Vesperal Liturgy of St. Basil

When Did They Become Orthodox?

"I believe in one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church" nearly all Christians who claim any sort of apostolic origin recite on Sundays. Among them are the various kinds of Orthodox Christians of the Eastern Churches. One friend, a Russian Jew born in Orthodoxy who left after falling victim to ethnocentrism, could not quite understand why they said that they believe in the "catholic" Church while not being Catholic. But they do believe they are the Catholic Church, and Orthodox, too.

The birth of "Orthodoxy" and the "Orthodox Church" is one of the minor mysteries in religious linguistics probably worthy of some level of study. The Church of Constantinople—as the Church of Rome, and the Church of Alexandria, and the Church of Aberdeen—believed itself to possess those four marks of the Church and hence to be a part of the Church Christ founded. That Church has gone by a few different names in its two thousand year history, but only a few. St. Ignatius of Antioch wrote in his letter to the Smyrnaeans 

"Where ever the bishop is let the multitude of the people be, as where there is Jesus Christ there is the Catholic Church." 

That phrase, Catholic Church, went on the shelf for the better part of the next few centuries, only coming off when the concept of "Christian" was no longer sufficient to distinguish the true Church from the odd sects engendered by heterodox thinkers or gnostic divines. "Christian," meaning "little Christs"—itself meaning "little anointed ones," a strong indication of Confirmation—by the fourth century had the same general meaning it has today. Anyone who professes Jesus Christ in some meaningful way is a Christian. Those who professed the true faith claimed membership in the "Catholic Church."

"Catholic" lived on in the Creed of Nicaea in the condemnation at the end:

"But those who say 'There was once when he was not,' and 'Before his generation he was not,' and 'He was made out of nothing,' or pretend that the Song of God is of another subsistence or substance, or created or alterable or mutable, the Catholic Church anathematizes."

Christians called the Church Catholic yet they did not always refer to themselves as Catholics. I can recall one occasion when St. Athanasius used the word Catholic substantially to describe individual believers. Most believers contented themselves with the label of Christian except for in the city of Constantinople, which, as the gateway to the east from the west and to west from the east, was the bottleneck of nearly every Christological controversy of the first millennium. Christians there described themselves as "orthodox" or "right worshippers" in contrast to the "heretic," the one who "chooses" to worship God according to his own will. The dialogues of the Greek Fathers crystallized this term in literary style and by the time of St. Theodore the Studite it was an accepted means of self-identification for the Christians of the Byzantine city. As an aside, the Roman Canon does pray for "omnibus orthodoxis.... cultoribus."

"Orthodox" signified an aesthetic, a type of Christian, a Christian who worshipped according to the rites of the Byzantine Church, who bore the scars of the heresies and the scabs of the triumphs that passed through Constantinople, and who adhered uniquely to the theology of the Greek Fathers. John Senior wrote that if philosophy is footnotes on Plato, theology is footnotes on St. Augustine. This phrase holds true only in the West. In the Greek tradition, theology is footnotes on the Cappodocian Fathers. Greek Christians prayed in the Great Entrance "May the Lord Our God remember all you orthodox Christians in His kingdom at all times...." and during the Litany of Fervent Supplication for "our orthodox fathers who here and elsewhere lie asleep in the Lord." While "orthodox" they certainly believed themselves part of the Catholic Church if not the Catholic Church. Then came the fall of Byzantium.

As political as the Roman Church was during the Middle Ages and Baroque era and as institutional as the Roman Church has been since Trent, the Constantinopolitan Church was before 1453 and more. The emperor was God's living representative on earth and the living icon of God the Father before whose image the citizens of Byzantium were to bow in reverence. He could call Councils, kidnap popes, replace the patriarch of his city, and—when he met little resistance—create Church laws that would mold the religious practice of his empire and beyond. Byzantium's triumph in Slavic lands buffered the empire from the west. The disaster of the fourth crusade and the decline of the Byzantine empire polarized Constantinople from "the West" when, hitherto, Constantinople had been more western than any eastern church. In the Palaiologian empire the Greek Church further distanced itself from "the West" during the Hesychast years of St. Gregory Palamas. Theology and liturgy became less communal and more mystical under the influence of Palamas and monastic patriarchs. Symbolism replaced realism in icons which now sat on the curtain around the Holy Place of the Hagia Sophia. Monastic patriarches replaced the organ, choral music, and the old Office with their own chants and psalter. The fall of Constantinople ossified the synthesis of the first millennium Constantinopolitan tradition with the Hesychast monastic movement, the last expression of "orthodox" Christianity.

In the midst of the newfangled Islamic city and without the institutional structures and imperial support the Greek Church previously enjoyed, Christians of Constantinople ceased to identify themselves as the Catholic Church. More troublesome to Greek Christians might have been Rome's unique hold over the title "Catholic Church." All that was left was the way of being Christian that they knew, orthodox. "Holy Orthodoxy" was born. 

One potential pitfall to this argument is that some non-Byzantine Churches of the East that accept the Councils until and excluding Chalcedon are now called "Orthodox." Coptic Christians in my experience are very fervent about the denomination "Orthodox" while Armenians accept the title, but are more content for their church to be known as the "Armenian Apostolic Church." Perhaps the solution to this flaw in my argument lies in the popularity of the term "Orthodox" itself. Could the term have been spread by the Ottoman empire to denote Christians who had nothing to do with the Pope in Rome?

The question is an interesting one and worthy of further study.

This Morning

Pontifical Divine Liturgy with Bishop Kurt at St John Chrysostom....

Proskomide

Above is an explanation of a service I have seen countless times during Orthros (Mattins & Lauds), but never heard aloud aside from a few words. A priest of some Orthodox community explains the Proskomide, the preparation rites for the bread and wine prior to the Divine Liturgy. The prayers are heuristic and indicative of a liturgical theology that takes the reality of the opus Dei during the Eucharist seriously.

As an aside, the priest is likely wrong when he says that the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom originates in St. John Chrysostom. I am told that St. Basil is the most likely to have had extensive influence on the Byzantine rite named for him. The Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, like the "Ambrosian rite" of Milan, is probably named for the most prominent bishop of the diocese that used it.

The Lyonese Missal Part II: Holy Week & Pascha

Cornelius Jansen was a bishop and faithful servant of the Christ who in his last days made his private writings vulnerable to the judgment of the Church. Indeed the Church found some of his ideas on grace and man's cooperation with it to be a deviation from her tradition, condemning them, but not the humble Jansen. Some of Jansen's intellectual followers could not heed his example and, if we are to believe certain French Ultramontanists, they peppered the local rites of the French church with their heterodox beliefs. As part of our on-going investigation into these claims, which resulted in the eventual suppression of many diocesan rites in France, we will now look into Holy Week and Pascha in the rite of Lyons.

Part I: Palm Sunday

Palm Sunday in the Lyonese Missal is a relatively low key affair when compared to the Missa sicca, blessings, distribution of palms, procession, and dramatic entry into the church in the pre-Pius XII Roman rite. Still, it contributes, or rather maintains, to the Latin tradition a very Gallican understanding of time and space in the liturgy. The day begins with a procession in silence to St. Irenaeus "on the mount," shown to the right, where the shrine of the saint of Lyons once stood before it was destroyed by the Calvinists (already I see a disincentive for Catholics to adopt Jansenistic ideas in this diocese). The deacons and subdeacons wear violet folded chasubles, as in the Roman rite, and the "concelebrants" are fully vested. The lord Archbishop wears a violet cope and a mitre. From St. Irenaeus the procession heads to the cemetery of St. Just. Arriving at St. Just cemetery the choir sings psalm 50, the Miserere, for the dead and follow it with the standard collect. The procession then enters St. Just. Palms are arranged on the altar. The Archbishop blesses the palms from the epistle side using three collects; the first asks for a share in the triumph of the Cross, the second asks that the Lord "bless us with songs" as He did the people of Jerusalem and that we may sing to Him with palms and songs of glory at His second coming, and the third that the people receive the palms with faith. They are then sprinkled with lustral water, incensed, and distributed to the singing of Pueri Hebraeorum—as in the Roman rite. A procession follows immediately. The antiphons during the procession differ a bit from the Roman rite, emphasizing the plotting of the Sanhedrin against Christ rather than the wonder of the people of Jerusalem. There is no ceremony at the door of the cathedral nor the singing of Gloria, Laus, et Honor tibi sit as in the Roman Church, but an antiphon is sung upon entering Locuti sunt adversum me lingua dolosa. A collect ends the service and the lord Archbishop vests for Mass.

Interestingly this service, although in the whole far simpler than the unreformed Roman rite, it does preserve some interesting elements not apparent in the Tridentine liturgy, which is essentially a reduced version of the Roman rite made for bureaucratic use. For one consider the idea of procession. In the Roman rite one starts the service within the main church, makes a circle around the block, and returns. In this use the procession begins at a distant cemetery and nearby church and then arrives at the cathedral. The significance is not at first apparent. Our Lord had just raised Lazarus from the dead after the mourning and weeping of Martha. He then goes down from Bethany with His Apostles and disciples, then enters Jerusalem, the city of the Temple and of David. Here the procession begins in a cemetery with weeping and prayers for the dead who, like Lazarus, we expect to rise to a new life when Christ returns to judge the quick and the dead. The procession then continues downhill, arriving at the cathedral, the new temple and type of the new Jerusalem where Christ is king and which we touch now and will embrace in eternity. The Roman rite's Missa sicca is perhaps more beautiful and historic than the Lyonese blessing, but the Lyonese procession offers much insight into the Church's view of time, death, judgment, and the age to come.

The Introit and Collect are the same as in the Roman rite, but again the Gallican psalter replaces the pre-Vulgate Latin commonly used in antiphons in the Roman tradition. Psalm 21, the Roman gradual, is shortened to a few verses. Whereas in the Roman rite three deacons, not petitioning the celebrant for a blessing, sing the Passion according to St. Matthew, and then the deacon of the Mass sings the burial narrative as the Gospel, in the rite of Lyons one deacon, not petitioning a blessing, sings the entire Passion in the Gospel tone. When Christ "gives up the ghost" all prostrate and kiss the ground. The burial, the Gospel in the Roman rite, is not given distinctive ceremony, but is sung in a higher pitch, possibly an echo of the Roman use. The celebrating Archbishop does not kiss the book.

The propers for the rest of the Mass differ from Rome, but are unremarkable except that the Secret seems to be based on texts used in the Roman Office during the Triduum. At private Masses the account of Christ's entry into Jerusalem found in Matthew may be read in place of St. John's prologue at the end of Mass.

Part II: Mass of the Lord's Supper and Mandatum

At the Mass of the Lord's Supper the Gloria, Creed, and Ite missa est are only sung in the Mass is the conventual Mass in the cathedral at which the lord Archbishop will consecrate the holy oils for the year according to the Lyonese pontifical books. Otherwise neither the Gloria nor Creed are sung and the dismissal is Benedicamus Domino. Two hosts are consecrated: one for the priest's communion today and the other for the Mass of the Pre-Sanctified tomorrow.

The Introit and Collect are entirely different from Rome. While the Roman texts focus on the impending Passion and the betrayal of Judas, the Lyonese Introit, borrowed from Hebrews 5:10, introduces Christ's priesthood this night, His bridging heaven and earth. The Collect begs God that "we may deserve to achieve rising to our justification" in Christ. Would not a Jansenist think justification a foregone conclusion?

The epistle and Gospel match the Roman rite. The gradual differs, but again focuses on the priesthood of the Lord. The Offertory verse does not match, but the secret does, a rarity in Gallican books. The changes to the Canon for the day are precisely the same as in the Roman rite. The Agnus Dei is omitted, as is the Kiss of Peace, but the pre-communion prayers are the same. The Communion antiphon is "I have wanted with great desire to eat this Passover meal with you all before I leave." The post-Communion oration differs, again giving special attention to priesthood.

Mass of the Lord's Supper in the
Lyonese rite, 1934.

After Mass the Blessed Sacrament is taken in procession, headed by a subdeacon carrying the cross between two torchbearers. Pange lingua is sung and the thurifer incenses the Blessed Sacrament throughout. A baldachin stands over the altar of repose. Assisting clergy surround the four corners of the baldachin according to rank. The collect Respice is sung. The choir then sings O Salutaris Hostia. The Archbishop gives benediction of the Blessed Sacrament and then reposes the Sacrament. The clergy return to the main choir, sing Vespers, strip the altars, and retire until the Mandatum in the afternoon.

The Mandatum takes place in the afternoon. The Archbishop vests in amice, alb, cincture, stole, and mitre. The rubrics envision that he washes the feet of twelve fellow priests, although a provision exists for the washing of the feet of twelve paupers. They sit at the ready, feet bare. The Archbishop washes their feet while the choir sings seven antiphons, many distinct from the Roman rite. These antiphons emphasize fraternity, Ecce quam bonum. After the footwashing the Archbishop sings a collect. Two barefoot torchbearers and a subdeacon wearing a violet tunicle wait for the Archbishop to bless incense and the deacon, who is vested in white dalmatic. The deacon and company then process to the pulpit where he sings St. John's Gospel beginning at 13:16, an abbreviation of the Gospel of the Mass. While this differs from the pre-Pius XII Roman rite, it is far closer to the Roman praxis than either the 1962 or 1970 Holy Weeks. At the words "Arise, let us go" in the Gospel all rise and go to the place in choir where the lord Archbishop will bless bread. The deacon turns to face eastward and continues to sing the Gospel until the end of chapter 15. The Archbishop sings a collect, sprinkles the bread with lustral water, it is distributed, with wine, to any who want it. Thursday in Holy Week thus ends.

Part III: Good Friday

Good Friday begins with a solemn celebration of the little hours, presumably in aggregation. The liturgical color for the little hours is violet and the clergy, lord Archbishop included, sing the Office barefoot. After None, the ministers vest as for Mass, but without the outer vestments, the chasubles—folded or unfolded. Could this be a relic of the medieval Missa sicca rather than an intended separation of the synaxis and the Eucharist as was the intention of Pius XII?

The Archbishop reverences the altar without a kiss and then proceeds to his throne. A subdeacon then sings the lesson Dixit Dominus ad Moysen as in the second reading of the Roman rite. The reading is followed by a tract then then Oremus without a genuflection. The ensuing collect gives thanks for the "mocking, beating, and crucifixion" suffered by Christ for us sinners. Then a second reading, the suffering servant prophecy from Isaiah 53, is read. Psalm 139 is then sung as a tract, Eripe me Domine ab homine malo.

The lord Archbishop is then given his pastoral staff. The deacon, not asking for a blessing, takes the Gospel book, goes to the pulpit, and without introduction sings the Passion according to St. John. As with the Palm Sunday reading the entire Passion is sung in the Gospel tone, when Christ "gives us the ghost" all prostrate and kiss the floor, and the deacon sings what was [likely] once the burial Gospel narrative in a higher tone of voice. The lord Archbishop does not kiss the book at the end.

The lord Archbishop then sings the solemn intercessions from the throne, intercession which match the Roman Missal and the Parisian Missal, particularly in the prayer for the king, although the king was long dead and not long living when the Lyonese rite was last in use. They are sung in the preface tone, with genuflections between the introduction and the actual prayer. No genuflection is made during the prayer for the Jews. During these collects the Treasurer of the diocese, presumably a canon of the cathedral, goes to the sacristy, dons an amice, alb, stole, cincture, violet cope, and a "hat." Four subdeacons, including the two who read prophecies earlier, assume violet folded chasubles. They receive the veiled Crucifix from the sacristan and escort it to the altar. The Treasurer takes the Crucifix, covered in red, and places it on the altar. He removes his hat, genuflects, and with the other ministers returns to his place in the choir.

The lord Archbishop then unveils the Crucifix with the familiar three part Ecce lignum crucis of the Roman rite. Two subdeacons hold the Crucifix up so the Archbishop may adore it. Then the other clergy adore according to rank. The precentor intones the reproaches, which lack the Pange lingua and the Trisagion of the Roman rite. While the congregation adores the Crucifix the choir sings psalm 68 with the antiphon Sicut Moyses exaltavit serpentem in deserto, ita exaltari oportet Filium hominis; ut omnis qui credit in ipsum non pereat, sed habeat vitam aeternam.

At the end of the adoration the Archbishop sings a collect from his throne (an inelegant amalgamation of Roman collects from my view). The Treasurer replaces the Crucifix at the center of the altar.

At this point the lord Archbishop finally dons the chasuble and approaches the altar with his six concelebrants, seven deacons, and seven subdeacons. The Archbishop prays the Confiteor and receives the absolution as normal at Mass. The assisting ministers do the same. The Archbishop ascends the altar and kisses it. A corporal is prepared on the altar and the subdeacon puts water and wine into the chalice while the Archbishop says nothing. The Archbishop washes his hands, again saying nothing. A deacon, accompanied by two torchbearers and the thurifer, brings the Blessed Sacrament to the altar, Which is then incensed by the celebrant. While all kneel the Archbishop is to rise, approach the Sacrament with reverence, meditate on the Passion of Christ for a moment in silence, then place the Eucharist on the corporal, uncovers the chalice, and says Per Ipsum et cum Ipso et in Ipso, est tibi Deo Patri omnipotenti in unitate Spiritus Sancti, omnis honor et gloria concluding aloud with the usual per omnia saecula saeculorum. Amen. He then sings the Pater Noster as usual, then the Libera nos, doing all the normal Mass-things with the paten, fracturing the Host, placing a particle in the chalice, and saying the Communion prayer Perceptio. The rest follows as in the Roman Mass of the Pre-Sanctified. The ministers return to the sacristy as the choir sings Vespers in a monotone.

Part IV: Holy Saturday

Holy Saturday begins with the little hours sung in choir. Unlit candles are on the altar. After the hours the lord Archbishop, at an unspecified location, strikes a flint to ignite a new fire over a small candle, a fire which he blesses with three collects, the first two exactly the same as in the old Roman rite and the third an elaboration of the third Roman collect. Similarly, the prayer to bless the five grains of incense is an elaboration of the relatively straight forward Roman oration. The Archbishop sprinkles the fire  and incense with lustral water. The sacred ministers then don white vestments, but do not assume the chasuble, dalmatic, or tunicle. All then sit in choir for the reading of four prophecies and collects (the first exactly from the Roman rite, the second is the Exodus from Egypt followed by a unique collect about liberation from sin, the third is the parting of the Red Sea followed by the collect from the fourth Roman prophecy, and the fourth is from Isaiah 55—also found in the Roman rite—followed by the collect Deus qui ecclesiam tuam also of the Roman rite).

After a tract the Archbishop sings the collect Omnipotens sempiterne Deus, sung in the Roman rite when the celebrant is to bless the baptismal font. Here is it a prelude to a litany. All kneel at the end of the collect and the cantors begin a litany of saints, rising after Sancta Maria, ora pro nobis and continuing to sing. The litany is comprised mainly of early to mid first millennium Roman and Gallican saints. At the end of the litany the foremost deacon dons the dalmatic, takes the book of chants, and proceeds to the pulpit, in front of which is the Paschal candle. He then sings the Exultet while the Archbishop listens with his pastoral staff. The deacon does everything he would do in the un-defiled Roman Holy Week. Of particular interest is that the grains of incense are to be dipped in Holy Chrism prior to their insertion into the Paschal candle. The deacon lights the Paschal candle from the new holy fire using a "triangular" candle, from which the torchbearers light their candles and all the other candles in the cathedral. The candle is to remain lit on Sundays, Double feasts, and Semi-Doubles of Paschaltide as well as during the Pentecost Vigil.

After the blessing of the Paschal candle a new litany is sung and all process to the baptistry. The words and actions are exactly as in the Roman rite except the prayers Infusio and Commixtio are not said. Instead an antiphon is sung as the procession heads to the sacristy. After the antiphon the choir begins the third and final litany of saints. The ministers finally put of the chasubles, dalmatics, tunicles, and copes according to their order, head to the altar, and begin Mass with the prayers at the foot of the altar as usual. The litany functions as the Introit. The synaxis is exactly the same as in the Roman rite except that the celebrant does not introduce the Alleluia, perhaps owing to too many Archbishops not blessed with singing talents.

There is no Offertory verse. The secret is not the Roman one, but it does make a very Eastern reference to those "renewed in Baptism." The preface is of Paschaltide. The adjustment to the Canon are the same as in Rome. The Kiss of Peace is given, but the Agnus Dei is not sung nor is a Communion antiphon. The post-Communion prayer is: "O God, Who through the Paschal mystery did teach to leave the old life and to walk in the new spirit, grant that by this sacrament Your Son may grant us His life, Who took and killed our death." Beautiful!

The dismissal is Ite missa est without the Roman double Alleluia. Rather than pray the last Gospel the lord Archbishop intones Vespers and goes to the sacristy to swap his chasuble for a cope. The Office continues as normal.

Part V: Pascha

"Christ is risen from the dead...." Byzantine? Lyonese too! The Lyonese Mass of the Resurrection begins not with the familiar Roman Resurrexi, but with "Christ is risen from the dead, Alleluia! Death is swallowed in victory, Alleluia! O death where is your victory? O death where is your sting? Alleluia! Alleluia!" This is also the Parisian Introit for Pascha. The Collect and readings are the same as in the Roman rite, but the gradual and sequence are entirely different. I have never heard the sequence set to music, but the text is more holistic than in the Roman rite and less vivid. Towards the end it parallels the deliverance from Egypt and petitions the same for our souls.

The Offertory verse is borrowed from 1 Corinthians 5, as is the Communion verse of the Roman rite. Staying consistent with the Egyptian themes of deliverance, the secret asks for a "leaven of honesty and truth." The Paschal preface is used. The changes to the Canon are the same as yesterday and the same as in the Roman rite. A length antiphon is sung between the first and second invocations of the Agnus Dei, telling people "Taste and eat" the "bread which is come down from heaven." The Communion antiphon comes from psalm 117. The post-Communion is the same as that stunning prayer from yesterday. The dismissal is Ite missa est and the Johannine prologue is said in the recession as normal.

Conclusion

I am open to correction, but I have yet to find a tinge of Jansenism, supposition of the state of the soul, an exclusive view of Christ's sacrifice, or an undermining of free will. Rather I find a dynamic liturgy with many heartfelt prayers, some very odd texts, a very Catholic understand of time and space, a very Byzantine view of the Resurrection, and a very strong Catholic culture.

A Marian Lent

The Byzantine tradition dedicates the first four Fridays of Great Lent to anticipating the Annunciation of the Nativity of Christ to the Mother of God, Mary. On Friday evenings at Compline Byzantine churches will sing an Akathist, a "hymn" consisting of opening rites, psalm 50, a few canons, the incensation of an icon of the Blessed Mother, and finally a series of chants which vary by week. This Friday, the first of Lent, we will sing the chants below. They are some of the most profound and beautiful liturgical texts I have ever seen and should help us peer into what the liturgy should be. The chants here are taken from a Melkite service book I borrowed from my previous pastor. Unfortunately I could not find any non-choral settings of the Akathist to publish here, but you can make up your own chant if you wish to sing these (someone made it up once, right?).

 

 

Quick Word on Confirmation

 

A friend recently asked what the Byzantine perspective on Confirmation was. I thought I would share my reply since the perspective might differ a little from what we all learned in religious education at the hands of a lay catechist (or in my case, a Jesuit).

We often think of Baptism as "washing away Original Sin" and Confirmation as a "strengthening" (confirmo in Latin means "I strengthen") in the Church Militant. 

Baptism is actually prefigured in the Great Flood and in the Parting of the Sea by Moses. It is the washing away of sin, to be sure, but it is, more importantly, the crossing over into a new and renewed creation, the new promised land and the new Jerusalem which is the Church (and which the old covenant and the old Jerusalem anticipated). We enter the Church in Baptism ("baptism" means "plunging" in Greek, hence when one is "baptized into Christ" one is plunged into the body of Christ, the Church) we enter into something pure and our sins are washed away as a consequence. 

Confirmation, or Chrismation, is a similar story. The anointing with oil is actually an Old Testament style anointing to the priesthood. In this case it is the anointing into a priestly group of people (1 Peter 2:9—that passage Luther so abused). In the ancient days the priests came from the Levites. Christ has transformed all members of the Church into members of a new type of people that has this priestly charism, that is, the power and ability to spread the Gospel, which is of course not the same as Holy Orders. It is perhaps a very small participation in Christ's priesthood in spreading the Gospel. The priests and bishops in Holy Orders have a much stronger participation since they have the power to confect the Sacraments. Either way it is a very real participation in the Divine Life. Because it is a joining to a new people, Confirmation was always done in tandem with Baptism: one entered into the new creation and the new people of God at the same time. As infant Baptism (which was always done) became the norm the Byzantines Confirmed infants and the Romans reserved it for the bishop to do. There is, in both the traditional and Novus Ordo Roman books, a remnant of Confirmation of infants: the priest anoints the baptized child with Chrism saying nothing. Thankfully we do confer Confirmation after Baptism with converts now.

Also at Confirmation one receives the Holy Spirit. Because one enters into a priestly people one must receive the Holy Spirit to be guided in truth (1 John 2:20). The traditional Roman rite loses sight of this. The form in the Roman rite is "I sign you with the sign of the Cross and strengthen you with the chrism of salvation in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." The Byzantine rite, which the new Roman books copied in this case, is far clearer "Be sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit" which really means "Be sealed with the gift that is the Holy Spirit."

Makes me wish I appreciated my own Confirmation more!

Rare Beauty

Although Youtube will not allow me to embed this, I have wanted to share a particular clip of consecration and con-celebration in the Byzantine rite. The video is of a Patriarchal Divine Liturgy celebrated by Kyrill in the Russian Orthodox cathedral in Moscow, one of the most liturgically competent places in the world, a Slavic version of Rome under Enrico Dante: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RGK3Qf0M4A

 

A few things worth knowing:

• The liturgy is not sung in Russian, but in Church Slavonic, a language which predates modern Russian, but which the Church of Russia retained after it ceased to be the tongue of most people. A native Russian speaker tells me it is mostly intelligible to Russians, much like how Latin is intelligible to French and Italian speakers.
• The clip begins with the "Holy, Holy, Holy" or Sanctus as we know it. The first words the celebrant sings aloud (at 0:09) are "Take, eat, this is my Body which is broken for you, for the forgiveness of sins" followed by "Drink of this all of you, for this is My Blood in the new Covenant, which is poured out for you and many for the forgiveness of sins." As stated elsewhere, the Byzantine rite treats this moment as a pretext or introduction to the anaphora rather than as the actual moment of consecration.
• The two deacons "offer" the bread and wine to God in a sacrificial manner as the celebrant sings "We offer You Your own from What is Your own, from all and for the sake of all" at 1:09.
• None of the clergy are using service booklets, they have the necessary parts committed to memory.
• The consecration begins at 2:55 when the celebrant says "Send down Your Holy Spirit upon us and upon these gifts here offered." The deacon points with his orarion (stole) to the bread saying "Bless the Holy Bread, Master" and the celebrant continues "and make this bread the precious Body of Your Christ." The deacon points to the chalice and makes the same remark again and the celebrant again continues "and make that which is in this chalice the precious Blood of Your Christ." He then blesses both elements saying "changing them by Your Holy Spirit." The deacons reply "Amen! Amen! Amen!" The clergy prostrate before the Body and Blood of Christ. The celebrant, as a bishop, is then re-vested in preparation for Holy Communion by removing his omorphion (pallium), a symbol of his authority. The Embodied Icon: Liturgical Vestments and Sacramental Power in Byzantium page 20 describes the omorphion as a symbol of the bishop representing Christ. After the consecration the vestment comes off as the Presence of Christ completes the fullness of revelation and reduces the celebrating bishop to the status of a mere priest.
• The consecration is done quietly with regard to the congregation in attendance. Other than "Take, eat" and a few other bits they must unite themselves in prayer and pay attention to the work of the clergy in the Holy Place (sanctuary) to know what is transpiring when.
• The con-celebration is tasteful. Only the celebrant says the principle parts. A reasonable number of clergy surround the altar, no more. A clear power structure is apparent in who does what. They are not taking turns talking to one another. I wonder if con-celebration was once done this way in the Roman rite (as Innocent III attests to doing with the cardinal-priests of Rome on special feasts) rather than the modern way so common in the Mass of Paul VI. I remember a friend commenting that the Dominicans at Blackfriars in Oxford had con-celebration down to such timing that they sounded like robots: "Take me to your leader. This is my body."

Roman and Byzantine Triduum

Awareness of the old Holy Week in the Roman rite has grown since then-Pope Benedict XVI's Summorum Pontificum in 2007, as many eager clergy and faithful sought to understand both the 1962 liturgy and what preceded it. What many do not know, but will in a few moments, is just how close the old Roman Triduum is to the last three days of Great Week in the Byzantine liturgical tradition.

I found this especially jarring when I first realized it, as "restoration" to a more pristine liturgy, as supposedly exists in the East, was often presented as a premise for the Pian and Pauline reforms. It should not be so surprising. Rome and Constantinople are only a few hundred miles apart and were, until the papacy of St. Gregory the Great, under the same cultural and political body. Even after Rome's de facto separation from the Byzantine Empire Constantinopolitan liturgy came to Rome via Milan and via Europe (France and Spain picked up Eastern Roman traditions and practices from North African Christians). The Crusades would have a reciprocal effect centuries later. Contrary to our instinct to view the Rome-Constantinople schism as the compass for liturgy, the two cities probably have more in common than the Byzantine tradition has with the Thomistic Christians of India or the Nestorians or the other various non-Chalcedonian Churches we call "Oriental."

Before we look at the specific rites, let us lay down a few basic principles necessary to understanding the commonality of the two rites:

1. A liturgical day begins the evening prior to the calendar day with Vespers. This derives from the Mosaic tradition (Exodus 29:38-39) of offering sacrifice in the morning and evening. The Temple eventually came to a regular schedule of prayer hours, much like the Divine Office, which is, in most ways, a Christianized version of the ancient Jewish public prayer. Saturday evening Vespers begin Sunday in the Byzantine tradition, as first Vespers begin a feast—and in some sense, Sunday—in the Roman tradition.
2. The celebration of the Eucharist, call it Mass or Divine Liturgy, is integral to the mysteries and prayer of a given day, but does not encompass all of it. The Divine Office and Eucharist together comprise the observance of a feast, Sunday, or feria.

Now, let us look at the Triduum!

Mandy/Great and Holy Thursday

Archbishop Soroka washes feet at Ss. Cyril and Methodius
from: blogs.thetimes-tribune.com

In the Byzantine tradition, dark vestments are used on this day. My parish, which has limited means, uses crimson red. The day begins Wednesday evening with Vespers, with the usual introductory rites and psalm 103 ("Bless the Lord, my soul..."). Psalms 140, 141, and 129 are sung, the emphasis being "crying out" to the Lord. The stichera (hymns), which emphasize Judas' betrayal of the "Creator and Maker of all" to the Jews, are sung thereafter. The emphasis on the guilt of Judas never ceases, which impressed the first time I heard these hymns. All Christians are aware of the great betrayal, but I never thought of singing "the Apostle and Apostate" and the "spawn of the vipers" as a liturgical song. The Evening Hymn is sung, followed by prophecies from Exodus, Isaiah, and Job. This marks a quiet transition into the Divine Liturgy proper, wherein the institution narrative from St. Paul first epistle to the Church in Corinth is read. The Cherubic Hymn is replaced by the normal communion verse "Make me this day a sharer in your mystical supper, Oh Son of God...." (interestingly, this is sung as the communion antiphon this day in the Ambrosian rite) These verses are repeated several times, even after communion. The blessing at the end, which normally speaks of "Our Lord Jesus Christ, Who is risen from the dead," instead reflects on the Lord's humility in washing His Apostles' feet and dying for us and them. In the Melkite Church, and presumably the Chalcedonian-Orthodox of Antioch, the Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick is given between Vespers and the Divine Liturgy proper. In most parishes, but not my small parish, the celebrant washes the feet of twelve men after communion and before the dismissal. If the celebrant is a bishop, he is sure to wash the feet of some clergy. The same goes for an abbot in a monastery. The washing takes place outside of the Royal Doors, in the nave of the church. Mattins on Thursday morning continues the theme of betrayal, which is much stronger than in the Roman rite.

Tenebrae sung at St. Mary's in Norwalk, CT USA, an excellent little parish.

The Roman rite, oddly, does not begin with Vespers, as there are no first Vespers during Holy Week. But it does begin, powerfully, with the Wednesday evening service of Tenebrae—Mattins and Lauds of Mandy Thursday. There are no introductory rites and the psalms are actually ferial, not festal. The lessons from the Book of the Lamentations of Jeremias speak of tragic desolation of a lonely city—quomodo sedet sola civitas. The responsories speak of Christ asking for the cup to pass from Him and of His immanent betrayal. The antiphons on the Mattins psalms speak of fear, silence, disturbance, trembling, and judgment. After each psalm a candle on the hearse is extinguished, eventually leaving the church in darkness. Whereas Mattins and Lauds usually lead us out of the darkness of night into the service of God throughout the day, here we go from day into obscurity and trembling as the Divine Redemption begins to unfold. Lauds begins with psalm 50 and then 89, the antiphon on which says "The Lord was brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and He opened not His mouth." The Miserere psalm is repeated again as part of the would-be suffrages and the remaining candles on the altar are snuffed, darkening the church. The clergy take their books and smash them to create an earthquake-like noise, reminiscent of the one following the Crucifixion. Mass is sung after None, in practice in the morning. The introit is Nos autem gloriari and the Gloria is sung, but the rest of the Mass pertains to the Last Supper. The Epistle is the same as in the Byzantine liturgy and the Gospel is St. John's account of Christ washing the Apostles' feet. The vestments are white for the Mass but not for the rest of the day. My own cheesy interpretation of this is that it is like a going-away for a beloved friend who you know you will not see again for a long time; festive, but surreal and sad. In reality this is probably a Roman oddity: Byzantium used dark vestments, Milan used black, and the Gallican and Norman rites used red. After Mass a procession brings the Blessed Sacrament to an altar of repose and the Vespers follows. The altars of the church are stripped and washed. At a side altar, in the afternoon, the celebrant washes the feet of thirteen men, after having repeated the Gospel of the Mass. The priest wears a penitential violet for this ceremony, which many once considered a possible Sacrament.

Good/Holy and Great Friday

A typical epitaphios
from: orthodoxytoday.org

In the Byzantine rite Great and Holy Friday begins with a long Mattins on Thursday evening. The Byzantine rite, which is actually sparse in its Scripture readings compared to the Roman rite, has twelve lessons on this day, beginning with chapters 13-18 of the Gospel of St. John. In some churches twelve candles are lit and gradually extinguish after each reading. A crucifix with an icon-style corpus is placed in the nave and all adore it. A hymn describing Christ as the "Bridegroom of the Church" transfigured by the nails of the Cross  precedes the adoration. After the Little Hours, around 3:00 PM, a Deposition from the Cross service takes place. It is a Vespers service and the Gospel Passion according to St. Matthew, although with interpolations from all the accounts, is sung by the deacon. The reading encompasses Christ's burial in the tomb of St. Joseph of Arimathea. At the end of the service the icon-styled corpus is removed from the Cross and "buried" in an embroidered cloth called the epitaphios, which is placed within a bier. Once again all adore. Compline follows.

In the Roman rite the day once again begins with Tenebrae and the exact same ceremonies as the previous Tenebrae on Mandy Thursday. The last nocturne of Mattins contained excerpts from St. Paul's Epistle to the Hebrews, wherein the Apostle describes the two-edged sword of faith, hopes he maintains his, and emphasizes that faith is a living thing. The versicle before the second Miserere at Lauds adds mortem autem crucis. On Friday, in the morning or around noon, the Mass of the Pre-Sanctified takes place. Structured like a Mass, the celebrant and his deacons wear their normal vestments, albeit the black of Masses of death, and take their places according to Mass ceremonial. A prophecy from Osee and from the book of Exodus are read. The Passion according to St. John is sung, followed by collects for the needs of the Church and then, in three successive and dramatic stages, a Cross is unveiled for public adoration. The clergy and the people "creep" to the Cross in three double-genuflections. A Blessed Sacrament procession brings the Host consecrated the previous day to the altar and a "Mass" begins with the offertory and incensing of the altar. The Host is elevated and a fragment is mixed with the wine in the chalice. The celebrant consumes the Host and the contents of the chalice and purifies his fingers and the vessels as usual. Vespers follows immediately, as yesterday. Compline is sung in the late afternoon. Around 3:00 PM a deposition service takes place, during which the corpus is removed from the Cross and "buried" in a sepulcher created in  side chapel. Some churches in England and Northern Europe will put a crown of thorns and nails in the tomb.

A Deposition service

[Great and] Holy Saturday

A bishop before the change of vestments
source: uocofuse.org

On the last day of the Triduum the story gets really interesting. Great and Holy Saturday starts Friday evening with Mattins (often called "Jerusalem Mattins," as many Byzantine and Roman ceremonies were inspired or transposed from the Church in Jerusalem), a lengthy service with opening rites, six psalms, and then psalm 118 sung with long interpolations praising Christ's adoration by the angels in the tomb and the conquest of Hades. The Canon follows, concluding with the Laudate psalms from Lauds. The message at the end is that the proscription to rest on the seventh day was a prophecy of Christ's Saturday in the tomb, intimating that the eighth day would be a new creation! A litany, dismissal, and Marian hymn conclude Mattins. The Vesperal Liturgy, theoretically something in the afternoon of Saturday, in practice takes place in the morning for pastoral reasons. It begins with, you guessed it, Vespers! Black, or whatever dark color is available, is the color of the day thus far. The stichera begin to anticipate the Resurrection of the Lord ("for you alone manifested resurrection to the world!") and the lamentation of Hades ("my power is destroyed"). Fifteen Old Testament prophecies are read and any converts are baptized. The Canticle of the Three Children segues into the Divine Liturgy of St. Basil the Great. Prior to the Gospel, St. Matthew's account of the Resurrection, the clergy change their black vestments for white—quite a sight! A hymn of "silence" and "trembling" replaces the Cherubic hymn. The Hirmos is one of Jesus comforting His Mother rather than the usual "It is truly right...." Bread and figs are blessed at the end.

The deacon awaiting the Paschal fire in the old Roman Holy Saturday liturgy.

The Roman rite parallels strongly. Tenebrae again commences the liturgical day on Friday night. The Vesperal Liturgy starts Saturday after None, in practice mid-morning. Penitential violet is worn. A fire is blessed outside using three collects and the fire is brought into the church by a triple-wicked candle held by the deacon. The Paschal Candle is blessed and lit by the deacon during the Exsultet. Twelve prophecies from the Old Testament (four of which are to be found in the Byzantine rite) are read, telling of the gradual plan of salvation. The baptismal font is blessed and converts are baptized. The place of the baptisms, in a formerly-empty font, after the reading of the prophecies of old anticipating Christ have an un-mistakable purpose: baptism realizes for us the end of the prophecy and the beginning of the actual salvation; as the church is born anew by blessing, fire, and water from Christ, so too are these converted sinners; they are part of God's eighth day of Creation. The Litany of Saints begins and transitions into the actual Mass, taking the place of the Introit. The ministers change from violet to white vestments. At the Gloria bells are rung in joy. At the Gospel no candles are carried, as Christ's Resurrection, liturgically, is anticipated, but has not actually happened yet. There is no offertory chant and the Agnus Dei is omitted after the Canon. After communion a short Vespers with psalm 116 and the Magnificat are sung. A large [and well deserved] meal follows the Mass with Compline in the late afternoon or early evening.

Pascha

from: Huffington Post



Pascha in the Byzantine rite could be said to start with the Liturgy of St. Basil the Great in the morning, but it is most firmly felt on Saturday evening, usually an hour or so before midnight, when Pascha Sunday is about to begin. After the midnight office the epitaphios with the corpus of the Lord is venerated once again. All lights are extinguished save for the trikirion, a small candlestick on the altar. The celebrant invites all to come and receive the "light not overtaken by night." The people congregate outside after lighting their own candles and are met by the clergy. The constantly repeated "Christ is risen from the dead and by His death He has trampled upon death and has given life to those who were in the tombs" is sung. An account of the Resurrection is then sung and the celebrant, with his blessing cross, knocks on the door of the church and announces the "King of Glory" to the poor man pretending to be the Evil One inside. The procession bursts into the church, bathed in light and fully illuminated. Mattins follows. The Paschal Canon is sung in full with the litany and Magnificat at the end. Twice during Mattins a deacon censes the people and gives them the Paschal greeting "Christ is risen! He is truly risen!" At the end the priest reads the Paschal sermon of St. John Chrysostom. The hours are sung in a very abbreviated form, entirely without psalms, and the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom follows. After the Liturgy the faithful venerate an icon of the Resurrection rather than a blessing cross.

In Rome Pascha began with the Gloria during the Holy Saturday rites. On Saturday evening Paschal Mattins and Lauds are sung. Throughout Northern Europe the images in the churches would be unveiled and the Cross would be "raised" from the sepulcher and adored once more, as on Good Friday. A procession would then arrive at the high altar, vested with the best frontal and all candles in the church lit. Mattins is just psalms 1-3 and a sermon of Pope St. Gregory the Great. No canticles or hymns. The celebrant and cantors them vest in the best copes and begin Lauds. The antiphons on the first and third psalms commemorate the angel rolling back the stone on the Lord's tomb and the earthquake that followed respectively—we are clearly re-visiting the Resurrection at this moment! Haec dies... "This is the day the Lord has made, let us be glad and rejoice therein" replaces the chapter and there is no hymn before the Benedictus. The dismissal has a double-alleluia and the Regina coeli finally ends the service.

Worth Noting

After these long, and possibly trivial, descriptions the similarities might be obscured by an overload of information, so let us consider the Triduum day-by-day:

• Thursday: it actually begins Wednesday night, in shadows. The office marks the point of transition between days. The office and Eucharist together form the complete prayer of the Church, as the Mass/Divine Liturgy is limited in what it can say to two readings. Tenebrae contains the full realm of Christ's betrayal, His worries, human fear, darkness, and also the institution of the Eucharist. The same is true in the Byzantine rite, which examines the Agony in the Garden and the betrayal in depth at Vespers. Also notable is that the foot-washing does not interrupt the Mass/Divine Liturgy in either rite and follows the Biblical flow of events by coming after the Eucharist.
• Friday: begins with Mattins on Thursday evening in both rites. A Cross is revealed and adored in both. Vespers precedes the Deposition ceremony in both rites, which are both held when Our Lord has, liturgically, died, at 3:00 PM. The sepulcher and the epitaphios serve the same purpose.
• Saturday: again begins with Mattins the evening prior, although Tenebrae gets shorter as the Triduum progresses whereas Saturday Mattins in the Byzantine rite is very long. In both rites the Resurrection is anticipated, not outright celebrated. The Byzantine tradition emphasizes the Harrowing of Hades directly while the Roman tradition does so implicitly. The Vesperal Liturgy in both rites would presumably be celebrated in the afternoon but for pastoral reasons is celebrated in the morning. Both include Vespers, a large number of prophecies meant to denote the story of salvation leading to baptism and God's new Creation in the Resurrection, and a joyful transition from a penitential service into a joyful Mass/Divine Liturgy.
• Pascha: tomorrow still begins tonight! The Cross/epitaphios is venerated one last time and the church is illuminated for Paschal Mattins and Lauds.

The Rad Trad hopes his readers got something out of this lengthy piece. The crossover between the two is significant and should give Roman liturgists who flirt with the "East" some reason to re-evaluate how we have done our Triduum in the last few decades.  Heck, maybe the Latin Mass Society or Una Voce could start doing the old Holy Week on the grounds of ecumenism....

Hirmos of Pascha

"The angel cried out to the one who is full of grace: 'Hail, O Immaculate Virgin! Hail again! For your Son is risen from the tomb on the third day!' Shine! Shine, O New Jerusalem, for the glory of the Lord has shown upon you. Rejoice and be glad, O Sion, and you O Pure One, O Mother of God, exalt in the resurrection of your Son."

The Hirmos, sung after the consecration in the Byzantine rite from Pascha until Pentecost, is rendered above. The second line refers to our Lady as the "New Jerusalem." What could this mean?

Jerusalem was the sight of God's covenant with the people of Israel and the location of His temple. Many a historian have remarked that Jerusalem was not a city with a temple, but rather a large temple surrounded by a city. The Jews worshiped within the outer walls of this temple regularly, but only on the Day of Atonement did the appointed priest enter the Holy of Holies to sprinkle the blood of sacrificed animals in reparation for the sins of the people of that city. Of course there was no true remission of sins until Christ's death on the Cross, yet we see typology of the forgiveness of sins within the walls of God's dwelling place.

The Virgin Mary's unique role in the process of our salvation is that she provided a place for this final remission of sins to commence. Within her bounds dwelt God in a way far more vivid than He did for the inhabitants of Jerusalem in 900 B.C. In this dwelling of God the remission of sins was no longer a petition but an eventual reality.

Typology aside, this has consequences for us. The temple and urban inhabitants comprised the city of Jerusalem. Our Lord would correspond to the Holy of Holies, the dwelling of God in His covenant with men, so who parallels the people of the holy city? We do. The Church fulfills this ancient type of God's "chosen people." From the Cross our Lord gave mankind to His Mother as her child and asked mankind to honor His Mother as his own (John 19:26-27). From this imparting of man to Mary inestimable devotion and theology arose, yet we can also apply this Johannine passage to the Paschal Hirmos. Mary, as the "New Jerusalem " is both the location of our habitat and God's dwelling place. Far from alienating our Lady from the human race, Christ's imparting of her to us solidifies His presence among us through her. She is a marker for the unity of the Church of Christ.

This is just a private reflection and one that I do not think conflicts with any great theological tradition, East or West. I wrote this modest passage to make a plain illustration of how doctrine and theology can spring from the germination of liturgy, in which we express and profess our belief to God. Liturgical prayer preserves statements of faith during times when those formulae might fall into disuse, and also builds upon other existing conceptions of faith. Above all the liturgies of the Church provide the basis for how we as human beings speak to God in heaven. If He grants us His graces then we should assume He is pleased with what we have said to Him.

A blessed Easter season to all!

Scenes from a Byzantine Pascha

The Church after Hajmeh, Mattins, Lauds, and the Divine Liturgy of the Resurrection

The Epitaphios, a Byzantine equivalent to the Sepulcher

Another view. Our modest parish is growing and hopes to add some more iconography behind
the iconostasis soon.

Papal Coronation Part II: The Mass

Mass sung by Pius XII

On the altar are two Papal tiaras to the Epistle (right) side and two episcopal mitres to the Gospel side (left). Seven candles adorn the altar, with the crucifix in the center, and another row of candles in front of the altar over the tomb of St. Peter. Relics of Saints are often placed on the altar, as are two small statuettes of Ss. Peter and Paul. The Pope and the ministers of Mass arrive at the main altar of St. Peter's Basilica, with the sedia gestatoria left right behind the Pope, as it will be needed momentarily.

The cardinals who are not ministers of the Mass or acting as chaplains to the Pope at his throne go to their choir stalls in the apse of the Basilica. Their choir dress for Papal Mass is something of a remnant of ancient concelebration mixed with the dress of Canons: They wear a red cassock with a train, a rochet, their pectoral cross, the mitre, and, depending on rank, a dalmatic, chasuble, or cope—for cardinal deacons, cardinal priests, and cardinal bishops respectively.

Cardinal Deacon

Cardinal Priest

Cardinal Bishop

The Pope and his ministers pray the normal prayers at the foot of the altar, with the Iudica me psalm and the two Confiteor prayers, putting on the maniple after the Indulgentiam. At this point the Pope turns from the altar and sits again in the sedia gestatoria. The pallium, a woolen scarf-like vestment adorned with crosses and worn by all major bishops, is retrieved from the altar and the three cardinal bishops of Albano, Porto, and Ostia pray over the Pope:

God, who are present without distinction whenever the devout mind invokes you, be present, we ask you, we and this your servant, __, who to the summit of the apostolic community has been chosen as the judge of your people, infuse with the highest blessings that he experience your gift who has reached this point.

We supplicate you, Almighty God, effect your customary devotion and pour out on this your servant, __, the grace of the Holy Spirit that he who is constituted at the head of our church as the servant of the mystery, you would strengthen with the fullness of virtue.

God, who willed your Apostle Peter to hold first place in the inner fellowship of the apostles, that universal Christianity overcome evil, look propitiously we ask on this your servant, __, who from a humble position has suddenly been enthroned with the apostles on this same principal sublimity, that just as he has been raised to this exalted dignity, so may he likewise merit to accumulate virtue; in bearing the burden of the universal church, help him, make him worthy and for thee who are blessed may merits replace vices.

Then the senior-most cardinal deacon would place the pallium on the Pope's shoulders saying: "Accept the pallium, representing the plenitude of the Pontifical office, to the honour of Almighty God, and the most glorious Virgin Mary, his Mother, and the Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul, and the Holy Roman Church." (Coronation Rites, Reginald Wooley [Cambridge, univerity Press; 1915] 160).

Paul VI reads the Introit and Kyrie at a Papal Mass in 1964.

Here begins a normal Pontifical High Mass. The Pope incenses the altar during the introit (Si diligis me, "If thou lovest me, Simon Peter, feed my sheep"), then he is incensed, makes his way to the throne at the back of the apse with his ministers, and reads the opening texts during the Kyrie. He intones the Gloria in excelsis Deo, which the choir sings. At the end he greets the congregation with Pax vobis ("Peace to you) and prays the collect found in any Missal "pro Papa," though adjusted for the difference in who says the prayer ("me famulum tuum... da mihi...."). He says another prayer for himself privately.

Here another difference from an ordinary Pontifical or Papal Mass arises. Cantors from the choir, wearing choir dress and copes, go into the confessio, the entrance to St. Peter's tomb, and intone a litany asking the Saints to pray for the Pope; all remain standing. Rather than the customary response "Ora pro nobis" or "Ora pro eo" the response to the invocations to the Saints is "Tu illum adiuva" ("Grant him aid").

The litany beings at 1:28

A neat note: the Greek and Latin subdeacons and deacons do not sit to the side or with the Pope but, per the primitive practice at Papal liturgies, on the steps of the altar.

Pius XII listens to the Gospel at Mass
from: newliturgicalmovement.org

The Epistle, taken from the first letter of St. Peter, is sung by the cardinal Latin subdeacon and then by the Greek subdeacon according to the language and full ceremonies of the rites to which they belong. They then kiss the Pope's feet and receive his blessing while the choir sings the Gradual. During the Gradual the Pope reads the Gospel quietly as the Greek and Latin deacons make their own preparations to read the text aloud. During the Gospel procession seven candles, instead of the two at any non-Papal Mass, are carried. The Latin cardinal deacon sings the Gospel, taken from the 16th chapter of St. Matthew, after the Dominus vobiscum. He is followed immediately by the Greek deacon who sings the text in Greek, again with the introduction and full ceremonies accorded to the Byzantine rites. This is a wonderful example of the full extent of the Papal ministry, which is not limited to the Latin Church, although it also respects the traditions, history, and privileges of the Eastern Churches. As per the Byzantine custom, only two candles are present during the Greek reading of the Gospel, so five candle-bearers leave.

Greek reading of the Gospel

The Latin and Greek subdeacons bring the Pope Latin and Greek Gospel books to kiss, and then the Pope is incensed. He immediately intones the Credo.

Archdale King describes the remarkable measures taken against poison from here until the Pope's communion:

"Precautions are taken against poison, and a pregustatio ceremony for the tasting of the bread and wine takes place at the offertory. After Et homo factus est has been sung in the Creed, the cardinal bishop and apostolic subdeacon wash their hands at a credence, and then unfold a linen cloth, edged and divided with gold lace, over the mensa of the altar. The cloth originally served as a corporal and covered the oblata. The subdeacon in a humeral veil brings up the burse and corporal, two purificators and a silver box of hosts. The burse and hosts are received by the deacon, who spreads the corporal. In the meanwhile, the sacristan in a humeral veil carries the chalice, paten, purificators and gold spoon to the papal credence on the gospel side of the altar, accompanied by an acolyte with two empty cruets and a small vase. The sacristan assisted by the cup-bearer or pantler, then purifies the sacred vessels, spoon and cruets with wine, and the water cruet with water. A small quantity of wine and water are poured into a vessel, and consumed by the cup-bearer: the remainder put into the cruets and given to the acolyte. The sacristan in a humeral veil places the vessels on the altar. Then the cardinal deacon takes the three hosts, and lays them on the paten: with one of them he rubs the paten, and with another touches the inside and outside of the chalice. These two hosts are consumed by the sacristan with his face turned towards the Pope; while the third serves for the Mass. The testing of the oblations is concluded by the cardinal deacon pouring a little of the wine and water into a vessel, which the cup-bearer immediately drinks. The deacon pours enough wine into the chalice for three people, and the subdeacon adds the water with a gold spoon. If the occasion of the Mass should be a canonisation, candles, bread, wine, water, young turtle-doves and two other small birds are offered to the Pontiff after the Creed.

Eight prelates carry torches for the elevation, but there is no bell either then or at any other time in a papal Mass. The use of a small bell has never been introduced, even for a Mass said in the presence of the Pope.

 Aside from these measures, the Mass is quite standard until the consecration, except no bells are rung, as they were never introduced to Papal Mass. The honor guards kneel—and salute—during the consecration, as do the ministers of Mass, but the Greek deacon and subdeacon only make a profound bow—as is the norm in their rite. During the elevation of the Blessed Sacrament and the Chalice the Pope turns in half circles, so as to show Jesus Christ to each point of the compass. During the elevations the baroque jazz section that gave us so much grief earlier redeems itself by playing a lovely piece called the Silveri Symphony.

Canon from John XXIII's coronation. Start at 2:35

Paul VI communicates from the chalice via the fistula in 1964.

After fracturing the host following the Pater Noster the Pope says the communion prayers and retires to his throne. At this point a deacon would again consume part of the Host, this time consecrated, to test for poison. The Latin subdeacon receives the Blessed Sacrament on a Byzantine styled plate with a covering called an asterisk and brings the Sacrament to the Pope at the throne for communion. The Latin deacon brings the Chalice with the Blood of the Lord and a gold straw called a fistula used to communicate from the chalice but not risk spilling anything, as there are no altar cloths to sop up any potential accidents.

The Pope then gives communion to the Latin deacon, standing, and subdeacon, kneeling. Both kiss his ring before receiving communion. No one else receives communion at Papal Mass, coronation day or otherwise. The Pope then gives the Kiss of Peace, the pax, to the deacon and subdeacon and ablutes his fingers in a small chalice. He then resumes his pontifical gloves and returns to the altar, blessing the cardinals and canons in choir as the passes them.

At the altar the Pope reads the communion verse, "Tu es Petrus et super hanc petram aedificabo ecclesiam meam" ("Thou art Peter and upon this rock I shall build my church), then greets the people and sings the post-communion prayer aloud. The dismissal, "Ite, missa est," is sung by the deacon behind him. As the altar of St. Peter's is both ad orientem and versus populum neither the Pope nor deacon turns when they make their greetings. The Pope then gives the standard three-part pontifical blessing of any bishop, but without the mitre on his head, and says the prologue from St. John's Gospel, the "Last Gospel," on the Gospel side of the altar. During the blessing the "Auditor of the Roman Rota," a legal counselor who works in the Holy See, holds the Papal processional cross next to the Pope. The Pontiff then gets re-mitred, returns to the sedia gestatoria, and is taken in procession to the place of the coronation, accompanied by more of those damn horns (you thought you escaped them when Mass started, did you not?). Were this not a coronation Mass, the Pope would take off the pallium and maniple following the Mass and leave them at the altar, as shown below.

Pius XII after a Papal Mass in the 1940s. By 1950 his health was in rapid decline and he began using low Masses or had cardinals celebrate public Masses in his presence

Next, the coronation....