The Introit for the Solemnity of Christ the King: Dignus Est Agnus ("Worthy is the Lamb")

Sung here by the Schola of the Vienna Hofburgkapelle:




The text is taken from Revelation 5, vv 12, 1, and 6; the Psalm verse comes from Psalm (71/)72.  Here's the Latin and an English translation:

Dignus est Agnus,
qui occísus est accípere virtútem,
et divinitátem, et sapiéntiam, et fortitúdinem, et honórem. 
Ipsi glória et impérium in saécula saeculórum.   
Ps:  Déus, judícium túum Régida: et justítiam túam Fílio Régis.

The Lamb that was slain
is worthy to receive power
and divinity and wisdom and strength and honour;
to Him be glory and empire for ever and ever. 
Ps:  Give to the King, O God, Thy justice, and to the King's Son Thy judgment.

Here's the chant score:

I'm interested to know where this chant has come from, since Christ the King is a new feast day, instituted in 1925 by Pope Pius XI  in his encyclical Quas primas.   Will investigate a bit and return to post what I find.

Although Anglicans do not officially celebrate the Feast of Christ the King this Sunday (on our Calendar, it's simply "The Last Sunday After Pentecost"), many of us do observe it anyway - and the Collect for the day is a breathtakingly beautiful and Kingly one:

Almighty and everlasting God, whose will it is to restore all things in your well-beloved Son, the King of kings and Lord of lords: Mercifully grant that the peoples of the earth, divided and enslaved by sin, may be freed and brought together under his most gracious rule; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

And the readings for today, Year B in the 3-year Calendar, are absolutely wonderful - kingly, too, and spooky and apocalyptic (as befits this time of year): 

Daniel 7:9-10, 13-14

As I watched,

thrones were set in place,

and an Ancient One took his throne,

his clothing was white as snow,

and the hair of his head like pure wool;

his throne was fiery flames,

and its wheels were burning fire.

A stream of fire issued

and flowed out from his presence.

A thousand thousands served him,

and ten thousand times ten thousand stood attending him.

The court sat in judgment,

and the books were opened.

As I watched in the night visions,

I saw one like a human being

coming with the clouds of heaven.

And he came to the Ancient One

and was presented before him.

To him was given dominion

and glory and kingship,

that all peoples, nations, and languages

should serve him.

His dominion is an everlasting dominion

that shall not pass away,

and his kingship is one

that shall never be destroyed. 

Psalm 93     Page 722, BCP
Dominus regnavit

1 The LORD is King;
he has put on splendid apparel; *
the LORD has put on his apparel
and girded himself with strength.

2 He has made the whole world so sure *
that it cannot be moved;

3 Ever since the world began, your throne has been established; *
you are from everlasting. \

4 The waters have lifted up, O LORD,
the waters have lifted up their voice; *
the waters have lifted up their pounding waves.

5 Mightier than the sound of many waters,
mightier than the breakers of the sea, *
mightier is the LORD who dwells on high.

6 Your testimonies are very sure, *
and holiness adorns your house, O LORD,
for ever and for evermore.


Revelation 1:4b-8

Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.
To him who loves us and freed us from our sins by his blood, and made us to be a kingdom, priests serving his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

Look! He is coming with the clouds;

every eye will see him,

even those who pierced him;

and on his account all the tribes of the earth will wail.

So it is to be. Amen.
"I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty."


John 18:33-37

Pilate entered the headquarters again, summoned Jesus, and asked him, "Are you the King of the Jews?" Jesus answered, "Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about me?" Pilate replied, "I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests have handed you over to me. What have you done?" Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here." Pilate asked him, "So you are a king?" Jesus answered, "You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice."

(It's not really so strange, then, that this Sunday - the last before Advent - has been referred to in the Evangelical Church of Sweden as "the Sunday of Doom"!)

There is no set of historic lectionary readings for today, because this is a new feast.  However, according to this page, the historic Lutheran lectionary for today ("the last Sunday") consists of these readings, which are mostly about the Last Things as well:  Isaiah's "New Creation," Thessalonians 5 ("For you yourselves know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night."), and the Parable of the Ten Bridesmaids.   (It appears that the old Catholic and Anglican lectionaries did not provide for "the Last Sunday," but merely used the readings for the appropriate Sunday After Trinity.  I must say I like the Lutheran and current "Christ the King Sunday" arrangement better.)

Because truly, this is one of my favorite Sundays of the year.  Here's the opening hymn we had today:



That video is from an Eastertide Service in Wales; we naturally didn't have a cast of thousands or cymbals or a trumpet section this morning. But take a look at these words for an idea of how really great this hymn is:

1 Crown him with many crowns,
the Lamb upon his throne;
Hark! how the heavenly anthem drowns
all music but its own;
awake, my soul, and sing of him
who died for thee,
and hail him as thy matchless King
through all eternity.

2 Crown him the Son of God
before the worlds began,
and ye, who tread where he hath trod,
crown him the Son of man;
who every grief hath known
that wrings the human breast,
and takes and bears them for his own,
that all in him may rest.

3 Crown him the Lord of life,
who triumphed over the grave,
and rose victorious in the strife
for those he came to save;
his glories now we sing,
who died, and rose on high,
who died, eternal life to bring,
and lives that death may die.

4 Crown him of lords the Lord,
who over all doth reign,
who once on earth, the incarnate Word,
for ransomed sinners slain,
now lives in realms of light,
where saints with angels sing
their songs before him day and night,
their God, Redeemer, King.

5 Crown him the Lord of heaven,
enthroned in worlds above;
crown him the King,to whom is given,
the wondrous name of Love.
Crown him with many crowns,
as thrones before him fall,
crown him, ye kings, with many crowns,
for he is King of all.

We had two other great Kingly hymns, today, too - one I'd never heard before.  Will come back later to post on them.

Here's a list of all the chant propers for this day, from ChristusRex.org:

Sollemnitatis
Domini Nostri Iesu Christi
Universorum Regis
Introitus: Apoc. 5, 12 et 1, 6; Ps. 71 Dignus est Agnus (3m34.5s - 3355 kb) score
Graduale: Ps. 71, 8. V. 11 Dominabitur (2m33.3s - 2399 kb) score
Alleluia: Dan. 7, 14 Potestas eius (3m10.7s - 2983 kb) score
Offertorium: Ps. 2, 8 Postula a me (1m20.3s - 1259 kb) score
Communio:
                   (anno A) Mt. 25, 40.34 Amen dico vobis: quod uni (not yet available)
                    Ps. 28, 10b.11b Sedebit Dominus (43.5s - 683 kb) score

 Other Chantblog posts for this day include:

• The Introit for the Solemnity of Christ the King: Dignus Est Agnus ("Worthy is the Lamb")...
• The Gradual for the Feast of Christ the King: Dominabitur A Mari Usque Ad Mare

Here's "Worthy is the Lamb" and "Amen" - the last two movements - from Handel's Messiah:



This is the central figure from Van Eyck's Ghent Altarpiece:

The Introit for Pentecost Ember Friday: Repleatur os Meum ("Let my mouth be filled with your praise")

Here's a recording of this beautiful introit, sung by the "Choralschola of the Niederaltaicher Scholaren":



The text is taken from various verses of Psalm 71:

Repleatur os meum laude tua, Domine. Alleluia.
Ut possim cantare. Alleluia.
Gaudebunt labia mea dum cantavero tibi. Alleluia.
In te, Domine, speravi,
non confundar in aeternum:
in iustitia tua libera me (et eripe me).

Let my mouth be filled with thy praise, O Lord. Hallelujah.
That I may sing. Hallelujah.
My lips shall rejoice when I sing to you. Hallelujah.
In you, O Lord, do I take refuge;
let me never be confounded:
In your righteousness deliver me and rescue me.

And what is "Pentecost Ember Friday," you ask?  Here's an explanation from the Catholic Encyclopeida of 1913; my bolding below:

Ember days (corruption from Lat. Quatuor Tempora, four times) are the days at the beginning of the seasons ordered by the Church as days of fast and abstinence. They were definitely arranged and prescribed for the entire Church by Pope Gregory VII (1073-1085) for the Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday after 13 December (S. Lucia), after Ash Wednesday, after Whitsunday, and after 14 September (Exaltation of the Cross). The purpose of their introduction, besides the general one intended by all prayer and fasting, was to thank God for the gifts of nature, to teach men to make use of them in moderation, and to assist the needy. The immediate occasion was the practice of the heathens of Rome. The Romans were originally given to agriculture, and their native gods belonged to the same class. At the beginning of the time for seeding and harvesting religious ceremonies were performed to implore the help of their deities: in June for a bountiful harvest, in September for a rich vintage, and in December for the seeding; hence their feriae sementivae, feriae messis, and feri vindimiales. The Church, when converting heathen nations, has always tried to sanctify any practices which could be utilized for a good purpose. At first the Church in Rome had fasts in June, September, and December; the exact days were not fixed but were announced by the priests. The "Liber Pontificalis" ascribes to Pope Callistus (217-222) a law ordering the fast, but probably it is older. Leo the Great (440-461) considers it an Apostolic institution. When the fourth season was added cannot be ascertained, but Gelasius (492-496) speaks of all four. This pope also permitted the conferring of priesthood and deaconship on the Saturdays of ember week--these were formerly given only at Easter. Before Gelasius the ember days were known only in Rome, but after his time their observance spread. They were brought into England by St. Augustine; into Gaul and Germany by the Carlovingians. Spain adopted them with the Roman Liturgy in the eleventh century. They were introduced by St. Charles Borromeo into Milan. The Eastern Church does not know them. The present Roman Missal, in the formulary for the Ember days, retains in part the old practice of lessons from Scripture in addition to the ordinary two: for the Wednesdays three, for the Saturdays six, and seven for the Saturday in December. Some of these lessons contain promises of a bountiful harvest for those that serve God.

Here's some of the entry for "Ember Days" from Wikipedia; unfortunately there's no mention of the very important purpose described in bold in the entry above:

In the liturgical calendar of the Western Christian churches, Ember days are four separate sets of three days within the same week — specifically, the Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday — roughly equidistant in the circuit of the year, that were formerly set aside for fasting and prayer. These days set apart for special prayer and fasting were considered especially suitable for the ordination of clergy. The Ember Days are known in Latin as the quattuor anni tempora (the "four seasons of the year"), or formerly as the jejunia quattuor temporum ("fasts of the four seasons").

The four quarterly periods during which the ember days fall are called the embertides.

Ember Weeks

The Ember Weeks—the weeks in which the Ember Days occur—are the weeks:

• between the third and fourth Sundays of Advent (although the Common Worship lectionary of the Church of England places them in the week following the second Sunday in Advent);
• between the first and second Sundays of Lent;
• between Pentecost and Trinity Sunday; and
• the week beginning on the Sunday after Holy Cross Day (September 14), the liturgical Third Week of September.

Origins

The origins of the observance are open to considerable debate. Some hold that the concept of the observance predates the Christian era, and that since Ember days have never been observed in the Eastern Churches, any pagan origins must lie in the west.^{[citation needed]} Some point to specific Celtic origins, linked to the Celtic custom of observing various festivals at three-month intervals: Imbolc, Beltane, Lughnasadh and Samhain. In any event, the ancient Christian church often sought to co-opt pagan feasts and reorient them to different purposes, and that seems to have been applicable in this instance^{[citation needed]}.

In pagan Rome offerings were made to various gods and goddesses of agriculture in the hope that the deities would provide a bountiful harvest (the feriae messis in July), a rich vintage (the feriae vindimiales in September), or a productive seeding (the feriae sementivae in December). At first the Church in Rome had fasts in June, September, and December. The Liber Pontificalis ascribes to Pope Callixtus I (217-222) a law regulating the fast, although Leo the Great (440-461) considers it an Apostolic institution. When the fourth season was added cannot be ascertained, but Pope Gelasius I (492-496) speaks of all four.

The earliest mention of four seasonal fasts is known from the writings of Philastrius, bishop of Brescia (died ca 387) (De haeres. 119). He also connects them with the great Christian festivals.

The Christian observation of this seasonal observance of the Ember days had its origin as an ecclesiastical ordinance in Rome and spread from there to the rest of the Western Church. They were known as the jejunium vernum, aestivum, autumnale and hiemale, so that to quote Pope Leo's words (A.D. 440 - 461) the law of abstinence might apply to every season of the year. In Leo's time, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday were already days of special observance. In order to tie them to the fasts preparatory to the three great festivals of Christmas, Easter and Pentecost, a fourth needed to be added "for the sake of symmetry" as the Encyclopædia Britannica 1911 has it.

From Rome the Ember days gradually spread unevenly through the whole of Western Christendom. In Gaul they do not seem to have been generally recognized much before the 8th century.

Their observation in Britain, however, was embraced earlier than in Gaul or Spain, interestingly, and Christian sources connect the Ember Days observations with Augustine of Canterbury, AD. 597, said to be acting under the direct authority of Pope Gregory the Great. The precise dates appears to have varied considerably however, and in some cases, quite significantly, the Ember Weeks lost their connection with the Christian festivals altogether. Spain adopted them with the Roman rite in the eleventh century. Charles Borromeo introduced them into Milan in the sixteenth century.

In the Eastern Orthodox Church ember days have never been observed.^[1]

Timing

The Ordo Romanus fixed the spring fast in the first week of March (then the first month), thus loosely associated with the first Sunday in Lent; the summer fast in the second week of June, after Whitsunday; the autumnal fast in the third week of September following the Exaltation of the Cross, September 14; and the winter fast in the complete week next before Christmas Eve, following St. Lucy's Day (Dec. 13).

Other regulations prevailed in different countries, until the inconveniences arising from the want of uniformity led to the rule now observed being laid down under Pope Urban II as the law of the church, at the Council of Piacenza and the Council of Clermont, 1095.
These dates are given in the following mnemonic:

Dant Crux, Lucia, Cineres, Charismata Dia

Ut sit in angariâ quarta sequens feria

Or in an old English rhyme

"Fasting days and Emberings be

Lent, Whitsun, Holyrood, and Lucie."

Another way to remember it, in the form in which I've heard it recently:  "Lenty, Penty, Crucy, Lucy"!

More from the article:

The ember days began on the Wednesday immediately following those days.

^.....

They may appear in some calendars as "days of prayer for peace".^[4]

....

Etymology

The English name for these days, "Ember", derives from the Anglo-Saxon ymbren, a circuit or revolution (from ymb, around, and ryne, a course, running), clearly relating to the annual cycle of the year. The occurrence of the Anglo-Saxon compounds ymbren-tid ("Embertide"), ymbren-wucan ("Ember weeks"), ymbren-fisstan ("Ember fasts"), ymbren-dagas ("Ember days") makes this etymology quite certain. The word imbren even makes it into the acts of the "Council of Ænham"^[6] (1009): jejunia quatuor tempora quae imbren vocant, "the fasts of the four seasons which are called "imbren'".^[7] It corresponds also with Pope Leo the Great's definition, jejunia ecclesiastica per totius anni circulum distributa ("fasts of the church distributed through the whole circuit of the year").

However, others maintain that the term is derived from the Latin quatuor tempora, meaning "four times" (a year), while folk etymology even cites the phrase "may ye remember (the inevitability of death)" as the source. J. M. Neale's Essays of Liturgiology (1863), Chapter X, explains the etymology:

"The Latin name has remained in modern languages, though the contrary is sometimes affirmed, Quatuor Tempora, the Four Times. In French and Italian the term is the same; in Spanish and Portuguese they are simply Temporas. The German converts them into Quatember, and thence, by the easy corruption of dropping the first syllable, a corruption which also takes place in some other words, we get the English Ember. Thus, there is no occasion to seek after an etymology in embers; or with Nelson, to extravagate still further to the noun ymbren, a recurrence, as if all holy seasons did not equally recur. Ember-week in Wales is Welsh: "Wythnos y cydgorian", meaning "the Week of the Processions". In mediæval Germany they were called Weihfasten, Wiegfastan, Wiegefasten, or the like, on the general principle of their sanctity.... We meet with the term Frohnfasten, frohne being the then word for travail. Why they were named foldfasten it is less easy to say."

"Quattuor tempora" was rendered into Irish quite literally as Laethanta na gCeithre Thráth, meaning "the days of the four times", and into somewhat archaic English as "Quarter tense".

This is a beautiful setting of the Introit text composed by Jacquet de Mantua, a name new to me.



This is actually a shorter take on Psalm 70/71, including only vv. 7-8 (note that the numbering system for the verses in this Psalm varies from translation to translation):

Repleatur os meum laude, ut cantem gloriam tuam, tota die magnitudinem tuam.
Ne projicias me in tempore senectutis; cum defecerit virtus mea, ne derelinquas me.

Let my mouth be filled with your praise, and I will sing a hymn to your glory and magnificence all day long.
Do not reject me in the time of old age; do not abandon me when my strength fails.

The YouTube page lists this group of singers:

Paolo Costa y Claudio Cavina, contratenores.
Fabio Fùrnari y Giuseppe Maletto, tenores.
Marco Scavazza, barítono.
Marcello Vargetto, bajo.
Delitiae Musicae.
Marco Longhini.

And Wikipedia says this about de Mantua in its intro; there is more at the link:

Jacquet of Mantua (Jacques Colebault, dit Jachet de Mantoue) (1483 – October 2, 1559) was a French^[1] composer of the Renaissance, who spent almost his entire life in Italy. He was an influential member of the generation between Josquin and Palestrina, and represents well the transitional polyphonic style between those two composers.

The Feast of St. Michael and All Angels (September 29): Benedicite Dominum ("Bless the Lord, all ye his angels")

Benedicite Dominum is the name of both the Introit and the Gradual for this feast day.  The text for both is taken from Psalm 102:20 (103:20 in the Anglican reckoning), followed by the wonderful Verse 1 from the same Psalm:

Bless the Lord, all ye his angels: you that are mighty in strength, and execute his word, hearkening to the voice of his orders.

Bless the Lord, O my soul: and let all that is within me bless his holy name.

Here's an mp3 of the Introit from ChristusRex.org, sung by the Benedictine monks of São Paolo; below is the chant score:

Clearly, this chant is used at some other time than for St.MaAA; an "Alleluia" has been added to be sung during Eastertide ("T.P." = Tempus Paschale).  For what purpose?  I'm not clear yet, but am on the case.  I'm thinking it may be for celebrations of the dedications of churches named after St. Michael - or perhaps for Votive masses in his honor?  I will see what I can find out.

Unfortunately, I haven't found an audio or video file of the Gradual; that is really too bad, because it looks like it must be a beautiful chant!  Here's the elaborate score:

There is, though, at least one polyphonic setting of the Gradual, along with a setting of the Offertory, Stetit angelus.  The composer is the 18th-century Brazilian musician José Maurício Nunes Garcia; you can get all the words at the Vimeo page.



"Gradual e Ofertório a São Miguel Arcângelo" - Pe. José Maurício Nunes Garcia - Madrigal Contemporâneo from Lúcio Zandonadi on Vimeo.


Interestingly, the Liber Usualis 1961 (which was the book for the old, Tridentine Rite), calls this feast "Dedication of the Church of St. Michael, Archangel."    Hymn melodies for the whole year from the Sarum service books, though, calls it straightforwardly "The Feast of St. Michael and All Angels."  I'm actually not sure what's going on at this point; did the feast originate at the dedication of a particular church, then evolve during in the Middle Ages into a more general feast day?  Or was "St. Michael and All Angels" peculiar to the British Isles, while the rest of the church went on celebrating the Dedication of a particular church?   Or did all of Western Christendom celebrate the general feast - until at some point the Roman Catholic Church reverted to the earlier name and celebration?  I'm not sure, and I'm seeing conflicting information about this so far; I'll have to continue to look at this.  (There is also a "Feast of the Guardian Angels," celebrated by Catholics on October 2 - so the whole thing does seem to be quite complicated, all in all.  More to come, hopefully!)

In any case, the church referred to - and it's sometimes called a "basilica" - is appearently the Church of St. Michael on Mount Gargano; it was originally dedicated at some point prior to the year 493.    This comes from the Wikipedia entry for "The Sanctuary of Monte Sant'Angelo":

The Sanctuary of Monte Sant'Angelo sul Gargano, sometimes called simply Monte Gargano, is a Catholic sanctuary on Mount Gargano, Italy, part of the commune of Monte Sant'Angelo, in the province of Foggia, northern Apulia.

It is the oldest shrine in Western Europe dedicated to the archangel Michael and has been an important pilgrimage site since the Middle Ages. The historic site and its environs are protected by the Parco Nazionale del Gargano.

In 2011, it became a UNESCO World Heritage Site as part of a group of seven inscribed as Longobards in Italy. Places of the power (568-774 A.D.).

Here are some images from that page.  The first one's labeled "Santuario di San Michele Arcangelo a Monte Sant'Angelo":

This one of the tower was taken by user Idéfix:

 Tango7174 offers this image of a statue of St. Michael from the exterior of the church:

Bartleby.com also has some interesting stuff about the feast from "Rev. Alban Butler's The Lives of the Saints, 1866 (Volume IX: September)":

September 29

The Dedication of St. Michael’s Church

[Or, the Festival of St. Michael and All the Holy Angels.]  THIS festival has been kept with great solemnity on the 29th of September ever since the fifth age, and was certainly celebrated in Apulia in 493. The dedication of the famous church of St. Michael on Mount Gargano, in Italy, 1 gave occasion to the institution of this feast in the West, which is hence called in the Martyrologies of St. Jerom, Bede, and others, The dedication of St. Michael. The dedication of St. Michael’s church in Rome, upon Adrian’s Mole, which was performed by Pope Boniface IV. in 610, and that of several other churches in the West, in honour of this arch-angel, were performed on this same day. 2 Churches were likewise erected in the East, in honour of St. Michael and other holy angels, from the time when the Christian worship was publicly established by the conversion of Constantine, doubtless upon the model of little oratories and churches, which had been formerly raised in the intervals of the general persecutions, in which storms they were again thrown down. Sozomen informs us, that Constantine the Great built a famous church in honour of this glorious archangel, called Michaelion, and that in it the sick were often cured, and other wonders wrought through the intercession of St. Michael. This historian assures us, that he had often experienced such relief here himself; and he mentions the miraculous cures of Aquilin, an eminent lawyer, and of Probian, a celebrated physician, wrought in the same place. This church stood about four miles from Constantinople; a monastery was afterwards built contiguous to it. Four churches in honour of St. Michael stood in the city of Constantinople itself; their number was afterwards increased to fifteen, which were built by several emperors. 3

  Though only St. Michael be mentioned in the title of this festival, it appears from the prayers of the church that all the good angels are its object, together with this glorious prince and tutelar angel of the church. On it we are called upon, in a particular manner, to give thanks to God for the glory which the angels enjoy, and to rejoice in their happiness. Secondly, to thank him for his mercy to us in constituting such glorious beings to minister to our salvation, by aiding and assisting us. Thirdly, to join them in adoring and praising God with all possible ardour, desiring and praying that we may do his will on earth with the utmost fidelity, fervour, and purity of affection, as it is done by these blessed spirits in heaven; and that we may study to sanctify our souls in imitation of the spotless angels to whom we are associated. Lastly, we are invited to honour, and implore the intercession and succour of the holy angels.

There's much more at that link.  And this is "Note 2" from the same page:

This festival has been celebrated in the church with great solemnity ever since the sixth century. It was enacted in the ecclesiastical laws of King Ethelred in England, in the year 1014, “That every Christian who is of age, fast three days on bread and water, and raw herbs, before the feast of St. Michael, and let every man go to confession and to church barefoot.—Let every priest with his people go in procession three days barefoot, and let every one’s commons for three days be prepared without anything of flesh, as if they themselves were to eat it, both in meat and drink, and let all this be distributed to the poor. Let every servant be excused from labour these three days, that he may the better perform his fast, or let him work what he will for himself. These are the three days, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, next before the feast of St. Michael. If any servant break his fast, let him make satisfaction with his hide, (bodily stripes,) let the poor freeman pay thirty pence, the king’s thane a hundred and thirty shillings; and let the money be divided to the poor.” See Sir Henry Spelman’s Councils, vol. i. p. 530, and Johnson’s Collection of the Canons of the Church of England, t. 1, an. 1014. Michaelmas-day is mentioned among the great feasts in the Saxon Chronicle on the year 1011; in the Saxon Menology of the ninth century, published by Mr. Wanley (in Lingue. Aquilon. Thes. l. 2, p. 107,) and in the English Calendar published by Dr. Hicks. (in his Saxon Grammar, p. 102, &c.)

About St. Michael himself, New Advent notes that:

Regarding his rank in the celestial hierarchy opinions vary; St. Basil (Hom. de angelis) and other Greek Fathers, also Salmeron, Bellarmine, etc., place St. Michael over all the angels; they say he is called "archangel" because he is the prince of the other angels; others (cf. P. Bonaventura, op. cit.) believe that he is the prince of the seraphim, the first of the nine angelic orders. But, according to St. Thomas (Summa Ia.113.3) he is the prince of the last and lowest choir, the angels. The Roman Liturgy seems to follow the Greek Fathers; it calls him "Princeps militiae coelestis quem honorificant angelorum cives". The hymn of the Mozarabic Breviary places St. Michael even above the Twenty-four Elders. The Greek Liturgy styles him Archistrategos, "highest general" (cf. Menaea, 8 Nov. and 6 Sept.). 

NA says this about what seems to be a different St. Michael's church:

At Rome the Leonine Sacramentary (sixth century) has the "Natale Basilicae Angeli via Salaria", 30 September; of the five Masses for the feast three mention St. Michael. The Gelasian Sacramentary (seventh century) gives the feast "S. Michaelis Archangeli", and the Gregorian Sacramentary (eighth century), "Dedicatio Basilionis S. Angeli Michaelis", 29 Sept. A manuscript also here adds "via Salaria" (Ebner, "Miss. Rom. Iter Italicum", 127). This church of the Via Salaria was six miles to the north of the city; in the ninth century it was called Basilica Archangeli in Septimo (Armellini, "Chiese di Roma", p. 85). It disappeared a thousand years ago. At Rome also the part of heavenly physician was given to St. Michael. According to an (apocryphal?) legend of the tenth century he appeared over the Moles Hadriani (Castel di S. Angelo), in 950, during the procession which St. Gregory held against the pestilence, putting an end to the plague. Boniface IV (608-15) built on the Moles Hadriani in honour of him, a church, which was styled St. Michaelis inter nubes (in summitate circi). 

And the Reverend Stephen Gerth of the Church of St. Mary the Virgin in New York writes this week that:

The Feast of Saint Michael and All Angels, September 29, commonly called "Michaelmas" (MIK-uhl-mus), dates back to the dedication of a basilica near Rome on the Via Salaria in the fifth century. The basilica is gone, but the festival survived the Protestant Reformation among us Anglicans. Massy Shepherd wrote that this feast was "especially popular in medieval England" (The Oxford American Prayer Book Commentary [1950] 251).

Obviously  there is disagreement about which of these Churches of St. Michael is at the heart of the original dedication and feast.

But I will not solve this problem today - so I'll end by simply wishing you a Happy Feast of St. Michael and All Angels!



Here are sound files and/or chant scores for all the mass propers, again from ChristusRex.org:

Die 29 septembris Ss. Michaelis, Gabrielis et Raphaelis, Archangelorum

Introitus: Ps. 102, 20 Benedicite Dominum (1m13.2s - 858 kb) score
Graduale: Ps. 102, 20. V. 1 Benedicite Dominum (not available) score
Alleluia:  Sancte Michael archangele (not available) score
                    vel, ad libitum, Laudate Deum omnes angeli (1m54.7s - 1345 kb) score
Offertorium: Apoc. 8, 3.4 Stetit angelus (2m25.2s - 1703 kb) score
Communio: Dan. 3, 58 Benedicite, omnes angeli (48.1s - 565 kb) score

And these are posts on Chantblog about the propers for this day:

• The Feast of St. Michael and All Angels (September 29): Benedicite Dominum ("Bless the Lord, all ye his angels")
• An Alleluia for St. Michael and All Angels: Laudate Deum, omnes angelus
• The Office for September 29: The Feast of St. Michael and All Angels

And whatever you do, don't forget to check out Full Homely Divinity's Angel page!


Here's a wonderful icon I don't think I've posted before; it's "the 13th-century icon of St. Michael from Archangel Cathedral in Yaroslavl [Russia]."

The Introit for the Feast of the Transfiguration (August 6): Tibi dixit cor meum ("My heart declared unto you")

I've written a bit about this Introit, Tibi dixit cor meum quaesivi vultum tuum, before, but here's a full post about it.   This is one of the few instances of the duplication of an Introit; this is also the Introit for the Second Sunday in Lent.



The Lent connection isn't crazy; the Transfiguration comes chronologically just before Jesus' entry into Jerusalem, before his arrest and Crucifixion.  In any case, it seems that Matthew's gospel story of the Transfiguration is read on Lent 2 in the Catholic Church, so putting the Introit here makes complete sense.

Here's the Introit score, from JoguesChant, which gives the translation as:

My heart declared to you: "Your countenance have I sought; I shall ever seek your countenance, O Lord; do not turn your face from me."  The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?

The São Paulo Benedictines note that this text comes from Psalm 27, vv 8-9, and 1:

8 My heart says of you, "Seek his face!"
Your face, LORD, I will seek.

9 Do not hide your face from me,
do not turn your servant away in anger;
you have been my helper.
Do not reject me or forsake me,
O God my Savior.

1 The LORD is my light and my salvation—
whom shall I fear?
The LORD is the stronghold of my life—
of whom shall I be afraid?

The Introit in former times (i.e., in the Tridentine Rite) was Illuxerunt coruscationes:

Illuxerunt coruscationes tuae orbi terrae: commota est, et contremuit terra. * Quam dilecta tabernacula tua, Domine virtutum! concupiscit et deficit anima mea in atria Domini.

Your lightening illumined the world; the earth quivered and quaked.
How lovely is Your dwelling place, O Lord of Hosts! My soul yearns and pines for the courts of the Lord.

(Psalm 76:19 and 83:2-3)

Cannot find a recording of this anywhere, but here's the chant score:

The readings for today are here.  They are:

• Exodus 34:29-35
• 2 Peter 1:13-21
• Luke 9:28-36  
• Psalm 99 or 99:5-9   

The Exodus readings is the "transfiguration of Moses"":  "As he came down from the mountain with the two tablets of the covenant in his hand, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God."   

This comes from the 2 Peter reading:

For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we had been eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received honor and glory from God the Father when that voice was conveyed to him by the Majestic Glory, saying, "This is my Son, my Beloved, with whom I am well pleased." We ourselves heard this voice come from heaven, while we were with him on the holy mountain.

So we have the prophetic message more fully confirmed. You will do well to be attentive to this as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. First of all you must understand this, that no prophecy of scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation, because no prophecy ever came by human will, but men and women moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.

The Gospel, of course, is the Transfiguration story itself, from Luke.

The Collect is this beautiful one:

O God, who on the holy mount revealed to chosen witnesses your well-beloved Son, wonderfully transfigured, in raiment white and glistening: Mercifully grant that we, being delivered from the disquietude of this world, may by faith behold the King in his beauty; who with you, O Father, and you, O Holy Spirit, lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Stephen Gerth, the Rector at St. Mary the Virgin, NY, writes this week about Transfiguration, and includes a really interesting take on how it might relate to a section of Mark that comes just before the Transfiguration story - a passage that gives some people trouble:

When I was in seminary the standard thinking about the transfiguration, recounted in Mark, Matthew and Luke, was that it was a post-resurrection appearance that had come to be a part of the pre-passion narrative in the telling of the story of Jesus. It turns out that while I was learning one thing the scholarship was heading in a new direction, more faithful to the text and more convincing.

In 1981 Enrique Nardoni (1924–2002), Roman Catholic priest and biblical scholar, surveying the history of interpretation, changed the direction of the debate with an analysis of Mark (9:1-13). He was able to show that the story was very much a part of Mark’s ongoing narrative of the Good News (“A Redactional Interpretation of Mark 9:1,” Catholic Biblical Quarterly 43 [1981] 265-384).

In Mark, the story of the transfiguration follows Peter’s answer to Jesus’ question to the disciples, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter responds, “You are the Christ.” Peter doesn’t like what follows: Jesus’ prediction of his suffering, death, and resurrection. He responds by taking Jesus aside and “rebuking” him. The other disciples are close. Jesus turns so that all can hear him say, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are not on the side of God, but of men” (Mark 8:27-33).

Before the next story, the transfiguration, Mark’s narrative addresses directly the situation of Christians when he was writing. It was a time of persecution. Jesus said,

Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself or herself, take up his or her cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his or her life will lose it, but whoever loses his or her life for my sake and that of the gospel will save it.

What profit is there for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his or her life? What could one give in exchange for his or her life? Whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this faithless and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.” (Mark 8:34-38)

Then, comes the difficult verse that causes so much debate, “He also said to them, ‘Amen, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see that the kingdom of God has come in power’” (Mark 9:1). The Risen Jesus did not return to establish the complete reign of God over creation. The word we have come to use for this return is “parousia.” It’s English for the Greek word παρουσία which Paul uses for the return of Jesus at the end of time in his First Letter to the Thessalonians, the oldest New Testament writing. (It’s also used in nine other New Testament books).

By the time Mark wrote almost certainly most, if not all of the disciples who heard Jesus speak these words, had died. With the story of Jesus revealing his heavenly glory one can say Peter, James and John saw this glory. In the private, personal center of our lives, where Christ has made himself known to us, one might say that we too have seen, each of us in his or her own way, the glory of God.

The subject of just these few verses is a large one. My own study will continue. More can certainly be said—and I have other material for my sermon for the feast, Wednesday, August 6 (Sung Masses at 12:10 PM and 6:00 PM).

When Jesus and the three others came down from the mountain, their journey to glory continued, as does ours in the days God has made for us.—Stephen Gerth

Here are all the chants for the day, from ChristusRex.org:

In Transfiguratione Domini

Introitus: Ps. 26, 8.9 et 1 Tibi dixit cor meum (cum Gloria Patri) (2m59.6s - 2808 kb)
Graduale: Ps. 44, 3 et 2 Speciosus forma (4m20.2s - 4068 kb) score
Alleluia: Sap. 7, 26 Candor est lucis æternæ (2m36.223s - 1223 kb) score
Offertorium: Ps. 8, 6.7 Gloria et honore (1m22.047s - 643 kb) score
Communio: Mt. 17, 9 Visionem (2m36.4s - 2446 kb) score

And here are other posts about chant propers for this day on Chantblog:

• The Gradual for the Feast of the Transfiguration: Speciosus forma
• The Alleluia for the Feast of the Transfiguration:  Candor est lucis æternæ 
• Office hymns On the Feast of the Transfiguration (August 6)

This is a "mosaic on stucco, portable icon with the Transfiguration of Christ, Byzantine artwork," circa 1200.  It's in the Louvre - in "Moyen-Age, room 1: Charlemagne."  Photo is by Marie-Lan Nguyen.

Lætetur Cor: The Introit for the Fourth Sunday after Epiphany

Lætetur Cor ("Let their hearts rejoice") is used as the Introit for "the Fourth and Thirtieth Sunday of Ordinary Time" - which is interesting.  I'll have to look into the reasoning for this.
 

The text comes from Psalm (104/)105, verses 3-4, then verse 1.

Laetétur cor quaeréntium Dóminum: quaérite Dóminum, et confirmámini: quaérite fáciem ejus semper. Vs. Confitémini Dómino, et invocáte nomen ejus: annuntiáte inter gentes ópera ejus.

Let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice; seek the Lord and be strengthened; seek his face for evermore. Vs. Give thanks to the Lord and call upon his name; declare his deeds among the gentiles.

Here again is the "universal" theme of Epiphanytide:  the imperative to "declare his deeds among the gentiles," presumably those who "seek his face" to be strengthened "for evermore."

Interestingly, this Psalm is cited as a song of thanks in 1 Chronicles 16, immediately after David had brought the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem, "dancing and celebrating":

¹And they brought in the ark of God and set it inside the tent that David had pitched for it, and they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before God. ² And when David had finished offering the burnt offerings and the peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord ³ and distributed to all Israel, both men and women, to each a loaf of bread, a portion of meat,^[a] and a cake of raisins.
⁴ Then he appointed some of the Levites as ministers before the ark of the Lord, to invoke, to thank, and to praise the Lord, the God of Israel. ⁵ Asaph was the chief, and second to him were Zechariah, Jeiel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Mattithiah, Eliab, Benaiah, Obed-edom, and Jeiel, who were to play harps and lyres; Asaph was to sound the cymbals, ⁶ and Benaiah and Jahaziel the priests were to blow trumpets regularly before the ark of the covenant of God. ⁷ Then on that day David first appointed that thanksgiving be sung to the Lord by Asaph and his brothers.

David's Song of Thanks

⁸ Oh give thanks to the Lord; call upon his name;
    make known his deeds among the peoples!
⁹ Sing to him, sing praises to him;
    tell of all his wondrous works!
¹⁰ Glory in his holy name;
    let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice!
¹¹ Seek the Lord and his strength;
    seek his presence continually!
¹² Remember the wondrous works that he has done,
    his miracles and the judgments he uttered,
¹³ O offspring of Israel his servant,
    children of Jacob, his chosen ones!

¹⁴ He is the Lord our God;
    his judgments are in all the earth.
¹⁵ Remember his covenant forever,
    the word that he commanded, for a thousand generations,
¹⁶ the covenant that he made with Abraham,
    his sworn promise to Isaac,
¹⁷ which he confirmed to Jacob as a statute,
    to Israel as an everlasting covenant,
¹⁸ saying, “To you I will give the land of Canaan,
    as your portion for an inheritance.”

¹⁹ When you were few in number,
    of little account, and sojourners in it,
²⁰ wandering from nation to nation,
    from one kingdom to another people,
²¹ he allowed no one to oppress them;
    he rebuked kings on their account,
²² saying, “Touch not my anointed ones,
    do my prophets no harm!”

²³ Sing to the Lord, all the earth!
    Tell of his salvation from day to day.
²⁴ Declare his glory among the nations,
    his marvelous works among all the peoples!
²⁵ For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised,
    and he is to be feared above all gods.
²⁶ For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols,
    but the Lord made the heavens.
²⁷ Splendor and majesty are before him;
    strength and joy are in his place.

²⁸ Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples,
    ascribe to the Lord glory and strength!
²⁹ Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name;
    bring an offering and come before him!
Worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness;^[b]
30     tremble before him, all the earth;
    yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved.
³¹ Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice,
    and let them say among the nations, “The Lord reigns!”
³² Let the sea roar, and all that fills it;
    let the field exult, and everything in it!
³³ Then shall the trees of the forest sing for joy
    before the Lord, for he comes to judge the earth.
³⁴ Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
    for his steadfast love endures forever!

³⁵ Say also:

“Save us, O God of our salvation,
    and gather and deliver us from among the nations,
that we may give thanks to your holy name
    and glory in your praise.
³⁶ Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
    from everlasting to everlasting!”

Then all the people said, “Amen!” and praised the Lord.

Worship Before the Ark

³⁷ So David left Asaph and his brothers there before the ark of the covenant of the Lord to minister regularly before the ark as each day required, ³⁸ and also Obed-edom and his^[c] sixty-eight brothers, while Obed-edom, the son of Jeduthun, and Hosah were to be gatekeepers. ³⁹ And he left Zadok the priest and his brothers the priests before the tabernacle of the Lord in the high place that was at Gibeon ⁴⁰ to offer burnt offerings to the Lord on the altar of burnt offering regularly morning and evening, to do all that is written in the Law of the Lord that he commanded Israel. ⁴¹ With them were Heman and Jeduthun and the rest of those chosen and expressly named to give thanks to the Lord, for his steadfast love endures forever. ⁴² Heman and Jeduthun had trumpets and cymbals for the music and instruments for sacred song. The sons of Jeduthun were appointed to the gate.

Here's a PDF, via CCWatershed, of the Simple English propers for today - and here's a video of the Introit:




The Gospel for today picks up where last week's ended, at Luke 4:21-30:

In the synagogue at Nazareth, Jesus read from the book of the prophet Isaiah, and began to say, "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing." All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. They said, "Is not this Joseph's son?" He said to them, "Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, 'Doctor, cure yourself!' And you will say, 'Do here also in your hometown the things that we have heard you did at Capernaum.'" And he said, "Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in the prophet's hometown. But the truth is, there were many widows in Israel in the time of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, and there was a severe famine over all the land; yet Elijah was sent to none of them except to a widow at Zarephath in Sidon. There were also many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian." When they heard this, all in the synagogue were filled with rage. They got up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they might hurl him off the cliff. But he passed through the midst of them and went on his way.

I never noticed that last part until recently!  Not sure exactly what's happening there;  impressive Jesus, or invisible Jesus?

The Collect for today is this one:

Almighty and everlasting God, you govern all things both in heaven and on earth: Mercifully hear the supplications of your people, and in our time grant us your peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Hatchett's Commentary says, about this Collect:

This collect is found in the Gregorian sacramentary among the daily prayers (no. 922), and in the supplement (no. 1099), as well as in previous editions of the Prayer Book, as the collect for the second Sunday after the Epiphany. The Sarum missal appoints it for the second Sunday after the octave of the Epiphany. Cranmer translated the petition "grant us thy peace all the days of our life," but this revision restores the original wording.

Remembering Hatchett's note on the collect two weeks back, that "many of the post-Epiphany collects ... [relate] to the Gospel of the day," it's interesting to note that this one doesn't appear to.  (I'm actually not sure if Hatchett was referring in that comment to all versions of the Prayer Book, or to the 1979 US Book in particular. That would be an interesting thing to look at, in fact.)

But this collect is where Neville Chamberlain picked up on "peace in our time," I'm fairly sure.

Remembering, too, the old numbering system for this season, here are some great notes about what's happening right now in the Great Church Year, from the website of St. Thomas Church Fifth Avenue:

The Gesima Sundays

The purpose of the three Gesima Sundays is to provide a transition from Christmastide to Lent.

On February 2, we celebrate Candlemas, the 40^th and final day of Christmas, a season of the year which overlaps with Epiphanytide (still on-going through February 12, Shrove Tuesday). Over the course of the 40 days of Christmastide, we have the naming of Christ at his circumcision (The Feast of the Holy Name, always January 1), the visit of the Magi on the Feast of the Epiphany (always January 6) after the twelve days of Christmas, and then finally the presentation of Christ in the Temple (Candlemas, always February 2). Therefore, these forty days celebrate the early life of Jesus.

But there is another forty day period to come, called Lent. Beginning with Ash Wednesday, the church calendar switches over to its paschal cycle, which is determined not by fixed calendar dates (such as December 25, January 6 and February 2), but rather by the movable date of Easter, which the First Council of Nicaea in AD 325 established as the first Sunday after the full moon (the Paschal Full Moon) following the northern hemisphere's vernal equinox. The date of Easter can fall as early as March 22 or as late as April 25. That's quite a wide range.

So, there is a period of three Sundays in late Epiphanytide which transition us from Christmas to Lent in two ways:

1. The three Gesima Sundays transition us from one calendar to the next. Quiquagesima Sunday is always the Sunday before Ash Wednesday and is always 50 days before Easter. (Quinquagesima means “fifty days”). Working backwards, Sexagesima is two Sundays before Ash Wednesday and Septuagesima is three Sundays before Ash Wednesday. It’s true that Sexagesima and Septuagesima are not exactly 60 and 70 days before Easter, but the Church nevertheless uses these terms to warn the faithful that Lent is coming soon. Since this year Easter falls on March 31, Ash Wednesday falls 40 days before (excluding Sundays, which don’t count) which is February 13. So that means Quinquagesima is Febraury 10, Sexagesima is February 3, and Septuagesima is January 27.
2. The three Gesima Sundays also transition our attention away from Christ’s childhood (Christmas, Epiphany, etc) and towards an understanding of the fulfillment of his mission. Candelmas (February 2) occurred forty days after his birth and, as stated earlier, ends the Christmastide season. So, look at the assigned lessons for the morning services on Sunday, February 3, which is the day after Candlemas and the second of the three Gesima Sundays, and you’ll perceive the transition happening. The lessons are Jeremiah 1:4-10, 1 Corinthians 13:1-13, and Luke 4:21-30. In Jeremiah, the prophet, though just a child, is given his mission as a man. In Corinthians, we are exorted to put away our childish ways and to love one another as adults. In Luke, we hear of Jesus in his childhood hometown of Nazareth, speaking the truth and yet being rejected. His own townsfolk wanted to hold on to their understanding of him as a child. But he did not come into this world for that purpose.