new sweetness of a song.” The word “meli – song” is the genitive singular form of the Greek word “melos” (as in “melody”); this is unusual in Latin, and the line was emended in various ways. The Premonstratensians, e.g., changed it to “nova melos dulcedine – Let the choir of the new Jerusalem bring forth a song with new sweetness.” Dom Lentini disturbed the original text less by changing it to “Hymni novam dulcedinem – the new sweetness of a hymn.”

This manuscript of the mid-11th century (British Library, Cotton Vesp. d. xii; folio 74v, image cropped), is one of the two oldest with the text of this hymn.

Unfortunately, he then decided to remove altogether the original doxology, which is unique to this hymn, in favor of his re-written version of the double doxology used at most hymns of the Easter season.

Esto perenne mentibus
Paschale, Jesu, gaudium,
Et nos renatos gratiae
Tuis triumphis aggrega.

Jesu, tibi sit gloria,
Qui morte victa praenites,
Cum Patre et almo Spiritu,
In sempiterna saecula.

“Be to our minds the endless joy of Easter, o Jesus, and join us, reborn of grace, to Thy triumphs. – Jesus, to Thee be glory, who shinest forth, death being conquered, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, unto eternal ages.”

It is not difficult to figure out the rationale behind this change, since it appears in other features of the reform as well. As the wise Fr Hunwicke noted two years ago, “The post-Conciliar reforms made much of Easter being 50 days long and being one single Great Day of Feast. They renamed the Sundays as ‘of Easter’ rather than ‘after Easter’, and chucked out the old collects for the Sundays after Easter ... because they didn’t consider them ‘Paschal’ enough.” (The “old” collects to which he refers are all found in the Gelasian Sacramentary in the same places they have in the Missal of St Pius V.) Likewise, St Fulbert’s original conclusion makes no direct reference to Easter. For further reference, see these articles about the supposed restoration of the 50 days of Easter:

http://www.newliturgicalmovement.org/2019/05/fifty-days-of-easter.html http://www.newliturgicalmovement.org/2019/06/fifty-days-of-easter-part-2.html

The Sunday of the Samaritan Woman

Having come in faith to the well, the Samaritan woman beheld Thee, the water of wisdom, and having drunk abundantly thereof, she the renowned one inherited the kingdom that is above forever. (The Kontakion for today in the Byzantine Rite, the Fifth Sunday of Easter, on which is read the Gospel of the Samaritan woman, John 4, 5-42.)

Jesus and the Samaritan Woman, depicted in a 16th fresco in the Stavronikita Monastery on Mt Athos, by Theophanes the Cretan. (Public domain image from Wikimedia Commons.)

The Ikos Let us hear the venerable mysteries, as John teacheth us the things that happened in Samaria, how the Lord conversed with the woman, asking for water, even He who gathered the waters together, that shareth His throne with the Father and the Spirit, for He the renowned one came seeking His own image forever.

The Sunday of the Paralytic

Raise up my soul, o Lord, that is grievously paralyzed in sins of every kind, and unseemly deeds, by Thy divine care, as of old Thou didst also raise up the paralytic, that I may be saved and cry out: o Compassionate Christ, glory be to Thy might! (The Kontakion for today in the Byzantine Rite, the Fourth Sunday of Easter, on which is read the Gospel of the healing of the Paralytic, John 5, 1-15.)

A Romanian icon of the healing of the Paralytic. 

The Ikos O Thou Who holdest the ends of the earth in the palm of Thy hand, Jesus our God, Who with the Father hast no beginning, and with the Holy Spirit rulest over all things: Thou didst appear in the flesh, healing infirmities, and having driven away passions, gave sight to the blind; and, by a divine word, Thou didst raise up the paralytic, commanding him to walk straightway, and to take up upon his shoulders the bed that had borne him. Wherefore, together with him, we all praise Thee and cry out: o Compassionate Christ, glory be to Thy might.

Good Shepherd Sunday 2024

I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his life for his sheep. But the hireling, and he that is not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and flieth: and the wolf catcheth, and scattereth the sheep: And the hireling flieth, because he is a hireling: and he hath no care for the sheep. I am the good shepherd; and I know mine, and mine know me. As the Father knoweth me, and I know the Father: and I lay down my life for my sheep. And other sheep I have, that are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice, and there shall be one fold and one shepherd. (John 10, 11-16)

The Good Shepherd, by Bartolomé Esteban Murillo (1617-82), ca. 1660; Museo del Prado, Madrid. The ruined classical building in the background on the left represents the fallen world renewed by Christ’s coming, as it does also in Nativity scenes; the flock on the right alludes to the 99 sheep whom the shepherd leaves behind to seek the one that has wandered (Matthew 18, 12-13). The Christ Child wears a purple garment, the color of royalty, to indicate His divinity, and a rough skin in brown over it, to indicate His humbling of Himself in the Incarnation. (Public domain image from Wikimedia Commons.)

The Fifth Sunday after Easter

Proclaim ye the voice of joy, alleluia, and let it be heard, alleluia, proclaim it unto the end of the earth: the Lord hath delivered his people, alleluia, alleluia. Ps. 65 Shout with joy to God, all the earth, sing ye a psalm to his name; give glory to his praise. Glory be to the Father... Proclaim ye... (The Introit of the Fifth Sunday after Easter,)

Introitus (Isa 48) Vocem jucunditátis annuntiáte, et audiátur, allelúja: annuntiáte usque ad extrémum terræ: liberávit Dóminus pópulum suum, allelúja, allelúja. Ps 65 Jubiláte Deo, omnis terra, psalmum dícite nómini ejus: date gloriam laudi ejus. Glória Patri... Vocem jucunditátis...

The Third Sunday after Easter

On this third Sunday, and on the two that follow before the Ascension, the Church exhorts us to rejoicing and exultation for the Resurrection and Ascension of Christ, for which reason, the introit of this Sunday begins, ‘Shout with joy to God, all the earth.’ And there follows Alleluia, because this shout of joy is the exultation which the mind has for eternal things, and is to be made only to God; then ‘Sing a psalm to His name’, that is, praise him with cheerful work, and again a single Alleluia, because all other things arise from a single root, which is charity. Then is sung ‘Give glory to His praise’, and at the end a triple Alleluia, because from the power of the Father, and the wisdom of the Son, and the goodness of the Holy Spirit does it come about that He delivered us through His Passion and Resurrection, and therefore is God to be praised. But although there is exultation, nevertheless fear is also inculcated, lest hope without fear grow wanton unto presumption. (William Durandus, Rationale Divinorum Officiorum, 6, 94, 1)

Introitus (Ps 65) Jubiláte Deo, omnis terra, allelúia: psalmum dícite nómini ejus, allelúja: date glóriam laudi ejus, allelúja, allelúja, allelúja. V. Dícite Deo, quam terribilia sunt ópera tua, Dómine! in multitúdine virtútis tuæ mentientur tibi inimíci tui. Glória Patri. Sicut erat. Jubiláte Deo.

Introit Shout with joy to God, all the earth, alleluia, sing ye a psalm to His name, alleluia; give glory to His praise; alleluia, alleluia, alleluia. V. Say ye unto God, How terrible are thy works, o Lord! in the multitude of thy strength thy enemies shall lie to thee. Glory be to the Father... As it was in the beginning... Shout with joy to God...

This Psalm has in the title the inscription, ‘For the end, a song of a psalm of resurrection’. When you hear ‘for the end’ (in the titles of various psalms), understand it to mean ‘for Christ’, as the Apostle says, ‘For the end of the law is Christ, for righteousness to every one that believeth.’ (Rom. 10,4) ... ‘Jubilate unto God every land.’ What is jubilate? Break forth into the voice of rejoicings, if you cannot break forth into words. For jubilation is not of words, but the sound alone of men rejoicing is uttered, as of a heart laboring and bringing forth into voice the pleasure of a thing imagined which cannot be expressed. ... ‘Say ye to God, How to be feared are Your works!’ Wherefore to be feared and not to be loved? Hear another voice of a Psalm (2, 11): ‘Serve the Lord in fear, and exult unto Him with trembling.’ What does this mean? Hear the voice of the Apostle: ‘With fear, he says, and trembling, work out your own salvation.’ Wherefore with fear and trembling? He has also given the reason: for God it is that works in you both to will and to work according to good will. (Phil. 2, 12-13) If therefore God works in you, by the Grace of God you work well, not by your own strength. (St Augustine, Treatise on Psalm 65. The term ‘a psalm of resurrection’ is in the title of the Greek and Latin translations of the Psalter.)

St Augustine, ca. 1465, by Piero della Francesca (1415-92)

Indulgences: Taking Advantage of God’s Mercy

Christ Healing the Sick, by Washington Allston, 1813

Many Catholics are unaware of a treasure at their disposal: they view indulgences as an embarrassing relic of a corrupt medieval past, one from which the Church since Vatican II has wisely distanced herself. Their ignorance and suspicion is in turn shared by other Christians, not only anti-intellectual fundamentalists but even the well-educated. In March of 2010, several representatives of Reformation communities visited Rome for the Pauline year and waxed critical of a recent indulgence granted to those who went on pilgrimage to the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls. Their reaction prompted a helpful clarification from Walter Cardinal Kasper. [1]

Soteriology

One of the problems about discussing indulgences, the Cardinal pointed out, is that we must first grasp the deeper Catholic understanding of grace and sin. That understanding emanates from one conviction: that every sinner can become a saint. “Justification” for a Catholic does not simply mean believing that Jesus Christ is one’s personal Lord and Savior; it means becoming a living icon of Christ inside and out, a luminous reflection of the glory of God, a full restoration of the divine image and likeness in which we are made.

In the words of Dietrich von Hildebrand, “We should not forget that the Church’s doctrine of justification insists on the possibility of men being fully transformed in Christ, of their becoming saints. It is here that the deepest differences between the Catholic Church and Luther’s doctrine of sola fides is to be found.” [2] Catholics believe that the grace bought for us through the suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ does not simply “impute” the divine charges against us in an external, forensic, or legalist manner so that we can slip into heaven without being internally changed, like a letter processed in the mail. Rather, grace not only forgives but washes away, heals, restores, and transforms.

Further, Catholics understand sin to be not just a transgression against God but a self-laceration or self-mutilation. Saint Augustine said it best: “For so you have ordained it, O Lord, and so it is: that every disorder of the soul is its own punishment.” [3] Every sin is a disorder of the soul, and every disorder reaps an effect, both on myself and on others around me. Specifically, my sins pollute and corrupt myself and the rest of the world.

Consequently, the complete triumph over sin requires not only forgiveness but a healing of the wounds that sin has inflicted. Note that there is a difference between forgiveness and healing, just as there is a difference between your being saved on the operating table (which the surgeon wrought without your cooperation) and then spending the next several weeks in rehab, cooperating with the physician in your recovery. Forgiveness removes the bullet of sin, but the effects of this spiritual gunshot wound are still there and still in need of healing. This is why in the sacrament of Confession our sins our completely forgiven, but we are still given penance by the priest. Penance does not “ratify” our being forgiven or substitute for forgiveness or forgive us a second or third time; it is there to aid in the healing process, to remedy the effects of sin after the sin itself has been removed.

Indulgences

All of which brings us to indulgences. Like the penance we do after receiving absolution in Confession, indulgences are there to help us remedy the effects that our sins have had on our souls. According to Canon Law, an indulgence is

a remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sins whose guilt has already been forgiven, which the faithful Christian who is duly disposed gains under certain prescribed conditions through the action of the Church which, as the minister of redemption, dispenses and applies with authority the treasury of the satisfactions of Christ and the saints (992).

This fulsome definition requires some explanation. First, “an indulgence is a remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sins whose guilt has already been forgiven.” As we have explained, indulgences concern healing, not forgiving. The wounds of sin are their own punishment, yet even this punishment, when it is temporal rather than eternal, is remedial, ordered towards our healing and recovery. An indulgence, then, is the substitution of one form of God’s healing (remedial punishment) with another that is less painful.

Second, a Christian gains an indulgence “through the action of the Church.” Spiritual healing does not happen simply by dint of our own efforts: it is dependent on the store of graces that Christ’s victory and the merits of the saints make available. This store is called the thesaurus Ecclesiae, the treasury of the Church, and by the authority of Saint Peter’s successor, who has been given the keys to this treasure trove (Matthew 16:19), the Church dispenses it through indulgences. By performing indulgenced acts or reciting indulgenced prayers, we cooperate with the Divine Physician in accelerating the healing process of our souls. A “plenary” indulgence grants complete healing or full remission of temporal punishment, whereas a “partial” indulgence remits only some temporal punishment and confers only partial healing.

The Misers in Gustave Dore’s illustrations of Dante’s Divine Comedy, Purgatory XIX; 1857

Third, a Christian must be “duly disposed” and fulfill “certain prescribed conditions.” Such qualifications remind us that indulgences are not a “Get Out of Purgatory Free” card, where the lucky winner gets into Heaven on a technicality while remaining the same warped and deviant sinner. Their purpose is the same as that of the Christian life in general: the complete transformation of the believer into a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God. It is for this reason that Canon Law speaks of the believer needing to be duly disposed and fulfilling certain conditions. To obtain a plenary indulgence, for example, four conditions must be met:

1. The sacrament of confession (a single confession may suffice for several plenary indulgences; one may go to confession within a period of about twenty days before or after doing the indulgenced act);
2. Holy Communion (a separate Holy Communion is required for each plenary indulgence; the Church recommends but does not require that this be done on the same day as the indulgenced act);
3. Prayer for the intentions of the Holy Father (usually by means of an Our Father and a Hail Mary; a separate act of praying for the Holy Father is required for each plenary indulgence, and it is likewise recommended that this be done on the same day);
4. The interior disposition of complete detachment from sin, even venial sin.

Confession, by Johann Anton Riedel, 1754

Note the pervasive focus on transformation. Confession and Communion are healing sacraments, meant to aid in our spiritual conversion, to increase our charity and our unity with Christ. Similarly, for an indulgence to be plenary, the penitent must not only be free from sin but free from any attachment to sin. Granted, it is a tall order: Saint Philip Neri (d. 1595) was once allowed a vision in a crowded church that revealed who was receiving the plenary indulgence being offered. There were only two: himself and an old charwoman! Fortunately, one can still receive a partial indulgence if one falls short of a plenary.

It is not necessary to fulfill all these conditions for a partial indulgence. To obtain any kind of indulgence, however, one must have a general intention to do so. Consequently, many “Morning Offerings” include statements such as, “I have the intention to gain all the indulgences attached to the prayers I shall say and to the good works I shall perform this day,” and “I resolve to gain all the indulgences I can in favor of the souls in Purgatory.” [4]

St Philip Neri, by Sebastiano Conca, 1740

Further, as this second statement implies, an indulgence may not be applied to another living person, but it can be applied to the deceased. Applying an indulgence to the souls in Purgatory makes sense because they are in the process of being purged or healed of the effects of their sins that have been forgiven; like us, they are undergoing temporal punishment that indulgences have the power to remit. And the fact that indulgences can be applied to the departed is a beautiful illustration of a central Christian teaching, that death has no sway over the mystical Body of Christ. After the Resurrection, Christ’s Body is never to be sundered again, and that Body includes us, His baptized faithful. The Church on earth therefore has the capacity to help the faithful in Purgatory every bit as much as she can help the faithful on earth, for death is nothing to those who live in Christ.

Finally, one may gain several partial indulgences in the course of a day but only one plenary indulgence. Putting all of these facts together, it is theoretically possible to receive a plenary indulgence, either for oneself or for the dead, once a day if one is a daily communicant who goes to Confession every two or three weeks.

The Enduring Myth

There are several myths about indulgences, the most enduring of which is the notion that the Church used to sell indulgences and that this corrupt practice was one of the causes of the Protestant Reformation. This claim, solemnly reported in secular history books, is a distortion of the facts.

The Church has never sold spiritual graces for money; what it did allow in the Middle Ages was an indulgence to be attached to charitable donations. There is obviously nothing wrong with donating to a charity or church. In the late Middle Ages, however, this practice was scandalously abused for clerical profit, especially in Luther’s Germany where a real-life monk named John Tetzel rivaled in odiousness Chaucer’s fictional Pardoner from the Canterbury Tales. It was because the theoretically sound practice of indulgencing charitable donations was so vulnerable to abuse that the Council of Trent decided that it was best to discontinue it. But it is inaccurate to say that the Church “stopped selling indulgences,” for it never sold them to begin with.

1968

Another myth is that the Church “dropped” indulgences after Vatican II. The New York Times, with its typical grasp of Catholic subtleties, ran an article under the title “For Catholics, a Door to Absolution Is Reopened.” The internet version has an additional title: “Indulgences Return, and Heaven Moves a Step Closer for Catholics.” [5] Note the numerous flaws in the titles alone: no door was re-opened, nothing returned, and indulgences, as we have already seen, are not a form of absolution. The NYT’s mélange of facts and falsehoods went on to inspire a number of shrill editorial harrumphing across the country about the Church’s alleged slide back into the “Dark Ages.”

The truth is that in 1968 Pope Paul VI issued a new Enchiridion of Indulgences. [6] His decision marked a change for the Church, for it replaced the Raccolta or Manual of Indulgences familiar still to many traditional Catholics. [7] The Raccolta is a gem, containing over 600 pages of prayers and invocations for virtually every occasion or devotion. Though the indulgences attached to it are now outdated, it is still a must-have for every traditional family.

Two changes in Paul VI’s Enchiridion are immediately noticeable. First, it omits any temporal reference to partial indulgences. Under the older arrangement, one would see statements such as “300 days” or “five years” attached to a partial indulgence. These figures, based on the stringent penitential sentences of the early Church, were used to provide some measurement of the efficacy of a partial indulgence. Unfortunately, however, many took the numbers to indicate how much one’s stay in Purgatory was being shortened, a misconception not only about indulgences but about Purgatory, which as a reality outside of time has no days or years. Although the loss of some sort of ruler is lamentable, one can understand the Pope’s desire to avoid such confusion.

Second, the new Enchiridion is far shorter: the 781 previously indulgenced prayers and works were reduced to 73. The disadvantage of this change is that many beautiful prayers have essentially been forgotten, but this does not necessarily mean that Paul VI was an enemy of these prayers or of indulgences as a whole. His intention can be seen in the Enchiridion’s unprecedented three “general grants” preceding the seventy particular indulgences. The first grants a partial indulgence to those who “in the performance of their duties and bearing the trials of life, raise their mind with humble confidence to God, adding, even if only mentally, some pious invocation.” [8] The second grants a partial indulgence to those who “in a spirit of faith and mercy, give of themselves or of their goods to serve their brothers in need.” [9] The third grants a partial indulgence to those who “in a spirit of penance, voluntarily deprive themselves of what is licit and pleasing to them.” [10]

Rather than limit indulgences, it can be argued that Paul VI expanded them through these general grants to virtually any prayer, good work, or abstinence, including those in the old Raccolta. [11] Contrary to the widespread impression that the Church after Vatican II wished to “get away” from indulgences, she may have actually increased their availability.

Indulgences Per Annum

It is also helpful to recall that throughout the year one can obtain a partial indulgence for reciting the Apostles’ or Nicene Creed (16), the litanies of the Most Holy Name of Jesus, Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, Most Precious Blood of Jesus, Blessed Virgin Mary, Saint Joseph, and all Saints (29, the Magnificat (30), Memorare (32), and “Miserere Mei,” that is, Psalm 50/51 (33), the Collect of the saint whose feast day it is (54), and for using any article of devotion (crucifix, cross, rosary, scapular, etc.) properly blessed by a priest (35). There is even a partial indulgence for making the sign of the cross (55).

There are also plenary indulgences for a family recitation of the rosary (48), a public recitation of the rosary in a church (48), and a visit to the Blessed Sacrament or a private reading of Sacred Scripture for at least half an hour (3, 50, resp.).

Conclusion

We began with the observation that Catholics believe that every sinner, no matter how depraved, can become a saint. We also intimated that the transformation from one to another is a fairly extensive endeavor, which is why we should be grateful for spiritual salves like indulgences that the Church continues to make abundantly available. Indulgences are outstanding instances of God’s great generosity, a special means by which we can cooperate with our Lord in the emotional, psychological, and spiritual reformation of our souls. Catholics should not hesitate to be positively avaricious in their desire to take advantage of this gracious cure.

An earlier version of this article, since modified, first appeared as “Indulgences: Taking Advantage of God’s Mercy,” The Latin Mass magazine 19:1 (Winter 2010), pp. 44-47. Many thanks to the editors of TLM for allowing its inclusion here.

Notes

[1] For a good explanation of the theology of indulgences, see Pope Paul VI’s Apostolic Constitution Enchiridion of Indulgences (1968) and the 2000 document Gift of the Indulgence from the Apostolic Penitentiary, the branch of the Vatican that deals with indulgences. The FSSP also has a nice summary in their Liturgical Ordo

[2] Trojan Horse in the City of God (Manchester, New Hampshire: Sophia Press, 1993), p. 259.

[3] St. Augustine’s Confessions 2.12.19, trans. Frank Sheed, ed. Michael P. Foley (Indianapolis, Indiana: Hackett, 2005).

[4] Taken from Rev. F.X. Lasance, My Prayer-Book: Happiness in Goodness (New York: Benziger Brothers, 1908), 209.

[5] By Paul Vitello, 2/10/09.

[6] Copies of this are easy to obtain. A word search of “Enchiridion of Indulgences” can find versions of it online (the Vatican website has it in Latin only); it can also be purchased in book form under the titles Manual of Indulgences (USCCB and Apostolic Penitentiary, 2006) or Handbook of Indulgences (Catholic Book Publishing, 1992).

[7] The last English edition was published by Benziger Bros. in 1957. It has been since reprinted by Marian House.

[8] This grant is intended to “serve as an incentive to the faithful to practice the commandment of Christ that ‘they must always pray and not lose heart’". (Luke 18.1)

[9] This grant is intended to “serve as an incentive to the faithful to perform more frequent acts of charity and mercy.” (John 13.15; Acts 10.38)

[10] This grant is intended to “the faithful to bridle their passions and thus to bring their bodies into subjection and to conform themselves to Christ in his poverty and suffering.” (Matthew 8.20, 16.24)

[11] This is also confirmed in Indulgence no. 38: “A partial indulgence [is granted] to those spend some time in pious mental prayer.”

Durandus on the Minor Litanies

The following excerpts are taken from book VI, chapter 102 of William Durandus’ treatise on the Divine Offices.

On the three days before the feast of the Lord’s Ascension, the Rogations, which are also called the Litanies: the Greek word “litania” in Latin is “supplication”, or “rogation” (from ‘rogare – to ask’), on which the Holy Church asks God… to destroy the counsel of those who wish to live outside Her peace. At the same time, we also beseech God that He may defend us from a sudden death, and from every infirmity, and we ask the Saints, that they may intercede for us before God. …

The Procession of St Gregory the Great, by an anonymous Sienese painter of the mid-16th century. The traditional story recounts that when the procession described below reached the Mausoleum of Hadrian, which is fairly close to St Peter’s Basilica, an angel appeared over it with a drawn sword in his hand, which he then sheathed, symbolizing the end of the plague as in 2 Samuel 24.

Now the Litanies are two, the Greater and the Lesser. The Greater is on the feast of the blessed Mark, and was created by the blessed Gregory (the Great), because of a plague, which caused a swelling of the groin. Paul, a monk of Monte Cassino, the author of “The History of the Lombards”, wrote the story of its institution, saying that in the time of Pope Pelagius (II, 579-90) there was so great a flood in Italy, that the waters rose as high as the upper windows of the temple of Nero in Rome … Then there came forth up the Tiber a multitude of serpents, and one very large dragon among them, whose breath corrupted the air; from this came the plague in the groin, from which men died suddenly all over the place. When nearly the whole population of Rome had been destroyed, Pelagius declared a fast and procession for all, but during it, he himself died, along with seventy others. Gregory I, who is also called the Great, took his place, and commanded that this Litany be observed throughout the world; it is therefore called the Gregorian or Roman Litany. It is also called “Black Crosses”, since, as a sign of mourning for the death of so many men, and as a sign of penance, people wear black clothing, and the crosses and altars are veiled in black.

A folio of the Echternach Sacramentary, 895AD, with the stational prayers for the Greater Litanies as they were done in Rome; the stations are at the church of San Lorenzo in Lucina, St Valentine (very far up the Tiber), “ad Pontem Olbi”, a corruption of “ad Pontem Milvium – at the Milvian bridge”, “at the Cross”, which was a station set up along the way, and two “in the atrium” of St Peter’s Basilica. (Bibliothèque nationale de France. Département des Manuscrits. Latin 9433; folio 76r.)

The Lesser Litanies, which are also called Rogations and processions, take place on the three days before the Ascension, … they were created in Vienne by the blessed Mamertus, bishop of that city. Because of a plague of wolves and other wild beasts, who were ferociously killing men in Gaul, and because of the dangerous earthquakes which were frequently taking place there, he enjoined a fast of three days on the people, and instituted the Litanies. But when the danger had passed, the fast became a custom of annual observance … This latter is called the Lesser Litany, because it was instituted by a lesser person, that is, by a simple bishop, and in a less important place, Vienne, while the Greater (Litany) is so called because it was instituted in a more important place, namely, Rome, and by a greater person, namely, Gregory the Great, and because of a great and very serious plague. However, the Lesser Litany is older, since it was instituted when Zeno was Emperor (ca. 470 AD), and the Greater in the time of the Emperor Maurice (582-602)

Litanies are also held for many other reasons, wherefore Pope Liberius established that a litany should be held for war, famine, pestilence, and other imminent adversities of this sort, so that we may escape from them by supplications, prayers and fasts. Therefore, because in this time of the year especially wars are wont to break out, and the fruits of the earth, which are still in bud or flower, can easily be corrupted in many different ways, the litanies are held, so that we may ask God to turn these things away from us, and to defend and deliver us from bad weather, and war, and the enemies of the Christian religion, as we also implore the patronage of the Saints …

… we beseech the Saints, because of our poverty, and their glory, and reverence for God. And when we celebrate the Litany because of imminent dangers, in penitential and mournful garb, we represent that last procession of the women who wept after the Lord when He was being led to the Cross, weeping, according to the Lord’s command, for ourselves and our children.

The imposition of ashes before the Rogation procession celebrated in 2017 in Milan; in the Ambrosian Rite, the penitential character of the Rogation days is far more marked than in the Roman Rite.

The Litanies also take place in this time, since the Church now asks more confidently, because Christ ascends, Who said, “Ask and ye shall receive.” (In the Gospel of the Sunday before the Ascension, John 16, 23-30.) She fasts at this time and prays, that through the mortification of the flesh, She may have little to do with it, and gain wings for herself through prayer, which is the wing by which the soul flies up to heaven. Thus is She is able to freely follow Christ as He ascends, and opens the way for us, and flies upon the wings of the wind. This is the reason why we join the last litany, the last fast, to the Ascension, so that through prayers and fasts, we may be able to lay aside the weight of the flesh, and follow Christ as He ascends.

Therefore, during the Litanies, there is a procession, and in some churches, (the antiphon) Exsurge, Domine is sung at the beginning. The Gospel canticle “Holy God, holy mighty one, holy immortal one, have mercy on us,” is also to be sung repeatedly by the boys’ choir, for John of Damascus tells the story … that in Constantinople, litanies were held because of some trouble, and a boy was taken up to heaven from the midst of the people, and there taught this chant; and returning to the people, sang it before everyone, and at once the trouble ceased. This chant was approved by the Council of Chalcedon, and therefore it is considered praiseworthy and authoritative …

… in the procession itself, the Cross goes first, and the reliquaries of the Saints, so that by the banner of the Cross, and the prayers of the Saints, demons may be repelled…

A banner is also carried to represent the victory of Christ’s Resurrection and Ascension, since He went up to heaven with great spoils … just as the multitude of the faithful follow the banner in the procession, so also a great gathering of the Saints accompanies Christ as He ascends. Banners are also carried in imitation of that which is said by Isaiah (11, 12), “And he shall set up a standard unto the nations, and shall assemble the fugitives of Israel, and shall gather together the dispersed of Juda from the four quarters of the earth.” The Church took the carrying of banners and crosses from Constantine, who, when in a dream he saw the sign of the Cross, and heard the words ‘By this sign thou shalt conquer’, ordered the Cross to be marked on his war banners. The fact that in the Litanies the cross-bearer takes his cross from the altar reminds us that Simon of Cyrene took it from Christ’s shoulders.

A Rogation procession held in the village of Balatonderics, Hungary in 2017.

In some places, the litany is done in the fields, so that demons may be expelled from the crops, or rather, so that the crops may be preserved by the Lord. … It has also become the custom that a dragon with a long tail, upright and inflated, should go before the Cross and banners on the first two days, but on the last day, looking back, with its tail deflated and lowered, it follows behind. For this dragon symbolizes the devil, who in three periods, that is, before the law, and under the law, and in the time of grace, which these three days symbolize, has deceived men, and even now seeks to deceive them. In the first two periods, he reigned, and as if he were the lord of the world, had a long tail, which shows his power, and inflated, which symbolizes his pride. For this reason, Christ calls him the prince of this world (John 12, 31) and John says in the Apocalypse (12, 4) that the dragon, falling from heaven, drew with him the third part of the stars, which symbolize people. And the Lord says in the Gospel, “I saw Satan falling like a lightning bolt from heaven” (Luke 10, 18), as a figure of which, on two days he goes at the head … But in the time of grace, he is beaten by Christ, and power is given to the Apostles to cast out unclean spirits; therefore, on the third day he follows after the Cross, to show that his power is lost through the spread of the Faith, and his tail is deflated, and hangs down, and is not long, because he does not dare to reign as mightily as he formerly did, but rather seduces men through suggestion, and in a hidden way, those whom he sees to be lazy and remiss in good works, and who follow not the way of life, as if he were looking back like a thief, to see if someone may wander and fall away from the righteousness of the Faith, so that he can draw that person to himself …

A page from an 1882 scholarly edition of the Sarum Processional, by W.G. Henderson, showing the order of the Rogation procession. The rubric above the image mentions both a dragon and a lion carried in the procession, the latter presumably in reference to the words of Apocalypse 5, 5, “Behold the lion from the tribe of Judah hath conquered.”

On the Litanies, all must abstain from servile labor, … and be present for the procession until the end, so that, just as all have sinned, so all may ask for forgiveness, and all raise their hearts to God, with their hands, that is, raise up their zeal for prayer.

But since on the preceding days, a double Alleluia, is sung, why on these days is only one sung? And again, since Alleluia is not said on other fast days, why is it said on this one? To the first question, we answer that ... a double Alleluia is sung on the preceding days because of the double stole which will be given in the general resurrection, namely, that of the soul and of the body. But the liturgy of Easter, which this signifies, is now finished, and therefore, the cause being taken removed, the effect is also removed . To the second, we answer that on the other fast days, Alleluia is not sung because it is a song of joy, and those fasts are held because of sins, wherefore they are called fasts of mourning; but this fast, and that of Pentecost, are matters of rejoicing, because they are not held for sins, but so that the power of the devil, and the plague, may be removed; and therefore, Alleluia is sung on them.