Morning Prayers : Part 1

Spiritual Exercise for the Christian

Morning Prayers

In the name of the Father, & of the Son, & of the Holy Ghoʃt. Amen.

Let us place ourselves in the presence of God.

Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Thy faithful and kindle in them the fire of Thy love.

V. Send forth Thy Spirit and they shall be created

R. And Thou shalt renew the face of the earth.

Let us pray

O GOD, Who taught the hearts of the faithful by the light of the Holy Spirit, grant that, by the gift of the same Spirit, we may be always truly wise, and ever rejoice in His consolation. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Lord’s Prayer

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.

The Angelic Salutation

Hail Mary full of grace, our Lord is with thee; bleʃʃed art thou amongʃt women; and bleʃʃed 

is the fruit of thy Womb Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us ʃinners, now, and in the hour of our death. Amen.

The Apostles’ Creed

I believe in God, the Father almighty, Creator of Heaven and Earth, and in Jeʃus Chriʃt, His only Son, our Lord, Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; deʃcended into Hell; the third day He roʃe again from the dead; aʃcended into Heaven, sitteth at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty; from thence He ʃhall come to judge the quick and the dead. I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Holy Catholic Church, 

the Communion of saints, the Remiʃʃion of sins, the Reʃurrection of the Flesh, and the Life Everlasting. Amen.

The Confession of Sins

I confeʃs to Almighty God, to the bleʃʃed Virgin Mary, to the bleʃʃed Michael the Archangel, to the bleʃʃed John Baptist, to the holy Apostles Peter and Paul, and to all the Saints, that I have grievously ʃinned in thought, word, and deed, through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault. Therefore, I beseech the bleʃʃed Virgin Mary, the bleʃʃed Michael the Archangel, the blessed John Baptist, the holy Apostles Peter and Paul, and all the Saints, to pray for me to our Lord God. Amen.

Almighty God have mercy onus, and all our ʃins being forgiven, bring us to everlasting Life.

R. Amen.

The Almighty and merciful Lord give us pardon, absolution and remiʃʃion of all our sins.

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam.

Prayer to Jesus

[Continuing with excerpts from the 1701 prayer book]

Prayer to Jesus

Soul of Jesus, sanctify me,
Body of Jesus, save me,
Blood of Jesus, intoxicate me,[1]
Water from the side of Jesus, wash me.[2]
O good Jesus, hear me,
Hide me in your sacred wounds,
Do not allow me to be ever separated from you,
Defend me from my enemy.
Call me at the hour of my death
And command me to come to you,
So that I may praise you with your saints,
For ever and ever. Amen.

Compare with the following from PREPARATION A LA MORT – 1709:

Soul of Jesus, sanctify me,
Body of Jesus, save me,
Blood of Jesus, purify me,
Water from the side of Jesus, wash me.
Passion of Christ, strengthen me,
Wounds of Jesus, heal me,
Heart of Jesus, set me ablaze,
Nails of Jesus, pierce me,
Thorns of Jesus, crown me,
Cross of Jesus, consecrate me,
Goodness of Jesus, absolve me,
Grace of Jesus, fill me,
Spirit of Jesus, inspire me,
Sweetness of Jesus, console me,
Mercy of Jesus, save me,
Feet of Jesus, come to me,
Hands of Jesus, bless me,
O good Jesus, hear me,
Hide me in your wounds,
Do not separate yourself from me,
From the wicked spirit, defend me,
And lead me by your infinite mercy to eternal happiness, 
To praise you with your Saints, world without end. 
Amen. 

[1] Enivrer: In addition to inebriate, the LDDF offers a second meaning: 2. Remplir quelqu'un d'exaltation, d'une émotion vive. 2. To fill someone with exaltation, with a lively emotion. Synonymes : enflammer - entêter - enthousiasmer - étourdir - exciter - griser - soulever – transporter.   Larousse DDF

[2] The traditional version of the Anima Christi prayer at this point has Passio Christi, conforta me / Passion of christ strengthen me.

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam.

The Dedication

[Continuing with excerpts from the 1701 prayer book]

The next two pages contain the Dedication.

To the King,

Sire,

Different by far from that favourite 

of Tiberius, a courtier who presented his vows 

first[1] to the ear of his Prince 

rather than to the Altars of the Gods, 

having consecrated this vow of 

devotion to the Divine Majesty, I come to offer it to your Majesty. The piety which inspires all your royal 

actions will open your hands 

to receive it and your mouth 

to approve its author who has no 

other motive, Sire, 

in planning this work, than the glory 

of God and the desire to contribute 

to the fervour of your holy devotions 

everything that can and should be of 

the greatest piety, justice and value 

in the world to his King 

Your Majesty’s

Most humble and most obedient 

and most faithful subject and 

servant. C.P.

[1] Plus tôt (que), ... avant ; plus vite. Plus tôt implique une idée de temps et s'oppose à plus tard : Before; more quickly. Plus tôt implies an idea of time and is opposed to later.  Larousse DDF

[2] Prose : Chant liturgique strophique et versifié, souvent rimé et qui, à certaines messes, prend place après le graduel. (Par exemple Veni, Sancte Spiritus ; Lauda Sion ; Dies iræ.) Liturgical chant in strophes and verses, often rhyming and which in certain Masses follow the gradual (e.g., Veni, Sancte Spiritus ; Lauda Sion ; Dies iræ.) Larousse DDF

[3] Oraiʃons: 1. Prière liturgique de la messe et de l'office des heures. 2. Prière mentale sous forme de méditation, dans laquelle le cœur a plus de part que l'esprit. 1. Liturgical prayer of the Mass and the Office. 2. Mental prayer in the form of meditation, in which the heart has a greater role than the mind. SAINTE CATHERINE, DE SIENNE [CATERINA BENINCASA] (Sienne 1347-Rome 1380) Qu'est-ce qui nous rend forts et persévérants ? L'oraison humble et continuelle faite dans la cellule de la connaissance de soi-même et de la bonté de Dieu en soi. What gives us strength and perseverance? Humble and continual prayer in the cell of self-knowledge and God’s goodness in oneself. 

Larousse DDF

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam.

Preserving a 1701 French Book of Prayers

The oldest book I have in my possession is a book of prayers published  in Paris and bearing the date 1701. The pages are intact and legible but the binding is in very poor condition. The book measures 11 cm x 7.5 cm and has 527 pages.

The title of the book is: "Christian Hours, dedicated to the King." The word "Hours" refers to the prayers or offices appointed to be said at the seven stated times of the day allotted to prayer (the canonical hours). The King in question was none other than Louis XIV, the Sun King (1638-1715). 

My intention is to post excerpts from the pages of this book in their original French and Latin, accompanied by my translation and notes. I offer the project today as a birthday present to Our gentle Queen and Mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary, entreating her to intercede for my family, EEKPTEE & EA, so that through God's mercy we may merrily meet in heaven.[1]

Frontispiece

The Christian Hours

Dedicated

To the King

Containing

The Offices, Vespers,

Hymns and Chants[2] of the Church

In French and in Latin

Newly supplemented with several 

Prayers and Orisons[3] most holy.

By the Rev. Father Le Bossu of the 

Society of Jesus

Paris

La Veuve Senecart

rue des Carmes, at the tree of Life.

M. DCCI.

[1] Farewell ... pray for me, and I shall for you and all your friends, that we may merrily meet in heaven. These are from the last letter of Sir Thomas More to his family and friends, written on 5 July 1535, the day before his execution. More wrote with a stick of charcoal on cloth; King Henry VIII had ordered his books and writing materials to be removed.

[2] Prose : Chant liturgique strophique et versifié, souvent rimé et qui, à certaines messes, prend place après le graduel. (Par exemple Veni, Sancte Spiritus ; Lauda Sion ; Dies iræ.) Liturgical chant in strophes and verses, often rhyming and which in certain Masses follow the gradual (e.g., Veni, Sancte Spiritus ; Lauda Sion ; Dies iræ.)

[3] Oraiʃons: 1. Prière liturgique de la messe et de l'office des heures. 2. Prière mentale sous forme de méditation, dans laquelle le cœur a plus de part que l'esprit. 1. Liturgical prayer of the Mass and the Office. 2. Mental prayer in the form of meditation, in which the heart has a greater role than the mind. SAINTE CATHERINE, DE SIENNE [CATERINA BENINCASA] (Sienne 1347-Rome 1380) Qu'est-ce qui nous rend forts et persévérants ? L'oraison humble et continuelle faite dans la cellule de la connaissance de soi-même et de la bonté de Dieu en soi. What gives us strength and perseverance? Humble and continual prayer in the cell of self-knowledge and God’s goodness in oneself. 

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam.

O Salutaris Hostia : Ite missa est

The following post contains the text of an email I sent to a friend who is a retired teacher of Greek and Latin. It raises the question as to the reason for the use of the word Mass. 

I made (what was for me) a startling discovery this morning in connection with the use of the word Missa / Mass. There is a tantalising reference buried deep in the Summa Theologiæ of St. Thomas. In Article 4 of Question 83 (in the Third Part), he considers : Whether the words spoken in this sacrament are properly framed?

He lists nine "objections" and the last of these reads:

Objection 9. Further, just as Christ's body does not begin to be in this sacrament by change of place, as stated above (III:75:2), so likewise neither does it cease to be there. Consequently, it is improper for the priest to ask: "Bid these things[1] be borne by the hands of thy holy angel unto Thine altar on high." (English translation from Catholic Encyclopedia)

... corpus Christi, sicut non incœpit esse in hoc sacramento per loci mutationem, ut supra dictum est, ita etiam nec esse desinit. Inconvenienter ergo sacerdos petit, iube hæc[1] perferri per manus sancti Angeli tui in sublime altare tuum. (Latin text from Corpus Thomisticum)

He presents as his reply to the ninth Objection words that include the following:

And from this the Mass derives its name [Missa] because the priest sends [mittit] his prayers up to God through the angel, as the people do through the priest. Or else because Christ is the victim sent [missa] to us: accordingly the deacon on festival days "dismisses" the people at the end of the mass, by saying: "Ite, missa est," that is, the victim has been sent [missa est] to God through the angel, so that it [sic] may be accepted by God.

Et propter hoc etiam Missa nominatur. Quia per Angelum sacerdos preces ad Deum mittit, sicut populus per sacerdotem. Vel quia Christus est hostia nobis missa. Unde et in fine Missæ diaconus in festis diebus populum licentiat, dicens, ite, Missa est, scilicet hostia ad Deum per Angelum, ut scilicet sit Deo accepta.

Now, St. Thomas writes of the uniqueness of the Mass: 

Since the whole mystery of our salvation is comprised in this sacrament, therefore is it performed with greater solemnity than the other sacraments.

in hoc sacramento totum mysterium nostræ salutis comprehenditur, ideo præ ceteris sacramentis cum maiori solemnitate agitur.

Granted this importance, I could never understand why the Holy and August Sacrifice would be referred to by a word said to be derived from a dismissal, the traditional reading of Ite, missa est. Here are some translations from missals I have in my possession:

Allez, la Messe est dite (Manuel du Chrétien, 1921)

Idos: la Misa se ha terminado (Misal Práctico, 1950)

Go, the Mass is ended (The Key of Heaven, 1957)

Go : you are sent forth (St. John's Sunday Missal, 1962)

Go, it is the dismissal (The St. Edmund Campion Missal, 2012)

Go, the Mass is ended (Today's Mass: Missale Romanum, 2021)

It is of interest to note that the OED includes the following paragraph in small print:

The post-classical Latin word [missa] occurs with the sense ‘dismissal’ in secular and religious contexts in the late 4th and early 5th centuries (referring e.g. to dismissal from law courts, relief of a sentry, dismissal after a liturgical office, and denoting any of various religious services). The specifically liturgical senses, which are also recorded from this period (their chronological sequence is uncertain), are of disputed origin: explanations commonly start from the basic sense ‘dismissal’, but are generally divided between two different ‘dismissals’ occurring during the mass: the ritual missa catechumenorum or dismissal of catechumens at the point in the liturgy immediately before the celebration of the Eucharist (an explanation found already a636 in Isidore Origines 6. 18. 4), and the dismissal of the congregation at the end of the mass (compare the formula Ite, missa est preserved in the Catholic liturgy, which is itself of disputed interpretation, by some being explained as showing a participle, and by others a noun).[emphasis added]

If St. Thomas is correct in deriving the word Missa / Mass from Hostia ad Deum per Angelum missa est, everything now seems to make sense. The word Mass may be read as deriving from and referring to the offering (sending) of the sacrificial Victim (Hostia), Christ our Lord and Saviour. The Baltimore Catechism puts it quite succinctly:

Q. 917. What is the Mass?

A. The Mass is the unbloody sacrifice of the body and blood of Christ.

If Satan is, as we believe, behind the attacks on the Church, this would explain not only the attacks on the Mass itself but also the apparent hatred of the very word Mass, as it refers indirectly to the Saving Victim and His victory on the Cross.

Mirabile mysterium declaratur hodie

The adoration of the shepherds. J-J Tissot. 

Puer natus est nobis

A child is born to us [Isaias ix. 6]

Laudate Dominum, omnes Gentes: laudate eum omnes populi: Quoniam confirmata est super nos misericordia eius: et veritas Domini manet in aeternum.

O praise the Lord, all ye nations: praise him, all ye people. Quoniam confirmata est super nos misericordia ejus, et veritas Domini manet in aeternum. [Ps. cxvi]

Mirabile mysterium declaratur hodie,

innovantur naturae; 

Deus homo factus est;

id quod fuit, permansit,

et quod non erat, assumpsit,

non commixtionem passus neque divisionem.

 

A wondrous mystery is this day declared,

New natures are delivered;

God is made man;

That which He was, He remains,

and that which He was not, He takes on,

yet suffering neither confusion nor division.

[From the Antiphon sung before the Canticle of Zachary during Christmas Lauds in the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary]

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam. 

Dear KB: AD MULTOS ANNOS!

Today's post recalls the birth of KB in 1979. She excelled in all her studies and was destined to enjoy a distinguished career, earning a doctorate and enjoying the title of "multi-disciplinary mathematician," no less. 

'...great was the fall thereof'

This is one page from an exercise book in which K proved herself to be an adept and diligent student of her Faith, at only five years of age (1985-6). The writing in pencil is hers, as are the drawings.

The page illustrates the story Our Lord told in His Sermon on the Mount:

[24] Every one that heareth these my words, and doth them, shall be likened to a wise man that built his house upon a rock, [25]And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and they beat upon that house, and it fell not, for it was founded on a rock.[26] And every one that heareth these my words, and doth them not, shall be like a foolish man that built his house upon the sand, [27] And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and they beat upon that house, and it fell, and great was the fall thereof. [Matthew 7]

How tragic for all concerned that so many of us have followed the example of the foolish man in Verse 26.  'Great was the fall thereof'. Great indeed.

St Louis-Marie suggests the reasons for such a fall:

TRAITE DE LA VRAIE DEVOTION A LA SAINTE VIERGE
St Louis-Marie de Montfort

Ah! combien a-t-on vu de cèdres du Liban et d'étoiles du firmament tomber misérablement et perdre toute leur hauteur et leur clarté en peu de temps! D'où vient cet étrange changement? Ce n'a pas été faute de grâce, qui ne manque à personne, mais faute d'humilité: ils se sont crus capables de garder leurs trésors; ils se sont fiés et appuyés sur eux-mêmes; ils ont cru leur maison assez sûre, et leurs coffres assez forts pour garder le précieux trésor de la grâce, et c'est à cause de cet appui imperceptible qu'ils avaient en eux-mêmes (quoiqu'il leur semblât qu'ils s'appuyaient uniquement sur la grâce de Dieu), que le Seigneur très juste a permis qu'ils ont été volés, en les délaissant à eux-mêmes.

Ah, how often have we seen great cedars of Lebanon fall wretchedly and stars in the firmament lose all their sublime brightness, and so quickly! How does this strange transformation occur? Not through lack of grace, lacking in no person, but through lack of humility: they thought that they themselves were capable of keeping their treasures; they trusted in themselves and counted on themselves alone; they thought their house was sturdy enough and their chests strong enough to keep safe the precious treasure of grace; and it was because of this reliance they placed on themselves, barely perceptible to them (because it seemed to them that they were relying solely upon God's grace), that the most just Lord permitted the theft of their treasures, leaving them to themselves.[Eng. transl. by PB]

Update: 4 November: 

Wherefore he that thinketh himself to stand, let him take heed lest he fall. Itaque qui se existimat stare, videat ne cadat. [I Cor. x. 12]

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam.