St Donatus of Arezzo

When St Cajetan, the founder of the Theatine Order, and one of the great inspirations of the Counter-Reformation, was canonized in 1671, his feast was assigned to the date on which he died in 1547, August 7th. Until then, that day had been kept principally as the feast of a Saint called Donatus, a 4th century bishop of the Tuscan city of Arezzo; he had been added to the calendar at Rome about 500 years earlier, and was celebrated in dozens of other medieval Uses all over Western Europe.

The Tarlati Polyptych, 1320, by the Sienese painter Pietro Lorenzetti (1280 ca. - 1348), commissioned by Guido Tarlati, bishop of Arezzo, for the parish church of St Mary, which still houses it to this day. St Donatus is the bishop at the lower left, followed by Ss John the Evangelist, John the Baptist and Matthew; in the second register, the martyrs John and Paul (also killed by Julian the Apostate), Vincent, Luke, the two Jameses, Marcellinus and Augustine; in the cuspids, a virgin martyr named Reparata, (the titular Saint of the old cathedral of Florence), Catherine, Ursula and Agatha. In the central section, the Virgin and Child, the Annunciation, and the Coronation of the Virgin.

In the last pre-Tridentine editions of the Roman breviary, (the breviary which St Cajetan would have used), his office has six hagiographical lessons, mostly taken from Bl. Jacopo da Voragine’s Golden Legend. The entry in the latter is based on a Passion attributed to Donatus’ successor as bishop, Severinus, which is indeed old enough that St Gregory the Great cites an episode from it in passing in the Dialogues. In the breviary of St Pius V, however, he is reduced to a single lesson of just over 70 words, which removes the many obviously dubious historical details; he also retains the title of a martyr, even though the oldest record of him in a martyrology calls him a confessor.

The legend tells that he was educated in Rome by a priest called Pigmenius, alongside Julian, the nephew of the emperor Constantine, who is known to history with the epithet “the Apostate.” (In reality, Julian was raised in Asia Minor, and spent almost none of his life in Italy.) When the latter became emperor, he killed Donatus’ parents and Pigmenius, at which Donatus himself fled to Arezzo, where he lived with a holy monk named Hilarinus. He performed several miracles, and was eventually chosen as bishop. As he was celebrating Mass one day, the church was invaded by pagans, who broke the glass chalice as the deacon proffered it to the people. Donatus gathered up the fragments and restored the chalice by his prayers, but the devil managed to hide one of the pieces of the cup. Nevertheless, the Saint poured wine into it, which did not run out of the hole, a miracle which converted many of the pagans.

The Miracle of St Donatus, 1652, by the Spanish artist Jusepe de Ribera.

The Golden Legend continues with various other miracles, most notably the healing of the waters of a poisonous fountain, from which a dragon emerged at Donatus’ prayer, which he then killed. It also puts his martyrdom in roughly the year 380, “when the Goths were laying waste to Italy”, an event which did not actually happen until over 20 years later. But the pre-Tridentine Roman breviary says nothing about the dragon or any of the other, later miracles, stating simply that after “God glorified his Saint with many signs”, Donatus was martyred along with Hilarinus by Julian. (The later died in 363.)

The cathedral of Arezzo was originally built on a hill outside the city, over the site of Donatus’ burial, but in the later 13th century, replaced by a new structure within the city walls. In the mid-14th century, a large tomb for the Saint was built directly behind the main altar; much like that of St Peter Martyr and some others, it was designed so that pilgrims could walk through the structure and venerate the tomb above their heads. (People were of course rather shorter in the Middle Ages than they generally are now.) The front of the tomb is decorated with images of the life of Christ and the Virgin, and various Saints, including Donatus and Bl. Pope Gregory X, who died in Arezzo in 1276, and is buried in the cathedral. (The construction of the new church was financed in part by a large donation which he left for that purpose in his will.) The other side is decorated with scenes from the life of Donatus. (Both images from Wikimedia Commons by Sailko, CC BY 3.0.)

St Donatus’ skull is kept in this 14th century reliquary, in the church of St Mary which also houses the polyptych shown above. (Image from Wikimedia Commons by Sailko, CC BY 3.0)

Bishop Peter Elliott, RIP

Yesterday, Bishop Peter Elliott, Auxiliary Emeritus of Melbourne, Australia, passed away at the age of 81. His Excellency was a strong supporter of the traditional liturgy, and wrote a well-regarded manual for the new rite, Ceremonies of the Modern Roman Rite; his scholarly work covered a great many other topics as well, on Church history, marriage and family, and religious education. He was also very much involved with the establishment of the Anglican Ordinariate in Australia.

Bishop Elliott was born in 1943, the oldest son of an Anglican priest, and converted to Catholicism while studying at Oxford University in the 1960s. He was ordained to the priesthood for the archdiocese of Melbourne in 1973, and after serving there for several years, did a doctorate at the Lateran University in Rome, specializing in the theology of marriage. He then served as a representative of the Holy See at various international conferences, including the United Nations population conferences in Cairo and Beijing; he was also a consultor to the Congregation for Divine Worship. In 2007, he was made an auxiliary bishop of his native diocese by Pope Benedict XVI, and retiring from that position in 2018.

I had the pleasure of meeting Bishop Elliott in 2016, when I was invited to speak for the first time at the Fota Liturgical Conference in Cork, Ireland, an event which His Excellency attended several times. When I asked a question after his talk, the first of the day, he was so kind as to say, “Congratulations to NLM - whenever we’re feeling a bit down, we know we can always take a look at NLM and find something to feel good about.”

Deus, qui inter Apostolicos sacerdotes famulum tuum Petrum pontificali fecisti dignitate vigere: praesta quaesumus; ut eorum quoque perpetuo aggregetur consortio. Per Christum, Dominum nostrum. Amen.

God, who didst raise Thy servant Peter to the dignity of bishop in the apostolic priesthood, grant, we beseech Thee, that he may be joined to the everlasting fellowship of the Apostles. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Feast of the Transfiguration 2025

Truly it is worthy and just, right and profitable to salvation that we should give Thee thanks always, here and everywhere, o Lord, holy Father, almighty and eternal God, through Christ, our Lord. Who on this day of great solemnity was transfigured upon the high mountain, appearing to the disciples whom He had taken up (with Him), shining with the bright splendor of the sun, that He might draw our weak human minds, caught up in slumber, to contemplate, desire and obtain with all their efforts that true enjoyment of the everlasting light. For indeed the disciples, even though they were bound in the human body, beheld such great splendor and light that Peter already desired to be there, and build three tabernacles in that place; and from such wonderful brightness, they were drawn with intense desires to long all the more for the glory on high, which eye hath not seen, nor hath entered into the heart of man. Therefore with worthy praises let us celebrate, devoutly contemplating our Redeemer on high, as He shone forth with such great splendor of light upon the top of the mountain, that we may be delivered from the prison of the present life, and be transferred forever to Thee, the true light and unfailing brightness, and lifting up our eyes, see none other but Jesus the only Redeemer. Whom together with Thee, almighty Father, and the Holy Spirit, the Angels praise, the Archangels venerate, the Thrones, Dominations, Virtues, Principalities and Powers adore; whom the Cherubim and Seraphim with shared rejoicing praise. And we pray that Thou may command our voices to be brought in among them, saying with humble confession: Holy, Holy, Holy… (The extremely long and rhetorically effusive Ambrosian preface for the feast of the Transfiguration.)

The Transfiguration, by Perugino, in the Collegio del Cambio in Perugia, 1497-1500

Vere quia dignum et justum est, aequum et salutare, nos tibi semper hic et ubique gratias agere, Domine, sancte Pater, omnipotens aeterne Deus, per Christum Dominum nostrum. Qui hac magnae solemnitatis die in monte transfiguratus est excelso, apparens discipulis quos assumpserat, lucido solis splendore coruscans: ut infirmitatis humanae mentes, torpore involutas, ad veram illam lucis perpetuae amoenitatem alliceret contemplandam, desiderandam, et totis nixibus consequendam. Discipuli namque in humanitatis corpore obvoluti, tantum splendorem tantamque lucem conspexerunt, ut Petrus ibi jam et desideraret esse, triaque tabernacula facere. Allecti enim fuerant discipuli ex tam mirabili claritate amplius supernam gloriam intensis desideriis peroptare, quam nec oculus vidit, nec in cor hominis ascendit. Celebremus igitur dignis laudibus, piis obtutibus speculantes supernum Redemptorem nostrum in montis cacumine tantae lucis splendore rutilasse: ut praesentis vitae ergastulo liberati, ad te verum lumen, et indeficientem claritatem in perpetuum transferamur: levantesque oculos nostros neminem videamus, nisi solum Jesum Redemptorem. Quem una tecum, omnipotens Pater, et cum Spiritu Sancto laudant Angeli, venerantur Archangeli; Throni, Dominationes, Virtutes, Principatus et Potestates adorant. Quem Cherubim et Seraphim socia exsultatione concelebrant. Cum quibus et nostras voces, ut admitti jubeas, deprecamur, supplici confessione dicentes: Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus…

150th Anniversary of the Martyrdom of Gabriel García Moreno, President of Ecuador, Daily Massgoer

Exactly 150 years ago, on August 6, 1875, the great Ecuadorean president Gabriel García Moreno, quite possibly the greatest modern Catholic politician and the one who bore the most perfect witness to the social kingship of Jesus Christ, was assassinated on the steps of the cathedral of Quito, the capital city of Ecuador. In spite of many “liberalizing” reforms for his country, his counterrevolutionary conservatism was a constant irritant to the anticlerical and freemasonic elements that plotted his death.

The best account of García Moreno’s life online is that written by Gary Potter, which can be found in a number of places, such as FishEaters. Here is Potter’s account, drawing on the classic biography by Fr. Berthe. That the president was a saintly Catholic is difficult to dispute. In particular, one should note the centrality of the Holy Mass to his life.

According to Fr. Berthe: “Not only did he not fear death, but like the martyrs he desired it for the love of God. How often did he write and utter these words: ‘What a happiness and glory for me if I should be called upon to shed my blood for Jesus Christ and His Church.’”

Did he mean that? Had he been truly transformed, truly converted, when he abandoned the ways of his young manhood and returned to religion? We have heard here about some of the laws he saw enacted in favor of the Church, in favor of the Faith. Let us add to the picture that he attended Mass every day, that he recited the Rosary every day, that he spent a half-hour every day in meditation. Was he sincere in all this, or was all of it a pose, a kind of public-relations campaign in days before PR existed? If he was seen at Mass every morning, was that simply an 1870’s version of the photo-op? […]

Fr. Berthe does quote him talking about hypocrisy as such. This was when he was accused of it on account of letting himself be seen practicing the Faith publicly. “Hypocrisy,” he said, “consists in acting differently from what one believes. Real hypocrites, therefore, are men who have the Faith, but who, from respect, do not dare to show it in their practice.”

If that were not all the answer needed as to whether García Moreno was a hypocrite, it can be demonstrated in various ways that the private man and public one corresponded perfectly. No demonstration could be clearer, however, than citing the rule for himself that he wrote down in his copy of the Imitation of Christ. It was mentioned earlier. Bearing in mind that he did not know death awaited him outside the cathedral on August 6, 1875, that he did not know the Imitation would be found in his pocket that day, and that therefore the rule would ever be read by anyone else, here it is in its entirety:

“Every morning when saying my prayers I will ask specially for the virtue of humility.

“Every day I will hear Mass, say the Rosary, and read, besides a chapter of the Imitation, this rule and the annexed instructions.

“I will take care to keep myself as much as possible in the presence of God, especially in conversation, so as not to speak useless words. I will constantly offer my heart to God, and principally before beginning any action.

“I will say to myself continually: I am worse than a demon and deserve that Hell should be my dwelling-place. When I am tempted, I will add: What shall I think of this in the hour of my last agony?

“In my room, never to pray sitting when I can do so on my knees or standing. Practice daily little acts of humility, like kissing the ground, for example. Desire all kinds of humiliations, while taking care at the same time not to deserve them. To rejoice when my actions or my person are abused and censured.

“Never to speak of myself, unless it be to own my defects or faults.

“To make every effort, by the thought of Jesus and Mary, to restrain my impatience and contradict my natural inclinations. To be patient and amiable even with people who bore me; never to speak evil of my enemies.

“Every morning, before beginning my work, I will write down what I have to do, being very careful to distribute my time well, to give myself only to useful and necessary business and to continue it with zeal and perseverance. I will scrupulously observe the laws of justice and truth, and have no intention in all my actions save the greater glory of God.

“I will make a particular examination twice a day on my exercise of different virtues, and a general examination every evening. I will go to confession every week.

“I will avoid all familiarities, even the most innocent, as prudence requires. I will never pass more than an hour in any amusement, and in general, never before eight o’clock in the evening.”

A statue in honor of Garcia Moreno at the Basílica del Voto Nacional del Ecuador

Another writer, Joseph Sladky, offers more details about his daily horarium, which would put to shame some modern active and contemplative religious orders:

His Rule of Life [as president] also demonstrates the discipline of his daily life. His day was ordered and regular. He arose at 5:00 A.M., proceeded to church at 6:00 A.M., hearing Mass and making his meditation. At 7:00 A.M. he visited the sick in the hospital, after which he worked in his room until 10:00 A.M. After a frugal breakfast, he worked with his ministers until 3:00 P.M. After dinner at 4:00 P.M., he made necessary visits and settled disputes.  At 6:00 P.M. he returned home to spend time with his family until 9:00 P.M.  When others took rest or went to their amusements, he returned to his office, working until 11:00 P.M. or midnight.

Potter resumes with details about the president’s death:

The medical examination of García Moreno after he was killed showed he was shot six times and struck by a machete fourteen. One of the machete blows sliced into his brain.

Incredibly, he did not die immediately. When cathedral priests reached him, he was still breathing. He was carried back inside and laid at the foot of a statue of Our Lady of Seven Sorrows. A doctor was called, but could do nothing. One of the priests urged him to forgive his killers. He could not speak, but his eyes answered that he had already done so. Extreme Unction was administered. Fifteen minutes later he was dead, there in the cathedral.

The exact place where Garcia Moreno gave up his spirit to God, marked in the cathedral of Quito

Sladky notes that the uprising expected by the anarchists never materialized; the president was too beloved.

After the assassination of García Moreno, the whole town of Quito went into mourning, with the bells tolling continuously. The conspirators thought that the assassination would break into a revolution. They were to be disappointed. For three days, while his body lay in State in the cathedral, thousands of sobbing people came to pay their respects to the man who had done so much for their country. In the session of 16 September 1875 the Ecuadorian Congress issued a decree in which they paid homage to García Moreno as “The Regenerator of his country, and the Martyr of Catholic Civilization.”

The president’s tomb in the cathedral

In 1921, the centennial of García Moreno’s birth, a poet penned these accurate words:

The eternal passage of time
Has not dimmed the greatness that is thine,
And never will, in all surety,
Leave in darkened obscurity
The brilliant glory of your life sublime!

Sadly, I think it is fair to say even if García Moreno is fully suitable for beatification (as I believe he is, on the basis of an objective evaluation of his life), he would currently be seen as too “off-message” from Vatican II’s Dignitatis Humane, Gaudium et Spes, and so forth. He is a president of Immortale Dei and Quas Primas, documents out of fashion. But perhaps this too will change someday.

After all, García Moreno’s last words were, “God does not die.” And neither does the truth about the primacy of the spiritual and the supernatural over the temporal and the natural, without which the latter withers and dies.

The dead Garcia Moreno

Music by Palestrina in Honor of the Virgin Mary

As we have already mentioned a number of times, this year the Church is celebrating the fifth centenary of the birth of Giovanni Pierluigi di Palestrina (1525-94), one of the greatest composers of sacred music for the Roman liturgy. Palestrina is actually the name of the town where he was born, about 24 miles to the east of Rome, but he spent the greater part of his life in the Eternal City, working at various ecclesiastical institutions, including the basilica of Mary Major, whose dedication is celebrated today. There is a document which seems to indicate that he was chorister there already in 1537, at the age of twelve, and from 1561-66 he was master of the chapel there. To mark the day, here are his setting of the four great antiphons of the Virgin, and of the Sub tuum praesidium, which in the Roman Rite is sung as the antiphon of the Nunc dimittis at Compline of the Little Office of the Virgin.

Alma Redemptoris Mater

Ave Regina Caelorum

Regina Caeli

Salve Regina

Sub tuum praesidium

The basilica of St Mary Major in a painting of the mid-18th century. 

Palestrina presents his first book of Masses to Pope Julius III; part of the frontispiece of the book itself, which was published in 1554. Julius (whose scandal-ridden papacy was a profound embarrassment to the rising reform movement within the Church – his papal name has never been used again), had been bishop of the very ancient suburbicarian see of Palestrina. It was he who called the great musician from his position as organist in the cathedral of his native town to work in the choir of St Peter’s basilica. (Public domain image from Wikimedia Commons).

A New Latin Hymn for the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe

In July of 2023, we shared a new hymn composed by a very talented young Latinist, Mr Sean Pilcher, commissioned by the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in LaCrosse, Wisconsin, in honor of its patron Saint. The first letters of the five stanzas spell out the last name of Cardinal Burke, who founded the shrine when he was bishop of LaCrosse (1995-2004). Earlier this year, Mr Pilcher wrote a second hymn, which by the same device spells out His Eminence’s middle name, Leo, while the first letters of the lines of the last stanza spell AMEN.

The series has now been completed with a third piece, to mark the fiftieth anniversary of Cardinal Burke’s priestly ordination, and thirtieth of episcopal consecration. This hymn spells out his first name in Latin, Raymundus; it will debut today at a solemn celebration at the Shrine in LaCrosse for the feast of the dedication of St Mary Major in Rome, also known as Our Lady of the Snows. The hymn recounts the origins of that basilica, and how its builder, Pope Liberius, was directed by the Virgin Herself to fulfill Her wishes, and those of a pious couple named John and Maria, who wanted to donate their patrimony to Her, by a miraculous snowfall on the Esquiline hill, which took place on August 5, 362. The parallel is drawn throughout between Pope Liberius’ foundation of Mary Major in Rome, and Cardinal Burke’s foundation of ‘this sanctuary,’ the Guadalupe Shrine in La Crosse. Mr Pilcher has been kind enough to share this third piece with NLM; notes are provided below to explain some of the allusions and provide historical information.

Romae gaudet Ecclesia hoc et in sanctuario, in festo tantae gloriae, In templo voces resonent.	The Church at Rome rejoices, And she also rejoices in this sanctuary, On this feast of such great glory, Let voices ring out in the temple.
Altari ordinatus vir, Virginis in servitio, Ut Vrbe ius protegeret, hic Christi oves pasceret.	The man was ordained for the altar, In Rome, in the service of the Virgin, In order that he might keep the law safe, Here that he might feed Christ’s sheep.
Ymnum canamus actuum, imaginis mirificae, domique Dei Altissimi, in summa collis culmine.	Let us sing a hymn of his deeds, Of the wondrous image, Of the house of God Most High, On the high-point of the hill.
Munus tributum a Petro, in populi regimine, eiusdem Pauli ordinis, triplo sacratus chrismate.	His charge was given before Peter, To rule over the people, He now held the same order as Paul, Thrice hallowed with chrism.
Virgo Maria Domina Pontifici hoc pignore Et Ioannis et coniugis Donum orationibus:	The Lady Virgin Mary, Gave a gift to the pontiff, With this bright white pledge, By the prayers of John and his wife.
Nives iecit mirifice Et fundamenta ecclesiae, Sacris cunis e Bethlehem, Et laudibus Deiparae.	God spread snow in a wondrous fashion, And laid the foundations of a church, For the sacred crib from Bethlehem, And praises for the God-bearer.
Dedicamus solemniter Signum ostendens omnibus, Voluntatem Dei Patris et Virginis imperium.	Let us solemnly dedicate, As a sign showing all men, Of God the Father’s will And the Virgin’s rule.
Vocibus exultantibus ut Liberi te oramus: Absconde nos semper tutos Caeruleo velamine.	With exultant voices, As children we pray you: Hide us always safe, Under your blue mantle.
Summo sit laus Deo Patri Honorque, virtus Filio, Paraclito qui inspirat, et sempiterna gloria. Amen.	Praise be to God the Highest Father, And honour, power to the Son, And to the Paraclete who inspires, Glory for ever and ever. Amen.

In the third stanza, the omission of an initial H, which was hardly pronounced by the Romans, in the word “hymnus”, and starting with Y to fit the acrostic, is attested in various early Christian poets. Mary Major holds the miraculous icon known as the Salus Populi Romani, and the shrine in LaCrosse has a mosaic copy of the Tilma from Guadalupe. Both churches are built on hills. The second stanza refers to the Cardinal’s study of canon law in Rome. Liberius held Peter’s office; Cardinal Burke was called to the episcopacy by Peter’s successor. The feast of Ss Peter & Paul, both named in this verse, is the Cardinal’s anniversary of priestly ordination. Mary Major was founded, according to the traditional story, with a large donation made by a man named John (Ioannes) and his wife Maria; this is also an oblique reference to the hymn’s author, of the same name in its Irish form, Sean. As referred to in the sixth stanza, the relic of the crib of Our Lord is also kept at Mary Major.

A statue of St Juan Diego holding the tilma. 

The famous icon of the Virgin Mary titled “Salus Populi Romani,” painted in the 6th or 7th century, and now housed in the Borghese Chapel at Saint Mary Major. The jewels and crowns seen here have been removed in subsequent restorations.

Liturgical Notes on the Feast of St Dominic

Saint Dominic died on the evening of August 6, 1221, and was canonized in 1234 by Pope Gregory IX (1227-41) who had known him personally and declared that he no more doubted his sanctity than he did that of Saints Peter and Paul. At the time of his canonization, the feast of the Transfiguration had not yet been adopted in the West. August 6th, however, had long been kept as the feast of Pope St Sixtus II, who was martyred in 258 after a reign of less than a year. He is named in the Canon of the Mass, and was the Pope under whom St Lawrence served as deacon; his feast is part of a two-week long series of feasts associated with the great Roman martyr. One of the very first churches given to the Order (still the home of Dominican nuns to this day), was the ancient church of St Sixtus in Rome; for these reasons, the feast of St Dominic was assigned by Pope Gregory to August 5th, and kept on that day for over three centuries by the Dominicans and others.

In 1558, however, Pope Paul IV ordered the general observance on August 5th of the titular feast of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome, the feast of Our Lady of the Snows, and the transfer of St Dominic’s feast back one day to August 4th. This change was at first rejected by a general chapter of the Order held at Avignon in 1561, but was slowly accepted and eventually adopted formally in a revision of their liturgical books promulgated in 1603. St Jean-Marie Vianney, who is still often referred to simply as “the Curé d’Ars”, died on the feast of St Dominic in the year 1859, and was canonized by Pius XI in 1925. His feast was added to the General Calendar three years later, originally on August 9th, but later moved back to August 8th.

The Madonna and Child with St Catherine, and St Dominic Presenting the Donor, by Titian, 1512-16.

In the Calendar of the Novus Ordo, St Dominic and the Curé d’Ars were made to switch places; the idea being, apparently, that since Dominic’s feast could hardly be kept on the actual day of his death, which would involved bumping the Transfiguration out of the way, at least St Jean-Marie could. This seems a case where a basically good principle was applied with more zeal than wisdom, since no account was taken of the fact that the Curé d’Ars himself had celebrated that day as the feast of St Dominic, like centuries of priests before him.

As is also the case with the feast of St Thomas Aquinas, many Dominican houses keep the feast of St Dominic on the more traditional feast day, including the basilica in Bologna where he is buried, and which is now named for him. It was originally known as San Niccolò nelle Vigne, (St Nicholas in the Vineyards), and at the time it was given to the still very new Order of Friars Preachers in 1219, was on the outskirts of the city. The friars were able to expand it rapidly into a large complex to serve one of their most important communities, near one of the oldest and most important centers of learning in Europe. It was here that St Dominic died and was buried, originally laid in the floor of the church’s choir.

Upon his canonization in 1234, a proper Office and Mass were composed for his feast; this was sung for the first time in the choir of San Niccolò on August 5, 1234. At the time of St Dominic’s death, the prior of the Dominican house of Brescia, Guala Romanoni, beheld a vision, which he later described thus to Blessed Jordan of Saxony, Dominic’s successor as master general. Jordan writes:

He saw an opening, in heaven, by which two bright ladders descended. The top of one was held by Christ, the other by His Mother; on either one, angels ascended and descended. At the bottom of the two ladders, in the middle, was placed a seat, and on it sat one who seemed to be a brother of the order, with his face covered by his hood, as we are wont to bury our dead. Christ the Lord and His Mother pulled the ladders up little by little, until the one who was sitting at the bottom reached the top. He was then received into heaven, in a cloud of light, with angels singing, and that bright opening in heaven was closed. … That brother who had the vision, who was very weak and sick, realized that he had recovered his strength, and set out for Bologna in all haste, where he heard that on that same day and same hour, the servant of Christ Dominic had died. I know this fact because he told it to me in person. (Libellus de Principiis Ordinis Praedicatrum)

In the Office of St Dominic, the third antiphon of Lauds refers to this event: “Scala caelo prominens fratri revelatur, per quam Pater transiens sursum ferebatur. – A ladder stretching forth from Heaven is revealed to a brother, by which the Father passing was borne on high.” The very first time this Office was sung, it was Guala himself who intoned this antiphon. (He is now a blessed, and his feast is kept by the Order on September 4th.)

The Vision of Blessed Guala, depicted on the tomb of St Dominic in his church in Bologna.

Most of the propers for the Mass of St Dominic in the Dominican Use (the Introit, Epistle, Gradual, Gospel and Communio) are taken from the common of Doctors of the Church. Some of these parts are found in more than one Mass, but here the choice is a deliberate one, to express that St Dominic in his teaching and his life stands in the same position to the Order specifically as a Doctor does to the Church as a whole. (The Cistercians observe a similar custom on the feast of St Bernard.) The Alleluia verse is proper to the Dominicans, and like many medieval composition for both the Office and Mass, is in rhyme.

Alleluia, Pie Pater Dominice, / tuorum memor operum, / Sta corum summo judice / Pro tuo coetu pauperum. ~ Holy Father Dominic, / mindful of thy works / stand before the great Judge / for thy gathering of the poor.

A leaf of a Missal decorated by the Blessed Fra Angelico, the famous Dominican painter, from the museum of the Dominican church of San Marco in Florence, ca. 1430.

This is followed by a lengthy sequence, In caelesti hierarchia, which can be read at this link in Latin and English.

In 1921, a newly composed proper preface for the feast of St Dominic was added to the Missal.

Vere dignum … Qui in tuae sanctae Ecclesiae decorem ac tutamen apostolicam vivendi formam per beatissimum patriarcham Dominicum, renovare voluisti. Ipse enim, Genitricis Filii tui semper ope suffultus, praedicatione sua compescuit haereses, fidei pugiles gentium in salutem instituit, et innumeras animas Christo lucrifecit. Sapientiam ejus narrant populi, ejusque laudes nuntiat Ecclesia. Et ideo cum angelis et archangelis etc.
Truly it is meet … Who for the glory and defence of Thy Holy Church did will to revive the apostolic manner of life through the most blessed patriarch Dominic. For he, supported always by the help of Thy Son’s mother, put down heresies by his preaching, established champions of the faith for the salvation of the nations, and won innumerable souls for Christ. The nations speak of his wisdom, and the Church declares his praise. And therefore with the angels and archangels etc.

In the Tridentine period, the Dominicans instituted a special feast for all the saints of their order, as did several other religious orders. Ironically, this feast was also bumped from its original location by the dedication feast of a Roman basilica; initially kept on November 9th, the day after the octave of All Saints, it was later moved to the 12th to make way for the Dedication of Saint John in the Lateran. The preface of St Dominic noted above was appointed to be said also on this feast, a fine liturgical expression of the holy Founder’s position as the model for all the sons of his Order.

Fr Thompson has written previously about the procession that accompanies the singing of the Salve Regina at the end of Compline in the Dominican Use. In many houses, it was also customary to add after it the antiphon of the Magnificat for Second Vespers of the feast of Saint Dominic; it is here sung by the Dominican students at Blackfriars, Oxford.

O lumen Ecclesiae, doctor veritatis, rosa patientiae, ebur castitatis, aquam sapientiae propinasti gratis; praedicator gratiae, nos junge beatis. ~ O light of the Church, teacher of truth, rose of patience, ivory statue of chastity, freely you gave the water of wisdom to drink; preacher of grace, join us to the blessed.

Marie Reine du Canada Pilgrimage, Aug. 30 - Sept. 1

The 22nd annual Marie Reine du Canada pilgrimage from Lanoraie, Quebec to the miraculous shrine of Notre Dame du Cap will take place on August 30 - September 1 this year, a 100 km (62 mile) walk along the St. Lawrence River in the footsteps of the North American Martyrs. Pilgrims from Ontario, Quebec and the United States are served en route by priests of the Fraternity of Saint Peter, as well as diocesan priests; Mass is celebrated daily in the traditional Roman Rite.

Marie Reine du Canada is a lay-led organization of the FSSP’s apostolate in Ottawa, St. Clement Parish. For registration forms, see: https://www.mariereine.ca/participate. Inquiries can be directed to mariereineducanada@gmail.com.

Some pictures of previous years’ pilgrimages:

Continue Reading this Article. . .

Raphael’s Liberation of St Peter

The feast of St Peter’s Chains which we keep today originated as the dedication feast of a Roman basilica on the Esquiline hill, within sight of the Colosseum. We do not know precisely when it was first built, but according to a surviving dedicatory inscription, it was already considered old when Pope Sixtus III restored it in the 430s. Apart from the Vatican basilica, it is the only ancient church of note in Rome dedicated to the Prince of the Apostles, and has custody of one of the city’s most important relics, the two chains by which Peter was held in prison.

As such, it was historically one of the most prestigious cardinalitial titles. In 1467, it was conferred upon the 37th Franciscan minister general, Francesco Maria della Rovere, who continued to hold it after his term expired less than two years later, until his election to the papacy with the name Sixtus IV in 1471. A few months later, in the finest traditional of papal nepotism, he bestowed it upon his nephew Giuliano, who held it for almost 32 years, until he was elected pope in 1503, taking the name Julius II. The building owes much of its current appearance, including its façade, to renovation work done at Giuliano’s behest. (It remained in the della Rovere family continually until 1520; 28 years later, it was given to his 13-year old grand-nephew Giulio, who held it for 22 years.)

Sixtus and Julius were major protagonists of the almost unfathomably chaotic political events that took place in Italy in the later 15th and early 16th centuries, but are certainly best known today as the patrons of some of the finest artists of the later Italian Renaissance. In 1508, Julius commissioned Michelangelo to repaint the ceiling of his uncle’s famous chapel, which had originally been just blue with stars.

A 19th-century reconstruction of the Sistine Chapel as it would have appeared when it was first dedicated in 1481.

The Creation of Adam, the central panel of the new images added to the ceiling by Michelangelo from 1508 to 1512. 

He also brought in several other notable artists to decorate a new set of staterooms, among them, Raphael Sanzio, a native of the little town of Urbino, and a distant relative of his chief architect, Donatello Bramante. But when Raphael had painted a single wall, the pope was so impressed with his work that he fired all the others so that the whole project could be given to him. Raphael was therefore working on his first room, the Stanza della Segnatura, at the very same time that Michelangelo was working on the Sistine chapel ceiling; he finished his project, which was much smaller, first, in 1511.

Raphael’s first painting in the Stanza della Segnatura, the so-called Disputation of the Blessed Sacrament, which would be more properly called The Triumph of Theology.

When Michelangelo was about half-way done with the ceiling, Pope Julius prevailed upon him, though much against his will, to offer a sneak preview. In an age in which imitation, that is to say, imitation of the classical past, had become the very definition of art, there was no one who had a sharper eye than Raphael for seeing what was good about another artist’s work, taking it into his own, and improving upon it. In his second room, therefore, he immediately revised his style in imitation of Michelangelo’s, not just improving upon it, but making a challenge to his rival; a challenge, which, however, would go unanswered.

In the following description, it must be remembered that the first three paintings in the room are in part the work of assistants, as was normally the case in those days. The piece de resistance, however, The Liberation of St Peter from Prison, is basically all Raphael.

The first painting is the one that has given its name to the room, the Stanza of Heliodorus, the agent of the emperor Antiochus who in II Maccabees 3 is sent to Jerusalem to plunder the temple. On the far left, Pope Julius II is carried into the scene on the sedes gestatoria by Swiss guards. (The company was instituted by Julius in 1506, and this is the oldest picture of them as papal guards.) Next to them is a group of citizens of the holy city, anxiously looking on as the high priest in the middle prays for the safety of the temple, and of the treasures that keep it running, and are used to care for the poor.

Notice the very different style of these two group of figures. The pope and the Swiss guards look like they were painted 20 years earlier, by artists of the generation that trained Raphael. The onlookers, on the other hand, are very much in the style of Michelangelo, both in terms of color scheme and pose. The great Florentine was first and foremost a sculptor, and when he was constrained to paint, he painted his human figures (the only subject he was interested in) as if they were sculptures in the sunlight. The woman in the foreground, and the father and son who have climbed up on the pillar to get a better view, are very similar to many of the artfully posed figures in Michelangelo’s ceiling.

Continue Reading this Article. . .

NLM’s Twentieth Anniversary

Today is the twentieth anniversary of the New Liturgical Movement, and as always, we cannot let the day pass without a word of thanks to our founder Shawn Tribe for his years of dedication to the site, to our publisher, Fr Robert Pasley, to our parent organization, the Church Music Association of America, as well as to the rest of our team, new and old, and our many guest contributors, for all the work they have put into NLM over these many years. And of course, thanks to all of our readers for your support, encouragement and the inspiration you provide to continue our work. We also commend to your prayers our previous publisher Dr William Mahrt, a true giant in the field of sacred music, who passed away on January 1st of this year.

Shortly after I took over as managing editor in 2013, we received an email from a reader asking “What is the purpose of your website?” The purpose of NLM is summed up very neatly in the logo at the top of the page, which Matthew Alderman designed back in 2010, in the circular band around the thurible: “Dirigatur oratio mea sicut incensum.” These words are said by the priest at the incensation of the altar during the Offertory; in such a context, “oratio mea – my prayer” means the prayer of the whole Church, in whose name the priest prays the whole of the Mass. The Douay Bible translates them as “Let my prayer be directed as incense,” but the Latin word “dirigatur” can also mean “be set in order.”

The purpose of NLM, therefore, is to help set the prayer of the Church in order, for it is pointless to deny that in many respects it is not in order. Our very first post was a report on a liturgical conference held in England, at which Fr Mark Drew proposed (almost two years before Summorum Pontificum,) the lifting of restrictions on the celebration of the traditional liturgy, stating, “Don’t fear anarchy. … Anarchy is what we have already.”

To this purpose, we examine every facet of the Church’s liturgical life, historical and contemporary, and everything related to it, however marginally, in the hope of contributing to the process of setting the prayer of the Church in order. We share the essential goal of the first Liturgical Movement: to restore the liturgy in its entirety to pride of place in the Church as the highest and most perfect expression of Her life of prayer.

The words that follow, “sicut incensum – like incense” remind us that the prayer life of the Church is also the best example which She can offer to the world of Her service to God, “For we are the good odor of Christ unto God, in them that are saved, and in them that perish.” The thurible itself is also a reminder of the duty of charity, the greatest of the virtues, for when the priest returns it to the deacon, he says before he is incensed, “May the Lord enkindle within us the fire of His love, and the flame of eternal charity.” Let it serve as a reminder to all, in the midst of all the controversies and difficulties that inevitably result from such an enterprise, that the goal of the Church’s prayer is union with God in eternal charity.

For your amusement, here are a few screen captures of some of the early designs of the site; after the third one, we’ve stayed pretty much the same. (Click images to enlarge.)

2005-2006

2007

2010

The Te igitur

Lost in Translation #134

Last week, we devoted an entire post to the first letter of the first word of the first sentence of the Roman Canon. This week, we pick up the pace and examine the rest of the sentence:

Te ígitur, clementíssime Pater, per Jesum Christum, Filium tuum, Dóminum nostrum, súpplices rogámus ac pétimus uti accepta hábeas, et benedícas hæc dona, hæc múnera, hæc sancta sacrificia illibáta; in primis quæ tibi offérimus pro Ecclesia tua sancta cathólica; quam pacificáre, custodíre, adunáre, et régere dignéris toto orbe terrárum: una cum fámulo tuo Papa nostro N., et Antístite nostro N., et ómnibus orthodoxis, atque cathólicae et apostólicae fídei cultóribus.

Which I translate as:

Therefore, we suppliants pray and beseech You, most merciful Father, through Jesus Christ Your Son, our Lord, that You may have accepted—and may You bless—these gifts, these presents, these holy unspotted Sacrifices, which in the first place we offer to You for Your holy Catholic Church, that You would deign to grant peace to, and to preserve, unite, and govern her throughout the world, together with Your servant N. our Pope, N. our bishop, and all orthodox worshippers of the Catholic and Apostolic Faith.

Suspected Superfluity

Unlike the Orations (the Collect, Secret, and Postcommunion), which are renowned for their precise parsimony, the Roman Canon abounds in what a lesser mind might be tempted to call “useless repetitions.” Why the does the priest say that we are praying and beseeching instead of just praying? Why does he bother to ask that the gifts be accepted before they are blessed? Why does he call the gifts three things (these gifts, these presents, these sacrifices) when only one word would have sufficed? And why does he petition to God to “grant peace to, preserve, unite, and govern” the Church instead of something simple like “watch over” her? How, in other words, can we assent to the Catechism of the Council of Trent that there is nothing “useless or superfluous” in the Latin Mass when the Canon seems rife with verbal superfluities or what Dr. Christine Mohrmann called “monumental verbosity”? [1]

The Council of Trent

The short answer, I believe, is that ornamentation is not superfluity because ornament is not ornamental. In Latin, ornamentum refers to equipment or furniture as well as decoration. In the theater it refers to the costume of a character; in architecture, to “the enrichment of a building so as to clarify use or purpose;” [2] in rhetoric, to the make-up or style of speech. Cicero’s On the Orator elucidates four traits of a speech’s ornamenta:

that we should speak correctly and in pure Latin;

next, clearly and distinctly;

then, gracefully (ornate);

then suitably to the dignity of the subject, and becomingly, so to speak; [3]

The third and fourth traits are related in that the greater the dignity of the subject, the more suitable it is to have graceful or ornate speech. One need not channel the Bard when telling one’s child to take out the trash, but it is a different story when it comes to asking one’s God to turn bread and wine into the form and matter of His crucified and risen Son. In the case of the Canon, there was a double goal: 1) to reflect the awe and mystery of the Action through words, and 2) to coopt “the kind of language used in the old pagan cultus so that Christianity could replaces paganism and assume its status as the true cultus publicus of Rome and the empire.” [4] And both goals were met, producing “a remarkable combination of Romanitas and Christianitas.” [5]

The “extra” words in the Canon, then, are not redundant or superfluous, but the apt response to a rhetorical necessity, namely, of the duty of matching the dignity of the language to the dignity of the subject. It is in this way that ornament is not ornamental, that is, it is not a dispensable option but a vital sign by which the importance of the thing is signified.

And the words in these ornate sentences of the Canon have been carefully arranged. In the sequence haec dona, haec munera, haec sacrificia (these gifts, the presents, these sacrifices), the order is ascending. Dona can refer to any gift great or small; munera refers to more formal gifts or tributes, the word that the Secret uses the most for the oblations (bread and wine); and sacrificia refers to a total gift to God that transforms the gift itself. Such is the journey of bread and wine, which is: 1) given to the priest before the Mass or during an Offertory Procession, 2) offered to God by him, and 3) then turned into the Lamb that was slain.

Similarly, the petition for the Church, that it receive peace and be preserved, unified, and governed, has an ascending order. Imagine a Church at war with her enemies both external and internal. The first step for a remedy is to stop the war through peace. But since things can decay and dissolve even during peacetime, the next step is to preserve them. Having preserved members is a good thing (like specimens in formaldehyde), but even better is to have them unified into a single, living whole. And yet this unified Body will come to no good unless it is governed and guided by God.

Syntax

As a classicist friend of mine likes to joke, word order in Latin is not important—until it is. In this case, making Te the first word gives it prominence. And that word, of course, points to our most clement God the Father, to whom every Mass is offered, through the Son and with the Holy Spirit. The opening word of the Te igitur therefore underscores the theocentric focus of the Canon and of the Mass. And this focus is reinforced by the priest’s concomitant gesture of looking up to Heaven in imitation of Our Lord who lifted up His eyes before giving thanks to His Father. (see Jn. 11,41)

Diction

Finally, four brief remarks on word choice.

First, igitur is a postpositive conjunction (i.e., it can never be the first word in a sentence) that like, ergo and a couple of other Latin words, means “therefore.” Where it differs is that it can have the added meaning of resuming an interrupted thought, as with the English expression “as I was saying.” Seen in this light, the Canon is but the continuation of the dialogue begun after the Secret and interrupted by the Sanctus. To paraphrase:

“Let us give thanks [Eucharist] to the Lord our God.”

“It is meet and just.”

“Yes, it is meet and just to give thanks…and to join the Angels in singing.”

[Singing] “Holy, Holy, Holy...”

“And so, as I was saying, we beseech You, o most clement Father…”

Second, the adjective illibatus is a striking choice for modifying sacrificium. It is usually translated as “unspotted”—or, as in the 2011 ICEL translation, “unblemished”—which is understandable since in the pre-Christian era illibatus was paired with nouns like virginitas [6], and in the Christian era with words like victimae and fides. [7] Nevertheless, illibatus literally means “undiminished.” Illibatus is the past participle of in-libo; in here means “not” while the verb libo means to take a little from something. But libo also means “to pour out in honor of a deity”: in other words, to make a libation. [8] Could the word choice mean that the sacrifices being mentioned, which currently consist of sacralized but untransubstantiated bread and wine, have not yet been “poured out to God” because they are not yet His Precious Blood? In that case, the most accurate translation of haec sancta sacrificia illibata, albeit the least eloquent, would be “these holy and [at present] un-libationed sacrifices.” My sense is that the author’s intention was, as most translators think, to convey the sense of “unblemished,” but I also suspect that he deliberately chose a word with rich sacrificial connotations.

Third, the Biblical word for bishop is episcopus, but the Canon refers to the local ordinary as antistes, a word that originally designated a high priest of Rome’s old civic religion. [9] Perhaps this repurposing of Latin is a way of coopting the high parlance of the imperial court and putting it in the service of the heavenly court.

From here...

...To here

Fourth, the Canon refers to Christian worshippers as cultores, whereas other parts of the Mass use other terms such as the faithful (fideles) or members of God’s household (familia). Cultor was also a term used for pagan worshippers, but its origins are agricultural. The verb from which it is derived, colo / colere, means to take care of or tend; a cultor, then, is a cultivator, “one who bestows care or labor upon a thing.” [10] Keeping this etymology in mind, we can think of all orthodox believers as cultivators of the Catholic and Apostolic Faith. Only orthodox believers can be cultivators; heretical believers are not cultivators but destroyers who sow the field with cockles or weeds: of them does Our Lord say, “An enemy hath done this” (see Matt 13, 24-30). And orthodox believers, this noun reminds us, do not keep the Faith as if it were a butterfly in amber, but as if it were a garden in need of constant attention, protecting it from pests, nourishing it with love, and pruning its excrescences (such as wrong turns in developments doctrinal or liturgical or invasive innovations). May God bless His gardeners of the Catholic and Apostolic Faith. [11]

Notes

[1] Catechism of the Council of Trent, Ch. 20, §9: “Of these rites and ceremonies let none be deemed useless or superfluous: all on the contrary tend to display the majesty of this august sacrifice, and to excite the faithful, by the celebration of these saving mysteries, to the contemplation of the divine things which lie concealed in the Eucharistic sacrifice.” See Christine Mohrmann, Liturgical Latin: Its Origins and Character (Catholic University of America Press, 1957), 68.

[2] Denis McNamara, Catholic Church Architecture and the Spirit of the Liturgy (Chicago: Hillenbrand Books, 2009), 25.

[3] De Oratore 32.144

[4] Mark R. Francis, Local Worship, Global Church: Popular Religion and the Liturgy (Liturgical Press, 2014), p. 62.

[5] Christian Mohrmann, 69.

[6] See Seneca, Controversiae 1.2.12.

[7] See St Jerome, Commentarii in IV epistulas Paulinas, ad Titum 1,8-9.

[8] “Libo, -avi, -atum,” I.B.2, Lewis and Short Latin Dictionary.

[9] See Christine Mohrmann, “Notes sur le Latin liturgique,” Études, Tome II, (1961), 104-105.

[10] “Cultor, -oris, m.,” II.B, Lewis and Short Latin Dictionary.

[11] On a side note, the 2011 ICEL translation expresses a noble sentiment but it is not the one found in this passage: “and all those who, holding to the truth, hand on the catholic and apostolic faith.” (p. 635) Instead of cultivating, the translation speaks of tradition, of handing on. Also, “those holding to the truth” is, in my opinion, an inadequate and unnecessary translation of “orthodox.” It would be more accurate to say that the Truth holds us than that we hold to the truth. Orthodoxy does not mean truth-holding but right belief and right praise. The latter meaning anticipates the next sentence in the Canon (the Memento) in its description of the faithful offering the sacrifice of praise.

Finally, all English translations (including my own) treat orthodoxis as the adjective of cultoribus but in fact it is a noun linked to cultoribus by atque. The most literal translation, therefore, is “and all orthodox [believers] and worshippers of the Catholic and Apostolic Faith.”

The Byzantine Fast of the Dormition

In addition to Great Lent, the Byzantine tradition has three other fasts connected with major feasts. The liturgical year begins on September 1st, so the first of these is the fast of the Nativity, which runs from November 15th to December 24th; this is almost exactly the same span as Advent in the Ambrosian and Mozarabic Rites. Another fast is kept from the Monday after the feast of All Saints (which is celebrated on the Sunday after Pentecost) to the feast of Ss Peter and Paul; because of the variable date of the former, this can run as long as 42 days, or as short as 8. The fast of the Dormition is kept from August 1-14, and is the strictest of the three, with no consumption of meat, dairy, fish, wine or oil; the last two may be taken on weekends, and fish on the feast of the Transfiguration. There are also a number of interesting liturgical features connected with this period.

An icon of the feast of the Procession of the Cross

The first day, August 1st, is a feast known as the “Procession of the Honorable and Life-Giving Cross”, which is celebrated jointly with one of the most ancient and universal Christian feasts, that of the Seven Maccabee Brothers. In Constantinople, on the evening of July 31st, the relics of the True Cross were brought from the imperial treasury to Hagia Sophia, and laid upon the main altar. Over the next two weeks, they were processed through the streets and venerated by the faithful; this was done also in part to ward off the various illnesses which frequently afflicted the city in the intense summer heat. This procession was last celebrated in 1452, the year before the fall of the city, but the memory of it is still preserved in the liturgical books. As on the feast of the Exaltation of the Cross and the Third Sunday of Lent, the rubrics prescribe that at the end of Orthros, an icon of the Cross be brought from the sanctuary to the nave, and solemnly venerated, after which the following hymn is sung.

Come ye faithful, let us adore the life-giving wood on which Christ, the King of glory, willingly stretched out His hands, and exalted us unto the ancient blessedness, whom once the enemy, having despoiled us by pleasure, banished from God. Come ye faithful, let us adore the wood by which we were made worthy to break the curses of the invisible foes. Come, all ye nations of the gentiles, let us honor the Lord’s Cross with hymns. Rejoice, o Cross, the perfect release of fallen Adam. In Thee our most faithful kings make their boast, as they mightily subject the Ishmaelite people by thy power. Greeting thee now with fear, we Christians glorify God, Who was nailed upon thee, saying ‘Lord, who wast nailed upon this, have mercy upon us, as Thou art good and love-mankind.’

The words “the Ishmaelite people” mean the Saracens, over whom the Byzantine Emperor Manuel I Comnenus (1143-80) gained a major victory in 1158, and instituted the feast in commemoration thereof. The same day is also the anniversary of the Baptism of the Rus’, a crucial event for the Christianization of the Eastern Slavs, which took place in the year 988, in the reign of the king Saint Volodymyr. For this reason, it is the custom of some of the Slavic churches to bless water on August 1st, in the form known as the Lesser Blessing, to distinguish it from the Great Blessing held on Epiphany. In both forms, a hand-cross is passed through the water three times in the form of a cross; at the Lesser Blessing, the following troparion is sung. “O Lord, save Thy people, and bless Thine inheritance. Grant victories to the Orthodox Christians over their adversaries, and by virtue of Thy Cross, preserve Thy habitation!”

(A recording made in September of 2021 at the Greek-Catholic Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Uzhhorod, Ukraine, on the patronal feast day.)

During the Dormition fast, the Greek tradition also prescribes the celebration of a service known as the Supplicatory Canon, or Paraklesis, modelled on the hour of Orthros; there are two forms of it, the Greater and Lesser, which are said on alternate days, beginning on the evening of August 1st. (In the Slavic tradition, these are shortened very considerably by the omission of most of the long series of hymns which is properly known as a “canon.”) Both of them are supplications to the Virgin Mary to intercede to Her Son on behalf of mankind; the lesser canon may also be sung at any point in the year, especially in times of suffering and difficulty. The following troparia, which are sung shortly after the beginning of the service, give the general theme; these are the same in both versions.

Let us sinners and lowly ones now fervently run to the Mother of God, and fall down in repentance, crying from the depths of our soul: o Lady, have mercy on us and help us; hasten, (for) we are lost in the multitude of our errors. Do not turn Thy servants away, for we have received Thee alone as our hope.
We, the unworthy, will never cease to speak, o Mother of God, of Thy mighty deeds, for if Thou didst not stand to intercede for us, who would have delivered us from such great? Who would have preserved us until now in our freedom? O Lady, we shall not depart from you, for you always save your servants from every sort of tribulation.

Towards the end, the following exapostilarion is sung, looking forward to the upcoming feast. The Virgin Mary addresses the Apostles, who, according to a very ancient tradition, were all present for Her dormition, and laid Her to rest in the same place where Her Son had once been laid.

O ye Apostles, gathered together here from the ends of the earth in the place of Gethesemane, take care of (or ‘bury’) my body; and do Thou, my Son and my God, receive my soul.

The Dormition of the Virgin, by Pietro Cavallini, 1296-1300; mosaic in apse of the church of Santa Maria in Trastevere, Rome.