The trouble with Anglicanism....

While it is a very wonderful, sane, healthy way to be Christian, it has no clue whatsoever why anybody should become a Christian.  I submit that Anglicanism does not itself know what faith is actually for, or why it's a good thing for human beings to pursue it.    It does know, I hasten to add, that one of faith's important roles is to "to give praise to God."  And that's great, I do acknowledge - but perfectly doable on one's own time, no?  And does worship - i.e., the famous "liturgy" - actually do much to help people just by itself?  Perhaps, for some people it does - those with a previous faith background and some understanding of faith practices (or those with a lot of patience - and a priest who uses the Prayer Book well) - but I'm not sure this idea is working very well these days.

The trouble with Anglicanism - and particularly the American version of it - is that it has no theology of human nature, and no particular thoughts - or perhaps rather  some trivial and at the same time contradictory thoughts - about the human condition itself (AKA "the heartache and the thousand natural shocks that flesh is heir to" - plus "alienation from God").    It's the original "I'm OK, you're OK" religion - so how can it help anybody who isn't actually OK?  Answer:  it can't. 

If Anglicanism wants to discuss the human condition, it must borrow anthropological ideas from elsewhere - Catholicism has some well-developed ones, and Lutheranism has some more modern and psychologically interesting (and dramatic!) ones; the most interesting ideas, from our perspective, might be the Girardian ones - but it has totally forgotten that this is possible or desirable.   It simply doesn't speak of any of these things.

So, what you get are people who actually are OK (sounds unlikely to me), or who believe they are OK - or those who seem to be OK, or pretend to be OK.  And since everybody's OK, well:  there's nothing to see here, folks.  We have to hurry to get out there to help all the people who aren't OK - but only the actual poor and needy, please.  Let's just leave the troubled or addicted - and, for that matter, the "poor in spirit" - out of this, can we?  And remember:  it's just plain selfish to focus on your own problems!

Actually, though:  there is a tiny touch of reporting on the human condition in the 39 Articles:

IX. Of Original or Birth-Sin.
Original sin standeth not in the following of Adam, (as the Pelagians do vainly talk;) but it is the fault and corruption of the Nature of every man, that naturally is engendered of the offspring of Adam; whereby man is very far gone from original righteousness, and is of his own nature inclined to evil, so that the flesh lusteth always contrary to the Spirit; and therefore in every person born into this world, it deserveth God's wrath and damnation. And this infection of nature doth remain, yea in them that are regenerated; whereby the lust of the flesh, called in Greek, p¢vnæa sapk¢s, (which some do expound the wisdom, some sensuality, some the affection, some the desire, of the flesh), is not subject to the Law of God. And although there is no condemnation for them that believe and are baptized; yet the Apostle doth confess, that concupiscence and lust hath of itself the nature of sin.

X. Of Free-Will.
The condition of Man after the fall of Adam is such, that he cannot turn and prepare himself, by his own natural strength and good works, to faith; and calling upon God. Wherefore we have no power to do good works pleasant and acceptable to God, without the grace of God by Christ preventing us, that we may have a good will, and working with us, when we have that good will.

XI. Of the Justification of Man.
We are accounted righteous before God, only for the merit of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ by Faith, and not for our own works or deservings. Wherefore, that we are justified by Faith only, is a most wholesome Doctrine, and very full of comfort, as more largely is expressed in the Homily of Justification.

But, of course:  the 39 Articles?  What the heck are those?

And you do get a bit about the Ten Commandments in the Catechism.  But there's a bit of a problem - kind of a large gap, in fact - in the thinking, given the issues enumerated in the articles above, isn't there?    How does one, in other words, actually get from there to here?  Seems to be a mystery.

Q.    What are the Ten Commandments?
A.    The Ten Commandments are the laws give to Moses and the people of Israel.
    
Q.    What do we learn from these commandments?
A.    We learn two things: our duty to God, and our duty to our neighbors.
    
Q.    What is our duty to God?
A.    Our duty is to believe and trust in God;
     I       To love and obey God and to bring others to know him;
     II       To put nothing in the place of God;
     III       To show God respect in thought, word, and deed;
     IV       And to set aside regular times for worship, prayer, and the study of God's ways.

Q.    What is our duty to our neighbors?
A.    Our duty to our neighbors is to love them as ourselves, and to do to other people as we wish them to do to us;
     V      To love, honor, and help our parents and family; to honor those in authority, and to meet their just demands;
     VI      To show respect for the life God has given us; to work and pray for peace; to bear no malice, prejudice, or hatred in our hearts; and to be kind to all the creatures of God;
     VII      To use our bodily desires as God intended;
     VIII      To be honest and fair in our dealings; to seek justice, freedom, and the necessities of life for all people; and to use our talents and possessions as ones who must answer for them to God;
     IX      To speak the truth, and not to mislead others by our silence;
     X      To resist temptations to envy, greed, and jealousy; to rejoice in other people's gifts and graces; and to do our duty for the love of God, who has called us into fellowship with him.

We're also told that "It is required that we should examine our lives, repent of our sins, and be in love and charity with all people" before receiving Communion.   Well, that's certainly nice - but again:  how is one supposed to accomplish any of this, if we are "very far gone from original righteousness, and of our nature inclined to evil"?

If we've dropped the 39 Articles because we don't actually believe that  we are "very far gone from original righteousness, and of our nature inclined to evil" - well, what do we believe about any of this?  That we're all OK?  That people really have no deep sorrows or pains or lonelinesses or obsessions or addictions or frustrations or feelings of alienation or self- or other-destructive impulses or habits?  That we can just naturally accomplish, on our own steam, all the things listed in the Commandments section above?  And that there's nothing more to worry about, as long as we don't steal from our places of employment?

And if we can accomplish all those things on our own - then just what is it we are being "saved" from?

Inquiring minds want to know.....

Why prooftexting?

Because life is really complicated, the world is big and scary, and we no longer have any tradition of "passing down wisdom" from generation to generation, or much of any common metaphysical understanding of life.

And, in particular (and even more important):  Protestants have no Magisterium (which is a collection of "passed-down wisdom" of religious and philosophical claims about meaning and morality).

Proof-texting is the utterly predictable outcome of overthrowing the church's collection of teachings and striking out on one's own.   Everybody does it - because how else can a human being, born naked and with only a rather rudimentary system of instinct (it would appear) make sense of living, and make decisions that will affect their lives and those the people around them?   How can anybody respond to an event or situation of which they have no personal experience, except with some sort of script (AKA proof-text)?

Non-religious people seem to be taking their cues from various political platforms and points of view, which as far as I can tell seem to be taken as complete systems for understanding the world and responding to new data.  This is why people are not responding to reality, but to the script itself; they are enmeshed in "mimetic desire" (which is my own prooftext of René Girard!) and continue to respond according to their inner script, having forgotten what the actual issues are. 

Some go right to the Gospel of Ayn Rand, which comes complete with a highly dramatic metaphysical story - and an entire worldview  to go with it.

Proselytizing online atheists proof-text from RichardDawkins.net and their inner "I'm smarter and better than you" convictions.   I see the same phrases used in argument time after time:  "Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence."  "Theism requires intellectual dishonesty."  "The flying spaghetti monster.  Ha Ha."

There is also the large-scale debate over behavior, online and via social media; these debates are establishing the standards for acceptable and unacceptable behavior according to a) gut reaction (AKA instinct) and b) political and culture-war opinion (AKA "proof-texting").  The process then appeals to the herd instinct, complete with worldwide condemnation and shunning.

We have no personal philosophical systems any longer, so these may be the only real options for people to create their own systems of proper morality - "meaning" seems to be entirely absent in many cases - and then to proof-text from them.

IOW instead of using an already-worked-out philosophical or religious system, we are  now all subject to ad hoc factions and their various religious claims and texts.   Which are, mostly, in the process of being made up on the spot, according to personal taste - and the herd instinct.

Worship / Renewal

“[Worship] is not merely a commemoration of the events of the Gospel or other events in the Church’s life, in an artistic form. It is also an actualization of these facts, their renewal upon earth. The Christmas service does not merely commemorate the birth of Christ. In it Christ is truly born in a mystery, as at Easter He rises again. So with the transfiguration, the entry into Jerusalem, the ascension of Christ….The life of the Church in her liturgy, discloses to our senses the continuing mystery of the Incarnation. The Lord still lives in the Church, under that same form in which He was once manifest on earth, and which exists eternally; and it is the function of that Church to make those sacred memories living, so that we again witness and take part in them.

- From Evelyn Underhill’s 1936 book, Worship, in a quote from S. Boulgakoff.

Seen and heard today at Divine Service

There is a balm in Gilead:  a sweet spiritual at the Offertory, done up big here by Mahalia:



Here are the words, from Cyberhymnal:

Refrain

There is a balm in Gilead
To make the wounded whole;
There is a balm in Gilead
To heal the sin sick soul.

Some times I feel discouraged,
And think my work’s in vain,
But then the Holy Spirit
Revives my soul again.

Refrain

If you can’t preach like Peter,
If you can’t pray like Paul,
Just tell the love of Jesus,
And say He died for all.

Refrain

And then this beautiful hymn, Lobe den Her­ren from the 17th Century, for the final hymn in procession; all the really great hymn tunes are German, it seems.  Cyberhymnal  says:  "An­der Theil des Er­neu­er­ten Ge­sang­buch, se­cond edi­tion (Bre­men, Ger­ma­ny: 1665); har­mo­ny by Wil­liam S. Ben­nett, 1864."



This hymn has some wonderful words.  Cyberhymnal says "Words: Jo­ach­im Ne­an­der, in A und O Glaub- und Lieb­es­ü­bung (Stras­lund: 1680); trans­lat­ed from Ger­man to Eng­lish by Cath­er­ine Wink­worth, 1863."   (Nice translation job, there, Catherine.)

And there are a lot of words originally, it seems.   We only sang four verses today, I think, but here's the full deal, from Cyberhymnal:

Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of creation!
O my soul, praise Him, for He is thy health and salvation!
All ye who hear, now to His temple draw near;
Praise Him in glad adoration.

Praise to the Lord, who over all things so wondrously reigneth,
Shelters thee under His wings, yea, so gently sustaineth!
Hast thou not seen how thy desires ever have been
Granted in what He ordaineth?

Praise to the Lord, who hath fearfully, wondrously, made thee;
Health hath vouchsafed and, when heedlessly falling, hath stayed thee.
What need or grief ever hath failed of relief?
Wings of His mercy did shade thee.

Praise to the Lord, who doth prosper thy work and defend thee;
Surely His goodness and mercy here daily attend thee.
Ponder anew what the Almighty can do,
If with His love He befriend thee.

Praise to the Lord, who, when tempests their warfare are waging,
Who, when the elements madly around thee are raging,
Biddeth them cease, turneth their fury to peace,
Whirlwinds and waters assuaging.

Praise to the Lord, who, when darkness of sin is abounding,
Who, when the godless do triumph, all virtue confounding,
Sheddeth His light, chaseth the horrors of night,
Saints with His mercy surrounding.

Praise to the Lord, O let all that is in me adore Him!
All that hath life and breath, come now with praises before Him.
Let the Amen sound from His people again,
Gladly for aye we adore Him.

And then this, one of my favorite collects of the year, as the season turns:

Grant us, Lord, not to be anxious about earthly things, but to love things heavenly; and even now, while we are placed among things that are passing away, to hold fast to those that shall endure; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Hatchett says that this one is really old:

This collect reflects the tumultuous times of the barbarian invasions.  It is from the Leonine sacramentary as a collect for use on Ascension Day (no. 173).  The translation is from William Bright's Ancient Collects (page 79), and is included in the Prayer Book for the first time.  Colossians 3:2 provides the Biblical reference.

Even outside "tumultuous times of barbarian invasion," the collect induces a very powerful mix of ideas and emotions:  the bittersweet nature of the passage of time and season and earthly life; the hope for peace and the desire for the holy, in response; the powerful and permanent foundation of faith in Christ.

Unfortunately, though, at the moment the collect is very a propos in its original sense as well, on a day of violence and tumult, when many people have been killed in terror attacks - including at least 75 Anglicans while leaving their church, and many Kenyans, as they were shopping.

Requiem aeternum dona eis Domine.

"How does Jesus save? An alternative typology (against Gustaf Aulén)"

At Faith and Theology.   I've never heard of Gustaf Aulén, but apparently his "Christus Victor, first published in 1931, has influenced the way generations of students think about Christ's death."  The blogger, Ben Myers, offers, instead, "six themes in patristic literature" as alternatives. 

I like all of them!  Especially the thing in #5 that proposes that "by entering into death, [Christ] absorbs death into the divine life, thus draining away death's power; and by rising again, he transforms corruptible human nature into a glorious incorruptible nature."   That's fantastic!  And also, of course, "Christ the Healer"; that one has always been supreme, for me. 

1. Christ the Second Adam. A major theme most powerfully developed by Irenaeus in his account of recapitulation. Christ restarts the human race from the beginning and sets it on a course towards life. Christ replaces Adam as the new life-giving head of the human family. (Main scriptural source: Romans 5.)

2. Christ the Sacrifice. This is an important background theme that becomes explicit mainly in liturgical texts. Melito of Sardis' On Pascha provides the most vivid elaboration of sacrificial imagery, artfully interwoven with a plethora of other Old Testament themes and images. (Main scriptural source: the Pentateuch and the Gospel of John.)

3. Christ the Teacher. A characteristic theme of the Alexandrian tradition. Christ is the divine pedagogue who, by a slow and patient process, leads human souls up into the presence of divine wisdom. In some accounts this process extends into the afterlife. Clement of Alexandria developed this theme explicitly. The same theme supplies the basic architecture of Origen's thought. Many accounts of deification are really just elaborations of the end result of this educational process: life is a school, and deification is the graduation prize. (Main scriptural source: the four Gospels.)

4. Christ the Brother. The adoption theme is prevalent in early Christian writing. Christ becomes our brother. Through him we become members of God's family. What he is by nature, we become by grace. It is often in this context that language of deification is used: Christ is God by nature, and as his brothers and sisters we become gods by grace. Adoption language is especially pervasive in Origen. By the fourth and fifth centuries the emphasis tends to fall more on deification, but the deification theme should still be understood as a subset of either the adoption theme or the education theme (#3 above). (Main scriptural source: Romans 8.)

5. Christ the Life-giver. One finds this theme everywhere in early Christian liturgical and theological texts. It is developed with an impressive systematic rigour in the work of Athanasius. The divine Logos had to become incarnate in order to become capable of dying; by entering into death, he absorbs death into the divine life, thus draining away death's power; and by rising again, he transforms corruptible human nature into a glorious incorruptible nature. Here Christ's death and resurrection are equally emphasised as the two poles of the saving event. (Main scriptural source: 1 Corinthians 15.)

6. Christ the Healer. My impression is that this theme recurs more than any other soteriological theme in patristic writing, even though it is seldom developed in much detail. Very frequently Christ is described as a physician who cures our illness. Often he is also described as medicine. Gregory of Nazianzus speaks of the incarnation as a healing of human nature. Augustine is particularly fond of the healing theme, and it is a constant refrain in his sermons. He speaks of Adam as infecting the human race with the disease of pride, and of Christ's humility as the medicine that cures us. (Main scriptural source: the four Gospels.)

Comments: (a) Even from these summaries, one can see that these themes are normally found not as separate ideas but as closely interwoven motifs. (b) Note the pronounced tendency to speak of salvation in corporate terms. Christ achieves salvation not for individuals but for human nature, for humanity as a whole. Only in the third theme (teaching) is there a more individual emphasis, but even here patristic authors believe that the whole of humanity is enrolled in Christ's school. Saints and martyrs are in the PhD program; the wicked are in kindergarten. (c) Only in the second category (sacrifice) is there any exclusive fixation on Christ's death as a saving event. Much more characteristic of early Christian writing is a broad vision of Christ's life, death, descent into hell, and resurrection as the one great drama of salvation. Even the sacrificial imagery that dominated early Christian interpretations of the passover (e.g. Melito's On Pascha) was qualified when Origen (in his own On Pascha) argued that the passover is not a type of Christ's sacrificial death, but a type of the whole movement whereby Christ's death, descent, and resurrection leads the human race in exodus from death to life. (d) While scholars like N. T. Wright routinely criticise orthodox christology as a flattening out of the Gospel witness, with no serious attention given to Jesus' earthly ministry, one can see above that two of these major soteriological themes (#3 and #6) were primarily adapted from the Gospel accounts of Jesus' ministry. Very prominent in all four Gospels is the portrayal of Jesus as Teacher and Healer. Through a spiritual interpretation of the Gospels, these features of Jesus' life and ministry became fundamental patterns for describing Christ's saving work.

The Hymns at the Lesser Hours: Terce

The following are the hymns listed for Tierce (Terce), in  Hymn melodies for the whole year, from the Sarum service-books:

Daily throughout the year except on Whitsun Day & the three days following : 

Nunc sancte nobis Spiritus

(1) On all Double Feasts throughout the year ... ... 5

(2) On Thursday, Friday, & Saturday in Whitsun Week ... ... 8

(3) On the Vigil of Epiphany, & on all Sundays & Simple Feasts throughout the year ... ... ... ... ... 6

(4) On all Ferias throughout the year ... ... ... 7

On Whitsun Day and the three days following :

Veni, Creator Spiritus ... ... ... 8

[At Cbristmas-tide (York) : Maria ventre concipit ... ... ... 55]

Terce is the third hour of the day: 9 a.m.   Apparently hymns to the Holy Spirit figure prominently at this Office because the Spirit appeared to the Apostles at this hour on the Day of  Pentecost.  Follow along with the office here, at Breviary Offices, from Lauds to Compline Inclusive (Society of St. Margaret, Boston, 1885).    I'll link-in via iFrame at the bottom of the post too.

Here's TPL on Nunc sancte nobis Spiritus:

Attributed to St. Ambrose (340-397), this hymn is for the office of Terce (mid-morning prayer, about 9:00 AM) from the Liturgy of the Hours. It is particularly appropriate for Terce, for it was at that hour the Holy Spirit came upon the Apostles on Pentecost (Acts 2:15).  From the Liturgia Horarum;  Translation by Cardinal Newman (1801-1890).

NUNC, Sancte, nobis Spiritus,
unum Patri cum Filio,
dignare promptus ingeri
nostro refusus pectori.    

Os, lingua, mens, sensus, vigor
confessionem personent,
flammescat igne caritas,
accendat ardor proximos.    

Per te sciamus da Patrem,
noscamus atque Filium,
te utriusque Spiritum
credamus omni tempore. Amen.   


COME, Holy Ghost, who ever One
art with the Father and the Son,
it is the hour, our souls possess
with Thy full flood of holiness.

Let flesh, and heart, and lips, and mind,
sound forth our witness to mankind;
and love light up our mortal frame,
till others catch the living flame.

Grant this, O Father, ever One
with Christ, Thy sole-begotten Son,
and Holy Ghost, whom all adore,
reigning and blest forevermore.  Amen.

The melodies are these:

This is an mp3 of melody #7 from the Liber Hymnarius Wiki; this tune is used at Terce on all ferias throughout the year.  It's a plain and simple song, as you can see; often the ferial hymns for the Little Hours are just as simple as this.  Unfortunately, I haven't found sound files for either melody #5 or #6.

But Liber Hymnarius Wiki offers sound files for seven different melodies used for this hymn!   I've pasted them all in below, just for fun; you can always use the LH system instead of the Sarum melodies, until I find audio files for those.

For instance, use  the third melody below, labeled "in festis," in place of melody #5 "On the Vigil of Epiphany, & on all Sundays & Simple Feasts throughout the year."    And maybe use the fifth melody, labeled "in sollemnitatibus," in place of melody #6 "On all Double Feasts throughout the year."   Click the arrow in each case to play the mp3.  (The first melody, labeled "in feriis per annum," is #7 above.):

Nunc, Sancte, nobis, Spiritus (Ambrosius?)

Meter: 8.8.8.8

Melody: a a a a a a g g

  in feriis per annum, H.D, p. 192 
  in memoriis, H.VIII, p. 192 
  in festis, H.VIII, p. 192

Melody: d c d f e d d c :

  in dominicis per annum, H.II, p. 185

Melody: g g ab b ag abCb ag g :

 in sollemnitatibus, H.VIII, p. 186

Melody: f e d e dc de e e :

  in Adventu, H.IV, p. 7

Melody: d d d c d f e d :

  in Nativitate, H.II, p. 24

Here's one more; this is none of those tunes as far as I can tell, but it's another pretty version of the hymn:



 This is from the YouTube page, in Italian with a Google Translate rendering:

Invocando lo Spirito Santo e sapendo bene che noi non possiamo in questo momento realizzare quanto c'è da fare per la Chiesa e per il mondo: solo nella forza dello Spirito Santo possiamo trovare quanto è retto e poi attuarlo. E tutti i giorni inizieremo il nostro lavoro invocando lo Spirito Santo con la preghiera dell'Ora Terza. 

Invoking the Holy Spirit, knowing full well that we can not at this moment do what needs to be done to the Church and for the world, only in the power of the Holy Spirit we can discover what is right and then implement it. And every day we will start our work invoking the Holy Spirit through prayer of the Third Hour.

Melody #8 is used  "On Thursday, Friday, & Saturday in Whitsun Week" for Nunc sancte nobis Spiritus, above, and on the day of Pentecost and the three days following, for the well-known Veni Creator Spiritus.    That takes care of the whole week; during that week, you'll sing these two hymns to the beautiful tune in the video below.  That TPL link notes that:

One of the most widely used hymns in the Church, Veni, Creator Spiritus, is attributed to Rabanus Maurus (776-856). It is used at Vespers, Pentecost, Dedication of a Church, Confirmation, and Holy Orders and whenever the Holy Spirit is solemnly invoked. A partial indulgence is granted to the faithful who recite it. A plenary indulgence is granted if it is recited on January 1st or on the feast of Pentecost.

Here's a video of the hymn, sung by the Schola Cantorum of Amsterdam Students; the text in Latin and English is below:



Here are the words in Latin and English from the page at the above link:

VENI, Creator Spiritus, mentes tuorum visita, imple superna gratia quae tu creasti pectora.	COME, Holy Spirit, Creator blest, and in our souls take up Thy rest; come with Thy grace and heavenly aid to fill the hearts which Thou hast made.
Qui diceris Paraclitus, altissimi donum Dei, fons vivus, ignis, caritas, et spiritalis unctio.	O comforter, to Thee we cry, O heavenly gift of God Most High, O fount of life and fire of love, and sweet anointing from above.
Tu, septiformis munere, digitus paternae dexterae, Tu rite promissum Patris, sermone ditans guttura.	Thou in Thy sevenfold gifts are known; Thou, finger of God's hand we own; Thou, promise of the Father, Thou Who dost the tongue with power imbue.
Accende lumen sensibus: infunde amorem cordibus: infirma nostri corporis virtute firmans perpeti.	Kindle our sense from above, and make our hearts o'erflow with love; with patience firm and virtue high the weakness of our flesh supply.
Hostem repellas longius, pacemque dones protinus: ductore sic te praevio vitemus omne noxium.	Far from us drive the foe we dread, and grant us Thy peace instead; so shall we not, with Thee for guide, turn from the path of life aside.
Per te sciamus da Patrem, noscamus atque Filium; Teque utriusque Spiritum credamus omni tempore.	Oh, may Thy grace on us bestow the Father and the Son to know; and Thee, through endless times confessed, of both the eternal Spirit blest.
Deo Patri sit gloria, et Filio, qui a mortuis surrexit, ac Paraclito, in saeculorum saecula. Amen.	Now to the Father and the Son, Who rose from death, be glory given, with Thou, O Holy Comforter, henceforth by all in earth and heaven. Amen.

It's noted above that York used melody #55  as the tune for the hymn Maria ventre concipit at Terce only in Christmastide.

I found some words to a hymn in this book about the Christmas season by Dom Gueringer.  Maria ventre concipit is the first phrase of the third verse of this Fortunatus hymn; that is of course a very common phrase - but this does seem to be the same hymn.  And there is some Holy Ghost action in it, too.

This hymn, according to Gueringer, was set for the 6th day following the Epiphany; the Cantus links describe its use at other times, almost always at Terce.  It seems to have been used right up through and including Candelmas.  It's quite beautiful, so I thought I'd include all the words here (along with the nonmetrical translation, I assume from Gueringer) - even though I'm not sure of the hymn's format in the York use for Terce:

Agnoscat omne saeculum
Vemsse vitae praemium;
Post  hostis asperi jugum
Apparuit redemptio

Esaias quae cecinit
Complete sunt in Virgine
Annuntiavit Angelus
Sanctus replevit Spiritus.

Maria ventre concipit
Verbi fidelis semine:
Quem totus orbis non capit
Portant puellae viscera.

Radix Jesse floruit,
Et Virga fructum edidit;
Foecunda partum protulit,
Et Virgo mater permanet.

Praesepo poni pertulit
Qui lucis auctor exstitit,
am Patre coelos condidit,
Sub Matre pannos induit.

Legem dedit qui saeculo,
Cujus decem praecepta sunt,
Dignando factus est homo
Sub Legis esse vinculo.

Adam vetus quod polluit
Adam novus hoc abluit:
Tumens quod ille dejicit
Humiliimus hie erigit,

Jam nata lux est et salus,
Fugnta nox et victa mora,
Venite gentes, credite,
Deum Maria protulit. Amen.

Let all ages acknowledge  that he is come,
Who is the reward of life.
After mankind had carried the yoke of its cruel enemy
Our Redemption appeared.

What Isaias foretold,
has been fulfilled in the Virgin;
an Angel announced the mystery to her,
and the Holy Ghost filled her by his power.

Mary conceived in her womb,
for she believed in the word that was spoken to her:
the womb of a youthful maid holds Him,
whom the whole earth cannot contain.

The Root of Jesse has given its flower,
and the Branch has borne its fruit:
Mary has given birth to Jesus,
and the Mother is still the spotless Virgin.

He that created the light
suffers himself to be laid in a manger;
He that, with the Father, made the heavens,
is now wrapt by his Mother's hand in swaddling-clothes.

He that gave to the world the ten
commandments of the law, deigns,
by becoming Man, to be
Under the bond of the law.

What the old Adam defiled,
that the new Adam has purified;
and what the first cast down by his pride,
the second raised up again by his humility.

Light and salvation are now born to us,
night is driven away, and death is vanquished:
oh! come, all ye people, believe;
God is born of Mary. Amen.

Here's a peek-in to the SSM Breviary entry for Terce (again, spelled "Tierce" here):




Here's the Wikipedia entry on Terce, via the Catholic Encyclopedia (1917, it says):

Terce, or Third Hour, is a fixed time of prayer of the Divine Office of almost all the Christian liturgies. It consists mainly of psalms and is said at 9 a.m. Its name comes from Latin and refers to the third hour of the day after dawn.

Much of this article is adapted from the Catholic Encyclopedia of 1917. Note that it describes the office before the reforms of the Second Vatican Council. The psalm numbers are given first according to the Septuagint (followed by the Masoretic or "King James" numbering in parentheses).

Origin

The origin of Terce, like that of Sext and None, to which it bears a close relationship, dates back to Apostolic times.^[1] As has already been stated (see None) according to an ancient custom of the Romans and Greeks, the day and night respectively were divided into four parts of about three hours each. The second division of the day contained the hours from about the modern nine o'clock until about midday; using the Roman numbering the hour just preceding this division was called hora tertia (the third hour) from which the word terce is derived. Since the Roman day was divided into twelve hours from sunrise to sunset regardless of day length, the timing for hora tertia depended on the latitude and day of year. At Rome's latitude hora tertia was in modern terms 09:02 to 09:46 solar time at the winter solstice, but at the summer solstice it was 06:58 to 08:13.^[2]

These divisions of the day were also in vogue among the Jews at the time of Christ. In the New Testament we find mention of the sixth hour in Matthew 20:5; Matthew 27:45; Mark 15:33; John 19:14; of the ninth hour, in Matthew 27:46; Mark 15:25; the Holy Ghost descends upon the Apostles on the day of Pentecost at the third hour, Acts 2:15. Some of these texts prove that these three hours were, in preference to others, chosen for prayer by the Christians, and probably also by the Jews, from whom the Christians appear to have borrowed the custom.

Development

We find frequent mention in the Fathers of the Church and the ecclesiastical writers of the third century of Terce, Sext, and None as hours for daily prayers. For example, Tertullian, Clement of Alexandria,^[3] and the Canons of Hippolytus. Tertullian says expressly that we should always pray, and that there is no prescribed time for prayer, but adds: "As regards the time, there should be no lax observation of certain hours—I mean, of those common hours which have long marked the divisions of the day, the third, the sixth, and the ninth—and which we may observe in Scripture to be more solemn than the rest"^[4]

Clement and Tertullian in these passages refer only to private prayer at these three hours. The Canons of Hippolytus also speak of these three hours as suitable for private prayer. However, on the days called "days of station", that is to say Wednesday and Friday, which were set apart as especially consecrated to prayer, and Sunday, these hours were recited in public^[5] St. Cyprian remarked that these three hours had been observed in the Old Testament, and that Christians should also observe them^[6] In the fourth century the custom of praying at these hours became more frequent, and even obligatory, at least for monks.^[7] Our texts say nothing as to what were the elements of the prayer of Terce, Sext, or None before the fourth century. Doubtless, like all prayers at that time, they were composed of psalms, canticles, hymns, and litanies. It is from the fourth century onwards that we can gather a more precise idea as to the composition of the hour of Terce. In the fourth century, as we have said, the custom of prayer at Terce spread, and tended to become obligatory, at least for monks. There is no mention in the "Peregrinatio ad Loca Sancta" of an office of Terce on ordinary days. Some authors have misunderstood the text here, but there is no mention of a meeting at this hour, except on Sunday and during Lent. The hour of Terce is also mentioned in St. Jerome, "Ep. ad Lætam."; "Ep. ad Eustoch."; in the Life of St. Melania the Younger, "Analecta Bollandiana", VIII; in Cassian, "De institut. coenob.", etc.

At this period it is composed of the same elements as the hours of Sext and None; the distribution is the same, and it is clear that the three "Little Hours" were composed at the same time and that they have the same origin. The psalms of Terce are different from those of the other two hours. There were also certain varieties of composition. Thus, in certain countries, three psalms were assigned to Terce, six to Sext, nine to None, in virtue of the symbolism.

Symbolism

The Fathers of the Church and the liturgists of the Middle Ages considered the hour of Terce as corresponding to the hour of Christ's condemnation to death. They also often point out on this occasion the mysteries of the number three, which in ecclesiastical symbolism is a sacred number. What gives it its especial dignity, however, is its association with the descent of the Holy Ghost upon the Apostles on the day of Pentecost at this very hour ("seeing it is but the third hour of the day" (Acts 2:15). In several liturgies, and particularly in the Roman, this connection is brought to mind by one or other of the formulæ. Again, this is the reason why, from the earliest times, the hour of Terce was chosen as that of the Eucharist on feast days. Sometimes, also, this hour is called in liturgical language hora aurea or hora sacra (the "golden hour" or "holy hour")^[8]

Comparison to other Rites

The composition varies also in the various liturgies. (See Neale and Littledale, "Commentary on the Psalms", I, p. 34.) In the Benedictine Rite, Terce comprises, on week days, the Gradual Psalms, 119 (120), 120 (121), and 121 (122), with a capitulum, verse, Kyrie, Pater, and prayer.

On Sundays and Mondays the Gradual Psalms are replaced by three octonaries (i.e. three sections of eight verses each) of Psalm 118 (119). In the Mozarabic Rite, three octonaries of Ps. 118 (119) are also recited, the composition otherwise differing very little. In the main, the recitation of three psalms at Terce, as at the other two "Little Hours" of the day, is founded on a universal and very ancient tradition. Divergencies on this point are only exceptional. The practice of the Roman Liturgy, which at first sight appears to be somewhat different, may be traced to this tradition also. In this rite a part of Ps. 118 (119) is recited at Terce as well as at the other "little hours", the psalm being divided into three double octonaries. In the Psalter arrangement of 1911-12, the psalms are: on Sunday, Psalm 118 (119) (three divisions); on Monday, Psalm 26 (27) (two divisions); on Tuesday, Psalm 39 (40) (three divisions); on Wednesday, Psalm 53 (54) (two divisions); on Thursday, Psalm 72 (73) (three divisions); on Friday, Psalm 39 (40) (two divisions); on Saturday, Psalm 101 (102) (three divisions). The number three is therefore preserved in each case.

The hymn Nunc Sancte nobis Spiritus recalls the descent of the Holy Ghost upon the Apostles. The other elements are the same as for Sext and None.

Eastern Christian Office

Further information: Little Hours — Eastern Christian Practice

In the Eastern Orthodox and Greek Catholic Churches the office of the Third Hour is normally read by a single Reader and has very little variation in it. Three fixed psalms are read at the Third Hour: Psalms 16, 24, and 50 (LXX). The only variable portions for most of the year are the Troparia (either one or two) and Kontakion of the Day.

During Great Lent a number of changes in the office take place. On Monday through Friday, after the three fixed psalms, the Reader says a kathisma from the Psalter. The Troparion of the Day is replaced by special Lenten hymns that are chanted with prostrations. Then a portion of the Ladder of Divine Ascent may be read. The Kontakion of the Day is replaced by special Lenten troparia. Near the end of the Hour, the Prayer of St. Ephraim is said, with prostrations.

During Holy Week, on Great Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, the services are similar to those during Great Lent (including the reading of a kathisma), but instead of the normal Lenten hymns which replace the Kontakion, the Kontakion of the day (i.e., that day of Holy Week) is chanted. On Great Thursday and Saturday, the Little Hours are more like normal. On Great Friday, the Royal Hours are chanted.

During the Lesser Lenten seasons (Nativity Fast, Apostles' Fast and Dormition Fast) the Little Hours undergo changes similar to those during Great Lent, except the Lenten hymns are usually read instead of chanted, and there are no kathismata. In addition, on weekdays of the Lesser Fasts, an Inter-Hour (Greek: Mesorion) may be read immediately after each Hour (at least on the first day of the Fast).^[9] The Inter-Hours follow the same general outline as the Little Hours, except they are shorter.