Lost in Translation #105
A standard feature of all Apostolic liturgies is the use of Scriptural readings to illuminate the liturgical occasion, rather than to deepen Biblical literacy per se. Readings from the Old and New Testament were generally chosen because of their thematic relevance to the season or day. Occasionally, readings were composed of specific verses selected from a Biblical passage for appropriateness to the liturgical day, with other less appropriate verses omitted, in order to further hone the message. There also exist readings of a type called a “cento”, from a Latin word meaning “patchwork”, which are assembled from verses of different books of the Bible. (These are extremely rare in the Roman and Ambrosian Rites, but common in the Byzantine.) To paraphrase Fr. Joseph Jungmann, the Church did not hesitate to break the bread of God’s word in order to prepare the faithful for a particular Eucharist breaking of the bread. [1]
One curious component of this verbal bread-breaking is the addition of settings to the sacred texts. Before reading a passage from the Bible, the reader (a lector, subdeacon, or priest) announces the name of the book from which it is taken and then adds an introductory word of address or explanation. Words of address typically go with New Testament readings while words of explanation typically go with Old Testament readings. When an Old Testament reading is used, for example, it is common to see it prefaced with “In diebus illis – In those days”, or “Haec dicit Dominus – Thus saith the Lord”. Both introductions are designed to heighten the audience’s attention.
So too are the words of address that preface a New Testament reading. Most of the readings from the Acts of the Apostles begin with In diebus illis, and the same is true of Revelation, for even though much of this apocalyptic book is a vision of the future, the revelations were given to St. John “in those days.” We will say more about In diebus illis when we discuss the Gospel setting In illo tempore in the next essay.
As for the Epistles: “Fratres – Brethren”) begins readings from St. Paul’s congregational letters [2], “Carissime – Dearly beloved” (singular) begins those from his pastoral letters [3], and “Carissimi –Dearly beloved” (plural) begins the so-called Catholic Epistles. [4] And because the Roman Missal ascribes the Epistle to the Hebrews to Saint Paul and treats it as a congregational letter, passages from Hebrews begin with Fratres as well.
St. Paul does not begin his own epistles with these greetings, although at some point he does address the churches in most of his congregational letters with Fratres. In his pastoral letters, Paul refers to Timothy and to Titus as his beloved son (dilectus filius), and once he refers to Timothy as his dearly beloved son (carissimus filius – Titus 1, 2) As for the Catholic Epistles, Saints Peter, John, and Jude all address their audiences with Carissimi (1 Pet. 2, 11; 1 John 2,7; Jude 3) while Saint James does not.
The greetings therefore serve as rough but reliable signposts, reminding the listener of the passage’s literary or ecclesiastical context. And thanks to their ordering in the Missal, they form illuminating clusters on the calendar.
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| The beginning of the Epistle to the Galatians in a medieval Bible. |
Fratres, used for Paul’s congregational epistles, is the most common address and can be found throughout the year in both the Temporal and Sanctoral Cycles.
The single-number Carissime, used for Paul’s epistles to Timothy and Titus, appears in the Temporal Cycle only during Christmastide: the Midnight Mass, the Christmas Dawn Mass, on days within the Octave of the Nativity, on the Christmas Octave, and on the Saturday Mass for the Blessed Virgin Mary from Christmas to Candlemas. It is more common in the Sanctoral Cycle, where it is used on a variety of Saints’ feast days. The use of Carissime during the Christmas season is apt, a warm reminder of how God so loved the world that He gave us His only Son.
The plural-number Carissimi, used for the Catholic epistles, appears in the Temporal Cycle only during Eastertide and the initial Sundays after Pentecost: Easter Friday, Easter Saturday, all the Sundays after Easter, the Lesser Rogation Days, the Sunday after the Ascension, the First through Third Sundays after Pentecost, and the Fifth Sunday after Pentecost. It appears less often in the Sanctoral Cycle. The use of Carissimi during the Easter season is apt, a warm reminder of how God has exalted His Son who was obedient unto death on a cross, and made us heirs of His grace. And insofar as more people are greater (in number) than one person, it is fitting that the plural Carissimi be used for the greatest season of the liturgy year.
Liturgical settings appear in the 1970 Roman Missal and are faithfully reproduced in the lectionaries of several modern languages. For reasons unknown to me, however, they do not appear in any of the official English translations. This omission, in my opinion, is especially regrettable with the Gospel settings, to which we shall turn in the next essay.
From the 2015 Lectionary of Spain
Notes
[1] Joseph A. Jungmann, The Mass of the Roman Rite (Christian Classics, 1974), 265.
[2] Romans, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 Thessalonians, and 2 Thessalonians.
[3] 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus.
[4] James, 1 Peter, 2 Peter, 1 John, 2 John, 3 John, and Jude.
