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

What Does the Prayer Really Say?  3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

ORIGINALLY PRINTED IN The Wanderer in 2005

ER writes via e-mail (Latin cleaned up): “I am not sure whether I heard it correctly. When watching the Papal Mass at the Vatican for Christmas, on TV, I was jolted when I thought I heard the Pontiff recite ‘pro OMNIBUS’ in the consecration.”    No, ER, you did not hear him say in Latin “pro omnibus” (literally “for all”, the equivalent of “pro universis” which the Catechism of the Council of Trent of 1566 explains would be improper (Part II, ch. 4).   He said “pro multis”.  The Holy Father, poor man, is rather hard to understand in any language right now.  Nevertheless, this is another example of why it is so vital that we have an accurate English translation of pro multis.  We must move away from the execrable and misleading “for all”.  Perhaps this is the single most important of the theologically controversial points in any new draft translation in English.  You readers can help to secure one by writing kind letters to those involved.  I provide addresses on the WDTPRS website or you can write to The Wanderer to obtain them.  

Via e-mail GJ takes me to task for my comments about the quality of an ancient Collect not previously in the Missale Romanum but is now in the Novus Ordo (edited): “You will spend your life helping us get something that (is) sub par though better than what we have now.”  Well, GJ, that sounds like a step in the right direction.  The problem with some Catholics who are attached strongly to the older, venerable way of celebrating Mass is that they think the Novus Ordo should or could be abandoned and the older Mass restored across the board overnight.  GJ stays on the attack: “But the real thing is in a whole different category and a good Catholic will go to the true Mass whether it is "allowed" or not.  Why don’t you compare the Olde Mass to the new and tell us what you think about that?  Would that make you somehow disloyal to VII and this pope?”  You are making my point for me: some people think the Missale Romanum of 1962 and its predecessors back to Trent are the be all and end all of prayer without regard for what the prayers (and rubrics) of the post-Conciliar missals really say!  They consider only the banal ICEL translations they have heard and the liturgical abuses they have seen.  I do enjoy the “olde” spelling of old, GJ, but perhaps thou art not aware that I have spent a good share of my priesthood promoting the celebration of Ye Olde Mass and I have suffered seriously as a result.  I have often compared the olde with the new, usually pointing out how much was have lost to our great detriment.  I was not ordained a priest for the sake of a book: I was ordained for people.  Thus, I have to consider the well-being of everyone in the Church and not just the people I agree with the most.  Patience is needed as well as incremental gains.  

Friends, I know quite well that many readers of The Wanderer don’t like the Novus Ordo.  Some, probably, have been tempted to stop reading because it is hard core enough.  But we have to be realistic about the situation we face in the Church.  Like it or not, the Novus Ordo is not going away.  Neither is the vernacular.  Dear traditional Catholics, I share many legitimate aspirations with you.  The promotion of sound and beautiful translations is of benefit to everyone in the Church, even to the most dedicated adherent of the “Traditional Latin Mass”, because we are all in this together.   We must improve the state of the Church all around and foster improvements gradually.  So avoid this siege mentality.  The traditional Catholics ought to be the first to write kind letters of encouragement to those who are preparing the new translations!  Consider it this way: if once people start getting more of the “real thing” (as GJ puts it), perhaps they will then want even more and become far more interested in traditional expressions.  I have seen this pattern again and again with individuals.  Let’s see if it works with the whole English speaking Church.  Why do you think the liberal progressivists are trying to sidetrack the present draft of the translation being prepared?  I am grateful, GJ, that you read WDTPRS with attention and I hope you will continue.  Give some gift subscriptions of The Wanderer and see if you can get others to take me to task too.  Have at!  

Speaking of those trying to axe a better translation, I will decline to share some of the e-mail feedback you have sent about the election of His Excellency Donald W. Trautman, the Erie Bishop in Pennsylvania to the chairmanship of the USCCB’s liturgy committee (BCL).  I am trying to maintain a positive tone in this WDTPRS series.  The BCL will be involved in the review of the draft translation of the Missal now in preparation.  With the Vox Clara committee on the watch and the CDWDS standing firm on the norms they issued in the document Liturgiam authenticam the most the BCL can do is slow the process.  This is not nothing, of course.  There is an adage in the Church: “cunctando regitur mundus … the world is ruled by delaying.”  Oddly, while doing an internet search on my own articles to find when I had quoted that adage in the past, I discovered that WDTPRS is cited in a June 25, 2004 entry in fun blog-site called The Inn At The End Of The World (http://thesixbells.blogspot.com/) run by some liturgically long-suffering soul in Los Angeles who obviously is an aficionado of bagpipes.  I have often been associated with bags of hot air, but this is a new one.  The blogger wisely and perspicaciously called WDTPRS “indispensable”, which rouses in me the hope that he gave some gift subscriptions to The Wanderer to friends.   And now, ad ramos!

COLLECT - LATIN TEXT (2002MR):
Omnipotens sempiterne Deus,
dirige actus nostros in beneplacito tuo,
ut in nomine dilecti Filii tui
mereamur bonis operibus abundare.

GJ will be glad that this was in the 1962MR as the Collect for the Sunday in the Octave of Christmas. In the functionally superior Lewis & Short Latin Dictionary we learn that beneplacitum means “good pleasure, gracious purpose”.  The preposition in using the ablative case indicates a condition, situation or relation rather than a reference to space where or time when something was occurring.  In the Vulgate beneplacitum translates the original Greek eudokia in, e.g., Eph 1:9; 1 Cor 10:5.  Other phrases are used for eudokia too (e.g., bona voluntas in Luke 2:14, the famous “peace on earth to men of good will” or “peace on earth good will toward men”).  Paul wrote eudokia at the beginning of 2 Thessalonians (1:11-12), rendered as voluntas bonitatis in the Vulgate:

...oramus semper pro vobis ut dignetur vos vocatione sua Deus et impleat omnem voluntatem bonitatis et opus fidei in virtute ut clarificetur nomen Domini nostri Iesu Christi in vobis et vos in illo secundum gratiam Dei nostri et Domini Iesu Christi… we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his call, and may fulfill every good resolve (omnem voluntatem bonitatis) and work of faith by his power, so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ (RSV).

We can find connections between 2 Thessalonians and our Collect at several points: mereamur in the Collect with dignetur in Paul (both having to do with meriting or being worth of), beneplacitum with voluntas bonitatis, bona opera with opus fidei (good works flowing from lived faith), nomen Filii with nomen Domini Iesu Christi.   Taken in the sense of “gracious purpose” we can make a connection to Paul’s vocatio too, our “calling” or the purpose for which God placed us on this earth with a part of His plan to fulfill.

Abundo means, “to overflow with any thing, to have an abundance or superabundance of, to abound in.”  If we go back to the idea of the preposition in and the ablative indicating place or location in space, (in beneplacito tuo) we have an image of our good works originating in God and, coming from Him, overflowing out from us.  Some Protestants are under the false impression that Catholics think we can “earn” our way to heaven by our own good works, as if our good works had their own merit apart from God. Catholics believe, however, that true good works always have their origin in God, but the works are truly our works as well since we cooperate with God in performing them.  Therefore, having their origin and purpose in God, they merit the reward of God’s promises.  Whenever we find a reference to works in these liturgical prayers, do not forget the Catholic understanding of good works.

LITERAL TRANSLATION:
Almighty eternal God,
direct our actions in your gracious purpose,
so that in the name of Thy beloved Son,
we may merit to abound with good works.

ICEL (1973 translation of the 1970MR):
All-powerful and ever-living God,
direct your love that is within us,
that our efforts in the name of your Son
may bring mankind to unity and peace.

The lame-duck ICEL version’s “All-powerful and ever-living God” for omnipotens sempiterne Deus is not so bad.  Quite bad, on the other hand, is their “direct your love that is within us”.  The Latin clearly connects God’s own purpose for us and the actions that flow from that purpose.  In the ICEL version we have a vague term “love”, rather than the indication of God’s eternal plan.  Perhaps this is a bit picky, but when I hear “we may merit to abound with good works”, I think we are abounding because of God’s action within us through the good works He makes meritorious.  They overflow from us because of His generosity.  In the ICEL version God’s “love” is in us, but this leads to “our efforts”.  Yes, this can be reconciled with a Catholic theology of works, but it just doesn’t sound right.  Also, I don’t think that “efforts” to “bring mankind to unity and peace” means the same as us “meriting” by God’s grace to “abound with good works”.     Please understand: I don’t object to praying for unity and peace, but I think we ought to pray the prayer as the Church gave it to us, what the prayer really says.  When we feed the hungry and console those who mourn, visit the shut-in and imprisoned and pray for the dead, sure we are building “unity and peace”, but that phrase is so vague as to mean very little to someone in the pew.  The Latin does not say “conatus nostri genus humanum ad unitatem et pacem inducant”.  Is it possible that the guitar strumming and all those kumbayas of the 1960’s affected the ICEL translators choice of words?  I suppose we could all stand outside the headquarters of the USCCB and sing, “All we are saying, is give Latin a chance!” while swaying back and forth holding our lighters in the air.

Behold the skull of Agnes.

The dies natalis ("birthday into heaven") of Agnes was recorded in the register of the depositio martyrum as 21 January.

St. Agnes was slain probably during the reign of the Emperor Diocletian in 304. Some say she died during the time of the Emperor Valerian (+260). The little girl was buried by her parents in praediolo suo, on their property along the Via Nomentana where there was already a cemetery. This cemetery expanded rapidly after that, because many wanted to be buried near the grave of the famous martyr. The ancient cemetery grew in stages between the Basilica which Constantina, daughter of Constantine and Fausta began over her tomb from 337-350 and the small round Basilica of Constantia (Constantine’s daughter). There was an acrostic inscription from that time in verses about the dedication of the temple to Agnes:

Constantina deum venerans Christoque dicata
Omnibus impensis devota mente paratis
Numine divino multum Christoque iuvante
Sacravit templum victricis virginis Agnes…

You get the idea.

The Basilica of St. Agnes was reconstructed towards the end of the 5th c. by Pope Symmachus (+514). Honorius I (+638) rebuilt it as a basilica with three naves, adding the wonderful fresco of Agnes. It was worked on again in the 16th c. by St. Pius V and in the 19th by Bl. Pope Pius IX. Excavations in 1901 uncovered the silver sarcophagus made by Pius V for St. Agnes together with St. Emerentiana. It contained the headless body of a young girl.

While Agnes’s body is in her tomb on the Via Nomentana, her skull is now at the place of her supposed martyrdom at the Piazza Navona in Rome’s heart. It is a fitting place to venerate a saint so much in the heart of the Roman people even today. It is not usual for people to name their children Agnes in honor of this great virgin martyr, whose name is pronounced in the Roman Canon. The skull was bequeathed to that church at the Piazza by Pope Leo XIII who took it from the treasury of the Sancta Sanctorum. The Piazza itself was in ancient times the Stadium of Domitian (+96) a place of terror and blood for early Christians, far more than the Colloseum ever was. The Piazza is thus called also the "Circo Agonale" and the name of the saint’s church Sant’Agnese in Agone. "Navona" is a corruption of "Agonale", from Greek agon referring to the athletic contests of the ancient world. St. Paul used the athlete’s struggle as an image of the Christian life of suffering, perseverance, and final victory even through the shedding of blood. Early Christian tombs often have wavy lines carved im the front, representing an iron instrument called a stirgil, used by athletes to scrape dirt and oil from the bodies after contests. Victory palm branches are still used in the iconography of saints, as well as wreathes of laurels.

We know about St. Agnes from St. Jerome, and especially St. Augustine’s Sermons 273, 286 and 354. St. Ambrose wrote about Agnes in de virginibus 1,2,5-9 written in 377 as did Prudentius in hymn 14 of the Peristephanon written in 405. Ambrose has a wonderful hymn about Agnes (no. 8), used now in the Roman Church for Lauds and Vespers of her feast. The Ambrosian account differs somewhat from others. For Ambrose, Agnes died from beheading. Prudentius has her first exposed to shame in a brothel and then beheaded.

Here is the text of the hymn from the Liturgia horarum for the "Office of Readings" with a brutally literal translation.

Igne divini radians amoris
corporis sexum superavit Agnes,
et super carnem potuere carnis
claustra pudicae.

Shining with the fire of divine love
Agnes overcame the gender of her body,
and the undefiled enclosures of the flesh
prevailed over flesh.

Spiritum celsae capiunt cohortes
candidum, caeli super astra tollunt;
iungitur Sponsi thalamis pudica
sponsa beatis.

The heavenly host took up her brilliant white spirit,
and the heavens lifted it above the stars;
the chaste bride is united to the
blessed bride chambers of the Spouse.

Virgo, nunc nostrae miserere sortis
et, tuum quisquis celebrat tropaeum,
impetret sibi veniam reatus
atque salutem.

O virgin, now have pity on our lot,
and, whoever celebrates your victory day,
let him earnestly pray for forgiveness of guilt
and salvation for himself.

Redde pacatum populo precanti
principem caeli dominumque terrae
donet ut pacem pius et quietae
tempora vitae.

Give back to this praying people
the Prince of heaven and Lord of the earth,
that he, merciful, may grant us peace
and times of tranquil living.

Laudibus mitem celebremus Agnum,
casta quem sponsum sibi legit Agnes,
astra qui caeli moderatur atque
cuncta gubernat. Amen.

Let us celebrate with praises the gentle Lamb,
whom chaste Agnes binds to herself as Spouse,
he who governs the stars of heaven
and guides all things. Amen.

We can note a couple things from this prayer. First, the reference to fire probably a description of Agnes’s death related in a metrical panegyric of Pope Damasus about how Agnes endured martyrdom by fire. On the other hand, St. Ambrose, when speaking of her death, speaks of martyrdom by the sword.

Pope St. Damasus composed elogia, inscribed in gorgeous letters on marble (designed and executed by Dionysius Philocalus) in honor of Roman saints, including Agnes. It was placed in the cemetery, but lost through the ages. It was at last rediscovered in 1728 inside the basilica, whole and complete, where it had been used upside down as a paving stone! Now it is affixed to the wall in the corridor descending to the narthex. Its discovery was a find of vast importance.

FAMA REFERT SANCTOS DUDUM RETULISSE PARENTES
AGNEN CUM LUGUBRES CANTUS TUBA CONCREPUISSET
NUTRICIS GREMIUM SUBITO LIQUISSE PUELLAM
SPONTE TRUCIS CALCASSE MINAS RABIEMQUE TYRANNI
URERE CUM FLAMMIS VOLUISSET NOBILE CORPUS
VIRIBUS INMENSUM PARVIS SUPERASSE TIMOREM
NUDAQUE PROFUSUM CRINEM PER MEMBRA DEDISSE
NE DOMINI TEMPLUM FACIES PERITURA VIDERET
O VENERANDA MIHI SANCTUM DECUS ALMA PUDORIS
UT DAMASI PRECIBUS FAVEAS PRECOR INCLYTA MARTYR

It is told that one day the holy parents recounted that Agnes, when the trumpet had sounded its sad tunes, suddenly left the lap of her nurse while still a little girl and willingly trod upon the rage and the threats of the cruel tyrant. Though he desired to burn the noble body in the flames, with her little forces she overcame immense fear and, gave her loosened hair to cover her naked limbs, lest mortal eye might see the temple of the Lord. O one worthy of my veneration, holy glory of modesty, I pray you, O illustrious martyr, deign to give ear to the prayers of Damasus.

Damasus used the sources available. There were the stories told by her parents, the 4th edict of Diocletian against Christians in 304 (lugubres cantus tuba concrepuisset). Agnes did what she did of her own free will (sponte). Note the reference to the body as temple of God (1 Cor 3:16 and 2 Cor 6:16).

For today, the Z-Cam is on and aimed it at the Church of St. Agnes in the Piazza Navona, so clearly visible from my lofty window.  The webcam may be viewed via Yahoo Messenger (wdtprs).

I am having a bit of trouble with the webcam, btw.  It has a purple-ish cast which I cannot get rid of unless I make drastic setting changes.  That means that when the light changes, I have to change the settings.  Later today I will be going to a Mass with the Chinese at their church here in Rome and, thus, will not be around at sunset.  I will leave low light settings on, bu I have no idea how the image will appear.

Sorry about having to use Yahoo for this.  I can’t get the fellow who adminstrates the hardware here in this house to open the necessary port on the router so that I can stream using my preferred program.