Liturgical Books and Our Sense of Time

[Original post, July 12, 2010]

Anyone who has used a hand missal or a breviary is familiar with the chart of movable days somewhere in the front. I find it interesting to note how far they go into the future, because I suspect it says something about our sense of time and change.

My hand missal for the ordinary form, published in 2003, goes up to 2010, suggesting that the editors imagined one would use it for seven years. Perhaps it was a good guess, given that we expect the new and improved English translation of the 2002 Missale Romanum one of these days. [As we know, it arrived for Advent 2011.]

My Baronius Press hand missal for the extraordinary form, published in 2007, has a calendar that goes up to 2066, suggesting a much longer sense of how long someone might use it.

My 1976 American English Liturgy of the Hours goes up to 1999, while the 2000 typical edition Liturgia Horarum goes up 2022, about the same span of years. My 1962 Breviarium Romano-Seraphicum goes a little bit longer, to 1992.

The 2002 Missale Romanum contains a liturgical calendar that goes up to 2023, about the same span as the breviaries. The 1954 Missale Romano-Seraphicum, however, has a calendar that goes up to 2003, more than twice the span. The editors imagined it being used almost long enough to come back as an option after forty years of Novus Ordo exclusivity!

I'm sure there's a dissertation to be written here, but on the face it one might guess that folks used to imagine liturgies (and books!) as lasting longer than we do now.

--

2019 update: On a recent visit to the Specola Vaticana, the Vatican Observatory, the Brother Astronomer showed me a volume of the work of Christopher Clavius, SJ, who was one of the main authors of the Gregorian calendar reform, promulgated by Pope Gregory XIII in 1582. Just on the page that was open, his calculations for the date of Easter, etc.--in the sixteenth century!--go up to 2031. I don't know how far the charts went after that. So it goes to show that sixteenth century Jesuits (at least) had a longer view of the calendar than any of the liturgical books I mentioned in the original post.

Joys and Dubia for Giles of Assisi

For the last year and a half or so, I've been going on Monday mornings to offer Mass at the local Poor Clare monastery. It's been a great joy. One of my favorite little things is that their liturgical calendar is sometimes slightly different than ours. We follow the Capuchin Ordo, of course, but the nuns seem to follow the Ordo of the Leonine friars. I enjoy this because sometimes there is a Franciscan saint who seems to have fallen off of our calendar, but who nevertheless appears in the liturgical calendar I step into when I visit the Poor Clares.

Today is a good example, the feast of Blessed Giles of Assisi. I don't know why he seems to be absent from our calendar; Giles was one of the first companions of Francis and one of the great characters of the early Franciscan movement. One even speaks of an 'aegidian' strand in the Franciscan tradition ('Giles' being English for 'Aegidius.')

Whatever one wants to assert about the origin of Giles's so-called Golden Sayings, they're certainly interesting and challenging. Here are a couple of my favorites:

On the spiritual struggle: "A certain person said to him: 'I am frequently tempted with a most grievous temptation, and I have often asked God that he would take it away from me, and He does not take it away.' The holy Brother Giles replied to him: 'The better any king arms his soldiers with armor, the more he wishes that they should fight valiantly.'"

On preaching: "Many not knowing how to swim have gone into the water to aid those that were drowning, and they themselves have been lost with those that were perishing: first there was one evil and then there were two."

So it was a joy to be able to offer the Mass of Brother Giles this morning at the Poor Clares.


This does, however, raise a liturgical dubium. What is to be done about the proper orations? Bl. Giles has a full Mass formulary in the 1974 Roman-Franciscan Sacramentary, the liturgical book that was our parallel to the now superseded American English Sacramentary. There isn't, or isn't yet, any Roman-Franciscan Missal for the new translation.

It seems to me that there are three possible courses of action:

First, since no legitimate new translations of Mass formularies for propers of saints particular to the Franciscan calendar have yet appeared, one might presume that the ones attached to the old translation of the Mass are still in effect and licit for liturgical use. Therefore, one might use the old Roman-Franciscan Sacramentary for the proper orations but use the new Roman Missal for the rest of the Mass. Clumsy as it is to have two books on the altar, this is the solution I have decided upon. I admit that some of my choice derives from just liking the prayers themselves, such as when the Collect for Giles today speaks of the "heights of exalted contemplation."

On the other hand, a stricter view of things might suggest that the old prayers, in the style of the old translation, have gone out with the rest of the old book, and that the new Commons ought to be used for the Masses of saints who don't have, or don't yet have, proper prayers in the new translation.

Finally, the whole trouble might be avoided simply by celebrating Mass in the Extraordinary Form on Franciscan feast days, according to the 1962 Missale Romano-Seraphicum. But this won't help with poor Br. Giles, who doesn't appear therein, even though he was beatified in 1777. Perhaps his recovery into some calendars is the result of more recent Franciscan scholars providing for us an awareness of his importance. If anyone out there has a 1942 Missale Romano-Seraphicum, I would be interested to know if the feast of Bl. Giles is in there.

In any case, do pray for us, Brother.

(Our) Holy Father

At the Mass for the perpetual profession of friars, the litany of the saints is sung as the candidates pray prostrate. At this year's perpetual profession the setting of the litany by John Becker was used. I have a vivid memory of the first time I heard this setting; it was (I think) September 17, 1994 and I was at St. Francis of Assisi on 31st St. in Manhattan for another perpetual profession. I was a postulant to the OFM at the time. I also remember that it was the first time I ever heard the responsorial psalm sung at Mass, which just goes to show how shallow my Catholic experience was at the time. Anyway, on that day I remember being caught up in the moment and thinking that the Becker litany was the most beautiful thing ever. Over the years I've grown rather sick of it, but I don't mind singing it once in a while.

As in various litanies of the saints, Francis and Dominic are paired in one invocation. Of course they are counterparts in various senses. From this a conversation arose at table about Franciscan veneration of St. Dominic. I had long remarked that Dominic has a certain solemnity in the Franciscan calendar: his day is a feast for us, raised slightly from the obligatory memorial he is in the general Roman calendar. (In the Extraordinary Form the distinction is between a ii and iii class feast.) I have always presumed that this is mirrored in the Dominican calendar such that Francis is raised to a feast, but I have never checked this. Anybody know?

In our conversation, a venerable and devout friar pointed something out that I had never noticed before: in the Franciscan calendar both Francis and Dominic are given the title 'holy father,' but only Francis is called 'our holy father.' So this morning I went to check on this, and found it just as he said. In the current Roman-Franciscan Liturgy of the Hours, the solemnity of St. Francis is titled, "Our Holy Father Francis, Deacon, Founder of the Three Orders," while the feast of St. Dominic is simply titled, "Holy Father Dominic, Priest, Founder of the Order of Preachers." I presume that this is the same in the Roman-Franciscan Sacramentary, but I can't check because we don't have one at the friary where I live. The same pattern is found in the 1962 Missale Romano-Seraphicum and Breviarium Romano-Seraphicum: the i class feast of St. Francis is titled, "In Solemnitate S. Patris Nostri Francisci Conf. Fundatoris Trium Ordinum," while the ii class feast of St. Dominic is simply, "Sancti Patris Dominici Confessoris."

Interestingly, in the most recent Franciscan rite of religious profession (which, as far as I know, has not been approved by the Holy See) Francis and Dominic do not appear together. Both appear in a little section of the litany that seems to be dedicated to religious founders: St. Basil, St. Augustine, St. Anthony, St. Benedict, St. Dominic, St. Ignatius and St. Alphonsus, Our Holy Father St. Francis, Holy Mother St. Clare. Francis is still styled 'our holy father,' but Dominic has lost his 'holy father.' A little rupture in the tradition, no?

Holy Father Dominic, pray for us.
Our Holy Father Francis, pray for us.

Hiding with St. Felix

The Prayer After Communion for the feast of St. Felix of Cantalice today caught me especially:

Almighty God,
by the power of this sacrament and the example of St. Felix
help us always to live a hidden life with Christ,
who lives and reigns with you, for ever and ever.

From what I can tell, this prayer seems to be new in the 1974 Roman-Franciscan Sacramentary; I find no version of it in the postcommunion or any other of the prayers for St. Felix in the 1954 or 1962 editions of the Missale Romano-Seraphicum.
.
The prayer strikes me because it was precisely in the public life that St. Felix came to be known for his sanctity, praying and working in the streets of Rome. He didn't live anything like what we usually think of as the 'hidden' sort of religious life. The prayer reminds us, however, that the life of Christian devotion, like all human intimacies, is always secret. The grace and goodness we see in each other are not our Christianity at its secret core, but the fruits of a Spousal life which is difficult or perhaps impossible to show to a third party. There can be no pornography of the spiritual life; it is an intimacy impossible to display to someone else. Indeed, both through my own personal experience and my work as confessor and spiritual director, I realize more and more that many times much of God's intimacy with us is hidden even from ourselves, and often this is good for us and an expression of his mercy.

Pray for us, St. Felix, that we may descend into our created hearts where our lives are now hidden with Christ in God.

Feast of the Profession of St. Francis

As I mention from time, one of the brothers here set up a 1954 Missale Romano-Seraphicum in one of our hallways as a museum piece. Partly for my own amusement and edification, and partly out of rebellion, I set it up as if for Mass each day whenever I go by. It is an interesting practice, because there are many observances that do not appear in the 1962 Seraphic missal or breviary. It's like a little trip into the 'extra-extraordinary form.'

Today I notice that tomorrow is one such Franciscan feast that I had never heard of:



"The solemn commemoration of our holy father Francis, confessor." What gives? An extra feast of St. Francis apart from the celebration of his birth into eternal life in October?

A little Googling reveals that this is supposed to be the feast of the "profession of St. Francis," but to what event in his life does it refer?

A look at the classic chronology of the life of St. Francis compiled by Omer Englebert and Raphael Brown (one of the real treasures of the older, Franciscan Omnibus of Sources edited by Marion Habig*) suggests that it was on April 16, 1208 that Bernard of Quintavalle and Peter Catanii joined Francis and became his first brothers.

Anonymous of Perugia 2:11 takes up the story this way. The three brothers had a priest open the gospels for them. Upon hearing the passages, If you wish to be perfect, Whoever wishes to come after me, and Take nothing for the journey, they exclaimed, "This is what we we want, this is what we were seeking." Francis goes on to say, "This will be our Rule." So I guess that amounts to a profession, and hence the feast day.



*If you want one, good luck. Try the bookstore at St. Francis of Assisi on 31st St. in Manhattan, where I recently noticed copies of the 1991, 2-volume reprint.

Blessed Angela

I notice this morning from View from the Choir that I somehow missed the feast of Blessed Angela of Foligno yesterday. She seems to have a checkered history in the liturgical calendar. Her feast day appears as a semiduplex in the 1942 Missale Romano-Seraphicum on January 4, but by the 1954 and 1962 editions of the M R-S she seems to have fallen off the calendar. She reappears in the current Roman-Franciscan liturgical calendar as an optional memorial for members of the Third Order on January 7.

Angela is one of the real characters that you meet in the history of the Franciscan family. Complicating her eccentricity is her relationship with the friar who was her spiritual director and amanuensis in the production of what we call her writings. They go from sublime to disarmingly plain to almost bizarre. All of these are from the Paulist Press edition, Angela of Foligno: Complete Works:

On hair style and beginnings in the spiritual life:

She likewise told me, brother scribe, that once while she was in prayer and asked God to teach her, he showed her, first of all, how she had offended him in every way possible; and he said to her: "Let's begin with what you do with your hair." This was beautiful, useful, and long instruction but I, brother scribe, could not write it because it was time for us to leave the church, and later I did not take time to do so because other things needed to be written.

On sexual purity and spiritual direction

My body (which nonetheless suffers less than my soul) experiences such burning in three places--the shameful parts--that I used to apply material fire to quench the other fire, until you [brother director] forbade me to do so. (198)

On the Eucharist:

My soul then understood that the medicine was his blood and he himself was the one who administers this medicine to the sick. (155)

And he made it understood that he himself was the table and the food which he was offering. (159)

On the intersection of compunction and spiritual joy:

This awareness is of such clarity, certitude, and abysmal profundity that there is not heart in the world that can ever in any way understand it or even conceive it. (213)

In Inventione S. P. N. Francisci

One of the brothers here set up an old (pre-1962) Missale Romano-Seraphicum in one of our hallways as a museum piece. As I have gone by each day, I have set it up for the Mass that would have corresponded to the day.

Today is a Franciscan feast that I haven't been able to figure out: In inventione S. P. N. Francisci conf. I suppose it's the "Finding of our holy father Francis, confessor." The observance does not appear in the current Franciscan calendar nor in the 1962 M R-S, and so is no longer observed in any form of the Roman rite.

I'm guessing that it has something to do with the translation of the remains of the saint, but I can't guess exactly how. Anybody know?

Update: a clue! Opening my mail today, I read the newsletter of the local fraternity of the Secular Franciscan Order of which I am Spiritual Assistant. The little Franciscan calendar box lists tomorrow as the feast of the "Finding of the Body of St. Francis." I must speak with Sister Editrix!

Update 2: From the very good website of a Florida region of SFO fraternities:

The church which was built at Assisi in honor of St. Francis soon after his death (1228-1230) was a double church, and the body of the saint was buried deep under the lower church. In the course of time the exact location of the tomb was forgotten, and with the permission of the Holy See, excavations were made in 1818 for the purpose of finding the relics. After 52 nights of hard work, the stone coffin containing the bones and ashes of St. Francis was found. A third underground church was then hewn out of solid rock upon which the church had been built; and there the relics of St. Francis are venerated today. Pope Leo XII instituted a special feast to commemorate the finding of the body of St. Francis. It is observed by the Franciscan Order on Dec 12, except in the Americas where it is kept on the following day.

So that also solves the question of the divergent days. Presumably In inventione was celebrated a day late here in the Americas because of the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. So that leads to the next question: When did her day become universal in the Americas? Benedict XIV granted her day to "New Spain" in 1754, but was she celebrated everywhere before being declared the Patroness of the Americas by Pius XII in 1946?



Our Lady of Guadalupe, pray for us!

Proper Prefaces of St. Francis

Since I enjoyed doing this for our holy mother St. Clare, I didn't want to miss the chance to do the same for St. Francis. I know it's a couple of days early, but I'll have more Francis stuff to post for the feast day itself this weekend. Here are the proper prefaces of St. Francis as they appear in the Franciscan editions of the Missal of the Roman rite:

As the preface appears in the 1962 Missale Romano-Seraphicum:

Per ómnia saécula saeculórum.
R. Amen.
V. Dóminus vobíscum.
R. Et cum spíritu tuo.
V. Sursum corda.
R. Habémus ad Dóminum.
V. Grátias agámus Dómino Deo nostro.
R. Dignum et iustum est.

Vere dignum et iustum est, aequum et salutáre,
nos tibi simper et ubíque grátias ágere:
Dómine, sancte Pater, omnípotens aetérne Deus:

Qui venerándum Confessórem
fámulam tuam beátum Francíscum,
tua, Deus, altíssima bonitáte et cleméntia,
Sanctórum tuórum méritis et virtútibus sublimásti;
mentémque ipsíus, Sancti Spíritus operatióne,
amor ille seráphicus ardentíssime incéndit intérius:
cuiúsque corpus sacris Stigmátibus insignívit extérius,
signo crucifíxi Iesu Christi Dómini nostri.

Per quem maiestátem tuam laudant Angeli,
adórant Dominatiónes, tremunt Potestátes.
Caeli caelorúmque Virtútes, ac beáta Séraphim,
sócia exsultatióne concélebrant. Cum quibus
et nostras voces, ut admití iúbeas, deprecámur,
súpplici confessióne dicéntes:


And here is the version as it appears in the 1974 Roman-Franciscan Sacramentary:

V. The Lord be with you.
R. And also with you.
V. Lift up your hearts.
R. We lift them up to the Lord.
V. Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
R. It is right to give him thanks and praise.

Father all-powerful and ever-living God,
we do well always and ev'rywhere to give you thanks.

You exalted your servant Francis
through sublime poverty and humility
to the heights of evangelical perfection.
You inflamed him with seraphic love
to exult with unspeakable joy
over all the works of your creation.
Branding him with the sacred stigmata,
you gave us the image of the crucified
Jesus Christ our Lord.

Through him the choirs of angels and all the powers of heaven
praise and worship your glory. May our voices blend with theirs
as we join in their unending hymn of praise:


Don't ask me about the "ev'rywhere." I have no idea. It's not musically necessary either.

The progression, again, is interesting. Some elements are lost in between, such as the Franciscan sense of the Holy Spirit and His holy "operation," (see the Rule, chapter X) and the juxtaposition of the Francis's burning, interior seraphic love with his exterior stigmata.

On the other hand, the 1974 preface adds some praiseworthy Franciscan elements, such as the adjective "evangelical," ("This is the life of the Friars Minor, to observe the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ..," Rule, chapter I), and the sense of Franciscan joy over creation.

Stuff For Trade

Stuff I have for which I would love to find a good home:

A copy of the Fonti Francescane, 1978 Franciscan 'omnibus of sources' in Italian. Good condition, with someone's personal dedication in the front flap.

A curious altar card set, with all three "cards" mounted on a single piece of wood, about 2 feet by 11 inches. Originally for use at sea, judging from seal on the back.



Stuff that I am looking for:


A Quaracchi edition Opera Omnia of St. Bonaventure. 10 volumes, 1882 and following. I am sure that there are many sets of these languishing unappreciated in friary libraries around the world.

A copy of the Franciscan Press edition of Bonaventure's Collations on the Six Days.

A copy, in any condition, of Olaus Wormius' Latin translation of the Necronomicon (preferably the 17th century Spanish printing)

Sets of black and/or non-offensive rose vestments, i.e. chasuble, stole, maniple, burse, and chalice veil. Either Roman or gothic chasuble.

The Elusive Feast of St. Rose

In my early adolescence I wasted a colossal amount of time studying the books of rules for Dungeons & Dragons. I did gain, however, a facility in navigating complex, jargon-laden logical systems, which is a big help as a practitioner of the Catholic Christian religion. Today is a good example, the feast of dear St. Rose of Viterbo, a Franciscan tertiary who died in the odor of sanctity in 1252 at the ripe of old age of eighteen.

We friars of the First Order of St. Francis in the English speaking world do not get to celebrate her feast day, as it is an "optional memorial" that pertains only to the sisters and brothers of the Third Order regular and secular. (In the Italian speaking world, Rose rates a little higher, as an optional memorial for all Franciscans. I don't know about other places.)

Of course, if we make use of permissions and faculties that seem to be granted by Summorum pontificum we can celebrate St. Rose if we shift into the Extraordinary Form. In the 1962 Missale Romano-Seraphicum her day isn't even a iv class feast, but only a commemoratio. This means--and here I'm less sure of myself, so correct me if I'm wrong--the given Oratio, Secreta, and Postcommunio would be used to commemorate her at some other Low Mass to be offered today. But since in this particular year today is a ferial day of the iv class with nothing else going on, it would seem to be an option to fill out Rose's commemoratio with the Mass Dilexisti from the Common of Virgins and give her a complete celebration of her own.

But whatever we decide to do, let us make sure it leads our hearts to also glorify the Lord whom St. Rose also adored.

Penitenziagite!

In these days in which I am studying the Mexican bishops' marriage ritual in preparation for a wedding in Spanish in two weeks, working through the 1962 Missale Romano-Seraphicum, and saying some of my Office from my Liturgia delle Ore Romano-Serafico each day for Italian practice, I'm starting to feel like Salvatore from The Name of the Rose:

Penitenziagite! watch out for the draco who cometh in futurum to gnaw your anima! death is super nos! pray the santo pater come to liberar nos a malo and all our sin! ha ha, you like this negromanzia de domini nostri jesu christi! et anco jois m'es dols e plazer m'es dolors...cave el diabolo! semper lying in wait for me in some angulum to snap at my heels. but salvatore is not stupidus! bonum monsasterium, and aqui refectorium and pray to dominum nostrum. and the resto is not worth merda. amen. no?

Or as he says in Ron Perlman's immensely entertaining portrayal:

Penitenziagite! Watch out for the draco who cometh in futurum to gnaw on your anima! La mort e supremos! You contemplata me apocalypsum, eh? La bas! Nous avons il diabolo! Ugly cum Salvatore, eh? My little brother! Penitenziagite!

SVILUPPO: Two years after this silly post, I find myself trying to read the book in Italian. So, arriving at this same section, how could I resist posting it?

Penitenziagite! Vide quando draco venturus est a rodegarla l'anima tua! La mortz est super nos! Prega che vene lo papa santo a liberar nos a malo de todas le peccata! Ah ah, ve piase ista negromanzia de Domini Nostri Iesu Christi! Et anco jois m'es dols a plazer m'es dolors...Cave el diabolo! Semper m'aguaita in qualche canto per adentarme le carcagna. Ma Salvatore non est insipiens! Bonum monasterium, et aqui se magna et se priega dominum nostrum. Et el resto valet un figo seco. Et Amen. No?

Prefaces of St. Clare

One of the treasures of the Franciscan liturgical calendar is having proper prefaces for Francis and Clare. Here is the preface for Clare's Mass in the 1962 Missale Romano-Seraphicum:

Per ómnia saécula saeculórum.
R. Amen.
V. Dóminus vobíscum.
R. Et cum spíritu tuo.
V. Surusm corda.
R. Habémus ad Dóminum.
V. Grátias agámus Dómino Deo nostro.
R. Dignum et iustum est.

Vere dignum et iustum est, aequum et salutáre,
nos tibi simper et ubíque grátias ágere:
Dómine, sancte Pater, omnípotens aetérne Deus:

Qui fámulam tuam Claram,
per beátum Francíscum,
studio vitae sublimióris incénsam,
ad sanctae Maríae Virginis
aram Fílio tuo mýstice desponsásti;
eámque, ad seráphicae perfectiónis culmen evéctam,
matrem plurimárum virginum delegísti.

Et ídeo cum Angelis et Archángelis, cum Thronis et
Dominatiónibus, cumque omni milítia caeléstis exércitus,
hymnum glóriae tuae cánimus, sine fine dicéntes:


And here is the version as it appears in the 1974 Roman-Franciscan Sacramentary:

V. The Lord be with you.
R. And also with you.
V. Lift up your hearts.
R. We lift them up to the Lord.
V. Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
R. It is right to give him thanks and praise.

Father all-powerful and ever-living God,
we do well always and everywhere to give you thanks.
You wondrously inflamed your servant Clare
to follow like Francis in the footsteps of your Son.

To him you espoused her mystically
through perpetual fidelity and love.
Raising her to the summit of seraphic perfection
through the highest poverty.
You made her the mother of countless virgins.

Through him the choirs of angels and all the powers of heaven
praise and worship your glory. May our voices blend with theirs
as we join in their unending hymn of praise:


The progression is interesting. In the newer preface, the Marian element is eliminated, but some specifically Franciscan vocabulary is added, such as "highest poverty" and the idea of following in the "footsteps" of Christ. Amen. Pray for us, holy mother Clare.

Secret for St. Bonaventure

The Secret from St. Bonaventure's Mass in the 1962 Missale Romano-Seraphicum is really striking:

Incruéntum Fílii tui sacrifícium offeréntes, te supplíciter exorámus, omnípotens Deus: ut, sicut passiónis eius iugis meditátio intelléctum sancti Bonaventúrae Pontíficis erudívit; ita mentes et corda nostra igne caritátis inflámmet. Per eúndem Dóminum.

I've been thinking this morning about how to make an artful translation, but I'm not yet satisfied with my ideas. If I come up with something later, I'll update the post. If anybody wants to beat me to it in the comments, feel free.

Update: Ok, I'm not happy with it, but here goes. Edits to follow (I hope.)

Offering to you the unbloody sacrifice of your Son, we humbly implore you, Almighty God: that prayerfully joined to the understanding of the passion brought forth by St. Bonaventure the bishop, our minds and hearts might also be inflamed with the fire of charity.

Improvements are welcome!

Four Days of Veronica Giuliani

St. Veronica Giuliani is one of the great characters from our Capuchin tradition. Our current Roman-Franciscan breviary and sacramentary celebrate her feast day on July 10. The 1962 Missale Romano-Seraphicum celebrates her on July 9. This creates the curious situation of being able to celebrate the same saint two days in a row, in the Extraordinary and Ordinary Forms, respectively.

Even more confusing, the 1942 M R-S puts her day on July 11, and her English wikipedia article puts it on the 12th.

The Mysteries of the Way of the Cross

A recent email alerted me to a proper Franciscan observance I had not noticed before, the feast Mysteriorum viae dolorosae Domini Nostri Jesu Christi. I only have the 1942 Missale Romano-Seraphicum before me right now, which places the day on the first Friday of March. I have a feeling it might be a different day in the 1962 Missal.

Because of our connection with the ministry of the places in the Holy Land, Franciscans have always been associated with promoting the devotion to the mysteries of the Way of the Cross.

This feast day is not in our current Franciscan calendar. Perhaps since the blessing of Stations of the Cross is no longer reserved to Franciscans, we no longer get to celebrate their mysteries as a proper liturgical observance.

Since I took the time to transcribe the sequence for someone, I'll reproduce it here:

Christi mortem, Christianae,
Sero plangas atque mane,
Et in planctu gaudeas.

Diligentem pone mentem
Super Christum patientem,
Ut sibi condoleas.

Quam despectus, quam dejectus
Rex caelorum est effectus,
Ut salvaret saeculum!

Esurivit et sitivit,
Pauper et egenus ivit
Ad usque patibulum.

Cum deductus est Immensus,
Et in Cruce tunc suspensus,
Fugerunt discipuli.

Manus, pedes perfoderunt,
Et aceto potaverunt
Summum Regem saeculi.

Cujus oculi beati
Sunt in Cruce obtenebrati,
Et vultus expalluit.

Suo corpori tunc nudo
Non remansit pulchritudo,
Decor omnis abfuit.

Propter hominem peccata,
Sua caro cruciata
Fuit inter verbera.

Membra sua sunt distenta,
Propter aspera tormenta
Et illata vulnera.

Inter magnos cruciatus
Est in Cruce lacrimatus,
Et emisit spiritum.

Suspiremus et fleamus,
Toto corde doleamus
Super Unigenitum.

Hinc nostrorum peccatorum
Gloriosus Rex caelorum
Nobis donet veniam.

Atque secum perferentes
Crucem, ducat gestientes
Ad aeternam gloriam. Amen.

Seraphic Treasures

I rescued a couple of great books recently. First, a 1929 Cantuale Romano-Seraphicum. Check out the proper chants for St. Francis:

I also came across a 1942 Missale Romano-Seraphicum. Check out the San Damiano crucifix facing the Canon:

And the Confiteor with St. Francis in it: