Volume 1

A dictionary of Christian antiquities : being a continuation of the 'Dictionary of the Bible' / edited by William Smith and Samuel Cheetham ; illustrated by engravings on wood.

Date:
[between 1890 and 1899?]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A dictionary of Christian antiquities : being a continuation of the 'Dictionary of the Bible' / edited by William Smith and Samuel Cheetham ; illustrated by engravings on wood. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    1022/1096 (page 1002)
    ” Pro virginibus, viduis, orpbanis, captivis, ac poeniten- tibus, “ Pro navigantibus, iti^r agentibns, in carceribus, in viu- culis, in melallis,* *‘ in exiliis constiintis, “ Pro iis qui div^rsis intirmitatibus detinentur, quique spiritibus vexantur )m'nundi>, “ Pro iis qui in Sancta Ecclesia Tua fructus miseri- cordiae largiuntur, “ Exaudi nos Dens in omni oratione atque deprecatione nostra, “Dicamus omnes, Domive miserere. The other litany is of precisely the same nature, but worded ditierently. In the Mozarabic liturgy, missal litanies, called preces, are said on the first five Sundays in Lent, after the psallendo, which follows the prophecy, or Old Testament lection, and before the epistle. There is no essential difference of character in them from those hitherto men- tioned, though ])rayers for mercy for the par- ticular congregation occupy a larger space, and there is a much greater number and variety in them. They also have a distinctly rhythmical and stanzaic character, and an approximately accentual scansion, which a few corrections of the text, often corrupt, would probably restore throughout. Those for the first, second, and third Sundays are addressed to the Saviour; those for the fourth and fifth are put into His mouth. Their rhythmical character is clearly seen in the following opening of that for the second Sunday in Lent, which is in accentual iambic lines :* in the sacramentary printed by Thom i-s (vol. vi.), which cannot be later than the end of the 6th century. The interpolated or farced kyries, said at the mass instead of the simple kyrie on certain days, hardly come within our limits of time ; but a reference to them, in connexion with the subject before us, may be allowed. They were common in the Middle Ages, and probably were intended to assist the devotion and bring out the mystical signification of the words. A few are printed in an edition of the Roman missal of Paul III., with the heading “ Sequuntur quaedam devota verba super Kifrie Eleison, Sanctus, et Agnus Dei, ibi ob pascendam nonnullorum Sacerdotum devotiouem posita, quae licet non sint de ordi- nario Rom. Ecc., tamen in certis missis ibidem annotatis licite dicendae.”^ These interpolated kyries were called “ tropes.” The following is appointed for festivals, other than those of the highest class: Kyrie, Rex genitor ingenite, vera essentia, Ehuon. Kyrie luminis fons, rerumque conditor, Eleison. Kyrie, qui nos tuae imaginis signasti specie, Eleison. Chrisle Deus form.ie humanae purticeps, Eleison. Christe lux orieris per quem sunt omnia, Eleison. Chrisle qui perfec'a es sapientia. Eleison. Kyrie, Spiutus vivifice, vitae vis, Eleison. Kyrie, Utiiusque vapor in quo cuncta, Eleison. Kyrie expurgator scelerum et largitor gratiae, quae- sumus propter no>tras offensas noli nos relinquere, consolator dolentis animae, Eleison.' Preces. Miserere et parce clementissime Domine populo tuo : Quia peccavimus Tibi. Prostrati onuies lacrynias producinius, Pandentes Tibi occulta quae admisimus A Te Deus veniam depo'dmus. R. Quia peccavimus Tibi. “ Orationem sacerdotum ai cipe, Et quaeque postulant [? poscunt] afBuenter tribue, Ac Tuae plebi miserere Domine. Quia peccavimus Tibi. And so on for nine such stanzas. Or in that for the third Sunday: “Rogainus Te, R°x .Saeculorum, Deus Sancte, Jam miserere, peccavimus Tibi. Audi clamanti s, Pater altissime, Et quae precainur, clemens attnbue, Kxaudi nos Domine. Jam miserere, <fec. Bone Redemptor, supplices quaesumus, De toto corde fientes, requirimus Adsiste propitius. Jane miserere, &c.” And so on for seven stanzas. That for the fourth Sunday begins thus: “ Vide Domine humilitatem meam, quia erectus est Inimicus “ R. Miserere Pater juste et omnibus indulgentiam dona.” A Patre missus veni Perditos requirere, Et hosie CJiptivatos Sanguine redimere, Plebs dira abjecit me. R. Miserere. &c. ‘ Praedictus a Prophetis Natus sum ex Virgine, Assumpsi formam servi Disperses colligere, Venantes ceperunt me. R. Miserere, &c.” And so on for nine stanzas, recounting the inci- dents of the Passion. In the Roman liturgy these litanies did not establish themselves permanently. None appear » A very Irequent petition in these litanies. *■ In the office books they are printed without distinc- tion of lines. 11. In other of the daily offices of the church, litanies of the same description as those in the liturgy often occur. For instance, in the Greek church a litany, whether called “synapte” or by any other name, is said in the daily office of nocturns, and at great vespers of a vigil at the office of lighting of lamps. They also form part of many of the offices of the church contained in the euchology. In the Ambrosian office, litanies are said (among other days) after terce on Wednesdays and Fridays in Lent (“ litaniae post tertiam ”). These consist mainly of a series of penitential antiphons, divided into two parts by invocations to saints and two collects, and other forms. The Mozarabic daily offices abound in short litanies, of the same nature as tho.se in the mass. They are placed at the end of most of the offices in Lent and on days of penitence. They are in most cases evidently rhythmical, and are ad- dressed to the Saviour. The following is from terce on Tuesday in the fourth week in Lent, and is a fair specimen: Among other reasons, (1) because Filioque does not appear in the Creed; (2) because there are no masses foi Thursday in Lent, which (on the authority of Anasta- sius) Gregory II. instituted early in the 8th century; and (3) because masses for some festivals are wanting which were instituted early in the 7th century. * They were in common use in England, and are said by some to have be- n introduced by Bede, ami twenty- nine are given from the various missals. The Sarum missal directs that on all double feasts througho U the year one of the following Kyries (which are there given), with Its verses (cum suis versiculis), shall be sung at the choice, within certain limits, of the precentor. It is said they were in use in Sicily in the middle of the last cen- tury. The one given in the text is found in the Sarum and Hereford missals.