Traditional Holy Mass Proper Prayers for
Low Sunday - Dominica in Albis
Missa Quasi modo
23 April A.D.2006 Commemoration of Saint George, Martyr Station at the Church of St. Pancras in Rome. Low Sunday, so called in order to emphasize the contrast between the great Easter solemnity and the Sunday which ends the Octave, is also known as Quasimodo, from the first words of the Introit. (Not the hunchback of Notre Dame!) In the Latin Missal and Breviary it is Called Dominica in Albis (depositis or deponendis), because the Neophytes on that day put aside their white garments. Another Latin name, Pascha clausum, is preserved in the French Paques - "closes" and in the Dutch Beloken Paschen, i.e. "close of Easter," this day ending the Octave (Collect). The Church compares the Neophytes to newborn babes, and the milk she gives them to drink (Introit) is the faith in Christ which will enable them to overcome with Him the world. This faith has for its foundation the testimony of the Father, Who at the baptism of Christ (water) declared Him to be His Son; the testimony of the Son, Who on the Cross (blood) showed Himself the Son of God; and that of the Holy Ghost, Who by Christ's Resurrection attested the divinity of the Redeemer (Gospel).
The Gospel further shows us how Christ, Who twice appeared in the Cenacle, dispelled the doubts of the Apostle - not present in the upper room on Easter night - Saint Thomas and praised those who, without having seen Him, yet believed in Him.
Let us proclaim our faith in the risen Christ, and in the Divine Presence in the Holy Eucharist let us repeat with Thomas that cry of faith and humility, "My Lord and my God !"
The feast of St. George is found in the Ethiopian, Coptic, Syriac, and Latin liturgies. The ancient "Georgia" is named after him. He is renowned as the armed defender of the Church, one who carried the trophies of victory over the enemy.
The Emperor Diocletian had at first favored this illustrious son of a noble family of Cappadocia, but when St. George reproached the Emperor with his cruelty to Christians, he was cast into prison and put to death with such great cruelty that in the Eastern Liturgy he is styled the "Great Martyr." England chose him for her patron in 800.
We are thankful to the Friends of Fatima for these Proper resources. Sources: Saint Andrew Daily Missal and the Marian Missal 1945.
| Colors: White Vestments |
Double Major Feast - Octive of Easter
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Introit ¤ 1 Apostle Peter 2:2
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Q UASI MODO geniti infantes, alleluja: rationabiles, sine dolo lac concupiscite, alleluja, alleluja, alleluja. Psalm 80: 2 Exsultate Deo adjutori nostro: jubilate Deo Jacob. V. Gloria Patri, et Filio, et Spiritui Sancto. Sicut erat in principio, et nunc, et semper, et in saecula saeculorum. Amen. Repeat Quasi modo... |
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A S NEWBORN babes, alleluia, desire the rational milk without guile, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia. Psalm 80: 2 Rejoice to God our helper: sing aloud to the God of Jacob.V. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. Repeat As newborn...
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COLLECT
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PRAESTA, quaesumus, omnipotens Deus: ut, qui paschalia festa peregimus, haec, te largiente, moribus et vita teneamus. Per Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum filium tuum, qui tecum vivit et regnat in unitate Spiritus Sancti, Deus, per omnia saecula saeculorum. Amen. |
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GRANT, we beseech Thee, O almighty God, that we, who have completed the observance of the paschal festival, may keep it, by Thy bounty, in our life and behavior. Through Our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen..
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EPISTLE ¤ 1 Apostle John 5: 4-10
"All whatsoever you do in word or work,
do all in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ,
giving thanks to God and the Father by Jesus Christ our Lord," --- Blessed Paul the Apostle |
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Lectio Epistolae beati Joannis Apostoli.
CARISSIMI: Omne, quod natum est ex Deo, vincit mundum: et haec est victoria, quae vincit mundum, fides nostra. Quis est, qui vincit mundum, nisi qui credit, quoniam Jesum est Filius Dei? Hic est, qui venit per aquam, et sanguinem, Jesus Christus: non in aqua solum, sed in aqua et sanguine. Et Spiritus est, qui testificatur, quoniam Christus est veritas. Quoniam tres sunt, qui testimonium dant in caelo: Pater, Verbum, et Spiritus Sanctus; et hi tres unum sunt. Et tres sunt, qui testimonium dant in terra: Spiritus, et aqua, et sanguis: et hi tres unum sunt. Si testimonium hominum accipimus, testimonium Dei majus est: quoniam hoc est testimonium Dei, quod majus est: quoniam testificatus est de Filio suo. Qui credit in Filium Dei, habet testimonium Dei in se.. |
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Lesson from the Epistle of blessed John the Apostle.
DEARLY beloved, Whatsoever is born of God, overcometh the world; and this is the victory which overcometh the world, our faith. Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God? This is He that came by water and blood, Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the spirit which testifieth that Christ is the truth. And there are three who give testimony in heaven; the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. And there are three that give testimony on earth; the spirit, the water, and the blood: and these three are one. If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater: for this is the testimony of God which is greater, because He hath testified of His Son. He that believeth in the Son of God hath the testimony of God in himself.
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Greater Alleluia
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ALLELUJA, alleluja. V. Apostle Matthew 28:7 2 In die resurrectionis meae, dicit Dominus, praecedam vos in Galilaeam. Alleluja. V. Apostle John. 20:26. Post dies octo, januis clausis, stetit Jesus in medio discipulorum suorum, et dixit: pax vobis. Alleluja. |
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ALLELUIA, alleluia. V. Apostle Matthew 28:7. In the day of My resurrection, saith the Lord, I will go before you into Galilee. Alleluia. V. John 20, 26. Eight days after, the doors being shut, Jesus stood in the midst of His disciples and said, Peace be unto you. Alleluia.
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>From Jerome Nadal, SJ, series of 153 woodcuts
in Evangelicae Historiae Imagines
( Illustrations of the Gospel Stories ), c.1593
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GOSPEL ¤ Blessed Apostle John 20:19-31
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† Sequéntia sancti Evangélii secúndum Joannem.
IN ILLO tempore: Cum sero esset die illo, una sabbatorum, et fores essent clausae, ubi erant discipuli congregati propter metum Judaeorum venit Jesum, et stetit in medio, et dixit eis: Pax vobis. Et cum hoc dixisset, ostendit eis manus, et latus. Gavisi sunt ergo discipuli, viso Domino. Dixit ergo eis iterum: Pax vobis. Sicut misit me Pater, et ego mitto vos. Haec cum dixisset, insufflavit: et dixit eis: Accipite Spiritum Sanctum: quorum remiseritis peccata, remittuntur eis: et quorum retinueritis, retenta sunt. Thomas autem unus ex duodecim, qui dicitur Didymus, non erat cum eis, auando venit Jesus. Dixerunt ergo et alii discipuli: Vidimus Dominum. Ille autem dixit eis: Nisi videro in manibus ejus fixuram clavorum, et mittam digitum meum in locum clavorum, et mittam manum meam in latus ejus non credam. Et post dies octo, iterum erant discipuli ejus intus: et Thomas cum eis. Venit Jesus januis clausis, et stetit in medio, et dixit: Pax vobis. Deinde dicit Thomae: Infer digitum tuum huc, et vide manus meas, et affer manum tuam, et mitte in latus meum: et noli esse incredulus, sed fidelis. Respondit Thomas, et dixit ei: Dominus meus, et Deus meus. Dixit ei Jesum: quia vidisti me, Thoma, credidisti: beati, qui non viderunt, et crediderunt. Multa quidem, et alia signa fecit Jesus in conspectu discipulorum suorum, quae non sunt scripta in libro hoc. Haec autem scripta sunt ut credatis, quia Jesum est Christus Filius Dei: et ut credentes, vitam habeatis in nomine ejus.. |
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† Continuation of the Holy Gospel according to Blessed Apostle Saint John
AT THAT time, when it was late that same day, the first of the week, and the doors were shut, where the disciples were gathered together, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came, and stood in the midst, and said to them, Peace be to you. And when He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. The disciples therefore were glad, when they saw the Lord. He said therefore to them again, Peace be to you: as the Father hath sent Me, I also send you. When He had said this, He breathed on them; and He said to them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost; whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them, and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained. Now Thomas, one of the twelve, who is called Didymus, was not with them, when Jesus came. The other disciples therefore said to him, We have seen the Lord. But he said to them, Except I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe. And after eight days, again His disciples were within, and Thomas with them. Jesus cometh, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be to you. Then He said to Thomas, Put in thy finger hither, and see My hands, and bring hither thy hand, and put it into My side; and be not faithless, but believing. Thomas answered, and said to Him, My Lord, and my God. Jesus saith to him, Because thou hast seen Me, Thomas, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and have believed. Many other signs also did Jesus in the sight of His disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written, that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God; and that, believing, you may have life in His name.
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Homily for Low Sunday - Dominica in Albis
23 April A.D.2006
byFather Sisterman Almighty Father, who has given thine only Son to die for our sins and to rise again for our justification, grant us so to put away the leaven of malice and wickedness that we may always serve thee in pureness of living and truth through the merits of the same Thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
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In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.
These words are the Collect for today’s liturgy. They are pure Thomas Cranmer. He wrote it. Many of the Collects that we pray on Sunday were not written by Archbishop Cranmer but rather were his translations, either from the Gelasian, Sarum or Gregorian Sacramentary, but this one was composed by him. It is very significant. I’ll get to the reason why in a moment.
First of all, I have to tell you that earlier this past week I made my weekly trip to my grocery store, Lund’s. As I came in the door there were several baskets at the door filled with Easter candy. Most of it was priced half-off. You could get chocolate bunnies and Peeps and you could get jelly beans. I walked right past them and I didn’t buy a thing. (I’m very proud of myself!) But I thought about this. Here we are just a couple of days after Easter and they are already clearing things out to make room for whatever is next on the calendar. It’s good business. I’m not criticizing them for that at all.
How quickly the greatest feast of our Church Year comes and goes. What happened? After all, our Church celebrates Easter for 40 days. Yet it can dissipate and be gone as quickly as the Easter ham, perhaps the same day as the Easter ham. That’s truly a shame. What are we celebrating here when we celebrate the Resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ? Not everybody really understands what we are about.
We have a clue in that beautiful Collect of Archbishop Cranmer. Almighty Father, who has given thine only Son to die for our sins and to rise again for our justification… In other words, both are necessary for our salvation: not only that He would suffer and die on the cross on Good Friday, but that He would rise again on the third day. He rose again for our justification. Archbishop Cranmer quotes very clearly Romans, Chapter 4 beginning with the 23rd verse, writing about the patriarch Abraham. But it was not for Abraham alone that it was written that his faith was credited to him. It was also for us that faith will be credited; we who believe in the One who raised Jesus Christ our Lord from the dead. He was handed over for our transgressions and was raised for our justification. Good Friday is only part of the mystery.
The celebration of Easter has to complement Good Friday. Jesus Christ’s sacrifice on the cross was accepted by the Father and the Father raised Him up on the third day. He offered His sacrifice for your sins and mine. The justification that we have in Christ is a justification because the sacrifice was accepted by the Father when Jesus was raised again the third day.
Consider, if you will, what it would be like if Jesus suffered and died on the cross and there was no resurrection. St. Paul writes very clearly about that as well. In the 15th chapter of 1st Corinthians he says this,
If Christ is preached as raised from the dead, how can some among you say there is no resurrection of the dead? If there is no resurrection of the dead, then neither has Christ been raised and if Christ has not been raised, then empty too is our preaching. Empty too your faith. Then we are also false witnesses to God because we testified against God that He raised Christ whom He did not raise if in fact the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, neither has Christ been raised and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is vain. You are still in your sins. Then those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are the most pitiable people of all.
It was necessary that the resurrection occur and that it be attested to by the apostles. Most certainly, it is because they are the witnesses to the resurrection that they could preach what they did: the remission of sin by Christ’s death on the cross and by His resurrection. Both must be seen together as parts of the same mystery. Without the resurrection, Jesus' death on the cross would have been void. You and I would still be in our sins. There would be no salvation. Therefore, it was necessary that Christ rise from the dead.
The Gospel reading describes Jesus appearing to the disciples locked in an upper room for fear of the Jews. Jesus came and stood in their midst and said, Peace be with you. That means more than “Hi, guys, here I am!” When He says Peace be with you, he says, “I bestow that peace which the world cannot give and that peace is the integrity and wholeness that you have because of my cross and resurrection. You are loosed from your sins.”
Then He breathed on them and said, Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins thou shalt forgive, they are forgiven them. Whose sins thou shalt hold fast, they are held fast.
These very words are quoted in the ordination of a priest. Because you see, my friends, the disciples who were in that upper room became apostles that night. A disciple is someone who sits at the feet of the master to learn. Now Jesus says, As the Father has sent Me, so I send you. The Father had sent Jesus into the world. For what reason? To redeem us from our sins. Now He is saying, So I send you. And the word “apostle” means “one who is sent.”
The Apostles were sent for one purpose only. They were to continue the work of reconciliation in the world that Jesus had begun on the cross and completed on Easter Sunday. That was the message that they were to carry throughout the whole world. We would still be dead in our sins and death really would be the end of things had it not been for Jesus’ resurrection.
Consider another thing about all of this. The one, holy, Catholic and apostolic church is pretty large now. It’s all around the world. The three branches—Anglican, Orthodox and Roman—are huge. The numbers are in the millions. Think of it! On that first Easter Sunday, they could assemble the whole Church in one upper room and not be crowded. (In fact, they had a little extra room because Thomas wasn’t even present at the time.) The whole Church was there!
When Jesus gave that commission to His Apostles, He was also giving it to the Church, His Mystical Body. That means not just Archbishops and Bishops and priests, but He was giving it to the whole Church. The ministry of reconciliation has to continue because it is by that continuing ministry of reconciliation that we bear witness to the fact that Jesus Christ rose again from the dead. That’s how we do it. That’s your ministry. Priests do it too and Bishops especially. But all members of the Church, His Body, are to be ministers of reconciliation.
We are to bear witness to the fact that death isn’t the end of things. It wasn’t the end for Jesus and it isn’t for us. We bear witness to the resurrection. We are truly a “resurrection people.”
Archbishop Cranmer was a brilliant man, a consummate liturgist. When he wrote this particular Collect, he wrote it with the Scriptures in mind as He always did. But he also gave to us in just a few phrases what these 40 days of Easter are truly all about:
Almighty Father, who has given thine only Son to die for our sins and to rise again for our justification, grant us so to put away the leaven of malice and wickedness that we may always serve thee in pureness of living and truth through the merits of the same Thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.
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OFFERTORY ¤ Apostle Matthew 28:2, 5, 6
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ANGELUS Domini descendit de caelo, et dixit mulieribus: Quem quaeritis, surrexit sicut dixit, alleluja. |
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AN ANGEL of the Lord descended from heaven, and said to the women: He Whom you seek is risen as He said, alleluia. |
SECRET
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SUSCIPE munera, Domine, quaesumus, exsultantis Ecclesiae: et cui causam tanti gaudii praestitisti, perpetuae fructum concede laetitiae. Per Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum filium tuum, qui tecum vivit et regnat in unitate Spiritus Sancti, Deus, per omnia saecula saeculorum. Amen. |
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RECEIVE, we pray Thee, O Lord, the gifts of Thine exultant Church, and, as Thou hast afforded her cause for such great joy, grant her the fruit of unending gladness. Through Our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen.
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PREFACE For EASTER
This preface is used from Holy Saturday to the day before the feast of the Ascension..
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VERE DIGNUM et justum est, æqum et salutáre, te quidem Dómine omni témpore, sed in hac potíssimum die, gloriósius prædicáre, cum Pascha nostrum immolátus est Christus. Ipse enim verus est Agnus qui ábstulit peccáta mundi. Qui mortem nostram moriéndo destrúxit, et vitam resurgéndo reparávit. Et ídeo cum Angelis et Archángelis, cum Thronis et Dóminatiónibus, cumque omni milítia cæléstis exércitus, hymnum glóriæ tuæ cánimus sine fine dicentes: SANCTUS, SANCTUS, SANCTUS... |
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IT IS truly meet and just, right and profitable, to extol Thee indeed at all times, O Lord, but chiefly with highest praise to magnify Thee in these days on which for us was sacrificed Christ, our pasch. For He is the true Lamb Who hath taken away the sins of the world; Who by dying Himself hath destroyed our death; and by raising again hath bestowed a new life on us. And therefore with the angels and archangels, with the thrones and dominations, and with all the array of the heavenly host we sing a hymn to Thy glory and unceasingly repeat: Holy, Holy, Holy…
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COMMUNICANTES -
INVOCATION OF THE SAINTS IN THE CANON
For Easter
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CCommunicantes, et diem sacratíssimum celebrántes Resurrectiónis Dómini nostri Jesu Christi secúndum carnem: sed et memóriam venerántes, in primis gloriósæ semper Vírginis Maríæ, Genetricis ejúsdem Dei et Dómini nostri Jesu Christi: sed et beati Joseph ejusdem Virginis Sponsi, et beatórum Apostolórum ac Mártyrum tuórum, Petri et Pauli, Andréæ, Jacóbi, Joánnis, Thomæ, Jacóbi, Philíppi, Bartholomæi, Matthæi, Simónis: et Thaddæi: Lini, Cleti, Cleméntis, Xysti, Cornélii, Cypriáni, Lauréntii, Chrysógoni, Joánnis et Pauli, Cosmæ et Damiánis: et ómnium Sanctórum tuórum; quorum méritis, precibúsque concédas, ut in ómnibus protectiónis tuæ muniámur auxilio. Per eúmdem Christum Dóminum Nostrum. Amen. |
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COMMUNICATING, and keeping the most holy day of the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ according to the flesh and also reverencing the memory, first, of the glorious Mary, ever Virgin, Mother of the same our God and Lord Jesus Christ: as also of blessed Joseph, Spouse of the Virgin, of the blessed Apostles and martyrs Peter and Paul, Andrew, James, John, Thomas, James, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Simon and Thaddeus: Linus, Cletus, Clement, Xystus, Cornelius, Cyprian, Lawrence, Chrysogonus, John and Paul, Cosmas and Damian, and of all Thy Saints, through whose merits and prayers, grant that we may in all things be defended by the help of Thy protection (He joins his hands.) Through the same Christ our Lord. Amen. |
HANC IGITUR
For Easter
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Hanc ígitur oblatiónem servitútis nostræ, sed et cunctæ famíliæ tuæ, quam tibi offérimus pro his quoque, quos regeneráre dignátus es ex aqua, et Spíritu Sancto, tríbuens eis remissiónem ómnium peccatórum, quæsumus Dómine, ut placátus accípias: diésque nostros in tua pace dispónas, atque ab ætérna damnatióne nos éripi, et in electorum tuórum júbeas grege numerári: (He joins his hands.) Per Christum Dóminum nostrum. Amen. |
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We therefore beseech Thee, O Lord, graciously to accept this oblation of our service, as also of Thy whole family, which we make unto Thee on behalf of these whom Thou hast vouchsafed to bring to a new birth by water and the Holy Ghost, granting them remission of all their sins: and to dispose our days in Thy peace, preserve us from eternal damnation and rank us in the number of Thine Elect. Through Christ our Lord. Amen. |
COMMUNION ¤ Apostle John 20:27
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MITTE MANUM tuam, et cognosce loca clavorum, alleluja: et noli esse incredulus, sed fidelis, alleluja, alleluja. |
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PUT IN THY HAND, and know the place of the nails, alleluia; and be not incredulous, but believing, alleluia, alleluia.
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POSTCOMMUNION
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Quæsumus, Dómine Deus noster: ut sacrosáncta mystéria, quæ pro reparatiónis nostræ munímine contulísti; et præsens nobis remédium esse fácias, et futúrum. Per Dóminum nostrum Jesum Christum Fílium tuum, qui tecum vivit et regnat in unitáte Spíritus Sancti, Deus, Per omnia saecula saeculorum. Amen.
Second Postcommunion for the Feast of St. George, Martyr
Súpplices te rogámus, omnípotens Deus: ut, quos tuis réficis sacraméntis, intercedénte beáto Geórgio Mártyre tuo, tibi étiam plácitis móribus dignánter tríbuas deserrvíre. Per Dominum…in unitate ejusdem Spiritus Sancti. Per omnia saecula saeculorum. Amen. |
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We beseech Thee, O Lord our God, to make profitable to us, both in this world and in that to come, the sacred mysteries by Thee established for the ensuring of our salvation. Through the same Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God For ever and ever. Amen. . Second Postcommunion for the Feast of St. George, Martyr
We beseech Thee, O almighty God, that those whom Thou dost refresh with Thy sacrament, Thou also grant them, by the intercession of blessed George, Thy martyr, to serve Thee, as befits them, with behavior pleasing unto Thee. Through Our Lord Jesus Christ: Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the same Holy Ghost, one God Forever and ever. Amen. |
† - Holy Queen of Heaven and Earth, pray for us. - † |
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