Today, the First Sunday of Lent, in the traditional form of the Ambrosian Rite Mass and, optionally, also in the ordinary form, the first of the two lenten litanies is sung. It's usually known as "Divinae Pacis" from its first words.
NLM contributor Gregory Di Pippo explained very well the historical and liturgical aspects of this litany in a previous post:
During Lent, in place of the Gloria there is a litany, which is very similar to the litanies sung at the beginning of every Eastern liturgy. The Litany of the 1st, 3rd and 5th Sundays, “Divinae Pacis”, (included in new edition of Cantus Selecti) contains an invocation to pray for those who are “in metallis”, in the mines, to which Christians were sometimes condemned in age of the persecutions. This penalty was abolished in the West in 220 A.D.; it possible, therefore, that “Divinae Pacis” is one of the very few surviving pieces of pre-Constantinian liturgical text (along with the Gloria and the Phos hilaron of Greek Vespers). It is an amazing thing to hear this most ancient of prayers in the true liturgical context for which it was written.
In the traditional form, the litany is read or sung by the Celebrant in all private or sung Masses. It is sung by the Deacon wearing the "stola lata" from the pulpit in Solemn High Masses.
In the ordinary form, it is usually sung by a priest or a layman in place of the universal prayer at the end of the Liturgy of the Word.
Here's a video taken in the Basilica of St. Ambrose last year (ordinary form):
Here's the full text of the litany in Latin:
Dominus vobiscum.
Et cum spiritu tuo.
Divinae pacis, et indulgentiae munere supplicantes, ex toto corde, et ex tota mente, precamur te.
Domine, miserere.
Pro Ecclesia tua sancta catholica, quae hic, et per universum orbem diffusa est, precamur te.
Domine, miserere.
Pro Papa nostro N. et Pontifice nostro N. et omni clero eorum, omnibusque sacerdotibus ac ministris, precamur te.
Domine, miserere.
[Pro famulis tuis, N. Imperatore, et N. Rege, Duce nostro, et omni exercitu eorum, precamur te. Domine, miserere.]
Pro pace ecclesiarum, vocatione gentium, et quiete populorum, precamur te.
Domine, miserere.
Pro civitate hac, et conversatione eius, omnibusque habitantibus in ea, precamur te.
Domine, miserere.
Pro àerum temperie, ac fructuum foecunditate terrarum, precamur te. Domine, miserere.
Pro virginibus, viduis, orphanis, captivis, ac paenitentibus, precamur te.
Domine, miserere.
Pro navigantibus, iter agentibus, in carceribus, in vinculis, in metallis, in exiliis constitutis, precamur te.
Domine, miserere.
Pro his qui diversis infirmitatibus detinentur, quique spiritibus vexantur immundis, precamur te.
Domine, miserere.
Pro his qui in sancta tua Ecclesia fructus misericordiae largiuntur, precamur te.
Domine, miserere.
Exaudi nos Deus in omni oratione, atque deprecatione nostra, precamur te.
Domine, miserere.
Dicamus omnes.
Domine, miserere.
Kyrie eleison, Kyrie eleison, Kyrie eleison.
And here's my English translation:
The Lord be with you.
And with thy spirt.
Through the gift of God's peace and mercy, imploring, with all our heart and mind we beseech Thee.
O Lord, have mercy!
For Thy holy Catholic Church, that is spread here and throughout the whole word, we beseech Thee.
O Lord, have mercy!
For our Pope N., and our Bishop N., and all their clergy, and all the priests and the ministers, we beseech Thee.
O Lord, have mercy!
[For Thy servants N. our Emperor, and N. our King and Duke, and all their army, we beseech Thee.
O Lord, have mercy! ]
For the concord amongst the Churches, the conversion of the pagans, and the peace amongst the peoples, we beseech Thee.
O Lord, have mercy!
For this town, and her welfare, and for all her inhabitants, we beseech Thee.
O Lord, have mercy!
For the clemency of the weather, and for the fecundity of the fruits of the hearth, we beseech Thee.
O Lord, have mercy!
For the virgins, the widows, the orphans, the captives, the penitents, we beseech Thee.
O Lord, have mercy!
For those who are travelling in the sea and on the ground, those in gaol, those in chains, those in hard labour, those in exile, we beseech Thee.
O Lord, have mercy!
For those who are afflicted with all kinds of ills, and those who are vexed by evil spirits, we beseech Thee.
O Lord, have mercy!
For those who in Thy holy Church dispense the fruits of the charity, we beseech Thee.
O Lord, have mercy!
O God, hear us in evey prayer, and in every supplication of ours, we beseech Thee.
O Lord, have mercy!
Let us all say.
O Lord, have mercy!
Kyrie eleison. Kyrie eleison. Kyrie eleison.
A professional recording of the "Divinae Pacis" litany by the choir of the Basilica of St. Ambrose in Milan can be downloaded here
Picture above:
The beginning of "Divinae Pacis" litany in Add. Codex 34209, British Museum.
Published in Paléographie musicale, vol. 5 (Paris, 1900)
