The feast of the Transfiguration of the LORD is a feast of double rank and its liturigcal colour is white. A commemoration is made of the XI Sunday after Pentecost.
At first Vespers yesterday afternoon the, proper, antiphons Assumpsit Jesus Petrum et Jacobum etc were sung with psalms 109, 110, 111, 112 & 116. The Office hymn was Quicumque Christum quaeritis. The antiphon on the Magnificat was Christus Jesus, splendor Patris etc and the collect was proper to the feast. Commemorations were sung of the preceding Office of the Dedication of Sancta Maria ad Nives, followed by a commemoration of Sunday (the antiphon on the Magnificat was Ego in altissimis for the Saturday before the second Sunday of August) and a commemoration of SS Xystus, Felicissimus and Agapitus. Because of the double feast the Suffrages were omitted at Vespers and, at Compline, the Dominical preces were omitted for the same reason. At Compline, and at all the Hours, the hymns have the Doxology Gloria tibi Domine, Qui apparusti hodie, Cum Patre et almo Spiritu, In sempiterna saecula and its melody.
At Mattins the invitatory is Summum Regem gloriae, Venite adoremus. The Office hymn is as at Vespers. In the first nocturn the antiphons are proper, Paulo minus etc, are sung with psalms 8, 28 & 44. The lessons in the first nocturn are from the Second Epistle of St. Peter. These are identical to those found in modern editions. In the second nocturn the antiphons Illuminans etc are sung with psalms 75, 83, and 86. The lessons are from a sermon of St. Leo. Again, these are identical to those found in modern edtions of the Breviary. In the third nocturn the antiphons Thabor et Hermon etc are sung with psalms 88, 96 and 103. The homily in the third nocturn is taken from St. Chrysostom's 57th homily on St. Matthew's Gospel. The eighth lesson is shorter in the Tridentine Breviary ending with ... a melioribus confirmari. The ninth lesson is of the Sunday. The three lessons of the homily are read as one to form the ninth lesson. This is from St. Bede on St. Luke's Gospel and its constituent lessons are longer than those found in the post-Clementine editions with lessons seven and eight comprising of the text of all three lessons in the later books. The Te Deum is sung.
At Lauds the antiphons Assumpsit Jesus Petrum et Jacobem etc are sung with psalms 92, 99, 62-66, Benedicite, 148-149-150. The Office hymn is Amor Jesu dulcissime. The antiphon on the Benedictus is Et ecce vox de nube dicens etc. Following the collect of the feast commemorations are sung of the Sunday and of SS Xystus etc.
At Prime and the Hours the hymns have the proper Doxology as noted above. The antiphons from Lauds are sung at the Hours in the usual order. At Prime the festal psalms are sung (53, 118i & 118ii), the verse in the short response is Qui apparuisti and the lectio brevis is Sustulit me.
Mass is sung after Terce. Where it is the custom, after the Asperges, a blessing of grapes takes place. The introit is Illuxerant. The Gloria is sung, the second collect is of the Sunday, the third collect of SS Xystus etc. The Credo is sung, the Preface of the Nativity is sung and the last Gospel is of the Sunday.
At Vespers all is sung as was sung at first Vespers except the antiphon on the Magnificat, Et audientes, which is proper to second Vespers. After the collect of the feast commemoration are sung of the Sunday and of the following Office of St. Donatus. At Compline the Dominical preces are omitted.
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I have wanted to ask about the observation of S Xystus for some time, but this is the only recent post on the 6th August, so I shall have to do it here.
ReplyDeleteSince this is the Tridentine Rite, I shall have to ask if there would be any changes in the modern Rite [when I say that, I mean of course the one finalized in 1913] or under the 1900 Jubilee Rubrics.
Since the decision of the Western Church to adopt the great Eastern feast days, the 6th August has of course had this feast of the Lord placed on a day that was already the feast of an important martyr. I confess I do not much like the feast of the Transfiguration on this date, as it duplicates the older Western observance on the II Sunday in Lent, that does seem a better occasion, as well as obscuring the feast of an important martyr whose name is in the canon, reducing it to a Ninth Lesson at mattins – that, as we see, is not even read if it a Sunday.
Assuming that the feast of the Lord is not going to be removed any time soon, perhaps the best approach is to ask what happens where S Xystus the Martyr is the title.
I assumed removal to the next free day, as in the 1970 rite – or is there any chance that a Patronal S Xystus becomes a feast that outranks a double of the Lord, lower than second class?
Would there be any difference in observance between that of a private chapel and a parochial, or higher, church?
Or, to put it another way, are there any rules that would, in any class of church, allow the celebration of S Xystus on the 6th.?
Many thanks, Rubricarius, for both of your fine blogs.