Showing posts with label Vigil of Pentecost. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Vigil of Pentecost. Show all posts
Saturday, 4 June 2022
Saturday, 14 May 2016
Vigil of Pentecost
The Vigil of Pentecost is a semi-double Vigil of the first class. No feast may be celebrated on this day. The ancient ceremonies that take place before Mass are similar to those of Holy Saturday and are closely linked to the historical praxis of also conferring baptism at Pentecost. The liturgical colour of the day changes from white, to violet and finally red.
The liturgical colour of the Office is white. At Mattins the invitatory, hymn, antiphons and psalms are all as on the feast of the Ascension except that the antiphons are not doubled. The lessons in the first nocturn are the Incipit of the Epistle of the Apostle Jude. In the second nocturn the lessons are from a discourse of St. Augustine to catechumens on the Creed - note the baptismal connection. In the third nocturn the lessons are taken from St. Augustine's tracts 74 & 75 on St. John's Gospel. The eighth responsory is of the Sunday within the Octave of the Ascension, Si enim etc. The Te Deum is sung.
At Lauds the antiphons Viri Galilaei etc are sung with the Sunday psalms (92, 99, 62, Benedicite & 148). The chapter, hymn antiphon on the Benedictus and collect are as on the Sunday within the Octave of the Ascension but the Octave is not commemorated. After the collect of the day a commemoration of St. Boniface is sung.
On Saturday morning, before the Horae Minores, the altar is vested in festal red, then covered with both a violet and white antependia. The altar candles are lit - unlike on Holy Saturday. At the Little Hours the hymns are sung with the Doxology of the Ascension, Jesu tibi sit gloria, Qui scandis super sidera etc, sung to Tone4. At Prime the antiphon Viri Galilaei is sung with psalms 53, 118i & 118ii. The first entry in the Martyrology is that of the great feast of Pentecost, Dies Pentecostes, quando Spiritus Sanctus Jerosolymis super discipulos igneis linguis advenit. At the other Hours the antiphons from Lauds are sung with the Dominical psalms. After None the candles are extinguished and the white antependium is removed.
The celebrant in violet chasuble, assisted where possible by deacon and subdeacon in violet folded chasubles, comes to the altar preceded by acolytes who do not bear candles. The celebrant kisses the altar at the centre and goes to the epistle corner. The celebrant begins reading, in a low voice, the first of six prophecies at the Epistle corner, the ministers stand as at the introit of Mass. Meanwhile a lector comes to a lectern in the middle of choir accompanied by the 2nd MC, reverences the altar and choir and then chants the first prophecy. The celebrant and ministers may sit after reading the prophecy returning to the altar as the lector finishes chanting the same. After the prophecy has been sung the celebrant sings Oremus, but unlike Holy Saturday without Flectamus genua and Levate as it is Paschaltide, and sings the first collect Deus, qui in Abrahae. The collects are proper to the Vigil and, again, are rich with baptismal references.
(The photographs are from the website of Saint Gertrude the Great church in Ohio, USA shewing their 2010 Pentecost Vigil. They were, I believe, the first photographs of the ceremonies of the Vigil of Pentecost to appear on the Web.)
Where resources permit the six prophecies are sung by lectors in ascending order of seniority but for most celebrations they will be sung by the same or by a couple of lectors. The prophecies and collects are:
Prophecy 1: Genesis XXII: 1- 19 (Holy Saturday 3rd prophecy) In diebus illis: Tentavit Deus Abraham… Collect 1: Deus, qui in Abrahae...; Prophecy 2: Exodus XIV: 24-31, XV: 1 (Holy Saturday 4th prophecy) In diebus illis: Factus est in vigilia matutina... This is followed immediately by the tract Cantemus Domino and then Collect 2: Deus, qui primis temporibus... Prophecy 3: Deuteronomy XXXI: 22 -30 (Holy Saturday 11th prophecy) In diebus illis: Scripsit Moyses canticum ... followed by the tract Attende, caelum then Collect 3: Deus, glorificatio fidelium...; Prophecy 4: Isaiah IV: 1 – 6 (Holy Saturday 8th prophecy) Apprehendent septem mulieres..., the tract Vinea facta est... and Collect 4: Omnipotens sempiterne Deus...; Prophecy 5: Baruch III: 9 – 38 (Holy Saturday 6th prophecy) Audi, Israel, mandata vitae... Collect 5: Deus, qui nobis...; and Prophecy 6: Ezechiel XXXVII: 1-14 (Holy Saturday 7th prophecy) In diebus illis: Facta est super me... and Collect 6: Domine, Deus virtutum...
During the sixth prophecy, if there is a font, the acolytes light their candles on the credence table. A server lights the Paschal Candle and then holds it near the credence. The celebrant goes to the sedilia and removes the chasuble and maniple and puts on a violet cope. The ministers remove their maniples. A procession is now formed. The Paschal Candle bearer leads followed by Crucifer between acolytes. The choir sings Sicut cervus as the procession heads to the Baptistery.
At the entrance to the Baptistery the collect Concede, quaesumus is sung (as opposed to Omnipotens sempiterne Deus that is sung on Holy Saturday). Everything then is done to bless the font as on Holy Saturday with the solemn blessing of the water and infusion with Chrism. The Paschal Candle is plunged three times into the waters of the font. Before the infusion with Chrism everyone in the church is aspersed, as on Holy Saturday, and the blessed water is reserved for use at the Vidi aquam tomorrow. Where there are catechumens the baptisms now take place. During the blessing of the font cushions are laid in the sanctuary for the celebrant and ministers to prostrate on when they return.
After the blessing of the font the procession reforms and returns to the sanctuary the Paschal Candle bearer leading it. Two cantors begin the Litany as the procession leaves the Baptistery. The petitions are doubled i.e. the cantors sing the petition and response entire and then it is repeated by the choir and people e.g. C: Pater de caelis Deus, miserere nobis; P: Pater de caelis Deus, miserere nobis.
When the procession enters the sanctuary the candle bearer takes the Paschal Candle back to the sacristy and extinguishes it. The Crucifer and acolytes go to the credence. The cantors kneel in the middle of the choir. The celebrant and ministers go to the sedilia and remove their vestments. They then prostrate on the cushions before the altar, all others kneel. After the invocation Peccatores the celebrant and ministers rise and return to the sacristy where they vest in red. Meanwhile servers remove the violet antependium etc and vest the altar for festal Mass. The altar candles are now lit. Where there is no font after the sixth prophecy the cushions are laid on the altar steps and the Litany follows.
As the choir sing Agnus Dei the procession returns to the sanctuary. Mass follows as usual except, like Holy Saturday, it has no introit. During the Gloria the bells are rung. There is only one collect. At the Gospel the acolytes do not carry candles. The Creed is not sung. The communicantes and Hanc igitur are of Pentecost. Unlike the Mass of Holy Saturday the Agnus Dei is sung, there is a communion verse and there is no interpolation of Vespers.
In the afternoon solemn first Vespers of Pentecost are sung. The antiphons Cum complerentur etc are sung, doubled, with psalms 109, 110, 111, 112 & 116. The Office hymn is Veni, Creator Spritus. The Doxlogy Deo Patri...Surrexit, ac Paraclito etc is sung at all hymns of Iambic metre during the entire Octave. At Vespers there are no commemorations and at Compline the Dominical preces are omitted.
In the 'liturgical books of 1962' the sacred ceremonies of the ancient Vigil of Pentecost have been excoriated. At Mattins the ferial psalms are used, there is but one nocturn of three lessons, the former third nocturn homily. At Lauds and the Hours the ferial psalms are sung. The prophecies, blessing of the font and Litany are all completely gone. The Vigil ceremonies were suppressed in churches where the, then optional, 1952 form of the Easter Vigil was introduced and then universally in 1956 with the New Order of Holy Week. As no one could argue that the time of the Pentecost Vigil was, putatively, wrong its reason for suppression was clearly lest it reminded the faithful of the traditional Ordo. Mass has the introit added (previously this was only used in private Masses). A commenter and friend noted several years' ago the irony of having a proper Hanc igitur which says "Wherefore we beseech Thee, O LORD, to graciously receive this oblation which we they servants... make to Thee... offering it up in a like manner with those also whom Thou hast been pleased to make to be born again of water and the Holy Ghost" when the ceremonies to which it refers have been excised from the 'ancient' Missal of the early 1960s.
The liturgical colour of the Office is white. At Mattins the invitatory, hymn, antiphons and psalms are all as on the feast of the Ascension except that the antiphons are not doubled. The lessons in the first nocturn are the Incipit of the Epistle of the Apostle Jude. In the second nocturn the lessons are from a discourse of St. Augustine to catechumens on the Creed - note the baptismal connection. In the third nocturn the lessons are taken from St. Augustine's tracts 74 & 75 on St. John's Gospel. The eighth responsory is of the Sunday within the Octave of the Ascension, Si enim etc. The Te Deum is sung.
At Lauds the antiphons Viri Galilaei etc are sung with the Sunday psalms (92, 99, 62, Benedicite & 148). The chapter, hymn antiphon on the Benedictus and collect are as on the Sunday within the Octave of the Ascension but the Octave is not commemorated. After the collect of the day a commemoration of St. Boniface is sung.
On Saturday morning, before the Horae Minores, the altar is vested in festal red, then covered with both a violet and white antependia. The altar candles are lit - unlike on Holy Saturday. At the Little Hours the hymns are sung with the Doxology of the Ascension, Jesu tibi sit gloria, Qui scandis super sidera etc, sung to Tone4. At Prime the antiphon Viri Galilaei is sung with psalms 53, 118i & 118ii. The first entry in the Martyrology is that of the great feast of Pentecost, Dies Pentecostes, quando Spiritus Sanctus Jerosolymis super discipulos igneis linguis advenit. At the other Hours the antiphons from Lauds are sung with the Dominical psalms. After None the candles are extinguished and the white antependium is removed.
The celebrant in violet chasuble, assisted where possible by deacon and subdeacon in violet folded chasubles, comes to the altar preceded by acolytes who do not bear candles. The celebrant kisses the altar at the centre and goes to the epistle corner. The celebrant begins reading, in a low voice, the first of six prophecies at the Epistle corner, the ministers stand as at the introit of Mass. Meanwhile a lector comes to a lectern in the middle of choir accompanied by the 2nd MC, reverences the altar and choir and then chants the first prophecy. The celebrant and ministers may sit after reading the prophecy returning to the altar as the lector finishes chanting the same. After the prophecy has been sung the celebrant sings Oremus, but unlike Holy Saturday without Flectamus genua and Levate as it is Paschaltide, and sings the first collect Deus, qui in Abrahae. The collects are proper to the Vigil and, again, are rich with baptismal references.
(The photographs are from the website of Saint Gertrude the Great church in Ohio, USA shewing their 2010 Pentecost Vigil. They were, I believe, the first photographs of the ceremonies of the Vigil of Pentecost to appear on the Web.)
Where resources permit the six prophecies are sung by lectors in ascending order of seniority but for most celebrations they will be sung by the same or by a couple of lectors. The prophecies and collects are:
Prophecy 1: Genesis XXII: 1- 19 (Holy Saturday 3rd prophecy) In diebus illis: Tentavit Deus Abraham… Collect 1: Deus, qui in Abrahae...; Prophecy 2: Exodus XIV: 24-31, XV: 1 (Holy Saturday 4th prophecy) In diebus illis: Factus est in vigilia matutina... This is followed immediately by the tract Cantemus Domino and then Collect 2: Deus, qui primis temporibus... Prophecy 3: Deuteronomy XXXI: 22 -30 (Holy Saturday 11th prophecy) In diebus illis: Scripsit Moyses canticum ... followed by the tract Attende, caelum then Collect 3: Deus, glorificatio fidelium...; Prophecy 4: Isaiah IV: 1 – 6 (Holy Saturday 8th prophecy) Apprehendent septem mulieres..., the tract Vinea facta est... and Collect 4: Omnipotens sempiterne Deus...; Prophecy 5: Baruch III: 9 – 38 (Holy Saturday 6th prophecy) Audi, Israel, mandata vitae... Collect 5: Deus, qui nobis...; and Prophecy 6: Ezechiel XXXVII: 1-14 (Holy Saturday 7th prophecy) In diebus illis: Facta est super me... and Collect 6: Domine, Deus virtutum...
During the sixth prophecy, if there is a font, the acolytes light their candles on the credence table. A server lights the Paschal Candle and then holds it near the credence. The celebrant goes to the sedilia and removes the chasuble and maniple and puts on a violet cope. The ministers remove their maniples. A procession is now formed. The Paschal Candle bearer leads followed by Crucifer between acolytes. The choir sings Sicut cervus as the procession heads to the Baptistery.
At the entrance to the Baptistery the collect Concede, quaesumus is sung (as opposed to Omnipotens sempiterne Deus that is sung on Holy Saturday). Everything then is done to bless the font as on Holy Saturday with the solemn blessing of the water and infusion with Chrism. The Paschal Candle is plunged three times into the waters of the font. Before the infusion with Chrism everyone in the church is aspersed, as on Holy Saturday, and the blessed water is reserved for use at the Vidi aquam tomorrow. Where there are catechumens the baptisms now take place. During the blessing of the font cushions are laid in the sanctuary for the celebrant and ministers to prostrate on when they return.
After the blessing of the font the procession reforms and returns to the sanctuary the Paschal Candle bearer leading it. Two cantors begin the Litany as the procession leaves the Baptistery. The petitions are doubled i.e. the cantors sing the petition and response entire and then it is repeated by the choir and people e.g. C: Pater de caelis Deus, miserere nobis; P: Pater de caelis Deus, miserere nobis.
When the procession enters the sanctuary the candle bearer takes the Paschal Candle back to the sacristy and extinguishes it. The Crucifer and acolytes go to the credence. The cantors kneel in the middle of the choir. The celebrant and ministers go to the sedilia and remove their vestments. They then prostrate on the cushions before the altar, all others kneel. After the invocation Peccatores the celebrant and ministers rise and return to the sacristy where they vest in red. Meanwhile servers remove the violet antependium etc and vest the altar for festal Mass. The altar candles are now lit. Where there is no font after the sixth prophecy the cushions are laid on the altar steps and the Litany follows.
As the choir sing Agnus Dei the procession returns to the sanctuary. Mass follows as usual except, like Holy Saturday, it has no introit. During the Gloria the bells are rung. There is only one collect. At the Gospel the acolytes do not carry candles. The Creed is not sung. The communicantes and Hanc igitur are of Pentecost. Unlike the Mass of Holy Saturday the Agnus Dei is sung, there is a communion verse and there is no interpolation of Vespers.
In the afternoon solemn first Vespers of Pentecost are sung. The antiphons Cum complerentur etc are sung, doubled, with psalms 109, 110, 111, 112 & 116. The Office hymn is Veni, Creator Spritus. The Doxlogy Deo Patri...Surrexit, ac Paraclito etc is sung at all hymns of Iambic metre during the entire Octave. At Vespers there are no commemorations and at Compline the Dominical preces are omitted.
In the 'liturgical books of 1962' the sacred ceremonies of the ancient Vigil of Pentecost have been excoriated. At Mattins the ferial psalms are used, there is but one nocturn of three lessons, the former third nocturn homily. At Lauds and the Hours the ferial psalms are sung. The prophecies, blessing of the font and Litany are all completely gone. The Vigil ceremonies were suppressed in churches where the, then optional, 1952 form of the Easter Vigil was introduced and then universally in 1956 with the New Order of Holy Week. As no one could argue that the time of the Pentecost Vigil was, putatively, wrong its reason for suppression was clearly lest it reminded the faithful of the traditional Ordo. Mass has the introit added (previously this was only used in private Masses). A commenter and friend noted several years' ago the irony of having a proper Hanc igitur which says "Wherefore we beseech Thee, O LORD, to graciously receive this oblation which we they servants... make to Thee... offering it up in a like manner with those also whom Thou hast been pleased to make to be born again of water and the Holy Ghost" when the ceremonies to which it refers have been excised from the 'ancient' Missal of the early 1960s.
Saturday, 7 June 2014
The Vigil of Pentecost
The Vigil of Pentecost is a semi-double Vigil of the first class. No feast may be celebrated on this day. The ancient ceremonies that take place before Mass are similar to those of Holy Saturday and are closely linked to the historical praxis of also conferring baptism at Pentecost. It is interesting this year that blogs such as Rorate are even advertising the celebration of the services associated with the day. They even have a link to a very useful Latin-English PDF of the rites of the day. Within the introductory text to the rite is a sentence referring to the aboltion of the Vigil: "In 1962 it was cut dramatically, yet the use of the full form was encouraged in 2009 by the Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship." The first part of the sentence is not correct. As we note below the ceremonies of the Vigil were suppressed in 1952 in those churches where the new 1952-1955 version of the Easter Vigil was celebrated. The ceremonies of the Vigil were suppressed entirely from 1956.
The liturgical colour of the Office is white. At Mattins the invitatory, hymn, antiphons and psalms are all as on the feast of the Ascension except the antiphons are not doubled. The lessons in the first nocturn are the Incipit of the Epistle of the Apostle Jude. In the second nocturn the lessons are from a discourse of St. Augustine to catechumens on the Creed - note the baptismal connection. In the third nocturn the lessons are taken from St. Augustine's tracts 74 & 75 on St. John's Gospel. The eighth responsory is of the Sunday within the Octave of the Ascension, Si enim etc. The Te Deum is sung.
At Lauds the antiphons Viri Galilaei etc are sung with the Sunday psalms (92, 99, 62, Benedicite & 148). The chapter, hymn antiphon on the Benedictus and collect are as on the Sunday within the Octave of the Ascension but the Octave is not commemorated.
On Saturday morning, before the Horae Minores, the altar is vested in festal red, then covered with both a violet and then white antependia. The altar candles are lit - unlike on Holy Saturday. At the Little Hours the hymns are sung with the Doxology of the Ascension, Jesu tibi sit gloria, Qui scandis super sidera etc, sung to Tone4. At Prime the antiphon Viri Galilaei is sung with psalms 53, 118i & 118ii. The first entry in the Martyrology is that of the great feast of Pentecost, Dies Pentecostes, quando Spiritus Sanctus Jerosolymis super discipulos igneis linguis advenit. At the other Hours the antiphons from Lauds are sung with the Dominical psalms. After None the candles are extinguished and the white antependium is removed.
The celebrant in violet chasuble, assisted where possible by deacon and subdeacon in violet folded chasubles, comes to the altar preceded by acolytes who do not bear candles. The celebrant kisses the altar at the centre and goes to the epistle corner. The celebrant begins reading, in a low voice, the first of six prophecies at the Epistle corner, the ministers stand as at the introit of Mass. Meanwhile a lector comes to a lectern in the middle of choir accompanied by the 2nd MC, reverences the altar and choir and then chants the first prophecy. The celebrant and ministers may sit after reading the prophecy returning to the altar as the lector finishes chanting the same. After the prophecy has been sung the celebrant sings Oremus, but unlike Holy Saturday without Flectamus genua and Levate as it is Paschaltide, and sings the first collect Deus, qui in Abrahae. The collects are proper to the Vigil and, again, are rich with baptismal references.
(The photographs are from the website of Saint Gertrude the Great church in Ohio, USA shewing their 2010 Pentecost Vigil. They were, I believe, the first photographs of the ceremonies of the Vigil of Pentecost to appear on the Web.)
Where resources permit the six prophecies are sung by lectors in ascending order of seniority but for most celebrations they will be sung by the same or by a couple of lectors. The prophecies and collects are:
Prophecy 1: Genesis XXII: 1- 19 (Holy Saturday 3rd prophecy) In diebus illis: Tentavit Deus Abraham… Collect 1: Deus, qui in Abrahae...; Prophecy 2: Exodus XIV: 24-31, XV: 1 (Holy Saturday 4th prophecy) In diebus illis: Factus est in vigilia matutina... This is followed immediately by the tract Cantemus Domino and then Collect 2: Deus, qui primis temporibus... Prophecy 3: Deuteronomy XXXI: 22 -30 (Holy Saturday 11th prophecy) In diebus illis: Scripsit Moyses canticum ... followed by the tract Attende, caelum then Collect 3: Deus, glorificatio fidelium...; Prophecy 4: Isaiah IV: 1 – 6 (Holy Saturday 8th prophecy) Apprehendent septem mulieres..., the tract Vinea facta est... and Collect 4: Omnipotens sempiterne Deus...; Prophecy 5: Baruch III: 9 – 38 (Holy Saturday 6th prophecy) Audi, Israel, mandata vitae... Collect 5: Deus, qui nobis...; and Prophecy 6: Ezechiel XXXVII: 1-14 (Holy Saturday 7th prophecy) In diebus illis: Facta est super me... and Collect 6: Domine, Deus virtutum...
During the sixth prophecy, if there is a font, the acolytes light their candles on the credence table. A server lights the Paschal Candle and then holds it near the credence. The celebrant goes to the sedilia and removes the chasuble and maniple and puts on a violet cope. The ministers remove their maniples. A procession is now formed. The Paschal Candle bearer leads followed by Crucifer between acolytes. The choir sings Sicut cervus as the procession heads to the Baptistery.
At the entrance to the Baptistery the collect Concede, quaesumus is sung (as opposed to Omnipotens sempiterne Deus that is sung on Holy Saturday). Everything then is done to bless the font as on Holy Saturday with the solemn blessing of the water and infusion with Chrism. The Paschal Candle is plunged three times into the waters of the font. Before the infusion with Chrism everyone in the church is aspersed, as on Holy Saturday, and the blessed water is reserved for use at the Vidi aquam tomorrow. Where there are catechumens the baptisms now take place. During the blessing of the font cushions are laid in the sanctuary for the celebrant and ministers to prostrate on when they return.
After the blessing of the font the procession reforms and returns to the sanctuary the Paschal Candle bearer leading it. Two cantors begin the Litany as the procession leaves the Baptistery. The petitions are doubled i.e. the cantors sing the petition and response entire and then it is repeated by the choir and people e.g. C: Pater de caelis Deus, miserere nobis; P: Pater de caelis Deus, miserere nobis.
When the procession enters the sanctuary the candle bearer takes the Paschal Candle back to the sacristy and extinguishes it. The Crucifer and acolytes go to the credence. The cantors kneel in the middle of the choir. The celebrant and ministers go to the sedilia and remove their vestments. They then prostrate on the cushions before the altar, all others kneel. After the invocation Peccatores the celebrant and ministers rise and return to the sacristy where they vest in red. Meanwhile servers remove the violet antependium etc and vest the altar for festal Mass. The altar candles are now lit. Where there is no font after the sixth prophecy the cushions are laid on the altar steps and the Litany follows.
As the choir sing Agnus Dei the procession returns to the sanctuary. Mass follows as usual except, like Holy Saturday, it has no introit. During the Gloria the bells are rung. There is only one collect. At the Gospel the acolytes do not carry candles. The Creed is not sung. The communicantes and Hanc igitur are of Pentecost. Unlike the Mass of Holy Saturday the Agnus Dei is sung, there is a communion verse and there is no interpolation of Vespers.
In the afternoon solemn first Vespers of Pentecost are sung.
In the 'liturgical books of 1962' the sacred ceremonies of the ancient Vigil of Pentecost have been excoriated. At Mattins the ferial psalms are used, there is but one nocturn of three lessons, the former third nocturn homily. At Lauds and the Hours the ferial psalms are sung. The prophecies, blessing of the font and Litany are all completely gone. The Vigil ceremonies were suppressed in churches where the, then optional, 1952 form of the Easter Vigil was introduced and then universally in 1956 with the New Order of Holy Week. As no one could argue that the time of the Pentecost Vigil was, putatively, wrong its reason for suppression was clearly lest it reminded the faithful of the traditional Ordo. Mass has the introit added (previously this was only used in private Masses). A commenter and friend noted a couple of years' ago the irony of having a proper Hanc igitur which says "Wherefore we beseech Thee, O LORD, to graciously receive this oblation which we they servants... make to Thee... offering it up in a like manner with those also whom Thou hast been pleased to make to be born again of water and the Holy Ghost" when the ceremonies to which it refers have been annihilated in the 'ancient' Missal of the 1960s. In the 'Ordinary Form' of the 1962 rite the Pentecost Vigil has been restored (in part at least but still without the blessing of the font) in the 2002 edition of the Roman Missal.
The liturgical colour of the Office is white. At Mattins the invitatory, hymn, antiphons and psalms are all as on the feast of the Ascension except the antiphons are not doubled. The lessons in the first nocturn are the Incipit of the Epistle of the Apostle Jude. In the second nocturn the lessons are from a discourse of St. Augustine to catechumens on the Creed - note the baptismal connection. In the third nocturn the lessons are taken from St. Augustine's tracts 74 & 75 on St. John's Gospel. The eighth responsory is of the Sunday within the Octave of the Ascension, Si enim etc. The Te Deum is sung.
At Lauds the antiphons Viri Galilaei etc are sung with the Sunday psalms (92, 99, 62, Benedicite & 148). The chapter, hymn antiphon on the Benedictus and collect are as on the Sunday within the Octave of the Ascension but the Octave is not commemorated.
On Saturday morning, before the Horae Minores, the altar is vested in festal red, then covered with both a violet and then white antependia. The altar candles are lit - unlike on Holy Saturday. At the Little Hours the hymns are sung with the Doxology of the Ascension, Jesu tibi sit gloria, Qui scandis super sidera etc, sung to Tone4. At Prime the antiphon Viri Galilaei is sung with psalms 53, 118i & 118ii. The first entry in the Martyrology is that of the great feast of Pentecost, Dies Pentecostes, quando Spiritus Sanctus Jerosolymis super discipulos igneis linguis advenit. At the other Hours the antiphons from Lauds are sung with the Dominical psalms. After None the candles are extinguished and the white antependium is removed.
The celebrant in violet chasuble, assisted where possible by deacon and subdeacon in violet folded chasubles, comes to the altar preceded by acolytes who do not bear candles. The celebrant kisses the altar at the centre and goes to the epistle corner. The celebrant begins reading, in a low voice, the first of six prophecies at the Epistle corner, the ministers stand as at the introit of Mass. Meanwhile a lector comes to a lectern in the middle of choir accompanied by the 2nd MC, reverences the altar and choir and then chants the first prophecy. The celebrant and ministers may sit after reading the prophecy returning to the altar as the lector finishes chanting the same. After the prophecy has been sung the celebrant sings Oremus, but unlike Holy Saturday without Flectamus genua and Levate as it is Paschaltide, and sings the first collect Deus, qui in Abrahae. The collects are proper to the Vigil and, again, are rich with baptismal references.
(The photographs are from the website of Saint Gertrude the Great church in Ohio, USA shewing their 2010 Pentecost Vigil. They were, I believe, the first photographs of the ceremonies of the Vigil of Pentecost to appear on the Web.)
Where resources permit the six prophecies are sung by lectors in ascending order of seniority but for most celebrations they will be sung by the same or by a couple of lectors. The prophecies and collects are:
Prophecy 1: Genesis XXII: 1- 19 (Holy Saturday 3rd prophecy) In diebus illis: Tentavit Deus Abraham… Collect 1: Deus, qui in Abrahae...; Prophecy 2: Exodus XIV: 24-31, XV: 1 (Holy Saturday 4th prophecy) In diebus illis: Factus est in vigilia matutina... This is followed immediately by the tract Cantemus Domino and then Collect 2: Deus, qui primis temporibus... Prophecy 3: Deuteronomy XXXI: 22 -30 (Holy Saturday 11th prophecy) In diebus illis: Scripsit Moyses canticum ... followed by the tract Attende, caelum then Collect 3: Deus, glorificatio fidelium...; Prophecy 4: Isaiah IV: 1 – 6 (Holy Saturday 8th prophecy) Apprehendent septem mulieres..., the tract Vinea facta est... and Collect 4: Omnipotens sempiterne Deus...; Prophecy 5: Baruch III: 9 – 38 (Holy Saturday 6th prophecy) Audi, Israel, mandata vitae... Collect 5: Deus, qui nobis...; and Prophecy 6: Ezechiel XXXVII: 1-14 (Holy Saturday 7th prophecy) In diebus illis: Facta est super me... and Collect 6: Domine, Deus virtutum...
During the sixth prophecy, if there is a font, the acolytes light their candles on the credence table. A server lights the Paschal Candle and then holds it near the credence. The celebrant goes to the sedilia and removes the chasuble and maniple and puts on a violet cope. The ministers remove their maniples. A procession is now formed. The Paschal Candle bearer leads followed by Crucifer between acolytes. The choir sings Sicut cervus as the procession heads to the Baptistery.
At the entrance to the Baptistery the collect Concede, quaesumus is sung (as opposed to Omnipotens sempiterne Deus that is sung on Holy Saturday). Everything then is done to bless the font as on Holy Saturday with the solemn blessing of the water and infusion with Chrism. The Paschal Candle is plunged three times into the waters of the font. Before the infusion with Chrism everyone in the church is aspersed, as on Holy Saturday, and the blessed water is reserved for use at the Vidi aquam tomorrow. Where there are catechumens the baptisms now take place. During the blessing of the font cushions are laid in the sanctuary for the celebrant and ministers to prostrate on when they return.
After the blessing of the font the procession reforms and returns to the sanctuary the Paschal Candle bearer leading it. Two cantors begin the Litany as the procession leaves the Baptistery. The petitions are doubled i.e. the cantors sing the petition and response entire and then it is repeated by the choir and people e.g. C: Pater de caelis Deus, miserere nobis; P: Pater de caelis Deus, miserere nobis.
When the procession enters the sanctuary the candle bearer takes the Paschal Candle back to the sacristy and extinguishes it. The Crucifer and acolytes go to the credence. The cantors kneel in the middle of the choir. The celebrant and ministers go to the sedilia and remove their vestments. They then prostrate on the cushions before the altar, all others kneel. After the invocation Peccatores the celebrant and ministers rise and return to the sacristy where they vest in red. Meanwhile servers remove the violet antependium etc and vest the altar for festal Mass. The altar candles are now lit. Where there is no font after the sixth prophecy the cushions are laid on the altar steps and the Litany follows.
As the choir sing Agnus Dei the procession returns to the sanctuary. Mass follows as usual except, like Holy Saturday, it has no introit. During the Gloria the bells are rung. There is only one collect. At the Gospel the acolytes do not carry candles. The Creed is not sung. The communicantes and Hanc igitur are of Pentecost. Unlike the Mass of Holy Saturday the Agnus Dei is sung, there is a communion verse and there is no interpolation of Vespers.
In the afternoon solemn first Vespers of Pentecost are sung.
In the 'liturgical books of 1962' the sacred ceremonies of the ancient Vigil of Pentecost have been excoriated. At Mattins the ferial psalms are used, there is but one nocturn of three lessons, the former third nocturn homily. At Lauds and the Hours the ferial psalms are sung. The prophecies, blessing of the font and Litany are all completely gone. The Vigil ceremonies were suppressed in churches where the, then optional, 1952 form of the Easter Vigil was introduced and then universally in 1956 with the New Order of Holy Week. As no one could argue that the time of the Pentecost Vigil was, putatively, wrong its reason for suppression was clearly lest it reminded the faithful of the traditional Ordo. Mass has the introit added (previously this was only used in private Masses). A commenter and friend noted a couple of years' ago the irony of having a proper Hanc igitur which says "Wherefore we beseech Thee, O LORD, to graciously receive this oblation which we they servants... make to Thee... offering it up in a like manner with those also whom Thou hast been pleased to make to be born again of water and the Holy Ghost" when the ceremonies to which it refers have been annihilated in the 'ancient' Missal of the 1960s. In the 'Ordinary Form' of the 1962 rite the Pentecost Vigil has been restored (in part at least but still without the blessing of the font) in the 2002 edition of the Roman Missal.
Saturday, 18 May 2013
The Pentecost Vigil - Sabbato in Vigilia Pentecostes
The Vigil of Pentecost is a semi-double Vigil of the first class. No feast may be celebrated on this day. The ceremonies that take place before Mass are similar to those of Holy Saturday and are closely linked to the historical praxis of also conferring baptism at Pentecost.
The liturgical colour of the Office is white. At Mattins the invitatory, hymn, antiphons and psalms are all as on the feast of the Ascension except the antiphons are not doubled. The lessons in the first nocturn are the Incipit of the Epistle of the Apostle Jude. In the second nocturn the lessons are from a discourse of St. Augustine to catechumens on the Creed - note the baptismal connection. In the third nocturn the lessons are taken from St. Augustine's tracts 74 & 75 on St. John's Gospel. The eighth responsory is of the Sunday within the Octave of the Ascension, Si enim etc. The Te Deum is sung.
At Lauds the antiphons Viri Galilaei etc are sung with the Sunday psalms (92, 99, 62, Benedicite & 148). The chapter, hymn antiphon on the Benedictus and collect are as on the Sunday within the Octave of the Ascension but the Octave is not commemorated. After the collect of the day a commemoration is sung of St. Venantius.
On Saturday morning, before the Horae Minores, the altar is vested in festal red, then covered with both a violet and then white antependia. The altar candles are lit. At the Little Hours the hymns are sung with the Doxology of the Ascension, Jesu tibi sit gloria, Qui scandis super sidera etc, sung to Tone4. At Prime the antiphon Viri Galilaei is sung with psalms 53, 118i & 118ii. The first entry in the Martyrology is that of the great feast of Pentecost, Dies Pentecostes, quando Spiritus Sanctus Jerosolymis super discipulos igneis linguis advenit. At the other Hours the antiphons from Lauds are sung with the Dominical psalms. After None the candles are extinguished and the white antependium is removed.
The celebrant in violet chasuble, assisted where possible by deacon and subdeacon in violet folded chasubles, comes to the altar preceded by acolytes who do not bear candles. The celebrant kisses the altar at the centre and goes to the epistle corner. The celebrant begins reading, in a low voice, the first of six prophecies at the Epistle corner, the ministers stand as at the introit of Mass. Meanwhile a lector comes to a lectern in the middle of choir accompanied by the 2nd MC, reverences the altar and choir and then chants the first prophecy. The celebrant and ministers may sit after reading the prophecy returning to the altar as the lector finishes chanting the same. After the prophecy has been sung the celebrant sings Oremus, but unlike Holy Saturday without Flectamus genua and Levate as it is Paschaltide, and sings the first collect Deus, qui in Abrahae. The collects are proper to the Vigil and, again, are rich with baptismal references.
(The photographs are from the website of Saint Gertrude the Great church in Ohio, USA shewing their 2010 Pentecost Vigil. They were, I believe, the first photographs of the ceremonies of the Vigil of Pentecost to appear on the Web.)
Where resources permit the six prophecies are sung by lectors in ascending order of seniority but for most celebrations they will be sung by the same or by a couple of lectors. The prophecies and collects are:
Prophecy 1: Genesis XXII: 1- 19 (Holy Saturday 3rd prophecy) In diebus illis: Tentavit Deus Abraham… Collect 1: Deus, qui in Abrahae...; Prophecy 2: Exodus XIV: 24-31, XV: 1 (Holy Saturday 4th prophecy) In diebus illis: Factus est in vigilia matutina... This is followed immediately by the tract Cantemus Domino and then Collect 2: Deus, qui primis temporibus... Prophecy 3: Deuteronomy XXXI: 22 -30 (Holy Saturday 11th prophecy) In diebus illis: Scripsit Moyses canticum ... followed by the tract Attende, caelum then Collect 3: Deus, glorificatio fidelium...; Prophecy 4: Isaiah IV: 1 – 6 (Holy Saturday 8th prophecy) Apprehendent septem mulieres..., the tract Vinea facta est... and Collect 4: Omnipotens sempiterne Deus...; Prophecy 5: Baruch III: 9 – 38 (Holy Saturday 6th prophecy) Audi, Israel, mandata vitae... Collect 5: Deus, qui nobis...; and Prophecy 6: Ezechiel XXXVII: 1-14 (Holy Saturday 7th prophecy) In diebus illis: Facta est super me... and Collect 6: Domine, Deus virtutum...
During the sixth prophecy, if there is a font, the acolytes light their candles on the credence table. A server lights the Paschal Candle and then holds it near the credence. The celebrant goes to the sedilia and removes the chasuble and maniple and puts on a violet cope. The ministers remove their maniples. A procession is now formed. The Paschal Candle bearer leads followed by Crucifer between acolytes. The choir sings Sicut cervus as the procession heads to the Baptistery.
At the entrance to the Baptistery the collect Concede, quaesumus is sung (as opposed to Omnipotens sempiterne Deus that is sung on Holy Saturday). Everything then is done to bless the font as on Holy Saturday with the solemn blessing of the water and infusion with Chrism. The Paschal Candle is plunged three times into the waters of the font. Before the infusion with Chrism everyone in the church is aspersed, as on Holy Saturday, and the blessed water is reserved for use at the Vidi aquam tomorrow. Where there are catechumens the baptisms now take place. During the blessing of the font cushions are laid in the sanctuary for the celebrant and ministers to prostrate on when they return.
After the blessing of the font the procession reforms and returns to the sanctuary the Paschal Candle bearer leading it. Two cantors begin the Litany as the procession leaves the Baptistery. The petitions are doubled i.e. the cantors sing the petition and response entire and then it is repeated by the choir and people e.g. C: Pater de caelis Deus, miserere nobis; P: Pater de caelis Deus, miserere nobis.
When the procession enters the sanctuary the candle bearer takes the Paschal Candle back to the sacristy and extinguishes it. The Crucifer and acolytes go to the credence. The cantors kneel in the middle of the choir. The celebrant and ministers go to the sedilia and remove their vestments. They then prostrate on the cushions before the altar, all others kneel. After the invocation Peccatores the celebrant and ministers rise and return to the sacristy where they vest in red. Meanwhile servers remove the violet antependium etc and vest the altar for festal Mass. The altar candles are now lit. Where there is no font after the sixth prophecy the cushions are laid on the altar steps and the Litany follows.
As the choir sing Agnus Dei the procession returns to the sanctuary. Mass follows as usual except, like Holy Saturday, it has no introit. During the Gloria the bells are rung. There is only one collect. At the Gospel the acolytes do not carry candles. The Creed is not sung. The communicantes and Hanc igitur are of Pentecost. Unlike the Mass of Holy Saturday the Agnus Dei is sung, there is a communion verse and there is no interpolation of Vespers.
In the afternoon solemn first Vespers of Pentecost are sung.
In the 'liturgical books of 1962' the sacred ceremonies of the ancient Vigil of Pentecost have been excoriated. At Mattins the ferial psalms are used, there is but one nocturn of three lessons, the former third nocturn homily. At Lauds and the Hours the ferial psalms are sung. The prophecies, blessing of the font and Litany are all completely gone. The Vigil ceremonies were suppressed in churches where the, then optional, 1952 form of the Easter Vigil was introduced and then universally in 1956 with the New Order of Holy Week. As no one could argue that the time of the Pentecost Vigil was, putatively, wrong its reason for suppression was clearly lest it reminded the faithful of the traditional Ordo. Mass has the introit added (previously this was only used in private Masses). A commenter and friend noted a couple of years' ago the irony of having a proper Hanc igitur which says "Wherefore we beseech Thee, O LORD, to graciously receive this oblation which we they servants... make to Thee... offering it up in a like manner with those also whom Thou hast been pleased to make to be born again of water and the Holy Ghost" when the ceremonies to which it refers have been annihilated in the 'ancient' Missal of the 1960s. In the 'Ordinary Form' of the 1962 rite the Pentecost Vigil has been restored (in part at least but still without the blessing of the font) in the 2002 edition of the Roman Missal.
The liturgical colour of the Office is white. At Mattins the invitatory, hymn, antiphons and psalms are all as on the feast of the Ascension except the antiphons are not doubled. The lessons in the first nocturn are the Incipit of the Epistle of the Apostle Jude. In the second nocturn the lessons are from a discourse of St. Augustine to catechumens on the Creed - note the baptismal connection. In the third nocturn the lessons are taken from St. Augustine's tracts 74 & 75 on St. John's Gospel. The eighth responsory is of the Sunday within the Octave of the Ascension, Si enim etc. The Te Deum is sung.
At Lauds the antiphons Viri Galilaei etc are sung with the Sunday psalms (92, 99, 62, Benedicite & 148). The chapter, hymn antiphon on the Benedictus and collect are as on the Sunday within the Octave of the Ascension but the Octave is not commemorated. After the collect of the day a commemoration is sung of St. Venantius.
On Saturday morning, before the Horae Minores, the altar is vested in festal red, then covered with both a violet and then white antependia. The altar candles are lit. At the Little Hours the hymns are sung with the Doxology of the Ascension, Jesu tibi sit gloria, Qui scandis super sidera etc, sung to Tone4. At Prime the antiphon Viri Galilaei is sung with psalms 53, 118i & 118ii. The first entry in the Martyrology is that of the great feast of Pentecost, Dies Pentecostes, quando Spiritus Sanctus Jerosolymis super discipulos igneis linguis advenit. At the other Hours the antiphons from Lauds are sung with the Dominical psalms. After None the candles are extinguished and the white antependium is removed.
The celebrant in violet chasuble, assisted where possible by deacon and subdeacon in violet folded chasubles, comes to the altar preceded by acolytes who do not bear candles. The celebrant kisses the altar at the centre and goes to the epistle corner. The celebrant begins reading, in a low voice, the first of six prophecies at the Epistle corner, the ministers stand as at the introit of Mass. Meanwhile a lector comes to a lectern in the middle of choir accompanied by the 2nd MC, reverences the altar and choir and then chants the first prophecy. The celebrant and ministers may sit after reading the prophecy returning to the altar as the lector finishes chanting the same. After the prophecy has been sung the celebrant sings Oremus, but unlike Holy Saturday without Flectamus genua and Levate as it is Paschaltide, and sings the first collect Deus, qui in Abrahae. The collects are proper to the Vigil and, again, are rich with baptismal references.
(The photographs are from the website of Saint Gertrude the Great church in Ohio, USA shewing their 2010 Pentecost Vigil. They were, I believe, the first photographs of the ceremonies of the Vigil of Pentecost to appear on the Web.)
Where resources permit the six prophecies are sung by lectors in ascending order of seniority but for most celebrations they will be sung by the same or by a couple of lectors. The prophecies and collects are:
Prophecy 1: Genesis XXII: 1- 19 (Holy Saturday 3rd prophecy) In diebus illis: Tentavit Deus Abraham… Collect 1: Deus, qui in Abrahae...; Prophecy 2: Exodus XIV: 24-31, XV: 1 (Holy Saturday 4th prophecy) In diebus illis: Factus est in vigilia matutina... This is followed immediately by the tract Cantemus Domino and then Collect 2: Deus, qui primis temporibus... Prophecy 3: Deuteronomy XXXI: 22 -30 (Holy Saturday 11th prophecy) In diebus illis: Scripsit Moyses canticum ... followed by the tract Attende, caelum then Collect 3: Deus, glorificatio fidelium...; Prophecy 4: Isaiah IV: 1 – 6 (Holy Saturday 8th prophecy) Apprehendent septem mulieres..., the tract Vinea facta est... and Collect 4: Omnipotens sempiterne Deus...; Prophecy 5: Baruch III: 9 – 38 (Holy Saturday 6th prophecy) Audi, Israel, mandata vitae... Collect 5: Deus, qui nobis...; and Prophecy 6: Ezechiel XXXVII: 1-14 (Holy Saturday 7th prophecy) In diebus illis: Facta est super me... and Collect 6: Domine, Deus virtutum...
During the sixth prophecy, if there is a font, the acolytes light their candles on the credence table. A server lights the Paschal Candle and then holds it near the credence. The celebrant goes to the sedilia and removes the chasuble and maniple and puts on a violet cope. The ministers remove their maniples. A procession is now formed. The Paschal Candle bearer leads followed by Crucifer between acolytes. The choir sings Sicut cervus as the procession heads to the Baptistery.
At the entrance to the Baptistery the collect Concede, quaesumus is sung (as opposed to Omnipotens sempiterne Deus that is sung on Holy Saturday). Everything then is done to bless the font as on Holy Saturday with the solemn blessing of the water and infusion with Chrism. The Paschal Candle is plunged three times into the waters of the font. Before the infusion with Chrism everyone in the church is aspersed, as on Holy Saturday, and the blessed water is reserved for use at the Vidi aquam tomorrow. Where there are catechumens the baptisms now take place. During the blessing of the font cushions are laid in the sanctuary for the celebrant and ministers to prostrate on when they return.
After the blessing of the font the procession reforms and returns to the sanctuary the Paschal Candle bearer leading it. Two cantors begin the Litany as the procession leaves the Baptistery. The petitions are doubled i.e. the cantors sing the petition and response entire and then it is repeated by the choir and people e.g. C: Pater de caelis Deus, miserere nobis; P: Pater de caelis Deus, miserere nobis.
When the procession enters the sanctuary the candle bearer takes the Paschal Candle back to the sacristy and extinguishes it. The Crucifer and acolytes go to the credence. The cantors kneel in the middle of the choir. The celebrant and ministers go to the sedilia and remove their vestments. They then prostrate on the cushions before the altar, all others kneel. After the invocation Peccatores the celebrant and ministers rise and return to the sacristy where they vest in red. Meanwhile servers remove the violet antependium etc and vest the altar for festal Mass. The altar candles are now lit. Where there is no font after the sixth prophecy the cushions are laid on the altar steps and the Litany follows.
As the choir sing Agnus Dei the procession returns to the sanctuary. Mass follows as usual except, like Holy Saturday, it has no introit. During the Gloria the bells are rung. There is only one collect. At the Gospel the acolytes do not carry candles. The Creed is not sung. The communicantes and Hanc igitur are of Pentecost. Unlike the Mass of Holy Saturday the Agnus Dei is sung, there is a communion verse and there is no interpolation of Vespers.
In the afternoon solemn first Vespers of Pentecost are sung.
In the 'liturgical books of 1962' the sacred ceremonies of the ancient Vigil of Pentecost have been excoriated. At Mattins the ferial psalms are used, there is but one nocturn of three lessons, the former third nocturn homily. At Lauds and the Hours the ferial psalms are sung. The prophecies, blessing of the font and Litany are all completely gone. The Vigil ceremonies were suppressed in churches where the, then optional, 1952 form of the Easter Vigil was introduced and then universally in 1956 with the New Order of Holy Week. As no one could argue that the time of the Pentecost Vigil was, putatively, wrong its reason for suppression was clearly lest it reminded the faithful of the traditional Ordo. Mass has the introit added (previously this was only used in private Masses). A commenter and friend noted a couple of years' ago the irony of having a proper Hanc igitur which says "Wherefore we beseech Thee, O LORD, to graciously receive this oblation which we they servants... make to Thee... offering it up in a like manner with those also whom Thou hast been pleased to make to be born again of water and the Holy Ghost" when the ceremonies to which it refers have been annihilated in the 'ancient' Missal of the 1960s. In the 'Ordinary Form' of the 1962 rite the Pentecost Vigil has been restored (in part at least but still without the blessing of the font) in the 2002 edition of the Roman Missal.
Saturday, 26 May 2012
Sabbato in Vigilia Pentecostes - The Pentecost Vigil
The Vigil of Pentecost is a semi-double Vigil of the first class. No feast may be celebrated on this day. The ceremonies that take place before Mass are similar to those of Holy Saturday and are closely linked to the historical praxis of conferring baptism at Pentecost.
The liturgical colour of the Office is white. At Mattins the invitatory, hymn, antiphons and psalms are all as on the feast of the Ascension except the antiphons are not doubled. The lessons in the first nocturn are the Incipit of the Epistle of the Apostle Jude. In the second nocturn the lessons are from a discourse of St. Augustine to catechumens on the Creed - note the baptismal connection. In the third nocturn the lessons are taken from St. Augustine's tracts 74 & 75 on St. John's Gospel. The eighth responsory is of the Sunday within the Octave of the Ascension, Si enim etc. The Te Deum is sung.
At Lauds the antiphons Viri Galilaei etc are sung with the Sunday psalms (92, 99, 62, Benedicite & 148). The chapter, hymn antiphon on the Benedictus and collect are as on the Sunday within the Octave of the Ascension but the Octave is not commemorated. Commemorations are sung of St. Philip Neri and St. Eleutherius.
On Saturday morning, before the Horae Minores, the altar is vested in festal red, then covered with violet and then white antependia. The altar candles are lit. At the Little Hours the hymns are sung with the Doxology of the Ascension, Jesu tibi sit gloria, Qui scandis super sidera etc, sung to Tone4. At Prime the antiphon Viri Galilaei is sung with psalms 53, 118i & 118ii. The first entry in the Martyrology is that of the great feast of Pentecost, Dies Pentecostes, quando Spiritus Sanctus Jerosolymis super discipulos igneis linguis advenit. At the other Hours the antiphons from Lauds are sung with the Dominical psalms. After None the candles are extinguished and the white antependium is removed.
The celebrant in violet chasuble, assisted where possible by deacon and subdeacon in violet folded chasubles, comes to the altar preceded by acolytes who do not bear candles. The celebrant kisses the altar at the centre and goes to the epistle corner. The celebrant begins reading, in a low voice, the first of six prophecies at the Epistle corner, the ministers stand as at the introit of Mass. Meanwhile a lector comes to a lectern in the middle of choir accompanied by the 2nd MC, reverences the altar and choir and then chants the first prophecy. The celebrant and ministers may sit after reading the prophecy returning to the altar as the lector finishes chanting the same. After the prophecy has been sung the celebrant sings Oremus, but unlike Holy Saturday without Flectamus genua and Levate as it is Paschaltide, and sings the first collect Deus, qui in Abrahae. The collects are proper to the Vigil and, again, are rich with baptismal references.
(The photographs are from the website of Saint Gertrude the Great church in Ohio, USA shewing their 2010 Pentecost Vigil. They were, I believe, the first photographs of the ceremonies of the Vigil of Pentecost to appear on the Web.)
Where resources permit the six prophecies are sung by lectors in ascending order of seniority but for most celebrations they will be sung by the same or by a couple of lectors. The prophecies and collects are:
Prophecy 1: Genesis XXII: 1- 19 (Holy Saturday 3rd prophecy) In diebus illis: Tentavit Deus Abraham… Collect 1: Deus, qui in Abrahae...; Prophecy 2: Exodus XIV: 24-31, XV: 1 (Holy Saturday 4th prophecy) In diebus illis: Factus est in vigilia matutina... This is followed immediately by the tract Cantemus Domino and then Collect 2: Deus, qui primis temporibus... Prophecy 3: Deuteronomy XXXI: 22 -30 (Holy Saturday 11th prophecy) In diebus illis: Scripsit Moyses canticum ... followed by the tract Attende, caelum then Collect 3: Deus, glorificatio fidelium...; Prophecy 4: Isaiah IV: 1 – 6 (Holy Saturday 8th prophecy) Apprehendent septem mulieres..., the tract Vinea facta est... and Collect 4: Omnipotens sempiterne Deus...; Prophecy 5: Baruch III: 9 – 38 (Holy Saturday 6th prophecy) Audi, Israel, mandata vitae... Collect 5: Deus, qui nobis...; and Prophecy 6: Ezechiel XXXVII: 1-14 (Holy Saturday 7th prophecy) In diebus illis: Facta est super me... and Collect 6: Domine, Deus virtutum...
During the sixth prophecy, if there is a font, the acolytes light their candles on the credence table. A server lights the Paschal Candle and then holds it near the credence. The celebrant goes to the sedilia and removes the chasuble and maniple and puts on a violet cope. The ministers remove their maniples. A procession is now formed. The Paschal Candle bearer leads followed by Crucifer between acolytes. The choir sings Sicut cervus as the procession heads to the Baptistery.
At the entrance to the Baptistery the collect Concede, quaesumus is sung (as opposed to Omnipotens sempiterne Deus that is sung on Holy Saturday). Everything then is done to bless the font as on Holy Saturday with the solemn blessing of the water and infusion with Chrism. The Paschal Candle is plunged three times into the waters of the font. Before the infusion with Chrism everyone in the church is aspersed, as on Holy Saturday, and the blessed water is reserved for use at the Vidi aquam tomorrow. Where there are catechumens the baptisms now take place. During the blessing of the font cushions are laid in the sanctuary for the celebrant and ministers to prostrate on when they return.
After the blessing of the font the procession reforms and returns to the sanctuary the Paschal Candle bearer leading it. Two cantors begin the Litany as the procession leaves the Baptistery. The petitions are doubled i.e. the cantors sing the petition and response entire and then it is repeated by the choir and people e.g. C: Pater de caelis Deus, miserere nobis; P: Pater de caelis Deus, miserere nobis.
When the procession enters the sanctuary the candle bearer takes the Paschal Candle back to the sacristy and extinguishes it. The Crucifer and acolytes go to the credence. The cantors kneel in the middle of the choir. The celebrant and ministers go to the sedilia and remove their vestments. They then prostrate on the cushions before the altar, all others kneel. After the invocation Peccatores the celebrant and ministers rise and return to the sacristy where they vest in red. Meanwhile servers remove the violet antependium etc and vest the altar for festal Mass. The altar candles are now lit. Where there is no font after the sixth prophecy the cushions are laid on the altar steps and the Litany follows.
As the choir sing Agnus Dei the procession returns to the sanctuary. Mass follows as usual except, like Holy Saturday, it has no introit. During the Gloria the bells are rung. There is only one collect. At the Gospel the acolytes do not carry candles. The Creed is not sung. The communicantes and Hanc igitur are of Pentecost. Unlike the Mass of Holy Saturday the Agnus Dei is sung, there is a communion verse and there is no interpolation of Vespers.
In the afternoon solemn first Vespers of Pentecost are sung.
In the 'liturgical books of 1962' the sacred ceremonies of the Vigil of Pentecost has been excoriated. At Mattins the ferial psalms are used, there is but one nocturn of three lessons, the former third nocturn homily. At Lauds and the Hours the ferial psalms are sung. The prophecies, blessing of the font and Litany are all completely gone. The Vigil ceremonies were supressed in churches where the, then optional, 1952 form of the Easter Vigil was introduced and then universally in 1956 with the New Order of Holy Week. As no one could argue that the time of the Pentecost Vigil were putatively wrong its reason for suppression was clearly lest it reminded the faithful of the traditional Ordo. Mass has the introit added (previously this was only used in private Masses). A commenter and friend noted last year the irony of having a proper Hanc igitur which says "Wherefore we beseech Thee, O LORD, to graciously receive this oblation which we they servants... make to Thee... offering it up in a like manner with those also whom Thou hast been pleased to make to be born again of water and the Holy Ghost" when the ceremonies to which it refers have been nnihilated in the 'ancient' Missal of the 1960s. In the 'Ordinary Form' of the 1962 rite the Pentecost Vigil has been restored (in part at least but still without the blessing of the font) in the 2002 edition of the Roman Missal. English texts of the restored Vigil can be found here on the interesting 'Pray Tell' blog. Clearly, far from perfect but a 100% improvement on the horrors of the 'Extraordinary Form'.
The liturgical colour of the Office is white. At Mattins the invitatory, hymn, antiphons and psalms are all as on the feast of the Ascension except the antiphons are not doubled. The lessons in the first nocturn are the Incipit of the Epistle of the Apostle Jude. In the second nocturn the lessons are from a discourse of St. Augustine to catechumens on the Creed - note the baptismal connection. In the third nocturn the lessons are taken from St. Augustine's tracts 74 & 75 on St. John's Gospel. The eighth responsory is of the Sunday within the Octave of the Ascension, Si enim etc. The Te Deum is sung.
At Lauds the antiphons Viri Galilaei etc are sung with the Sunday psalms (92, 99, 62, Benedicite & 148). The chapter, hymn antiphon on the Benedictus and collect are as on the Sunday within the Octave of the Ascension but the Octave is not commemorated. Commemorations are sung of St. Philip Neri and St. Eleutherius.
On Saturday morning, before the Horae Minores, the altar is vested in festal red, then covered with violet and then white antependia. The altar candles are lit. At the Little Hours the hymns are sung with the Doxology of the Ascension, Jesu tibi sit gloria, Qui scandis super sidera etc, sung to Tone4. At Prime the antiphon Viri Galilaei is sung with psalms 53, 118i & 118ii. The first entry in the Martyrology is that of the great feast of Pentecost, Dies Pentecostes, quando Spiritus Sanctus Jerosolymis super discipulos igneis linguis advenit. At the other Hours the antiphons from Lauds are sung with the Dominical psalms. After None the candles are extinguished and the white antependium is removed.
The celebrant in violet chasuble, assisted where possible by deacon and subdeacon in violet folded chasubles, comes to the altar preceded by acolytes who do not bear candles. The celebrant kisses the altar at the centre and goes to the epistle corner. The celebrant begins reading, in a low voice, the first of six prophecies at the Epistle corner, the ministers stand as at the introit of Mass. Meanwhile a lector comes to a lectern in the middle of choir accompanied by the 2nd MC, reverences the altar and choir and then chants the first prophecy. The celebrant and ministers may sit after reading the prophecy returning to the altar as the lector finishes chanting the same. After the prophecy has been sung the celebrant sings Oremus, but unlike Holy Saturday without Flectamus genua and Levate as it is Paschaltide, and sings the first collect Deus, qui in Abrahae. The collects are proper to the Vigil and, again, are rich with baptismal references.
(The photographs are from the website of Saint Gertrude the Great church in Ohio, USA shewing their 2010 Pentecost Vigil. They were, I believe, the first photographs of the ceremonies of the Vigil of Pentecost to appear on the Web.)
Where resources permit the six prophecies are sung by lectors in ascending order of seniority but for most celebrations they will be sung by the same or by a couple of lectors. The prophecies and collects are:
Prophecy 1: Genesis XXII: 1- 19 (Holy Saturday 3rd prophecy) In diebus illis: Tentavit Deus Abraham… Collect 1: Deus, qui in Abrahae...; Prophecy 2: Exodus XIV: 24-31, XV: 1 (Holy Saturday 4th prophecy) In diebus illis: Factus est in vigilia matutina... This is followed immediately by the tract Cantemus Domino and then Collect 2: Deus, qui primis temporibus... Prophecy 3: Deuteronomy XXXI: 22 -30 (Holy Saturday 11th prophecy) In diebus illis: Scripsit Moyses canticum ... followed by the tract Attende, caelum then Collect 3: Deus, glorificatio fidelium...; Prophecy 4: Isaiah IV: 1 – 6 (Holy Saturday 8th prophecy) Apprehendent septem mulieres..., the tract Vinea facta est... and Collect 4: Omnipotens sempiterne Deus...; Prophecy 5: Baruch III: 9 – 38 (Holy Saturday 6th prophecy) Audi, Israel, mandata vitae... Collect 5: Deus, qui nobis...; and Prophecy 6: Ezechiel XXXVII: 1-14 (Holy Saturday 7th prophecy) In diebus illis: Facta est super me... and Collect 6: Domine, Deus virtutum...
During the sixth prophecy, if there is a font, the acolytes light their candles on the credence table. A server lights the Paschal Candle and then holds it near the credence. The celebrant goes to the sedilia and removes the chasuble and maniple and puts on a violet cope. The ministers remove their maniples. A procession is now formed. The Paschal Candle bearer leads followed by Crucifer between acolytes. The choir sings Sicut cervus as the procession heads to the Baptistery.
At the entrance to the Baptistery the collect Concede, quaesumus is sung (as opposed to Omnipotens sempiterne Deus that is sung on Holy Saturday). Everything then is done to bless the font as on Holy Saturday with the solemn blessing of the water and infusion with Chrism. The Paschal Candle is plunged three times into the waters of the font. Before the infusion with Chrism everyone in the church is aspersed, as on Holy Saturday, and the blessed water is reserved for use at the Vidi aquam tomorrow. Where there are catechumens the baptisms now take place. During the blessing of the font cushions are laid in the sanctuary for the celebrant and ministers to prostrate on when they return.
After the blessing of the font the procession reforms and returns to the sanctuary the Paschal Candle bearer leading it. Two cantors begin the Litany as the procession leaves the Baptistery. The petitions are doubled i.e. the cantors sing the petition and response entire and then it is repeated by the choir and people e.g. C: Pater de caelis Deus, miserere nobis; P: Pater de caelis Deus, miserere nobis.
When the procession enters the sanctuary the candle bearer takes the Paschal Candle back to the sacristy and extinguishes it. The Crucifer and acolytes go to the credence. The cantors kneel in the middle of the choir. The celebrant and ministers go to the sedilia and remove their vestments. They then prostrate on the cushions before the altar, all others kneel. After the invocation Peccatores the celebrant and ministers rise and return to the sacristy where they vest in red. Meanwhile servers remove the violet antependium etc and vest the altar for festal Mass. The altar candles are now lit. Where there is no font after the sixth prophecy the cushions are laid on the altar steps and the Litany follows.
As the choir sing Agnus Dei the procession returns to the sanctuary. Mass follows as usual except, like Holy Saturday, it has no introit. During the Gloria the bells are rung. There is only one collect. At the Gospel the acolytes do not carry candles. The Creed is not sung. The communicantes and Hanc igitur are of Pentecost. Unlike the Mass of Holy Saturday the Agnus Dei is sung, there is a communion verse and there is no interpolation of Vespers.
In the afternoon solemn first Vespers of Pentecost are sung.
In the 'liturgical books of 1962' the sacred ceremonies of the Vigil of Pentecost has been excoriated. At Mattins the ferial psalms are used, there is but one nocturn of three lessons, the former third nocturn homily. At Lauds and the Hours the ferial psalms are sung. The prophecies, blessing of the font and Litany are all completely gone. The Vigil ceremonies were supressed in churches where the, then optional, 1952 form of the Easter Vigil was introduced and then universally in 1956 with the New Order of Holy Week. As no one could argue that the time of the Pentecost Vigil were putatively wrong its reason for suppression was clearly lest it reminded the faithful of the traditional Ordo. Mass has the introit added (previously this was only used in private Masses). A commenter and friend noted last year the irony of having a proper Hanc igitur which says "Wherefore we beseech Thee, O LORD, to graciously receive this oblation which we they servants... make to Thee... offering it up in a like manner with those also whom Thou hast been pleased to make to be born again of water and the Holy Ghost" when the ceremonies to which it refers have been nnihilated in the 'ancient' Missal of the 1960s. In the 'Ordinary Form' of the 1962 rite the Pentecost Vigil has been restored (in part at least but still without the blessing of the font) in the 2002 edition of the Roman Missal. English texts of the restored Vigil can be found here on the interesting 'Pray Tell' blog. Clearly, far from perfect but a 100% improvement on the horrors of the 'Extraordinary Form'.
Saturday, 11 June 2011
Sabbato in Vigilia Pentecostes
The Vigil of Pentecost is a semidouble Vigil of the first class. The ceremonies that take place before Mass today are similar to those of Holy Saturday and are closely linked to the historical praxis of conferring baptism at Pentecost.
The liturgical colour of the Office is white. At Mattins the invitatory, hymn, psalms and antiphons are all from the feast of the Ascension. The lessons in the first nocturn are the Incipit of the Apostle Jude. In the second nocturn the lessons are from a discourse of St. Augustine to catechumens on the Creed - note the baptismal connection - and in the third nocturn the lessons ar taken from St. Augustine's tracts 74 & 75 on St. John's Gospel. The eighth responsory is of the Sunday, Si enim etc. At Lauds the antiphons Viri Galilaei etc are sung with the Sunday psalms (92, 99, 62, Benedicite & 148). The chapter, hymn antiphon on the Benedictus and collect are as on the Sunday within the Octave of the Ascension but the Octave is not commemorated. A commemoration is sung of St. Barnabas the Apostle.
Before the Horae Minores the altar is vested in festal red, then covered with violet and then white antependia. The altar candles are lit. At the Little Hours the hymns are sung with the Doxology of the Ascension, Jesu tibi sit gloria, Qui scandis super sidera etc, sung to Tone4. At Prime the antiphon Viri Galilaei is sung with psalms 53, 118i & 118ii. The first entry in the Martyrology is that of the great feast of Pentecost, Dies Pentecostes, quando Spiritus Sanctus Jerosolymis super discipulos igneis linguis advenit. At the other Hours the antiphons from Lauds are sung with the Dominical psalms. After None the candles are extinguished and the white antependium is removed.
The celebrant in violet chasuble, assisted where possible by deacon and subdeacon in violet folded chasubles comes to the altar preceded by acolytes without candles. The celebrant kisses the altar at the centre and goes to the epistle corner. The celebrant begins reading, in a low voice, the first of six prophecies at the Epistle corner, the ministers stand as at the introit of Mass. Meanwhile a lector comes to a lectern in the middle of choir accompanied by the 2nd MC, reverences the altar and choir and then chants the first prophecy. The celebrant and ministers may sit after reading the prophecy returning to the altar as the lector finishes chanting the same. After the prophecy has been sung the celebrant sings Oremus, but unlike Holy Saturday without Flectamus genua and Levate, and sings the first collect Deus, qui in Abrahae. The collects are proper to the Vigil and, again, are rich with baptismal references.
Where resources permit the six prophecies are sung by lectors in ascending order of seniority but for most celebrations they will be sung by the same or by a couple of lectors. The prophecies and collects are:
Prophecy 1: Genesis XXII: 1- 19 (Holy Saturday 3rd prophecy) In diebus illis: Tentavit Deus Abraham… Collect 1: Deus, qui in Abrahae...; Prophecy 2: Exodus XIV: 24-31, XV: 1 (Holy Saturday 4th prophecy) In diebus illis: Factus est in vigilia matutina... This is followed immediately by the tract Cantemus Domino and then Collect 2: Deus, qui primis temporibus... Prophecy 3: Deuteronomy XXXI: 22 -30 (Holy Saturday 11th prophecy) In diebus illis: Scripsit Moyses canticum ... followed by the tract Attende, caelum then Collect 3: Deus, glorificatio fidelium...; Prophecy 4: Isaiah IV: 1 – 6 (Holy Saturday 8th prophecy) Apprehendent septem mulieres..., the tract Vinea facta est... and Collect 4: Omnipotens sempiterne Deus...; Prophecy 5: Baruch III: 9 – 38 (Holy Saturday 6th prophecy) Audi, Israel, mandata vitae... Collect 5: Deus, qui nobis...; and Prophecy 6: Ezechiel XXXVII: 1-14 (Holy Saturday 7th prophecy) In diebus illis: Facta est super me... and Collect 6: Domine, Deus virtutum...
During the sixth prophecy, if there is a font, the acolytes light their candles on the credence table. A server lights the Paschal Candle and holds it near the credence. The celebrant goes to the sedilia and removes the chasuble and maniple and puts on a violet cope. The ministers remove their maniples. A procession is now made to the Baptistery. The Paschal Candle bearer leads followed by Crucifer between acolytes. The choir sings Sicut cervus.
At the entrance to the Baptistery the collect Concede, quaesumus is sung (as opposed to Omnipotens sempiterne Deus sung on Holy Saturday). Everything then is done to bless the font as on Holy Saturday with the solemn blessing of the water and infusion with Chrism. The Paschal Candle is plunged three times into the waters of the font. Before the infusion with Chrism everyone in the church is aspersed, as on Holy Saturday, and water reserved for use at the Vidi aquam tomorrow. Where there are catechumens the baptisms now take place. During the blessing of the font cushions are laid in the sanctuary for the celebrant and ministers to prostrate on when they return.
After the blessing of the font the procession reforms and returns to the sanctuary the Paschal Candle bearer leading it. Two cantors begin the Litany as the procession leaves the Baptistery. The petitions are doubled i.e. the cantors sing the petition and response entire and then it is repeated by the choir and people e.g. C: Pater de caelis Deus, miserere nobis; P: Pater de caelis Deus, miserere nobis.
When the procession enters the sanctuary the candle bearer takes the Paschal Candle back to the sacristy and extinguishes it. The Crucifer and acolytes go to the credence. The cantors kneel in the middle of the choir. The celebrant and ministers go to the sedilia and remove their vestments. They then prostrate on the cushions before the altar, all others kneel. After the invocation Peccatores the celebrant and ministers rise and return to the sacristy where they vest in red. Meanwhile servers remove the violet antependium etc and vest the altar for festal Mass. The altar candles are now lit. Where there is no font after the sixth prophecy the cushions are laid on the altar steps and the Litany follows.
As the choir sing Agnus Dei the procession returns to the sanctuary. Mass follows as usual except, like Holy Saturday, it has no introit. During the Gloria the bells are rung. There is only one collect. At the Gospel the acolytes do not carry candles. The Creed is not sung. The communicantes and Hanc igitur are of Pentecost. Unlike the Mass of Holy Saturday the Agnus Dei is sung, there is a communion verse and there is no interpolation of Vespers.
In the afternoon solemn first Vespers of Pentecost are sung.
In the 'liturgical books of 1962' the Vigil of Pentecost has been excoriated. At Mattins the ferial psalms are used, there is but one nocturn of three lessons, the former third nocturn homily. At Lauds and the Hours the ferial psalms are sung. The prophecies, blessing of the font and Litany are all gone. The Vigil ceremonies were supressed in churches where the, then optional, 1952 form of the Easter Vigil was introduced and universally in 1956 with the New Order of Holy Week. As no one has argued that the times of the Pentecost Vigil were putatively wrong its reason for suppression was clearly lest it reminded the faithful of the traditional Ordo - something witnessed by this blogger and others as related in the previous post. Mass has the introit added (previously this was only used in private Masses).
Update: A comment on the previous post from Juventutum London refers to a post on their blog which makes an excellent point. Celebrants of the 1962 rite today will have the proper Hanc igitur which says "Wherefore we beseech Thee, O LORD, to graciously receive this oblation which we they servants... make to Thee... offering it up in a like manner with those also whom Thou hast been pleased to make to be born again of water and the Holy Ghost." How sad, the liturgy just becomes a cultic focus without any understanding or meaning.
The photographs of a Pontifical Mass at the Faldstool for the Vigil of Pentecost are from the website of Saint Gertrude the Great church and are of the Vigil of Pentecost celebrated there in 2010. I believe they are the only photographs of this service anywhere on the web. For those unable to attend this magnificent service remember Saint Gertrude the Great are streaming their Pontifical Service for this year at 12:00GMT, 13:00BST.
The liturgical colour of the Office is white. At Mattins the invitatory, hymn, psalms and antiphons are all from the feast of the Ascension. The lessons in the first nocturn are the Incipit of the Apostle Jude. In the second nocturn the lessons are from a discourse of St. Augustine to catechumens on the Creed - note the baptismal connection - and in the third nocturn the lessons ar taken from St. Augustine's tracts 74 & 75 on St. John's Gospel. The eighth responsory is of the Sunday, Si enim etc. At Lauds the antiphons Viri Galilaei etc are sung with the Sunday psalms (92, 99, 62, Benedicite & 148). The chapter, hymn antiphon on the Benedictus and collect are as on the Sunday within the Octave of the Ascension but the Octave is not commemorated. A commemoration is sung of St. Barnabas the Apostle.
Before the Horae Minores the altar is vested in festal red, then covered with violet and then white antependia. The altar candles are lit. At the Little Hours the hymns are sung with the Doxology of the Ascension, Jesu tibi sit gloria, Qui scandis super sidera etc, sung to Tone4. At Prime the antiphon Viri Galilaei is sung with psalms 53, 118i & 118ii. The first entry in the Martyrology is that of the great feast of Pentecost, Dies Pentecostes, quando Spiritus Sanctus Jerosolymis super discipulos igneis linguis advenit. At the other Hours the antiphons from Lauds are sung with the Dominical psalms. After None the candles are extinguished and the white antependium is removed.
The celebrant in violet chasuble, assisted where possible by deacon and subdeacon in violet folded chasubles comes to the altar preceded by acolytes without candles. The celebrant kisses the altar at the centre and goes to the epistle corner. The celebrant begins reading, in a low voice, the first of six prophecies at the Epistle corner, the ministers stand as at the introit of Mass. Meanwhile a lector comes to a lectern in the middle of choir accompanied by the 2nd MC, reverences the altar and choir and then chants the first prophecy. The celebrant and ministers may sit after reading the prophecy returning to the altar as the lector finishes chanting the same. After the prophecy has been sung the celebrant sings Oremus, but unlike Holy Saturday without Flectamus genua and Levate, and sings the first collect Deus, qui in Abrahae. The collects are proper to the Vigil and, again, are rich with baptismal references.
Where resources permit the six prophecies are sung by lectors in ascending order of seniority but for most celebrations they will be sung by the same or by a couple of lectors. The prophecies and collects are:
Prophecy 1: Genesis XXII: 1- 19 (Holy Saturday 3rd prophecy) In diebus illis: Tentavit Deus Abraham… Collect 1: Deus, qui in Abrahae...; Prophecy 2: Exodus XIV: 24-31, XV: 1 (Holy Saturday 4th prophecy) In diebus illis: Factus est in vigilia matutina... This is followed immediately by the tract Cantemus Domino and then Collect 2: Deus, qui primis temporibus... Prophecy 3: Deuteronomy XXXI: 22 -30 (Holy Saturday 11th prophecy) In diebus illis: Scripsit Moyses canticum ... followed by the tract Attende, caelum then Collect 3: Deus, glorificatio fidelium...; Prophecy 4: Isaiah IV: 1 – 6 (Holy Saturday 8th prophecy) Apprehendent septem mulieres..., the tract Vinea facta est... and Collect 4: Omnipotens sempiterne Deus...; Prophecy 5: Baruch III: 9 – 38 (Holy Saturday 6th prophecy) Audi, Israel, mandata vitae... Collect 5: Deus, qui nobis...; and Prophecy 6: Ezechiel XXXVII: 1-14 (Holy Saturday 7th prophecy) In diebus illis: Facta est super me... and Collect 6: Domine, Deus virtutum...
During the sixth prophecy, if there is a font, the acolytes light their candles on the credence table. A server lights the Paschal Candle and holds it near the credence. The celebrant goes to the sedilia and removes the chasuble and maniple and puts on a violet cope. The ministers remove their maniples. A procession is now made to the Baptistery. The Paschal Candle bearer leads followed by Crucifer between acolytes. The choir sings Sicut cervus.
At the entrance to the Baptistery the collect Concede, quaesumus is sung (as opposed to Omnipotens sempiterne Deus sung on Holy Saturday). Everything then is done to bless the font as on Holy Saturday with the solemn blessing of the water and infusion with Chrism. The Paschal Candle is plunged three times into the waters of the font. Before the infusion with Chrism everyone in the church is aspersed, as on Holy Saturday, and water reserved for use at the Vidi aquam tomorrow. Where there are catechumens the baptisms now take place. During the blessing of the font cushions are laid in the sanctuary for the celebrant and ministers to prostrate on when they return.
After the blessing of the font the procession reforms and returns to the sanctuary the Paschal Candle bearer leading it. Two cantors begin the Litany as the procession leaves the Baptistery. The petitions are doubled i.e. the cantors sing the petition and response entire and then it is repeated by the choir and people e.g. C: Pater de caelis Deus, miserere nobis; P: Pater de caelis Deus, miserere nobis.
When the procession enters the sanctuary the candle bearer takes the Paschal Candle back to the sacristy and extinguishes it. The Crucifer and acolytes go to the credence. The cantors kneel in the middle of the choir. The celebrant and ministers go to the sedilia and remove their vestments. They then prostrate on the cushions before the altar, all others kneel. After the invocation Peccatores the celebrant and ministers rise and return to the sacristy where they vest in red. Meanwhile servers remove the violet antependium etc and vest the altar for festal Mass. The altar candles are now lit. Where there is no font after the sixth prophecy the cushions are laid on the altar steps and the Litany follows.
As the choir sing Agnus Dei the procession returns to the sanctuary. Mass follows as usual except, like Holy Saturday, it has no introit. During the Gloria the bells are rung. There is only one collect. At the Gospel the acolytes do not carry candles. The Creed is not sung. The communicantes and Hanc igitur are of Pentecost. Unlike the Mass of Holy Saturday the Agnus Dei is sung, there is a communion verse and there is no interpolation of Vespers.
In the afternoon solemn first Vespers of Pentecost are sung.
In the 'liturgical books of 1962' the Vigil of Pentecost has been excoriated. At Mattins the ferial psalms are used, there is but one nocturn of three lessons, the former third nocturn homily. At Lauds and the Hours the ferial psalms are sung. The prophecies, blessing of the font and Litany are all gone. The Vigil ceremonies were supressed in churches where the, then optional, 1952 form of the Easter Vigil was introduced and universally in 1956 with the New Order of Holy Week. As no one has argued that the times of the Pentecost Vigil were putatively wrong its reason for suppression was clearly lest it reminded the faithful of the traditional Ordo - something witnessed by this blogger and others as related in the previous post. Mass has the introit added (previously this was only used in private Masses).
Update: A comment on the previous post from Juventutum London refers to a post on their blog which makes an excellent point. Celebrants of the 1962 rite today will have the proper Hanc igitur which says "Wherefore we beseech Thee, O LORD, to graciously receive this oblation which we they servants... make to Thee... offering it up in a like manner with those also whom Thou hast been pleased to make to be born again of water and the Holy Ghost." How sad, the liturgy just becomes a cultic focus without any understanding or meaning.
The photographs of a Pontifical Mass at the Faldstool for the Vigil of Pentecost are from the website of Saint Gertrude the Great church and are of the Vigil of Pentecost celebrated there in 2010. I believe they are the only photographs of this service anywhere on the web. For those unable to attend this magnificent service remember Saint Gertrude the Great are streaming their Pontifical Service for this year at 12:00GMT, 13:00BST.
Thursday, 9 June 2011
The Vigil of Pentecost
This coming Saturday is the Vigil of Pentecost. Liturgical details of the ceremonies of that day will appear as a separate post. However, the ancient ceremonies, somewhat akin to those of Holy Saturday, will not be the focus of the innumerable blogs devoted to the 'Mass of Ages', 'TLM' or 'EF' etc as the 'ancient use' Missal of 1962 no longer even has the ceremonies for the Vigil of Pentecost even printed in it as these were abolished with the deform of Holy Week in 1956 and had also been prohibited when the 'Easter Vigil' was celebrated in its second form from 1952 to 1955.
When Fr. Peter Morgan returned from Switzerland to these shores in 1971 he vigorously promoted liturgical orthopraxis and led a diverse group of 'remnant' clergy and their supporters in the establishment of a series of 'Mass centres' across the Southern half of England. The Vigil of Pentecost was celebrated in 1972 at the historic London church of St. Etheldreda, Ely Place in Holborn, thanks to the kindness of the then Rector, Fr. O'Malley. Whether the Pentecost Vigil had been celebrated by anyone during the 1960s is unclear, and probably not discernible now. Certainly in the mid-1950s there were small groups of clergy, with a concentration in the North-West of England, who quietly refused Pius XII's changes. One such priest told a friend twenty-years ago that he and like-minded colleagues thought Pius had 'flipped' and that 'normal service' would be resumed in the near-future. Whether Fr. Morgan's 1972 celebration was the first since 1956 or not it was still significant and was celebrated before the St. Pius V Association even arranged the celebration of the Sacred Triduum which did not take place until 1974, when it was celebrated in Guilford. In subsequent years the ceremonies of the Vigil of Pentecost took place at Highclere in Berkshire. With Fr. Morgan's retirement and the establishment of the SSPX Fr. Morgan's successor, Fr. Edward Black, continued to celebrate the Vigil of Pentecost at Highclere. Fr. Morgan himself celebrated the Vigil of Pentecost at Bridgewater, Somerset, between 1977 and 1980. The image below is from a 1981 SSPX newsletter.
With the 1983 ukase from M. Lefebvre against the Old Rite the celebration of the Vigil of Pentecost was interrupted for several years, although again it may have been celebrated by some 'independant' clergy. In 1990 the current SSPX District Superior, Fr. Paul Morgan, celebrated the Vigil of Pentecost at 4:30am (as part of an All Night Vigil at the church of SS Joseph and Padarn, Holloway) and again carried out the ceremonies of the Vigil of Pentecost the following year. Then, again, an hiatus until the late, and much missed, Arthur Crumly, former principle Master of Ceremonies for the Latin Mass Society, arranged for a sung Vigil of Pentecost at Corpus Christi, Covent Garden in 1993. Arthur had planned to have a solemn celebration - and had planetis plicatis made for the event - but circumstances conspired against that and it was celebrated as a Sung Mass. Nonetheless it was a very moving event. I fear I have never been really functional in the early hours of the morning (indeed I would call 4:30am night) and so was able to absorb far more of the service on this occasion. What was fascinating was the effect the service had on the celebrant, a very pleasant and pastoral man who had at one time been a member of the Canons Regular. After the Mass the celebrant was shaking and tears were flowing down his cheeks. On enquiring what was wrong he related that celebrating the Vigil had reminded him of what Holy Saturday, and the rest of Holy Week, had been and how "What we have now is not the real Old Rite." One sees why the Vigil of Pentecost had to be suppressed: there were no arguments of it putatively being at the wrong time etc and unless it was completely overhauled it would have been a reminder of past glories.
This year, as for the past couple of years, there will be several celebrations of the Vigil of Pentecost in London (and no doubt elsewhere). Arthur Crumly's instigation of the Pentecost Vigil was followed by almost a year of Old Rite celebrations. However, at the prospect of the celebration of traditional Holy Week two, truly despicable, members of the clergy were determined that such an event should not take place - both of course supposedly supporters of authentic liturgical praxis - and instigated a petition to stop the Triduum happening. Two years ago the celebrant of a sung Vigil of Pentecost asked me not to publish photographs "in case the '1962 police' get on my back." For that reason the venues of the Vigils will not be published here.
Safe from the internecine life of modern Rome there will of course be a webcast on Saturday of a Pontifical Vigil of Pentecost from the church of St. Gertrude the Great at 8:00am EDT (Noon GMT; 13:00 BST). I am also delighted that a solemn Vigil of Pentecost will be celebrated at the Anglo-Catholic church of St. Magnus the Martyr, Lower Thames Street. The blogger Ex Fide gives details and a synopsis of the Vigil service. St. Magnus the Martyr and the Ordo are actually quite closely linked. A young Peter Morgan used to frequently attend liturgies at St. Magnus and both knew and was influenced by its famous, aristocratic, incumbent for the best years of the twentieth century Fr. Henry Joy Fynes-Clinton. Fr. Morgan told this blogger that he had been impressed with Fr. Fynes-Clinton's careful and loving celebration of the Roman liturgy and had wanted to re-create that ethos when he instigated the production of the Ordo in 1973.
When Fr. Peter Morgan returned from Switzerland to these shores in 1971 he vigorously promoted liturgical orthopraxis and led a diverse group of 'remnant' clergy and their supporters in the establishment of a series of 'Mass centres' across the Southern half of England. The Vigil of Pentecost was celebrated in 1972 at the historic London church of St. Etheldreda, Ely Place in Holborn, thanks to the kindness of the then Rector, Fr. O'Malley. Whether the Pentecost Vigil had been celebrated by anyone during the 1960s is unclear, and probably not discernible now. Certainly in the mid-1950s there were small groups of clergy, with a concentration in the North-West of England, who quietly refused Pius XII's changes. One such priest told a friend twenty-years ago that he and like-minded colleagues thought Pius had 'flipped' and that 'normal service' would be resumed in the near-future. Whether Fr. Morgan's 1972 celebration was the first since 1956 or not it was still significant and was celebrated before the St. Pius V Association even arranged the celebration of the Sacred Triduum which did not take place until 1974, when it was celebrated in Guilford. In subsequent years the ceremonies of the Vigil of Pentecost took place at Highclere in Berkshire. With Fr. Morgan's retirement and the establishment of the SSPX Fr. Morgan's successor, Fr. Edward Black, continued to celebrate the Vigil of Pentecost at Highclere. Fr. Morgan himself celebrated the Vigil of Pentecost at Bridgewater, Somerset, between 1977 and 1980. The image below is from a 1981 SSPX newsletter.
With the 1983 ukase from M. Lefebvre against the Old Rite the celebration of the Vigil of Pentecost was interrupted for several years, although again it may have been celebrated by some 'independant' clergy. In 1990 the current SSPX District Superior, Fr. Paul Morgan, celebrated the Vigil of Pentecost at 4:30am (as part of an All Night Vigil at the church of SS Joseph and Padarn, Holloway) and again carried out the ceremonies of the Vigil of Pentecost the following year. Then, again, an hiatus until the late, and much missed, Arthur Crumly, former principle Master of Ceremonies for the Latin Mass Society, arranged for a sung Vigil of Pentecost at Corpus Christi, Covent Garden in 1993. Arthur had planned to have a solemn celebration - and had planetis plicatis made for the event - but circumstances conspired against that and it was celebrated as a Sung Mass. Nonetheless it was a very moving event. I fear I have never been really functional in the early hours of the morning (indeed I would call 4:30am night) and so was able to absorb far more of the service on this occasion. What was fascinating was the effect the service had on the celebrant, a very pleasant and pastoral man who had at one time been a member of the Canons Regular. After the Mass the celebrant was shaking and tears were flowing down his cheeks. On enquiring what was wrong he related that celebrating the Vigil had reminded him of what Holy Saturday, and the rest of Holy Week, had been and how "What we have now is not the real Old Rite." One sees why the Vigil of Pentecost had to be suppressed: there were no arguments of it putatively being at the wrong time etc and unless it was completely overhauled it would have been a reminder of past glories.
This year, as for the past couple of years, there will be several celebrations of the Vigil of Pentecost in London (and no doubt elsewhere). Arthur Crumly's instigation of the Pentecost Vigil was followed by almost a year of Old Rite celebrations. However, at the prospect of the celebration of traditional Holy Week two, truly despicable, members of the clergy were determined that such an event should not take place - both of course supposedly supporters of authentic liturgical praxis - and instigated a petition to stop the Triduum happening. Two years ago the celebrant of a sung Vigil of Pentecost asked me not to publish photographs "in case the '1962 police' get on my back." For that reason the venues of the Vigils will not be published here.
Safe from the internecine life of modern Rome there will of course be a webcast on Saturday of a Pontifical Vigil of Pentecost from the church of St. Gertrude the Great at 8:00am EDT (Noon GMT; 13:00 BST). I am also delighted that a solemn Vigil of Pentecost will be celebrated at the Anglo-Catholic church of St. Magnus the Martyr, Lower Thames Street. The blogger Ex Fide gives details and a synopsis of the Vigil service. St. Magnus the Martyr and the Ordo are actually quite closely linked. A young Peter Morgan used to frequently attend liturgies at St. Magnus and both knew and was influenced by its famous, aristocratic, incumbent for the best years of the twentieth century Fr. Henry Joy Fynes-Clinton. Fr. Morgan told this blogger that he had been impressed with Fr. Fynes-Clinton's careful and loving celebration of the Roman liturgy and had wanted to re-create that ethos when he instigated the production of the Ordo in 1973.
Update: Another friend, both of this blogger and the Saint Lawrence Press, Canon Jerome Lloyd of the Old Roman Catholic Church will be celebrating the Vigil of Pentecost in Brighton at 11:30am on Saturday. For directions please click here.
Tuesday, 8 June 2010
The Vigil of Pentecost in photographs
Saint Gertrude the Great have posted some photographs of the Vigil of Pentecost celebrated there in May. I believe these photographs are unique in being the only set currently available on the Web showing the celebration of the Vigil of Pentecost. For for those who have never seen the Vigil celebrated a most valuable resource.
The photographs show the celebration of the function at the faldstool but the structure of the service can be followed from the post here on the celebration of this magnificent Vigil.
Hopefully, in the fullness of time, many more Vigils of Pentecost will be celebrated across the globe.
Saturday, 22 May 2010
The Vigil of Pentecost
The Vigil of Penetecost is a semidouble of the first class. The ceremonies before Mass, very similar to Holy Saturday, are linked historically to the practice of baptisms at Pentecost.
The liturgical colour of the Office is white. At Mattins the invitatory, hymn, psalms and antiphons are from the feast of the Ascension. The lessons in the first nocturn are the Incipit of the Apostle Jude, in the second nocturn the lessons are from a discourse of St. Augustine to catechumens on the Creed and St. Augustine sermon s 74 & 75 on St. John's Gospel from the third nocturn. At Lauds the Sunday psalms are sung as on the previous Sunday but without commemoration of the Octave. The Commemoration of the Cross is omitted.
At the Little Hours the hymns are sung with the Doxology of Ascensiontime to Tone4. A white antependium etc is on the choir altar covering a violet one which in turn covers a red one. The altar candles are lit. At Prime the first entry in the Martyrology is that of the great feast of Pentecost. After None the altar candles are extinguished and the white antependium is removed.
The celebrant in violet chasuble, assisted where possible by deacon and subdeacon in violet folded chasubles comes to the altar preceded by acolytes without candles. The celebrant kisses the altar at the centre and goes to the epistle corner. The celebrant begins reading, in a low voice, the first of six prophecies at the Epistle corner. Meanwhile a lector comes to a lectern in the middle of choir accompanied by the 2nd MC, reverences the altar and choir and then sings the first prophecy. The celebrant and ministers may sit after reading the prophecy returning to the altar as the lector finishes chanting the same. After the prophecy has been sung the celebrant sings Oremus, but unlike Holy Saturday without Flectamus genua and Levate, and sings the first collect Deus, qui in Abrahae.
Where resources permit the six prophecies are sung by lectors in ascending order of seniority but for most celebrations they will be sung by the same or by a couple of lectors. The prophecies and collects are:
Prophecy 1: Genesis XXII: 1- 19 (Holy Saturday 3rd prophecy) In diebus illis: Tentavit Deus Abraham… Collect 1: Deus, qui in Abrahae...; Prophecy 2: Exodus XIV: 24-31, XV: 1 (Holy Saturday 4th prophecy) In diebus illis: Factus est in vigilia matutina... This is followed immediately by the tract Cantemus Domino and then Collect 2: Deus, qui primis temporibus... Prophecy 3: Deuteronomy XXXI: 22 -30 (Holy Saturday 11th prophecy) In diebus illis: Scripsit Moyses canticum ... followed by the tract Attende, caelum then Collect 3: Deus, glorificatio fidelium...; Prophecy 4: Isaiah IV: 1 – 6 (Holy Saturday 8th prophecy) Apprehendent septem mulieres..., the tract Vinea facta est... and Collect 4: Omnipotens sempiterne Deus...; Prophecy 5: Baruch III: 9 – 38 (Holy Saturday 6th prophecy) Audi, Israel, mandata vitae... Collect 5: Deus, qui nobis...; and Prophecy 6: Ezechiel XXXVII: 1-14 (Holy Saturday 7th prophecy) In diebus illis: Facta est super me... and Collect 6: Domine, Deus virtutum...
During the sixth prophecy, if there is a font, the acolytes light their candles on the credence table. A server lights the Paschal Candle and holds it near the credence. The celebrant goes to the sedilia and removes the chasuble and maniple and puts on a violet cope. A procession is now made to the Baptistery. The Paschal Candle bearer leads followed by Crucifer between acolytes. The choir sings Sicut cervus.
At the entrance to the Baptistery the collect Concede, quaesumus is sung (as opposed to Omnipotens sempiterne Deus sung on Holy Saturday). Everything then is done to bless the font as on Holy Saturday with the solemn blessing of the water and infusion with Chrism. During the blessing of the font cushions are laid in the sanctuary for the celebrant and ministers to prostrate on.
After the blessing of the font the procession reforms and returns to the sanctuary the Paschal Candle bearer leading it. Two cantors begin the Litany as the procession leaves the Baptistery. The petitions are doubled i.e. the cantors sing the petition and response entire and then it is repeated by the choir and people e.g. C: Pater de caelis Deus, miserere nobis; P: Pater de caelis Deus, miserere nobis.
When the procession enters the sanctuary the candle bearer takes the Paschal Candle back to the sacristy and extinguishes it. The Crucifer and acolytes go to the credence. The cantors kneel in the middle of the choir. The celebrant and ministers go to the sedilia and remove their vestments. They then prostrate on the cushion before the altar, all others kneel. After the invocation Peccatores the celebrant and ministers rise and return to the sacristy where they vest in red. Meanwhile servers remove the violet antependium etc and vest the altar for festal Mass. Where there is no font after the sixth prophecy the cushions are laid on the altar steps and the Litany follows.
As the choir sing Agnus Dei the procession returns to the sanctuary. Mass follows as usual except, like Holy Saturday, it has no introit. During the Gloria the bells are rung. There is only one collect. At the Gospel the acolytes do not carry candles. The Creed is not sung. The communicantes and Hanc igitur are of Pentecost.
In the afternoon solemn first Vespers of Pentecost are sung.
In the 'liturgical books of 1962' the Vigil of Pentecost has been excoriated from the liturgical books. At Mattins the ferial psalms are used, there is but one nocturn of three lessons. At Lauds and the Hours the ferial psalms are sung. The prophecies and blessing of the font are all gone. The Vigil ceremonies were supressed in churches where the, then optional, 1952 form of the Easter Vigil was introduced and universally in 1956 with the New Order of Holy Week. As no one has argued that the times of the Pentecost Vigil were putatively wrong its reason for suppression was clearly lest it reminded the faithful of the traditional Ordo. Mass has the introit added (previously this was only used in private Masses).
The liturgical colour of the Office is white. At Mattins the invitatory, hymn, psalms and antiphons are from the feast of the Ascension. The lessons in the first nocturn are the Incipit of the Apostle Jude, in the second nocturn the lessons are from a discourse of St. Augustine to catechumens on the Creed and St. Augustine sermon s 74 & 75 on St. John's Gospel from the third nocturn. At Lauds the Sunday psalms are sung as on the previous Sunday but without commemoration of the Octave. The Commemoration of the Cross is omitted.
At the Little Hours the hymns are sung with the Doxology of Ascensiontime to Tone4. A white antependium etc is on the choir altar covering a violet one which in turn covers a red one. The altar candles are lit. At Prime the first entry in the Martyrology is that of the great feast of Pentecost. After None the altar candles are extinguished and the white antependium is removed.
The celebrant in violet chasuble, assisted where possible by deacon and subdeacon in violet folded chasubles comes to the altar preceded by acolytes without candles. The celebrant kisses the altar at the centre and goes to the epistle corner. The celebrant begins reading, in a low voice, the first of six prophecies at the Epistle corner. Meanwhile a lector comes to a lectern in the middle of choir accompanied by the 2nd MC, reverences the altar and choir and then sings the first prophecy. The celebrant and ministers may sit after reading the prophecy returning to the altar as the lector finishes chanting the same. After the prophecy has been sung the celebrant sings Oremus, but unlike Holy Saturday without Flectamus genua and Levate, and sings the first collect Deus, qui in Abrahae.
Where resources permit the six prophecies are sung by lectors in ascending order of seniority but for most celebrations they will be sung by the same or by a couple of lectors. The prophecies and collects are:
Prophecy 1: Genesis XXII: 1- 19 (Holy Saturday 3rd prophecy) In diebus illis: Tentavit Deus Abraham… Collect 1: Deus, qui in Abrahae...; Prophecy 2: Exodus XIV: 24-31, XV: 1 (Holy Saturday 4th prophecy) In diebus illis: Factus est in vigilia matutina... This is followed immediately by the tract Cantemus Domino and then Collect 2: Deus, qui primis temporibus... Prophecy 3: Deuteronomy XXXI: 22 -30 (Holy Saturday 11th prophecy) In diebus illis: Scripsit Moyses canticum ... followed by the tract Attende, caelum then Collect 3: Deus, glorificatio fidelium...; Prophecy 4: Isaiah IV: 1 – 6 (Holy Saturday 8th prophecy) Apprehendent septem mulieres..., the tract Vinea facta est... and Collect 4: Omnipotens sempiterne Deus...; Prophecy 5: Baruch III: 9 – 38 (Holy Saturday 6th prophecy) Audi, Israel, mandata vitae... Collect 5: Deus, qui nobis...; and Prophecy 6: Ezechiel XXXVII: 1-14 (Holy Saturday 7th prophecy) In diebus illis: Facta est super me... and Collect 6: Domine, Deus virtutum...
During the sixth prophecy, if there is a font, the acolytes light their candles on the credence table. A server lights the Paschal Candle and holds it near the credence. The celebrant goes to the sedilia and removes the chasuble and maniple and puts on a violet cope. A procession is now made to the Baptistery. The Paschal Candle bearer leads followed by Crucifer between acolytes. The choir sings Sicut cervus.
At the entrance to the Baptistery the collect Concede, quaesumus is sung (as opposed to Omnipotens sempiterne Deus sung on Holy Saturday). Everything then is done to bless the font as on Holy Saturday with the solemn blessing of the water and infusion with Chrism. During the blessing of the font cushions are laid in the sanctuary for the celebrant and ministers to prostrate on.
After the blessing of the font the procession reforms and returns to the sanctuary the Paschal Candle bearer leading it. Two cantors begin the Litany as the procession leaves the Baptistery. The petitions are doubled i.e. the cantors sing the petition and response entire and then it is repeated by the choir and people e.g. C: Pater de caelis Deus, miserere nobis; P: Pater de caelis Deus, miserere nobis.
When the procession enters the sanctuary the candle bearer takes the Paschal Candle back to the sacristy and extinguishes it. The Crucifer and acolytes go to the credence. The cantors kneel in the middle of the choir. The celebrant and ministers go to the sedilia and remove their vestments. They then prostrate on the cushion before the altar, all others kneel. After the invocation Peccatores the celebrant and ministers rise and return to the sacristy where they vest in red. Meanwhile servers remove the violet antependium etc and vest the altar for festal Mass. Where there is no font after the sixth prophecy the cushions are laid on the altar steps and the Litany follows.
As the choir sing Agnus Dei the procession returns to the sanctuary. Mass follows as usual except, like Holy Saturday, it has no introit. During the Gloria the bells are rung. There is only one collect. At the Gospel the acolytes do not carry candles. The Creed is not sung. The communicantes and Hanc igitur are of Pentecost.
In the afternoon solemn first Vespers of Pentecost are sung.
In the 'liturgical books of 1962' the Vigil of Pentecost has been excoriated from the liturgical books. At Mattins the ferial psalms are used, there is but one nocturn of three lessons. At Lauds and the Hours the ferial psalms are sung. The prophecies and blessing of the font are all gone. The Vigil ceremonies were supressed in churches where the, then optional, 1952 form of the Easter Vigil was introduced and universally in 1956 with the New Order of Holy Week. As no one has argued that the times of the Pentecost Vigil were putatively wrong its reason for suppression was clearly lest it reminded the faithful of the traditional Ordo. Mass has the introit added (previously this was only used in private Masses).
Saturday, 30 May 2009
The Vigil of Pentecost
Today, the Vigil of Penetecost, is one of the most sublime of all days in the Liturgical Year. The Vigil is a semidouble of the first class.
The ceremonies before Mass, very similar to Holy Saturday, are very beautiful but will, sadly, only be celebrated in a handful of places around the world. At the time of blogging I know of one to be held at St. Gertrude the Great in Ohio (from which the images come), one in the Philippines and one in London.
At Mattins the invitatory, hymn, psalms and antiphons are from the feast of the Ascension. The lessons in the first nocturn are the Incipit of the Apostle Jude, in the second nocturn the lessons are from a discourse of St. Augustine to catechumens on the Creed and St. Augustine sermon s 74 & 75 on St. John's Gospel from the third nocturn. At Lauds the Sunday psalms are sung as on the previous Sunday but without commemoration of the Octave. A commemortion of St. Felix is sung but the Commemoration of the Cross is omitted.
At the Little Hours the hymns are sung with the Doxology of Ascensiontime to Tone4. A white antependium etc. is on the choir altar covering a violet one which in turn covers a red one. The candles are not lit. At Prime the first entry in the Martyrology is that of the great feast of Pentecost. After None the white antependium is removed. The altar has no flowers or ornaments decorating it and the candles remain unlighted until Mass.
The celebrant in violet chasuble, assisted where possible by deacon and subdeacon in violet folded chasubles comes to the altar preceded by acolytes without candles. The celebrant kisses the altar at the centre and goes to the epistle corner. The celebrant begins reading, in a low voice, the first of six prophecies at the missal. Meanwhile a lector comes to a lectern in the middle of choir accompanied by the 2nd MC, reverences the altar and choir and then sings the first prophecy. The celebrant and ministers may sit after reading the prophecy returning to the altar as the lector finishes chanting the same. After the prophecy has been sung the celebrant sings Oremus, but unlike Holy Saturday without Flectamus genua and Levate, and sings the first collect Deus, qui in Abrahae.
The ceremonies before Mass, very similar to Holy Saturday, are very beautiful but will, sadly, only be celebrated in a handful of places around the world. At the time of blogging I know of one to be held at St. Gertrude the Great in Ohio (from which the images come), one in the Philippines and one in London.
At Mattins the invitatory, hymn, psalms and antiphons are from the feast of the Ascension. The lessons in the first nocturn are the Incipit of the Apostle Jude, in the second nocturn the lessons are from a discourse of St. Augustine to catechumens on the Creed and St. Augustine sermon s 74 & 75 on St. John's Gospel from the third nocturn. At Lauds the Sunday psalms are sung as on the previous Sunday but without commemoration of the Octave. A commemortion of St. Felix is sung but the Commemoration of the Cross is omitted.
At the Little Hours the hymns are sung with the Doxology of Ascensiontime to Tone4. A white antependium etc. is on the choir altar covering a violet one which in turn covers a red one. The candles are not lit. At Prime the first entry in the Martyrology is that of the great feast of Pentecost. After None the white antependium is removed. The altar has no flowers or ornaments decorating it and the candles remain unlighted until Mass.
The celebrant in violet chasuble, assisted where possible by deacon and subdeacon in violet folded chasubles comes to the altar preceded by acolytes without candles. The celebrant kisses the altar at the centre and goes to the epistle corner. The celebrant begins reading, in a low voice, the first of six prophecies at the missal. Meanwhile a lector comes to a lectern in the middle of choir accompanied by the 2nd MC, reverences the altar and choir and then sings the first prophecy. The celebrant and ministers may sit after reading the prophecy returning to the altar as the lector finishes chanting the same. After the prophecy has been sung the celebrant sings Oremus, but unlike Holy Saturday without Flectamus genua and Levate, and sings the first collect Deus, qui in Abrahae.
(A lector is before the book medio chori having sung a prophecy. The bishop, at the faldstool, sings a collect. Note the deacon wearing a folded chausuble.)
Where resources permit the six prophecies are sung by lectors in ascending order of seniority but for most celebrations they will be sung by the same or by a couple of lectors. The prophecies and collects are:
Prophecy 1: Genesis XXII: 1- 19 (Holy Saturday 3rd prophecy) In diebus illis: Tentavit Deus Abraham… Collect 1: Deus, qui in Abrahae...; Prophecy 2: Exodus XIV: 24-31, XV: 1 (Holy Saturday 4th prophecy) In diebus illis: Factus est in vigilia matutina... This is followed immediately by the tract Cantemus Domino and then Collect 2: Deus, qui primis temporibus... Prophecy 3: Deuteronomy XXXI: 22 -30 (Holy Saturday 11th prophecy) In diebus illis: Scripsit Moyses canticum ... followed by the tract Attende, caelum then Collect 3: Deus, glorificatio fidelium...; Prophecy 4: Isaiah IV: 1 – 6 (Holy Saturday 8th prophecy) Apprehendent septem mulieres..., the tract Vinea facta est... and Collect 4: Omnipotens sempiterne Deus...; Prophecy 5: Baruch III: 9 – 38 (Holy Saturday 6th prophecy) Audi, Israel, mandata vitae... Collect 5: Deus, qui nobis...; and Prophecy 6: Ezechiel XXXVII: 1-14 (Holy Saturday 7th prophecy) In diebus illis: Facta est super me... and Collect 6: Domine, Deus virtutum...
During the sixth prophecy, if there is a font, the acolytes light their candles on the credence table. A server lights the Paschal Candle and holds it near the credence. The celebrant goes to the sedilia and removes the chasuble and maniple and puts on a violet cope. A procession is now made to the Baptistery. The Paschal Candle bearer leads followed by Crucifer between acolytes. The choir sings Sicut cervus.
At the entrance to the Baptistery the collect Concede, quaesumus is sung (as opposed to Omnipotens sempiterne Deus sung on Holy Saturday). Everything then is done to bless the font as on Holy Saturday with the solemn blessing of the water and infusion with Chrism. During the blessing of the font cushions are laid in the sanctuary for the celebrant and ministers to prostrate on.
After the blessing of the font the procession reforms and returns to the sanctuary the Paschal Candle bearer leading it. Two cantors begin the Litany as the procession leaves the Baptistery. The petitions are doubled i.e. the cantors sing the petition and response entire and then it is repeated by the choir and people e.g. C: Pater de caelis Deus, miserere nobis; P: Pater de caelis Deus, miserere nobis.
When the procession enters the sanctuary the candle bearer takes the Paschal Candle back to the sacristy and extinguishes it. The Crucifer and acolytes go to the credence. The cantors kneel in the middle of the choir. The celebrant and ministers go to the sedilia and removes their vestments. They then prostrate on the cushion before the altar, all others kneel. After the invocation Peccatores the celebrant and ministers rise and return to the sacristy where the celebrant vest in red. Meanwhile servers remove the violet antependium etc. and vest the altar for festal Mass. Where there is no font after the sixth prophecy the cushions are laid on the altar steps and the Litany follows.
(The bishop, without cope, and wearing the golden mitre kneels at the faldstool during the Litany of the Saints)
As the choir sing Agnus Dei the procession returns to the sanctuary. Mass follows as usual except, like Holy Saturday, it has no introit. During the Gloria the bells are rung. There is only one collect. At the Gospel the acolytes do not carry candles. The Creed is not sung. The preface, communicantes and Hanc igitur are of Pentecost.
(The bishop is incensed by the deacon. Note the Pontifical Canon in the centre of the altar.)
(The Epistle. The train from the bishop's choir cassock may be seen)
(In principio erat Verbum...)In the afternoon solemn first Vespers of Pentecost are sung.
In the 'liturgical books of 1962' the Vigil of Pentecost has been excoriated. At Mattins the ferial psalms are used, there is but one nocturn of three lessons. At Lauds and the Hours the ferial psalms are sung, there is no commemoration of St. Felix. The prophecies and blessing of the font are all gone. The Vigil ceremonies were supressed in churches where the, optional, 1952 form of the Easter Vigil was introduced and universally in 1956 with the New Order of Holy Week. As no one has argued that the times of the Pentecost Vigil were putatively wrong its reason for suppression was lest it reminded the faithful of the traditional Ordo. Mass has the introit added (previously this was only used in private Masses, all else has been cast aside.
Rubricarius has an old Newsletter of the SSPX in Britain, with a prefatory letter from the then District Superior, Fr. Edward Black, dated 5th May 1981. It is an interesting read, the Calender for June clearly shows pre-1962 praxis with the Octaves of the Ascension, the Nativity of St. John the Baptist, Corpus Christi and the Sacred Heart all being celebrated. However, most interesting and poignant for today, on the rear cover the timetable for the Vigil of Pentecost, Saturday 6th June 1981 at St. Michael’s House, Highclere, Berkshire:
10.00 am Prophecies followed by Sung Mass
3.00 pm Vespers
5.00 pm Mattins and Lauds
I doubt if it would be worth visiting Highclere today.
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