In 2016, we released our first Easter prophetiary, which covered Prophecies VII to XII. Since then, we received multiple requests to release the tones for Prophecies I to VI. Truth is, we have always sung these in the usual prophecy tone. However, by the time we released our old Pentecost prophetiary, we have already started work on the first half of the Easter prophecies. They were ready by 2019, and work was in progress to typeset them, so that we may print them by 2020. As we all know, the pandemic happened, and everything crashed to a halt, with exasperating abruptness, especially in an unpreparedly paranoid archipelago like the Philippines. Now, however, the first six prophecies of Easter are fully typeset in Book III of our prophetiary (click the image on the left to access the file). May it be useful to our mission to honour sacred music in its proper place in Catholic worship.
Saint Tharsicius, or, more commonly, Saint Tarcisius, is the patron saint of altar servers. His lipsanotheca prominently features in the page the Cœtus Internationalis Ministrantium dedicates to its patron saint here. (As an aside, we register that the correct Latin term for altar server is ministrans, as opposed to the affected calque others are wont to employ, servus altaris.) While the difference in onomastic spelling may seem negligible, it can divide etymologists. Some trace his name from the city of Tarsus in the Roman province of Cilicia, rendering it in Greek as Ταρσίκιος. Others trace it from the place called Tharsis in Holy Writ, rendering it in Greek as Θαρσίκιος. In terms of pronunciation, the difference is practically imperceptible in the West, for while τ and θ are pronounced differently in Koine Greek, t and th are pronounced the same in Ecclesiastical Latin.
That said, both East and West venerate Saint Tharsicius as a martyr. Western hagiography designates him an acolyte, one of the minor orders, based on a sixth-century legend about the martyrdom of Pope Saint Stephen I. Eastern hagiography, meanwhile, sometimes registers him a deacon, one of the major orders, which somehow agrees with the epigraph Pope Saint Damasus I wrote. The Roman Martyrology lists Saint Tharsicius under 15 August, which is the feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin, having suffered martyrdom on this day in 257 A.D., during the reign of Emperor Valerian. As such, his feast is perpetually impeded.
In the Vetus Ordo, therefore, (click on the thumbnails below to open the files for his proper Mass and Office, as well as the chant our Choir set for the Mass propers), his feast is properly kept on 25 November, which is probably the date: either when his relics were transferred from the Catacombs of Saint Callixtus to the Basilica of San Sisto e Santa Cecilia, and thither reposed in the tomb of Pope Saint Zephyrinus; or when Pope Saint Paul I transferred his relics, together with the relics of other martyrs, from the Basilica of San Sisto e Santa Cecilia to the Basilica of San Silvestro in Capite, where they remain today. However, celebrating his feast closer to 15 August is permitted, provided that it is assigned on an unimpeded day.
Pope Saint Damasus I, who laboured to promote devotion to the martyrs, often writing epigraphs in their honour, dedicated one such poem to the child martyr, equating his resistance to deliver the Eucharist to pagans with the abnegation that Saint Stephen the Protomartyr displayed when the Jews brought him out to be stoned. He caused this inscription to be placed on the tomb of the martyr.
Par meritum, quicumque legis, cognosce duorum, quis Damasus rector titulos post præmia reddit. Iudaicus populus Stephanum meliora monentem perculerat saxis, tulerat qui ex hoste trophæum, martyrium primus rapuit levita fidelis. Tharsicium sanctum Christi sacramenta gerentem, cum malesana manus premeret vulgare profanis, ipse animam potius voluit dimittere cæsus, prodere quam canibus rabidis cœlestia membra.
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Whosoever readest, know thou the equal merit of the two to whom Pope Damasus dedicated epitaphs for their deeds. The Jewish people had taken away and smitten with stones Stephen foretelling better things, the faithful deacon who first obtained martyrdom and memorial from the foe. When an unsound rabble pressed Saint Tharsicius to display the sacraments of Christ he was carrying, he, being slain, instead willed to give up his soul, than to show the heavenly particles to the raging dogs.
Saint Tharsicius is the altar server par excellence. His example stands in stark contrast to the indiscretions of today’s altar servers, who participate in acts of wanton abandon, running the gamut from prancing like perfumed ponces in video-sharing social networking platforms, to signalling forbearance of other people’s defects with an almost constipated constitution, from pining for the validation of their peers and the attention of prospective opportunistic sponsors in local iconocamerariat circles, to retelling their sacristy-profaning unchaste encounters (aberrant or not) in online freedom walls. Let us, therefore, pray that Saint Tharsicius’ great suffering, for which he received the glory of heaven, may obtain from God forgiveness for our sins, and our Lord’s sacred Body and saving Blood, which he defended until death, may fortify our life on earth and profit us unto life everlasting.
Last Easter Week, NLM published an article on the blessing of the Agnus Dei, which are discs of wax embossed with the image of the Lamb of God, traditionally made by Cistercian monks of Santa Croce in Gerusalemme, and traditionally blessed by the Pope on Easter Wednesday in the first Easter of his pontificate, and every seven years thereafter. In this article by NLM, we see a footage of the blessing made by Pope John XXIII in 1959, coinciding with the first Easter of his pontificate.
Agnus Dei | Francisco de Zurbarán | 1635–1640
In 1752, Pope Benedict XIV ordered the publication of the text of the Blessing of the Agnus Dei (click the thumbnail to the right to open the file; our translation follows at the end of the ceremony outline). The rite, republished in 1865 by Father Jules Caron, begins with the consecration of the water wherein the waxen discs are to be later submerged. To the blessed water are mixed balsam and chrism. Afterwards, the Pope distributes the consecrated water to other fonts that will be used for the submersion of the discs, to be presided by other cardinals. The Pope himself, assisted by cardinals, presides over the blessing in the main font.
The Pope then approaches the Agnus Dei, which are placed in baskets, or some similar vessels, and pronounces a three-fold blessing over them, first addressed to God the Father, the second to God the Son, and the third to God the Holy Ghost. These collects enumerate the various graces gained by bearers of the sacramental, such as, deliverance from calamities and diseases, protection during childbirth, and consolation in this life and life everlasting. After these powerful prayers, the Pope censes the discs thrice, and then into every font of consecrated water, the discs are submerged, and then later taken out and brought into an adjoining chamber where they are dried.
Cistercians from Santa Croce in Gerusalemme preparing the Agnus Dei to be blessed by Pope John the XXIII in his first Easter week as Pope in 1959 (photo by Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images)
The Pope afterwards enters this chamber, and then pronounces the final collect, which highlights one of the central mysteries behind the sacramental, and this is the Conception of the Lord, otherwise known as the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin. The wax used for the discs traditionally came from the paschal candle of the Sistine Chapel, and of the other churches of Rome, from the previous Easter, and into this wax was usually mixed an amount of pure unused wax, hence the last collect calls it the cera virginea. And just as the conception of the Lord was preserved from human contact, so the last collect expresses its hope that bearers of the Agnus Dei will be protected from mortal troubles, and after death will merit eternal life. In the end, the discs are gathered in the baskets, and are distributed in the following Low Saturday, after the Agnus Dei is chanted at Mass.
Blessing of waxen Agnus Dei
published in 1752 by order of Pope Benedict XIV
The Supreme Pontiff, standing without Mitre, says:
V. Our help is in the Name of the Lord.
R. Who hath made heaven and earth.
V. The Lord be with you.
R. And with thy spirit.
Let us pray.
O Lord God, Father almighty, Creator of all the elements, and Giver of spiritual grace, from Whose Only-begotten Son’s most holy side did flow forth waters together with Blood, and Who didst sanctify the waters of the Jordan through the same Only-begotten Son, and didst vouchsafe all nations to be baptised in these waters, and didst finally institute the greatest sacraments in the substance of the waters: benignantly and mercifully attend, and deign to ✠ bless and sancti ✠ fy this element of water, that crimes may be washed off and graces may be granted to Thy servants devoutly venerating the waxen discs plunged in this water, that they may merit to obtain eternal life with Thy elect. R. Amen.
This Collect complete, the Supreme Pontiff receives the Mitre, and, with the most senior Cardinal ministering the ampoule of Balsam, which the Sacrist hands to the Cardinal, the Supreme Pontiff pours the Balsam from the ampoule into the Water, in the form of a cross, saying:
Deign, O Lord, to consecrate and sanctify these ✠ waters through this holy pouring of balsam, and Our blessing. Here, thrice he signs with his hand, saying: In the name of the ✠ Father, and of the ✠ Son, and of the Holy ✠ Ghost. Amen.
Then, from another ampoule of Chrism, with the most senior Cardinal ministering, as above, the Supreme Pontiff pours the holy Chrism into the same Water, in the form of a cross, saying:
Deign, O Lord, to consecrate and sanctify these ✠ waters through this holy anointing of Chrism, and Our blessing. Here, thrice he signs with his hand, saying: In the name of the ✠ Father, and of the ✠ Son, and of the Holy ✠ Ghost. Amen.
The Water blest, the Supreme Pontiff, with a ladle or a silver spoon, takes from this Water and pours into other fonts of Water, in the form of a cross, saying nothing: then, he turns to the baskets, in which are place the Agnus Dei, and standing close to them, the Mitre removed, says:
V. The Lord be with you.
R. And with thy spirit.
Let us pray.
O God the Author of all hallowing, Who didst look upon Abel’s lamb of sacrifice, Who didst vouchsafe that a ram stuck in the brambles should be sacrificed in the place of Isaac’s immolation as a foreshadowing of our redemption, and didst command Moyses that a perpetual sacrifice should be offerred in lambs, suppliantly we beseech Thee, that Thou mayest deign to ✠ bless and sancti ✠ fy these waxen figures fashioned with the image of the most innocent Lamb, that, in their presence, the crash of hailstorms, the storm of whirlwinds, the force of tempests, the rage of winds, the troublesome thunders may dissipate: and, just as the Angel, at the sight of the blood, which Thy people had sprinkled on the upper door posts and on the side posts, did pass over striking without harm upon the houses thusly sprinkled, so at the sight of these images may malignant spirits flee and tremble, and may unprovided death not meet devout bearers of these images, may the human enemy not prevail against them, may no adversity reign over them, may no shadow incite fear in them, may no pestilential breeze or corruption of the air, nor epilectic or any other violent disease, nor storm or tempest of the sea, nor inundation of rivers or waters, nor conflagration of fires, inflict harm upon them: through the invocation of Thy Only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord: Who with Thee liveth and reigneth in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God: through all the ages of the ages. R. Amen.
Let us pray.
O Lord Jesus Christ, who art the true innocent Lamb, offered upon the altar of the Cross for the salvation of the world, by Whose death mankind was delivered from eternal death and diabolic power, and recalled unto life, deign to ✠ bless, sancti ✠ fy, and con ✠ secrate these waxen images of the Lamb, that those devoutly carrying them, out of reverence and honour to Thy Name, may be delivered from sudden death, and from all cunning and wickedness of infernal deceit: and may the pangs of mothers in childbirth be thusly soothed, so a safe delivery with the mother be kept through the power of Thy Passion: Who livest and reignest in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God: through all the ages of the ages. R. Amen.
Let us pray.
O nourishing Ghost, Who with Thy breath makest the waters fruitful and holy, and turnest their bitterness into sweetness, deign to ✠ bless, sancti ✠ fy, and con ✠ secrate these waxen lambs about to be poured forth with water and holy Chrism, that all their bearers, strengthened by the fortitude of Thy power, may rejoice in Thy consolation, Who art truly called the Paraclete, and, with the Father and the Son, livest and reignest, God: through all the ages of the ages. R. Amen.
The Collects complete, the Supreme Pontiff places Incense in the thurible, a Cardinal-Priest ministering the boat, blessing it in the usual way, while saying: Mayest thou be blessed by Him in Whose honour thou art burned.
Afterwards, he censes the Agnus Dei with three swings of the thurible: then he receives the Mitre, is girded with a linen Apron, and receives the upper Apron, known in Italian as bavarola, sitting in the midst of two Cardinals at one of the fonts of blessed Water: the Cardinals, likewise girded with linen Aprons, sit on either side at the farthest side of the same font, facing each other. Servers, on the other hand, and others, bring the Agnus Dei, in clean silver platters, to the fonts of blessed Water, where they are submerged. The Supreme Pontiff, and the Cardinals assisting him, take the Agnus Dei out with silver spoons, and place them back in the same platters, in which they were brought, or in other platters, with the Servers receiving and bringing them to the place prepared for this purpose, whereupon they put them on the Tables, with clean cloths, prepared for this purpose, that moisture having been taken out, they may be dried. The other Cardinals summoned for this purpose, likewise girded with linen Aprons, sit by the other fonts of blessed Water, and submerge the Agnus Dei brought by the Servers, and take them out with silver spoons in the same way as above, and they are brought to the place already mentioned. With the Agnus Dei already baptised by the Supreme Pontiff and the Cardinals, the Supreme Pontiff, entering the Chamber wherein the abovementioned Tables are placed, and standing without Mitre, says:
V. The Lord be with you.
R. And with thy spirit.
Let us pray.
We beseech Thy immense mercy, O God almighty, that the bearers of these Lambs without blemish, which, being formed from virgin wax as a sign of the Conception of Thy Only-begotten Son our Lord, which was obtained by divine power without human contact, We have consecrated with sacred water and sacred Chrism through the merits of the Cross, delivered from all terrors, as well as conflagrations, of malignant spirits, of inundations, of lightning, of tempest, of untoward childbirth, and from all other dangers and diseases, may depart unharmed from this age, and rejoice with Thee in the age to come without end: Who livest and reignest in perfect Trinity, God: through all the ages of the ages. R. Amen.
These done, the Agnus Dei are placed in the baskets, and are distributed on Low Saturday after the chanting of the Agnus Dei at Mass.
Interestingly, Dom Prosper Guéranger, in volume 7 of his L’Année liturgique, quotes an even older source for the prayers of the blessing of the Agnus Dei, and that is the Cæremoniale Romanum (click the thumbnail to the left to open the file; our translation follows at the end of the ceremony outline), published in 1488 by two-time papal master of ceremonies, Agostino Patrizi Piccolomini, bishop of Pienza and Montalcino, erected from the diocese of Arezzo on 13 August 1462, later split in 1582 into the independent sees of Pienza and Montalcino. Here is an English translation of the prayers based on Dom Guéranger’s French rendition, and below is our translation based on the original Latin.
The prayers in the older version are much, much longer, and the immediate ancestors of the prayers in the text published in 1752. The older version confirms that the water consecrated at the start of the ceremony is already blessed, carried out beforehand as usual either by the Pope himself or by any of his domestic prelates. Other ceremonials call the consecrated water the water of the New Lamb, by reason of the sole and eminent purpose it is reserved. Because the collects are untrimmed, we can clearly discover the scriptural foundations of this special blessing reserved alone to the Pope. Unlike the 1752 rite, which arranges the constitutive prayers addressed to God from Father to Son to Holy Ghost, the 1488 rite addresses God first the Father, then the Holy Ghost, and finally the Son.
Blessing of waxen Agnus Dei
according to the 1488 Cæremoniale Romanum
On any day after Easter, before Low Saturday, having said or heard Mass in his private Chapel, the Supreme Pontiff, vested in Amice, Alb, Cincture, and simple Mitre, blesses Water with the usual blessing, as is done on Sundays by Priests, in a vessel thither prepared, and, if it is more suitable, said Water may be blessed beforehand by one of the Pope’s domestic Prelates. Then, the Pontiff approaches the aforesaid vessel, and, the Mitre removed, standing, says:
V. Our help is in the Name of the Lord.
R. Who hath made heaven and earth.
V. The Lord be with you.
R. And with thy spirit.
Let us pray.
O Lord God, Father almighty, Founder of all the elements and Keeper of mankind, Giver of spiritual grace and Bestower of eternal salvation, Who didst vouchsafe the waters flowing from the spring of Paradise to irrigate all the earth, upon which Thy Only-begotten Son hath walked with dry feet, and hath deigned to be baptised in them, which hath flowed forth with His Blood from His most holy side, and hath commanded His Disciples to baptise all nations in them: benignantly and mercifully attend, and let the grace of Thy blessing come upon us who remember these Thy wonders, that Thou mayest ✠ bless and, having been blest, sancti ✠ fy the objects, which We cause to be cast and plunged in this vessel of water that was prepared for the glory of Thy Name, that, by the veneration and honour of these same objects, crimes may be washed off us Thy servants, stains of sins may be wiped off us, pardons may be obtained for us, graces may be granted to us, and we may finally merit to attain eternal life together with Thy saints and elect. Through the same Christ our Lord. R. Amen.
The Pontiff then receives the Mitre again, and pours Balsam from its ampoule into the Water, in the form of a cross, saying:
Deign, O Lord, to consecrate and sanctify these waters through this anointing of balsam, and Our blessing. In the name of the ✠ Father, and of the ✠ Son, and of the Holy ✠ Ghost. Amen.
And he signs thrice.
Then, from another ampoule, He pours holy Chrism into the same Water, likewise in the form of a cross, saying:
Deign, O Lord, to consecrate and sanctify these waters through this holy anointing of Chrism, and Our blessing. In the name of the ✠ Father, and of the ✠ Son, and of the Holy ✠ Ghost. Amen.
The Supreme Pontiff, with Mitre, having received consecrated Water with a silver spoon, consecrates another Water: then, he turns towards the baskets, where the Agnus Dei are, and, the Mitre removed, standing, says upon them:
V. The Lord be with you.
R. And with thy spirit.
Let us pray.
O God of all hallowing, the Lord the Ruler, Whose unending mercy is felt: Who didst vouchsafe Abraham, the father of our faith, arranging by Thy commandment to immolate Isaac his son as a foreshadowing of our redemption, to accomplish his sacrifice through a ram stuck amongst the brambles; and didst order Moyses, Thy lawgiving servant, that a perpetual holocaust should be offered in lambs without blemish: suppliantly we beseech Thee that, implored by the duty of our voice, Thou mayest deign to ✠ bless and, through the invocation of Thy Holy Name, sanctify these waxen figures fashioned with the image of the most innocent Lamb, that, at their touch and sight, the faithful may be invited to prayers; the crash of hailstorms, the storm of whirlwinds, the force of tempests, the rage of winds, the troublesome thunders may be subdued; malignant spirits may flee and tremble before the banner of the Holy Cross, which is engraved into them, to which all knee bendeth, and all tongue confesseth, for death being vanquished through the gibbet of the Cross, Jesus Christ reigneth in the glory of God the Father: for He, led as a lamb unto the slaughter, in death offered Thee, Father, the Holy Sacrifice of His Body, that He may guide back the lost sheep that was waylaid by the devil’s deceit, and bring it back carried upon His shoulders unto the fold of the heavenly homeland: He Who liveth and reigneth in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God: through all the ages of the ages. R. Amen.
He says another Collect:
Let us pray.
Almighty and eternal God, Who art the Founder of the sacrifices and ceremonies of the Law, and didst establish them to be accomplished for mankind’s atonement, just as Thy creation, which, deceived by the intimation of the devil, incurred Thy indignation in their disdain towards the empire of Thy majesty, and as Thou didst vouchsafe to be pleased in their obedience to these victims and sacrifices, as Thou didst establish in the sacrifice of Abel’s lamb of the firstfruits, and in the oblation of Melchisedech Thy Priest, and in the immolation of Abraham’s, Moyses’, and Aaron’s victims, lambs, rams, and fattened bulls, with Thy servants humbly offering as a foreshadowing everything that came in contact with them, because with Thy holy blessing, they became holy and salvific: and like the lamb, from whose blood the side posts and upper posts of the house were anointed, being immolated, delivered Thy people at midnight from the striking of the Egyptians; and in the same manner that the innocent Lamb, by Thy will immolated on the altar of the Cross, Jesus Christ, Thy Son, did deliver our forefathers from the power of the devil: so may these Lambs without blemish, which we offer to be consecrated before Thy divine majesty, receive that power: mayest Thou deign to ✠ bless, sancti ✠ fy, and con ✠ secrate them, that, sanctified by Thy generous blessing, they may receive the same power against all cunning of the devil, and deceits of malignant spirits, that may no tempest prevail against those devoutly bearing these Lambs upon themselves, may no adversity rule over them, may no pestilential breeze or corruption of air, and no mortal disease, no storm and tempest of the sea, no conflagration, nor any wickedness rule over them, nor may man prevail against them: may a safe delivery with the mother be kept through the intercession of Thy Only-begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, Who with Thee liveth and reigneth in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God: through all the ages of the ages. R. Amen.
We pray Thy mercy, O almighty God, Who didst create everything out of nothing, and, after Adam’s fall, didst bless Noe and his sons, who lived justly before Thy majesty, and were saved by Thy mercy from the waters of the deluge: mayest Thou thusly deign to ✠ bless, sancti ✠ fy, and con ✠ secrate these Lambs, so that those bearing them, out of reverence and honour to Thy Name, may be delivered from all inundation of waters, and from all vicissitudes of the devil’s tempest, and from sudden death, through the power of the Passion of Jesus Christ, Thy blessed Son: Who with Thee liveth and reigneth in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God: through all the ages of the ages. R. Amen.
These done, the Supreme Pontiff is girded with a linen Apron, and, having received the Mitre, sits by the vessel of Water, and the Servers bring to him the Agnus Dei in silver platters, which the Pontiff plunge into the Water, and the attending Prelates take them out, and bring them in platters upon Tables prepared with clean Cloths, that they may be dried; and all having been baptised by the Pontiff, or by his Prelates, the Supreme Pontiff, rising, and standing without Mitre, says these Collects upon them:
Let us pray.
O nourishing Ghost, Who makest the waters fruitful, and givest life to all, and didst establish every great sacrament in the substance of the waters, which, having relinquished bitterness, were transformed unto sweetness, and, sanctified by Thy breath, by impulse of the reception of the laver (of Baptism), at the invocation of the Name of the Holy Trinity, wash away sins: we beseech Thee, O Lord, that Thou mayest deign to ✠ bless, sancti ✠ fy, and con ✠ secrate these Lambs, poured forth with the sacred and everlasting water and with the balsam of holy Chrism, so that, being blessed by Thee, they may receive power against all the devil’s temptations, and all who bear them may be protected amidst adversity and prosperity, that, having received Thy consolation, they may fear no peril, and dread no shadow, and no devil’s savagery or man’s cunning may inflict harm upon them, but, strengthened in the fortitude of Thy power, they may glorify in Thy consolation, Thou Who truly art called the Paraclete, and livest and reignest in perfect Trinity: through all the ages of the ages. R. Amen.
O Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, Who truly art the innocent Lamb, the Priest and the Victim, Who art foretold by the voice of the prophets as the vine and the cornerstone, Who didst wash away the sins of the world, Who, being slaughtered, didst redeem us, O Lord God, in Thy Blood, and didst anoint with Thy Blood the posts of our breast and brow, lest the devil’s nighttime cunning, and noontime onslaught, and the people thrashing and passing over our houses, display their violence before us: Thou truly art the Lamb without blemish for our atonement, and didst vouchsafe to be perpetually immolated by Thy faithful in Thy memory, and to be eaten as the paschal Lamb under the species of bread and wine in the Sacrament unto the salvation and the remedy of our souls, that, having sojourned across the sea and the present age, we may come to the glory of the resurrection and eternity: we beseech therefore Thy mercy, and mayest Thou deign to ✠ bless, sancti ✠ fy, and con ✠ secrate these Lambs without blemish, which we have formed in Thy honour from virgin wax through the merits of the Cross, and, confected with holy water, and balsam, and the liquor of holy Chrism as a hallowing of Thy Conception, which Thou didst receive by divine power alone, without human contact and posterity, mayest Thou thusly uphold, protect, and defend those who bear these Lambs from all danger of conflagration, lightning, storm, and tempest, and guard them from all adversity through the mystery of Thy Passion, and mayest Thou thusly deign to deliver them and those labouring in childbirth from all perils, as Thou didst deliver Thy Mother from all peril, and Susanna from false accusation, and blessed Thecla Thy Virgin and Martyr from conflagrations; and just as Thou didst cause Peter, freed from fetters, to escape unscathed, mayest Thou cause us to depart unharmed from this age, that we may prevail to live with Thee without end: Who livest and reignest in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God: through all the ages of the ages. R. Amen.
These done, the Agnus Dei are placed back in their baskets, and then, on Low Saturday, after the Agnus Dei at Mass, they are given, as is more fully described in the ceremony of the mentioned day.
We are two days away from the Circumcision of the Lord, which is the octave of Christmas, and thereafter the days will start to edge closer to Epiphany, the thirteenth day of Christmas. If you missed the setting of the Noveritis we released earlier this month, then open this now. Done? Let us now listen to how the proclamation sounds in plainchant.
One of the many reasons we released this very early is our desire to provide plenty of time for priests and deacons, who still appreciate the beauty of this custom, to rehearse. This tone is not unfamiliar but, as we have said before, the sudden drops can be disorienting and disarming.
Why do we insist on hearing this announcement of feasts? After all, the world has already advanced greatly in its calendrical studies to such a point we can practically get the dates of all the major liturgical feasts in, let’s say, the year 3091 with just a series of clicks in the Internet.
The determination of the dates of feasts hinges on the date of Easter, and the Noveritis clearly admits this in its introduction. “So we also announce to you the joy of the Resurrection of the Saviour,” it declares. The Church, throughout Her life, combated many heresies, among which figured the obstinacy to fix the date of Easter.
The announcement of the date of Easter on Epiphany is a reminder of this great motherly concern that the Church lavishes upon Her children. She desires that we celebrate the feasts of the Lord on the correct days, and so she tells us, quite generously, the dates that She has correctly determined. Continuing this custom reinforces the bonds that unite Her children, the Pope to his bishops, the bishop to his priests, the priest to his parishioners. It is an affirmation of this unity that is not only universal but also hierarchical.
This reason, of course, borders on the melodramatic. Practicality demands that the faithful should simply look at their calendars and spare their priests from chanting the dates they can readily find elsewhere. This is the logic of the world, which always encourages us to choose the easiest path. If we apply this logic to our received tradition, then perhaps we should also compel the Church to abandon the cope (in Latin pluviale, literally raincoat in English) in the Liturgy because, let’s face it, does it ever rain inside a church? Or during Holy Week, when the only thing that is raining is our sweat.
If a reason as romantic as an emphasis on the hierarchical and universal unity of the Church is too gross even for a pewsitter in the vetus ordo, then perhaps a more compelling reason would be an emphasis on calendrical and liturgical integrity. It is not unknown to many Catholics that Bishops Conferences around the world have recently acquired the habit of permanently transferring feast days, resulting to a complete evaporation of the significance their chronological position. Say hello to Epiphany permanently fixed on the first Sunday of January, goodbye twelve days of Christmas and all! Let’s brush cheeks with Ascension three days after the date clearly enunciated in Holy Writ! If the translation of these solemn feasts earned our consternation, why should we visit our indignation upon the Noveritis in the vetus ordo which only faithfully preserves the correct dates? Announcing, therefore, the date of Easter and other movable feasts has a medicinal effect on this prevailing practice.
If we hear our spiritual fathers dismiss the Noveritis as something extraneous, impractical, and obsolete, let us redouble our prayers for the gift of patience.
Elsewhere, we have uploaded second part of the traditional Ordo for the Philippines for 2019. Apart from what has already been said here, we will only add that this ordo, like its 2017 and 2018 counterparts, has been enriched with particular feast proper to the Philippines, based on older ordines and referenced against published manualia. For example, one will find that on the Thursday after the feast of the Sacred Heart (4 July this year), the feast of the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus is celebrated throughout the Philippines, except in the Ecclesiastical Provinces of Manila and of San Fernando, on the strength of the indult granted in perpetuity first on 22 September 1937 and later on 18 March 1938. We hope that this would help guide our brethren in the celebration of the Mass and the Office in the vetus ordo.
Apparently, the original file for Book I of the Prophetiarium Xicatunense that we uploaded back in 2016 can no longer be downloaded. Hence, we have reuploaded the prophetiary (click the image on the left to access the file) in our Resources section. (Book II, for Pentecost, is in our Resources section, as well.) May it be useful to our mission to honour sacred music in its proper place in Catholic worship.
Closer and closer, the days edge towards Epiphany. Epiphany water is something to look forward to, but we also like to look forward to the announcement of the date of Easter and the other movable feasts in the universal calendar. So if our deacons and priests have not started rehearsing the Noveritis yet, please ask them. There are no difficult and unfamiliar portions in it, but the sudden drops can be tricky and disarming.
Elsewhere, we have uploaded the traditional Ordo for the Philippines for 2019. Apart from what has already been said here, we will only add that this ordo, like its 2017 and 2018 counterparts, has been enriched with old customs and received practices peculiar to the Philippines, abstracted from older ordines and referenced against published manualia. For example, one will find before the entry for 21 April the rubrics for the celebration of the salubong, according to the rite prescribed in the Manual de Manila. We hope that this would help guide our brethren in the celebration of the Mass and the Office in the vetus ordo.
Since we’re just a few hours from Christmas, we are now sharing two translations we made back in 2012 of perhaps the most famous Filipino Christmas carol. The text we translated into Latin and English is the original Cebuano, Kasadyà ni’ng taknaa, penned by Mariano Vestil. In 2014, Josefino Cenizal claimed to have composed the melody for this carol, but Levi Celerio himself confirms that Vicente Rubí wrote the melody. (Levi Celerio is the one who adapted the Cebuano daygon into the Tagalog Ang Paskó ay sumapit.) The two translations, set to Sor Rosalina Abejo’s arrangement, joined other Christmas carols in the 2012 Advent and Christmas hymnal we compiled.
The Latin text begins with Quam lætum hoc momentum (open the sheet music here), and the English text with How mirthful is this moment (open the sheet music here). While this carol, in both its Cebuano and Tagalog incarnations, is now sung unhampered during Masses in the usus recentior, we continue to encourage fellow choristers to sing the new translations, not even the Latin, outside the context of the Mass. There should be no problem singing these in carol services, and in reinterpretations of Christmas tableaus which traditionally are known as pastores in many places in the archipelago.
Cappella Gregoriana Sanctæ Cæciliæ olim Xicatunensis 