What Does The Prayer Really Say?
W D T P R S

On 26 March 2006 His Holiness made a pastoral visit to a Roman parish in thge suburbs called God Our Merciful Father.  It was Laetare Sunday and the Pope wore rose vestments.  I don’t remember having seen His Holiness Pope John Paul II in rose vestments.  It is nice to see some of these traditions returning to use.

During today’s Angelus address the Holy Father made what I think are pretty clear references to the situation of Catholics persecuted in the People’s Republic of China and other places in the world when Catholics suffer religious persecution despite the fact that on paper they are supposed to have rights.  This is interesting in the wake of the Pope’s choice to make the courageous and outspoken Bishop of Hong Kong a cardinal.

Il Concistoro è stato così un’occasione per sentirci più che mai vicini a tutti quei cristiani che soffrono persecuzione a causa della fede. La loro testimonianza, di cui quotidianamente ci giunge notizia, e soprattutto il sacrificio di quanti sono stati uccisi ci è di edificazione e di sprone a un impegno evangelico sempre più sincero e generoso. Il mio pensiero si rivolge, in modo particolare, a quelle comunità che vivono nei Paesi dove la libertà religiosa manca o, nonostante la sua affermazione sulla carta, subisce di fatto molteplici restrizioni. Ad esse invio un caloroso incoraggiamento a perseverare nella pazienza e nella carità di Cristo, seme del Regno di Dio che viene, anzi, che è già nel mondo A quanti operano al servizio del Vangelo in tali difficili situazioni, desidero esprimere la più viva solidarietà a nome di tutta la Chiesa, ed insieme assicurare il mio quotidiano ricordo nella preghiera.

What Does the Prayer Really Say?  4^th Sunday of Lent – Roman Station: Basilica of the Holy Cross in Ierusalem

I received via e-mail a note from SM (slightly edited):  “As a reader (of The Wanderer), I enjoy your column.  It is both instructive and well written.  As a two year old Traditionalist now, I realize that I (still have much to learn) but feel in my heart that the Mass of our Fathers is vastly superior in every way to the Novus Ordo Mass.  For the first time ever, I actually look forward to going to Mass. No longer do I need to dread the chattering people, the foisted handshake of peace or the constant focus on ‘we’ over Jesus.  My question to you is this: Why do bishops everywhere suppress this Mass? What are they so terrified of? (Pope) John Paul called for a generous use of this Mass but was ignored by all. What gives them the right to do this? I really feel that we Traditionalists are persecuted. But maybe that is because (the bishops) are afraid of us.” 

Thanks, SM, for your heartfelt note.  Nowhere in the rubrics of the Novus Ordo are people directed to “chatter” or do any of the annoying things we are likely to see in parishes.  The Novus Ordo, when implemented with the proper spirit of obedience and harmony with Tradition, is as “reverent” as any celebration of the older form of Mass you would want to attend.  Be fair to the rite, even when it is abused.  Have some bishops “persecuted” people who want more traditional liturgical expressions?  Probably.  More and more bishops, however, are warming to the 1962 Missale Romanum.  Many are trying to get their liturgical houses in order.  Last week I wrote about Bishop Slattery in Tulsa.   I don’t think bishops are “afraid” of traditionalists.  Some traditionalists have been pretty rude to quite a few bishops.  Rudeness rarely gets you what you want from a bishop or a priest.  St. Francis de Sales (+1622) said “Always be as gentle as you can and remember that one catches more flies with a spoonful of honey than with a hundred barrels of vinegar.”

This is what I call a “nickname Sunday” (like Gaudete in Advent).  These nicknames often come from the first word of the Introit antiphon.  Today it is “Rejoice!” which signals the coming joy of Easter.   During Lent we are to omit flowers, decorations and instrumental music, except organ but only to sustain congregational singing.  This liturgical austerity is relaxed a little on Laetare Sunday in anticipation of Easter.  This is one of two Sundays when rose-colored (rosacea) vestments can be used. 

In Latin we say repetita iuvant (“repeated things help”) and so I will repeat the explanation for rose vestments.  The Roman station for Laetare Sunday is the Basilica of the Holy Cross of Jerusalem, wherein are deposited the relics of Cross and Passion brought back to Rome by St. Flavia Iulia Helena, the mother of the Emperor Constantine (+337).  It was the Bishop of Rome’s custom on Laetare Sunday to bless roses made of gold to be sent to Catholic nobles.  Therefore, this Sunday was also called Dominica de rosa or “Rose Sunday”.  Eventually rosacea vestments came to be used on Laetare Sunday at the Basilica of the Holy Cross when the Pope came for the station Mass. From that basilica rosacea spread to the rest of Rome on the same day and, by close analogy, on Gaudete in Advent.  When St. Pius V (+1572) promulgated the Roman Missal in 1570, rose became the rule for the abovementioned Sundays everywhere in the world.  During the iconoclastic 70’s and 80’s rose vestments were trash-canned far and wide together with black and anything looking even slightly traditional.  Today, however, rose vestments are again for sale in religious goods stores.  Rose and black and things traditional are returning Easter-like from the tomb!   Write to me and let me and your fellow WDTPRSers know if you saw rose on this Laetare Sunday.

Our austerely joyful Super oblata or “Prayer over the gifts” was not in the Roman Missal before the Novus Ordo, but its slightly different predecessor is in the ancient Gelasian Sacramentary as the Secret for the 4th Sunday of Lent subtitled “second scrutiny”.

Should we try something different this week?  Let’s have some commentary on today’s prayer before we look at its vocabulary, structure and literal translation.   To start our exercise, bend your mind around this image.  We who are rejoicing are nonetheless beseeching.  We are happy beggars.

For our sins we truly deserve damnation.  God’s eternal remedy to the damnation we deserve causes us simultaneously to bend ourselves over as humble supplicants and, to raise our hands and hearts heavenward as we rejoice in our good fortune and God’s mercy.  Our grateful humility prompts us to beg the Lord to continue His gracious work in us, to make us capable of venerating the gifts properly, and also to make them known to others.  We wish others to share in the salvation He has so kindly made possible so that our joy may be increased. 

Now put yourself in church at Holy Mass.  For weeks now the sanctuary has been bare, stripped in Lenten mortification.  Purple has been our visual theme.  The liturgy is “dying” until it rises at Easter.  Today some bright flowers bedeck the high altar, the only altar, around which the well-trained boys serve in cassock and surplice.  The organ was played, sparingly, but well.  Father’s sermon was solemnly amusing, spiritually insightful and comprehensively brief, but in a moving way.  The echo of the Gregorian chant chased the fragrant incense tendrils aloft into the vaults.  You helped to make sure the collection was generous.   On the altar’s mensa glittering gold vessels now stand holding your gifts, the hosts and the wine with its water drops.  The priest, all draped in rose over white linen, has turned around to face you.  For your sake and that of Holy Church he calls upon you to unite your sacrifices to his.  Hundreds of voices together with yours rise from the packed nave upward to God in pursuit of the chant and the incense.   The priest turns back to face the liturgical East.   Silence falls.  He opens his hands and sings.

SUPER OBLATA (2002MR):
Remedii sempiterni munera, Domine, laetantes offerimus,
suppliciter exorantes,
ut eadem nos et fideliter venerari,
et pro salute mundi congruenter exhibere perficias.

My now somewhat soiled, but never dog-eared edition of the Lewis & Short Dictionary shows me that veneror means “to reverence with religious awe, to worship, adore, revere, venerate.”  It can also mean “to ask reverently for any thing, to beseech, implore, beg, entreat, supplicate.”  Congruo produces the adverb congruenter.  Congruo has at its heart the concept of all the parts of a thing fitting together or being in harmonious agreement.  Hence, congru­enter is “agreeably, suitably.”  A Latin remedium is “that which heals again; a cure, remedy” as well as “a means of aid, assistance, or relief.”  It was even used of magical charms or amulets.  Thus, even in its pagan usage there was an element of the spiritual in regard to healing and protection from ills. 

Perficio, perfeci, perfectum is the source of the English word “perfect”.  Perficio means fundamentally, “to achieve, execute, carry out, accomplish, perform, dispatch, bring to an end or conclusion, finish, complete.”  You can see how it signifies “to make perfect” and also “to bring about, to cause, effect”.  It is often followed by an ut.   Today we see an ut clause which governs two accusatives with infinitives distinguished by the classic et…et (“both… and”) construction. 

Suppliciter is from supplex, which in turn derives from supplico meaning “to kneel down or humble one’s self, to pray or beg humbly, to beseech, implore, supplicate” and “to pray to or supplicate as a god; to pray, worship.” Forms of this word are very common in Latin prayers.  We can get at their meaning by examining their roots.  Supplico is formed from preposition sub plus the verb plico, “to fold, double up.”  Someone who is supplex is in an attitude of prayer, bent or folded at the knees or waist.  

Do these Latin words not remind you of what Holy Mass ought to be?

LITERAL TRANSLATION:
Bent down imploring, O Lord, we rejoicing people are
offering the gifts of the eternal remedy,
so that You will make us both to venerate the same faithfully,
and to show them forth for the salvation of the world suitably.

Let’s move quickly to the stale lame-duck ICEL version while what the Latin really says is fresh in your minds.

ICEL (1973 translation of the 1970MR):
Lord,
we offer you these gifts
which bring us peace and joy.
Increase our reverence by this eucharist,
and bring salvation to the world.

“Bring us peace and joy”?   Where did the concept of begging (exorantes) go?  This version is so different from the Latin original that is seems almost to be an original composition and not something from the Roman Missal at all.  You all know that in this WDTPRS we are not pretending to offer liturgically useful versions of the Latin prayer, but I would rather use our version than that ICEL prayer.  Wouldn’t you?  And yet, there are some bishops in the USA who are fighting claw and fang to slow the approval of the new English translation and circumvent Liturgiam authenticam, the document which indicates the norms for the translation.  They want to keep things as they are.  On a happier note, through The Wanderer and the WDTPRS blog on the internet we can consider carefully what Holy Church is attempting to give us in the original prayers.

We are also making room to examine the “Prayers over the people” which were reintegrated in the 2002 edition of the Missale Romanum for Sundays of Lent.  In these prayers, which follow the Post Communion, the priest doesn’t refer to “us” or “we”.  Rather, he seems to be speaking in his own voice rather than as part of the people for whom he is praying.

ORATIO SUPER POPULUM (2002MR):
Tuere, Domine, supplices tuos, sustenta fragiles,
et inter tenebras mortalium ambulantes
tua semper luce vivifica,
atque a malis omnibus clementer ereptos,
ad summa bona pervenire concede.

LITERAL TRANSLATION:
Defend, O Lord, Your humble ones, sustain the fragile,
and by Your light always enliven
those walking amidst the shadows of things that perish,
and also grant them, mercifully snatched away from all evils,
to attain to the highest of all goods.

Today’s “Prayer over the gifts” underscores our total reliance on God.  He gives us the gift of an eternal remedy (remedium aeternum).  The concept of a remedy is entirely abandoned in the ICEL version, so pay attention to the Latin.   If the Latin talks about a remedy, implicitly there must be an illness, right?  For what illness would we need an eternal remedy?  Nothing other than the illness of sin, both original and personal.  Sin’s infection would also be eternal but for God’s remedy.   Sin mires us in the dark shadows of the mortally dangerous perishing things (mortalia) we hear about in the “Prayer over the people” at the end of Mass.   Unless we are safely guided through these dangerous paths and out of our illness, we will surely be forever lost. 

This is serious business for “Rejoice” Sunday, but Holy Mother Church always gives it to us straight.  She always shows us a realistic view of life and the glory of our promised salvation without ever dumbing them down.

What Does the Prayer Really Say?  4^th Sunday of Lent “Laetare” - Station: Basilica of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem

ORIGINALLY PRINTED IN The Wanderer in 2005

I want to get to something before Holy Week arrives.  Many have asked WDTPRS and the ASK FATHER Question Box (askfather.net) about a translation point regarding the optional rite of washing feet (the “Mandatum” or “Command” – whence the word Maundy) on Holy Thursday.   In many places women are invited to have their feet washed.  This is against the Church’s laws based on Scripture (cf. Matthew 20:28).  Two main excuses are offered in defense of the abuse.  The first excuse concerns a false sense of service and charity: “hospitality” suggests women must be “included”.  In the USA some might obtusely cite a note having no canonical authority from the (then) NCCB’s Committee on Liturgy in 1987 which uses this “hospitality” argument. The second excuse stems from “inclusive” language: the English words in the ICEL Sacramentary, “men” and “man”, can’t possibly mean “males”.  That would be sexist!  Therefore women must be included.  On the contrary, the Latin rubrics for the foot washing rite has words viri selecti, “chosen men”.  Vir means “a male person”.  If you have been properly informed about this, to insist that “men” (viri) means “men and women” is really to lie.   This whole debate has been cleared up more than once by the Holy See, especially in the 1988 document Paschales sollemnitatis of the Congregation for Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments.   The rubrics of the 2002 Missale Romanum retain the viri selecti.  There is no way around this.  Legally, linguistically, and theologically the issue is clear.   No conference of bishops, individual bishop or priest has the authority to change this without specific permission of the Holy See.

Readers sent me copies of the letters they wrote to the Prefects of the Congregations for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), Joseph Card. Ratzinger, and of Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments (CDWDS), Francis Card. Arinze.  Here are two excerpts.  First, how HE expressed his desires: “So let me beg you to stand fast against adverse influences and firmly support correct English translations in the pro multis consecration formula, the Credo, and other key passages at which people will look for confidence that the new missal is authentic. Both fidelity and beautiful sacred language throughout will inspire the celebration of Holy Mass with reverence and solemnity.”  Next, how JB expressed his support and prayers: “It seems certain that you will face much advice to incorporate language that is deemed inclusive or politically correct and other deviations from these beautiful payers.  We pray that you will be able to remain firm.  My wife and I are unsure what our faith would be if it were not supported by the beauty of these prayers as they should be.  May God bless you in this endeavor.  My entire family will believe what it prays in these new prayers for generations to come.  We will keep you and this very important work in our prayers throughout this year of the Eucharist.”

The nickname Laetare originated from the first word of the Introit chant for the today’s Mass, “Rejoice!”   On Laetare Sunday there is a slight relaxation of Lent’s penitential spirit, because today we have a glimpse of the joy that is coming at Easter, now near at hand.  Today we may see rose colored vestments and hear instrumental music played (during Lent instruments may not be played and organ cannot be used except only to sustain congregational singing).  As WDTPRS has explained before, the custom of rose vestments is tied to the Station churches in Rome.  The Station for Laetare Sunday is the Basilica of the Holy Cross of Jerusalem where the relics of Cross and Passion brought from the Holy Land by St. Helena (+c. 329), mother of the Emperor Constantine (+337), were deposited.  It was the custom on this day for Popes to bless roses made of gold, some amazingly elaborate and bejeweled, which were to be sent to Catholic kings, queens and other notables. The biblical reference is Christ as the “flower” sprung forth from the root of Jesse (Is 11:1 – in the Vulgate flos “flower” and RSV “branch”).  Thus Laetare was also called Dominica de rosa…. Sunday of the Rose.  It didn’t take a lot of imagination to develop rose colored vestments from this. Remember, the color of the vestments is called rosacea, not pink.  This Roman custom spread by means of the Roman Missal to the whole of the world.     

Our Collect is a new composition for the 1970MR and subsequent editions of the Novus Ordo based on a prayer in the Gelasian Sacramentary and a section of a sermon by St. Pope Leo I, the Great (+461).   There is some similarity between this Collect with those of Advent.  On the 2^nd Sunday of Advent, we heard: in tui occursum Filii festinantes… “those hurrying to meet your Son.”   On the 3^rd Sunday (this Sunday’s fraternal twin Gaudete, the only other day for rose vestments) we heard: votis sollemnibus alacri laetitia celebrare...”, to celebrate…with eager jubilation by means of solemn offerings.”  There is rosy anticipation in today’s Collect just as there was in Advent.  Without further delay, here is the beautiful Latin followed immediately by the atrocious ICEL version.

COLLECT - LATIN TEXT (2002MR):
Deus, qui per Verbum tuum
humani generis reconciliationem mirabiliter operaris,
praesta, quaesumus, ut populus christianus
prompta devotione et alacri fide
ad ventura sollemnia valeat festinare.

ICEL (1973 translation of the 1970MR):
Father of peace,
we are joyful in your Word,
your Son Jesus Christ,
who reconciles us to you.
Let us hasten toward Easter
with the eagerness of faith and love.

I try to be positive in these columns.  I really do.  But this makes you want to pound your head against the table.  What would happen if we translated the ICELese back into Latin?   If the ICEL were accurate, you might expect some similarities, right?  WARNING: Do not attempt this at home.  Spiritual harm and damage to property can be caused by thinking about these ICEL versions.  Leave this sort of thing to trained professionals and people with tough foreheads.

LATIN REVERSION of the ICEL:
Pater pacis,
in tuo Verbo, Iesu Christo filio tuo,
qui nos tibi reconciliat, laetamur.
Fidei studio et amoris
ad diem Paschalis festinemus.

Oookaayyy… ‘nuf said about that, I think.

Sollemnia is the neuter plural of the adjective sollemnis meaning “yearly”, that which is established to be done each year.  In religious contexts, it comes out as “religious, festive”.  As a substantive, it is “a religious or solemn rite, ceremony, feast, sacrifice, solemn games, a festival, solemnity”.  Sollemne, the neuter noun, is also, “usage, custom, practice”.  In legal contexts, it can be “formality”.  In later, Christian Latin words related to sollemnis came to indicate the celebration of the Eucharist.  Alacer is “lively, brisk, quick, eager, active; glad, happy, cheerful”.  Promptus, a, um is from the verb promo.  Promptus indicates, “brought to light, exposed to view” and by extension “at hand, i. e. prepared, ready, quick, prompt, inclined or disposed to or for any thing.”

LITERAL TRANSLATION:
O God, who by Your Word
wondrously effect the reconciliation of the human race,
grant, we beg, that the Christian people
may be able to hasten toward the upcoming solemnities
with ready devotion and eager faith.

Note the marvelous parings of alacer fides and prompta devotio … “eager faith” and “ready devotion”.   We know that fides “faith” can refer to the supernatural virtue which is given to us in baptism and also to the content of what we believe.  This content must be understood as both the things we can learn and memorize with love, but more importantly the divine Person whom we must learn and contemplate with love.  There is a faith by which we believe, the virtue God gives us, and a faith in which we believe, the content of the Faith.   On the other hand, whereas fides is a supernatural virtue, devotio is an “active” virtue according to St. Thomas Aquinas in the Summa Theologica.  The Angelic Doctor wrote: “The intrinsic or human cause of devotion is contemplation or meditation. Devotion is an act of the will by which a man promptly gives himself to the service of God.  Every act of the will proceeds from some consideration of the intellect, since the object of the will is a known good; or as Augustine says, willing proceeds from understanding. Consequently, meditation is the cause of devotion since through meditation man conceives the idea of giving himself to the service of God” (STh II-II 82, 3).  The Jesuit preacher Louis Bourdaloue (1632-1704) underscored devotion as especially “a devotion to duty”.  What we do, including our “devotions”, must help us keep the commandments of God and stick to the duties of one’s state in life before all else.  There is an interplay between our devotions and our devotion.  

Each of us has a state in life, a God-given vocation we are duty bound to follow.  We must be devoted to that state in life, and the duties that come with it, as they are in the here and now.  That “here and now” is important.  We must not focus on the state we had once upon a time, or wish we had, or should have had, or might have someday: those are unreal and misleading fantasies that distract us from reality and God’s will.  If we are truly devoted and devout (in the sense of the active virtue) to fulfilling the duties of our state as it truly is here and now, then God will give us every actual grace we need to fulfill our vocation.  Why can we boldly depend on God to help us?  If we are fulfilling the duties of our state of life, then we are also fulfilling our proper roles in His great plan, His design from before the creation of the universe.  God is therefore sure to help us.  And if we are devoted to our state as it truly is, then God can also guide us to a new vocation when and if that is His will for us.  Faithful in what we must do here and now, we will be open to something God wants us to do later.  This attachment to reality and sense of dutiful obedience through the active virtue devotio is a necessary part of religion in keeping with the biblical principle in 1 John 2:3-5:

“And by this we may be sure that we know Him, if we keep His commandments.  He who says ‘I know Him’ but disobeys His commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him; but whoever keeps his word, in him truly love for God is perfected.  By this we may be sure that we are in Him: he who says he bides in Him ought to walk in the same way in which He walked.”

What Does the Prayer Really Say?  4th Sunday of Lent (Laetare)– Station: Holy Cross in Jerusalem

ORIGINALLY PRINTED IN The Wanderer in 2003

T & IH of SD write via e-mail (slightly edited): “A while ago I think I read in your WDTPRS about how traditional Catholics can’t stick together. We go to a Latin Mass at _ for going on 11 yr’s. We got a new Bishop about 4 year’s ago and the first 3 yr’s were the same.  He then decided to start changing things. Anyway that’s another story. We have since formed a committee to meet with the Bishop every 3 mo’s of which I am a part.  Since then I keep being reminded of your article, it sure is true. I have looked thru all the paper’s and can’t seem to find it.  Is it possible to send me a copy or tell where and how I can find it.”  I sure can.  That was in the WDTPRS for Post communion of the 3^rd Sunday of Advent (Gaudete) last November.

This Sunday is what you know I call a “nickname Sunday” (like Gaudete in Advent), for it is known by the first word of the first chant of Mass, the Introit.  Today we have a foretaste of Easter festivity, signaled by the first word sung: “Rejoice”!  This is one of two days when we can use rose (rosacea), not pink, colored vestments and the only day during Lent when we can use instrumental music.  On Laetare Sunday we momentarily relax the penitential character of Lenten Sundays.  During Lent traditionally (and still by rubrics) there should be no flowers or decorations, no instrumental music (organ should be used only to support congregational singing).    The tradition of using rosacea vestments came from the practice of the “station” Masses and churches of Rome, of which we spoke recently in WDTPRS.   The station for Laetare Sunday is the Basilica of the Holy Cross of Jerusalem, where there were placed the relics of Cross and Passion brought back to Rome by Constantine’s mother St. Helena.  Popes would go to this great basilica on Laetare Sunday to bless roses made of gold, which were sent to Catholic monarchs and distinguished sons and daughters of Holy Mother Church.  Thus, Laetare was also nicknamed Dominica de rosa…. Sunday of the Rose.  This is how rose vestments came to be used on that unique Sunday in that church only.  The custom spread to the rest of Rome and then the whole world when Pius V promulgated the Roman Missal.  Happily the use of rose vestments is returning.

POST COMMUNIONEM
LATIN (2002 Missale Romanum):
Deus, qui illuminas omnem hominem
venientem in hunc mundum,
illumine, quaesumus, corda nostra gratiae tuae splendore,
ut digna ac placita maiestati tuae cogitare semper,
et te sincere diligere valeamus.

In the 1962MR this prayer was in the Orationes Diversae section as the Postcommunio of the votive mass Ad repellendas malas cogitationes…For driving away bad thoughts.  I am not sure how it got here, other than the fact that it concerns “illumination” and on this Sunday very often there is read the Gospel about the man who was born blind.  Those who use the 1962MR this Sunday would instead hear John 6:1-15 about the multiplication of the five barley loaves and two fishes.

ICEL (1973 translation of the 1970MR):
Father,
you enlighten all who come into the world.
Fill our heart with the light of your gospel,
that our thoughts may please you,
and our love be sincere.

Hmmm… I wonder if we can do better and find out what the prayer really says.  Since at the time of this writing I am in Florida and near the water, let us be maritime today and dive into the refreshing waters of the deep blue Lewis & Short Dictionary for help with vocabulary. Illumino the verb is what you might have expected, “to light up, make light, illuminate; to set in a clear light, to set off, make conspicuous.”  It also means “to embellish or adorn with any thing bright” as in “illuminated manuscript” which the monks of the medieval period excelled at producing.  As the naturalist C. Plinius Secundus (Pliny the Eldar  + AD 79 ) wrote “purpura omnem vestem illuminat…purple adorns every garment”   (9, 36, 60, § 127).  Well, not on this Sunday, my dear Pliny!  The purple dye used in the ancient world was made from the murex, a sea critter that totes around a spiny seashell.  Muricidae are unfortunate enough to have a tiny gland producing a purple goo endowed with a marvelous staining quality.  The difficulty of finding the little creatures, which were best fished in the “dog days” when the “Dog Star” Sirius was high during the summer, and the sheer quantity needed to make enough dye to matter, made purple cloth quite expensive.  The best and most famous was from Tyre.  The word “purple” itself came in time to signify anything expensive or precious.  In Jerome’s Vulgate you can look up spoils of battle in 1 Maccabees 4:23 for a reference to purpura marina. The Roman senators were distinguished by a band of purple, called a laticlavium, on their toga praetexta.   Purple robes were eventually worn only by Emperors.  In the Church the reddish-orange color worn by cardinals is today still called in Italian “porpora sacra” for in earlier times they were a more purple hue.   Purple is a kingly color.  In Lent it reminds us of the kingly majesty of our Lord as well as the color of the Blood of His Passion.

Cogito (made famous by Descartes) means, “to pursue something in the mind” and “to consider thoroughly, to ponder, to weigh, reflect upon, think” and in respect to a work to be undertaken or a conclusion to be made, “to have something in mind, to intend, meditate, design, plan, purpose, etc.”. The noun splendor indicates, “sheen, brightness, brilliance, lustre, splendor” and “honor, dignity, excellence”.    You will recall the Holy Father’s great encyclical letter (signed on the feast of the Transfiguration in 1993) on moral theology entitled Veritatis splendor…

“The splendor of truth shines forth in all the works of the Creator and, in a special way, in man, created in the image and likeness of God (cf. Gen 1:26). Truth enlightens man’s intelligence and shapes his freedom, leading him to know and love the Lord. Hence the Psalmist prays: "Let the light of your face shine on us, O Lord" (Ps 4:6).  Called to salvation through faith in Jesus Christ "the true light that enlightens everyone" (Jn 1:9), people become "light in the Lord" and "children of light" (Eph 5:8), and are made holy by "obedience to the truth" (1 Pet 1:22).” (VS 1)

 

There is very regal imagery in this prayer today.  The King has come to the throne we prepare for Him in our minds (cogitare) and hearts (diligere).   We make all things ready for Him in His Communion He offers.  He arrives, still humble in outward appearance, but in reality, seen with the eyes of love and contemplated deeply, we nonetheless perceive Him swathed in the majestic glory, in the bloody purple of His glorious Passion now made imperial which He wishes to share with us.  There comes to my mind the image of the benevolent King who, from no merit of His servant, from sheer love and concern adorns (illuminare) the warrior knight before Him with great gifts as He enters into His service.  He bequeaths to Him His own shield, sword, breastplate, he gives Him an intellect and will that reflect His own puissance (cf. Rom 13 and 1 Thes 5:8).  He places in His pilgrim warrior a heart for love and breathes into Him life and sends something of His own Spirit into him.  He promises to him that he will always have His help and guidance and will have with him even fellow servants, conformed to His own person, who will forgive his sins when he falls, who will bring him sustenance and counsel.  The King sends His warrior servant into this vale of tears as a member of a mighty Church Militant on pilgrimage to do His will, to make Him known and loved, and to resist this world’s prince, the enemy of the soul even until the day he breathes his last.   And before he goes forth out into the world, He feeds him and strengths Him with His own Body and Precious Blood, purple and royal, and promises more of the same and more and more, forever.

LITERAL TRANSLATION:
O God, who pours light upon every man
coming into this world,
illuminate, we beg you, our hearts with the splendor of your grace,
so that we may be able always to ponder the things that are worthy of and pleasing to your majesty,
and love you sincerely.

During Lent, I have been including the Oratio super populum now restored in the 2002MR.  The priest says this, or will when he uses Latin, after the Post communio.  It should be in a future English translation.

ORATIO SUPER POPULUM (2002MR):
Tuere, Domine, supplices tuos, sustenta fragiles,
et inter tenebras mortalium ambulantes
tua semper luce vivifica,
atque a malis omnibus clementer ereptos,
ad summa bona pervenire concede.

(Cf. 2 Cor 4 – “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light” and Isaiah 9:2, a text usually associated with Christmas).

MY LITERAL RENDERING:
Defend, O Lord, your humble ones, sustain the fragile,
and by your light always breathe life into
those walking amidst the shadows of mortal things,
and grant them, having been mercifully snatched away from all evils,
to attain to the highest of all goods.

I write now on the brink of war.  May God bless and keep our young warriors safe.  May He send His holy angels to protect them from spiritual and temporal harm and guide their commanders and the heads of nations, if it be His will, into the way of peace.  Let all that is done, be done without hatred or vengeance and may only the common good of mankind made in God’s image and likeness be our sole and holy cause. 

To thee, O LORD, I lift up my soul.
O my God, in thee I trust, let me not be put to shame; let not my enemies exult over me.
Yea, let none that wait for thee be put to shame; let them be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous.
Make me to know thy ways, O LORD; teach me thy paths.
Lead me in thy truth, and teach me, for thou art the God of my salvation; for thee I wait all the day long.  (Psalm 25:1-5 RSV)

What Does the Prayer Really Say?  Fourth Sunday of Lent – Station:  Basilica of the Holy Cross in Ierusalem

ORIGINALLY PRINTED IN The Wanderer in 2002

I get feedback by both e-mail and snail-mail, but it is rare that I get face-mail… face-to-face feedback.   I recently spoke at a conference during which someone observed that, while read WDTPRS with interest, he wished that he could get it actually before the Sunday for which they are intended.  All I can say is that, as I understand things, the paper in which these appear goes to the printer 10 days before the Sunday treated.  From thence they go immediately to the postal service.  I write these more than a week in advance precisely so that you have the best chance to get it before the Sunday.  If you are not getting your number of the paper in that period, then you need to complain to the post office.  Sorry.

This is what I call a “nickname Sunday” (like Gaudete in Advent).  This use of nicknames for certain Sundays can be traced back at least as far as the 12^th century John of Salisbury.  They come from the first word of the Introit chant for the Mass.  This Sunday the Church enjoys a foretaste of the coming joy of Easter, signaled by the first word sung: “Rejoice”!  Today we have rose colored vestments and instrumental music.  We relax the penitential character of Lent when traditionally (and still present in the rubrics) there should be no flowers or decorations, no instrumental music (including organ unless used only to sustain congregational singing). 

According to the famous Latin phrase repetita iuvant (repeated things help) I will repeat what we read in WDTPRS last year for this Sunday when we were still involved with the collects of the Mass.  Why do we have rose (not, quod Deus avertat,…pink) colored vestments?   This custom has an origin in the station churches of Rome.  In Rome there have been celebrations of Mass during the great seasons of Lent/Easter and Advent/Christmas at "station" churches for many centuries. The station for Laetare Sunday is the Basilica of the Holy Cross of Jerusalem. This is where the relics of Cross and Passion brought back to Rome by St. Helena, the mother of the Emperor Constantine, are kept.  It was the Pope’s custom on Laetare Sunday to bless roses made of gold.  They were then sent to Catholic kings and queens. So Laetare was also called Dominica de rosa…. Sunday of the Rose.  So, rose vestments came to be used on Laetare Sunday in the Basilica of the Holy Cross when the Pope came for the station Mass. Rose (the technical term for the color is rosacea) spread to the rest of the City.  Then it was made the rule for the whole world when Pius V promulgated the Roman Missal.  We can rejoice that it is now possible to find rose vestments for sale in religious good stores again.  Hopefully they, with many other good sound customs, will return to use from desuetude.

SUPER OBLATA:
LATIN (1970 Missale Romanum):
Remedii sempiterni munera, Domine, laetantes offerimus,
suppliciter exorantes,
ut eadem nos et fideliter venerari,
et pro salute mundi congruenter exhibere perficias.

Please take note of the word laetantes, which is a clear echo of the first and thematic word for the Mass: laetare.   This super oblata has no modern precedent.   It was not found in any form in the previous, so-called “Tridentine” edition of the Missale Romanum though it had some foundation on a prayer in very ancient Gelasian Sacramentary.

LITERAL TRANSLATION:
Bent down praying, O Lord, we rejoicing people are
offering the gifts of the eternal remedy,
so that you may make us both faithfully revere the same,
and, for the salvation of the world, suitably show them forth.

The ever-useful Lewis & Short Dictionary says that the deponent verb veneror means “to reverence with religious awe, to worship, adore, revere, venerate.”  It can also mean “to ask reverently for any thing, to beseech, implore, beg, entreat, supplicate.”  Congruo is a complex verb.  It gives us the adverb congruenter.  Among the many things that congruo means are “to run, come, or meet together with something”, “to coincide or correspond with a person or thing, in substance, in feeling, or in time, to be suited or adapted to, to agree with, accord, suit, fit” and “agreeing in all its parts; symmetrical, proportioned; accordant, consistent, harmonious.”   Hence, congru­enter is “agreeably, suitably.”  A Latin remedium is “that which heals again; a cure, remedy” as well as “a means of aid, assistance, or relief.”  It was even used of magical charms or amulets.  Thus, even in its pagan usage there was an element of the spiritual in regard to healing and protection from ills.  The last part of the prayer concludes with a subjunctive verb perficio in a clause beginning with ut which governs two accusative/infinitives themselves distinguished by an et…et construction (“both…and”).  Perficio, perfeci, perfectum is the source of the English word “perfect”.  It means fundamentally, “to achieve, execute, carry out, accomplish, perform, dispatch, bring to an end or conclusion, finish, complete.”  Thus it is “to make perfect’ and also “to bring about, to cause, effect; with ut.”   At the beginning of the prayer we find suppliciter which is from supplex, in turn from supplico which signifies “to kneel down or humble one’s self, to pray or beg humbly, to beseech, implore, supplicate” and “to pray to or supplicate as a god; to pray, worship.” Supplico is formed from sub and plico, meaning “to fold, double up.”   The image is one doubled-over, bent over praying.   Someone who is supplex is bent down, at least at the knees, in an attitude of prayer.   In the context of this prayer we have people who are laetantes… “rejoicing” who are nonetheless bent or folded over while praying at the same time as their mediator, their priest, is raising high to God the offerings that will soon be transformed upon the altar. 

ICEL:
Lord,
we offer you these gifts
which bring us peace and joy.
Increase our reverence by this eucharist,
and bring salvation to the world.

This version is so different from the Latin original as almost to constitute a new composition.

The Latin version identifies some important things.   First and foremost in the prayer is our total reliance on God.  It is He who gives us the “gifts of the eternal remedy”.  Implicit in the need for a remedy, a concept entirely abandoned in the ICEL version, is the illness of sin.  Our gratitude for the eternal remedy to the damnation we deserve for sins causes us at the same time to bend ourselves over as humble supplicants at the same time as we rejoice in our good fortune and the goodness of such a merciful God.  Our gratitude and humility in turn prompt us to ask that same God to continue His gracious work in us an make us capable of venerating the gifts properly and also making them known (exhibere) to others, whom we also wish to share in the salvation He has so kindly made possible.  Whereas in the ICEL prayer there is a petition “bring salvation to the world” in the Latin prayer we recognize that we, entirely dependent on God, are the ones who are to make that salvation know.  With the reception of the gift comes a responsibility.

We must never be embarrassed in any way about the salvation Jesus Christ has won for us.  In our own lives we must be living icons of the gifts He provides.  I was struck in this regard by something I saw and heard during the closing ceremonies of the Winter Olympic games recently.  Whenever the Olympic games close, there is an announcement of the location of the next games, four years hence.  In recent times, with the vacuous but spectacular razzle-dazzle of the ceremonies this has come to include presentations of the new logo of the next games, and various other elements that can be commercialized and hyped beyond all reason.   The next Winter Olympic games of 2006 will be in Torino, Italy and the symbol of the games is a highly stylized version of the spire of the cathedral of Torino or as the English call it Turin.   This is where the Shroud of Turin is kept and then displayed on occasion.  The spire of that cathedral is very distinctive as it rises over the rather dull and industrial city, instantly recognizable to those who have seen it, just as the Eifel Tower is attached to Paris and the Opera House is for Sydney.   The cathedral of Torino is, of course, a concrete material manifestation of faith, showing forth the faith of generations of Catholics.  It is a sign in stone and mortar of the belief of generation of followers of Christ in the mystery of transubstantiation.  It is proud and unapologetic.   And yet when the TV announcers identified the new logo, the stylized cathedral spire, they would not even say what the building was.   All the announcer on NBC said was that it was an “abstract design based on the most recognizable building in Torino.”  He would not identify it as a Catholic cathedral, as if the Christian religion was somehow forbidden even a mention in that semi-pagan super-exaltation of the human person who was, during this year’s winter games, supposed to “light the fire within”, according to the “theme” of the games.  

A very good example of someone who truly did light the fire within will be present to the many secular pilgrims who will travel to Torino for those games and will, no doubt, stroll through the cathedral.  Interred in a side aisle of the cathedral is the Blessed Piero Giorgio Frassati.  He was a young layman who was dedicated to deep prayer and works of mercy for the poor.  He was a politically active example of Christian virtues.   He loved outdoor sports.  Many agree that he is an exceptionally good model for Catholic young people.  At the ceremony for his beatification the official image used for him, in large format on a banner hung upon the façade of St. Peter’s Basilica, you see him standing, gloriously young and happy with his pipe and a walking stick in a field of snow on a mountain top of the Alps so close to Torino, where four years from now other young people will strive for earthly honors.  (At the time of the beatification the timid mandarins of the Vatican Curia removed the pipe from the famous photo of Pier Giorgio on the mountain top: they were worried that it would promote smoking among young people… so much for the Holy See being a bulwark against the encroachment of political correctness… but I digress…)  I found it ironic that this marvelous young lover of God and winter sports is interred in the very building that provides the symbol of the next winter Olympics and yet a TV network did not dare to even give a name to the building.  Stay tuned for developments.

Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati, pray for us.

What Does the Prayer Really Say? Fourth Sunday of Lent “Laetare” Sunday – Station: Basilica of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem

ORIGINALLY PRINTED IN The Wanderer in 2001

There is a Latin dictum: repetita iuvant... repeated things help.  That is to say, repetition helps us to learn and remember.  Today we have a “nickname Sunday” (like Gaudete in Advent, Cantate in Eastertide, etc) This nicknaming tradition goes back at least to John of Salisbury (12th c.), and derives from the first word of the Introit chant for the Mass.  Today, there is a relaxation of the stark penitential aspect of Lent, during which season traditionally (and still present in the rubrics) there should be no flowers and decorations and no instrumental music (including organ unless used only to sustain congregational singing).  This Sunday we have a glimpse of the joy that is coming, which is why the first word sung is “Rejoice”!  We have rose colored vestments and instrumental music.

Some ink can be given to rose vestments. This custom is tied to the station churches in Rome.  For centuries in Rome there have been celebrations of Mass during the great seasons of Lent/Easter and Advent/Christmas at "station" churches. The station Mass for Laetare Sunday is the Basilica of the Holy Cross of Jerusalem in Rome, where the relics of Cross and Passion are kept.  It was the custom on Laetare for the Pope to bless roses made of gold that were then sent to Catholic kings and queens. Thus Laetare was also called Dominica de rosa…. Sunday of the Rose. Rose vestments developed naturally from this occasion. So, rose came to be used on Laetare Sunday in the Basilica of the Holy Cross when the Pope came for the station Mass. The use of rose (the technical term for the color is rosacea) spread to the rest of the City on this day. As a Roman custom it became part and parcel of the Roman Missal promulgated through the world by Pius V.  The custom is, thanks be to God, coming back into vogue again.

One might ask why roses were given to Catholic rulers and other figures.  The papal letters and documents that came with the rose hint at the meaning attached to it. Innocent III wrote about the significance of the rose and Laetare Sunday: "As Lætare Sunday, the day set apart for the function, represents love after hate, joy after sorrow, and fullness after hunger, so does the rose designate by its color, odor, and taste, love, joy, and satiety respectively."  Innocent also says that the rose is the flower spoken of in Isaiah 11, 1: "there shall come forth a rod out of the root of Jesse, and a flower shall rise up out of his root".  Centuries later Pope Leo XIII wrote that the beautiful golden flower signifies Christ in His majesty, spoken of by the prophet as "the flower of the field and the lily of the valleys"; the flower’s fragrance shows the sweet odor of Christ which should be diffused through the whole world by His faithful followers.  The thorns and red color symbolize His Passion, harkening to both the real event of the Crucifixion and its foretelling by the prophet Isaiah 43,2: "Why then is thy apparel red, and thy garments like theirs that tread in the winepress?"   These themes are in the prayer that was used to bless the golden roses:

"O God! by Whose word and power all things have been created, by Whose will all things are directed, we humbly beseech Thy Majesty, Who art the joy and gladness of all the faithful, that Thou wouldst deign in Thy fatherly love to bless and sanctify this rose, most delightful in odor and appearance, which we this day carry in sign of spiritual joy, in order that the people consecrated by Thee and delivered from the yoke of Babylonian slavery through the favor of Thine only-begotten Son, Who is the glory and exultation of the people of Israel and of that Jerusalem which is our Heavenly mother, may with sincere hearts show forth their joy. Wherefore, O Lord, on this day, when the Church exults in Thy name and manifests her joy by this sign (= the rose), confer upon us through her true and perfect joy and accepting her devotion of today; do Thou remit sin, strengthen faith, increase piety, protect her in Thy mercy, drive away all things adverse to her and make her ways safe and prosperous, so that Thy Church, as the fruit of good works, may unite in giving forth the perfume of the ointment of that flower sprung from the root of Jesse and which is the mystical flower of the field and lily of the valleys, and remain happy without end in eternal glory together with all the saints."

The rose, then, connects not only the penance we do in honor of the Passion (Lent) but also the joy of the resurrection (Easter). It points to Christ who reigns as King, but from a wooden Cross.  Note also the reference to “devotion.”

COLLECT:
LATIN (1970 Missale Romanum):
Deus, qui per Verbum tuum
humani generis reconciliationem mirabiliter operaris,
praesta, quaesumus, ut populus christianus
prompta devotione et alacri fide
ad ventura sollemnia valeat festinare.

LITERAL TRANSLATION:
O God, who by your Word
marvelously effects the reconciliation of the human race,
grant, we beg, that the Christian people
may be able to hasten toward the upcoming solemnities
with ready devotion and eager faith.

I have spoken about so-called “false friends” before.  These are words that look very similar to English cognates but, in Latin, can have very different, even surprising meanings. In classical usage devotio can mean “fealty, allegiance, devotedness; piety, devotion, zeal.”   But it is also “a cursing, curse, imprecation, execration, a magical formula, incantation, spell.”  It is pretty clear what it means in the context of this prayer, but we must be attentive in translating.  More about this interesting term devotio below.

Notice the similarity of this collect with those of Advent?  On the Second Sunday of Advent, we heard: in tui occursum Filii festinantes… “those hurrying to meet your Son.”   On the Third Sunday (this Sunday’s fraternal twin Gaudete, the only other day for rose vestments) we heard: votis sollemnibus alacri laetitia celebrare...”to celebrate…with eager jubilation by means of solemn offerings.”  There is rosy anticipation in today’s collect just as there was in Advent.  For Lent the anticipation is properly muted, however: it is our faith which is eager, rather than our joy, and devotion is prompt and ready.

More about devotio.  In the Summa Theologica, St. Thomas Aquinas speaks of devotio as an “active” virtue.  In regard to meditation and contemplation the Angelic Doctor wrote: “The intrinsic or human cause of devotion is contemplation or meditation. Devotion is an act of the will by which a man promptly gives himself to the service of God. Every act of the will proceeds from some consideration of the intellect, since the object of the will is a known good; or as Augustine says, willing proceeds from understanding. Consequently, meditation is the cause of devotion since through meditation man conceives the idea of giving himself to the service of God” (STh II-II 82, 3 emphasis added).   In Jesuit spirituality there is a beautiful spin on devotio.  Based on an Ignatian principle, devotio is what the famed Jesuit preacher Louis Bourdaloue (1632-1704) would call "a devotion to duty". In other words, our devotions must lead or help the soul to keep the commandments of God and the duties of one’s state before all else.  There is an interplay, therefore, between our devotions and our devotion. Each of us has a state in life, a God-given vocation to follow.  We must be devoted to that state in life and the duties that come with it as they are in the here and now.  The “here and now” is important, too.  A person must not focus on the state he had before, or wishes he had, or should have had, or might have someday: those are unreal and misleading fantasies that distract us from reality and God’s will.  If we are truly devoted (in the sense of the active virtue) to fulfilling the duties of our state as it truly is here and now, then God will give us every actual grace we need to fulfill our vocation.  We are, in effect, fulfilling our proper role in His great plan and thus He is sure to help us.  And if we are devoted to our state as it truly is, then God can also guide us to a new vocation when and if that is His will for us: faithful in what we must be doing now, we will be open to what God wants us to do later.  This attachment to reality and sense of dutiful obedience through the active virtue devotio is a necessary part of religion in keeping with the biblical principle in 1 John 2:3-5: "And by this we may be sure that we know Him, if we keep His commandments.  He who says “I know Him” but disobeys His commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him; but whoever keeps his word, in him truly love for God is perfected.  By this we may be sure that we are in Him: he who says he bides in Him ought to walk in the same way in which He walked.”  Our Lenten devotion(s), and this collect, aid us in our journey toward the Resurrection.

ICEL:
Father of peace,
we are joyful in your Word,
your Son Jesus Christ,
who reconciles us to you.
Let us hasten toward Easter
with the eagerness of faith and love.