Theresian subarrhation

Santa Teresa de Ávila | desconocido | ca. 1790

At Mass today, we heard about how opportune it is that the feast of Saint Therese of Jesus, whom we Hispanophones call Santa Teresa de Ávila, who reformed the Carmelite Order, should fall this Sunday. In many Hispanic countries, Santa Teresa is depicted with a birrete octogonal laureado con borla grande y flecos (tufted and tasseled eight-sided laureate biretta), the Spanish headpiece for academic doctors. It is, however, not uncommon to see the saint in a bonete de cuatro picos (four-pointed biretta).

This Sunday happens to be the first Sunday after the centenary of the last apparition of the Blessed Virgin at Fatima, on which occasion one of the three visions that appeared was that of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. Suffice it to say that the Carmelite connection does not end here. The more interesting part about this is the fact that the Gospel sung in today’s Mass resounds in the writings of the Doctor of the Church.

Притча о брачном пире | Андрей Николаевич Миронов | 2014

We now draw attention towards a more extraordinary link between Santa Teresa de Ávila and today’s Gospel, wherein we hear the Lord telling the chief priests and the pharisees the parable of the great banquet. Like the parable of the wedding feast, this parable takes place in a wedding. In Spain and in her former possessions, Santa Teresa de Ávila has a proper Office and Mass. In the third antiphon of the first vespers of the Spanish saint and mystic, we read (and sing) the following:

Clavo déxteræ tuæ subarrhásti me, Dómine : et tamquam sponsam decorásti me coróna. Says the antiphon: With the nail of Thy right hand Thou hast espoused me, O Lord; and as Thy spouse Thou hast crowned me with a diadem. 

Arrhae, thirteen pieces of silver or gold, used in matrimonies according to the various uses descended from the Rite of Toledo (from the blog of the ICRSS in Spain)

Here, we observe the use of subarrhatio in the verb form, evoking spiritual union, a word that takes its root from arrha, more commonly encountered in its plural form arrhæ, which is arras in Spanish. Beyond doubt, this antiphon wondrously recalls the wedding feast of today’s Gospel.

Ut in omnibus laudetur Dominus.

Praying the Rosary in October

The traditional Ordo of the Philippines indicates today as the start of the daily recitation of the Rosary, which shall end on 2 November.

As can be gleaned from queries submitted to the Boletín, this daily recitation was not only privately accomplished by the faithful but also usually publicly exercised alta voce even during misas rezadas and cantadas. Apparently, this had become the custom of the archipelago, and was encouraged by bishops, to the point that, when a rescript appeared admonishing English Catholics to wean themselves off the practice, the contributors of the Boletín argued that the admonition did not juridically apply to the Philippines, and urged priests to seek the counsel of their ordinaries regarding the matter.

La Virgen del Rosario | Bartolomé Esteban Murillo | 1650–1655

A few reminders to those who will recite the Rosary daily from today until 2 November:

1. At the Litany of Loreto, after the invocation Mater intemerata (Mother inviolate), add the invocation Mater immaculata (Mother Immaculate). This privilege was granted by Clement XIII on 14 March 1767, through the brief Eximia pietas.
2. At the end of the Rosary, append the prayer Ad te, beate Ioseph (To thee, O blessed Joseph). This prayer was added by Pope Leo XIII on 15 August 1889, through the encyclical Quamquam pluries.

If we have the resources, offering a rosario cantado would also be very splendid.

Ut in omnibus laudetur Dominus.