The Cult of Saints in Late Antiquity

The Gothic Missal (Missale Gothicum)

MISSA IN ADSVMPTIONE SANCTAE MARIAE MATRIS DOMINI NOSTRI

94. <PRAEFATIO.> Generosae diei dominicae genetricis inexplicabile sacramentum tanto magis praeconabile quantum est inter homines assumptione uirginis singulare. Aput quem uitae integritas obtenuit filium et mors non inuenit par exemplum. Nec minus ingenerens stupotem de transitu, quam exultatione ferens unico beata de partu. Non solum mirabilis pignore, quod fide concepit, sed translatione praedicabilis, qua migrauit. Speciali trepudio, affectu multimodo, fideli uoto, fratres dilectissimi, corde depraecamur attento ut eius adiuti muniamur suffragio quae fecunda uirgo, beata de partu, clara de merito, felix praedicatur abscessu, obsecrantes misericordiam redemtoris nostri ut circumstantem plebem illuc dignetur redemtoris nostri ut circumstantem plebem illuc dignetur introducere, quo beatem matrem Mariam famulantibus apostulis transtulit ad honorem. Quod ipse praestare dignetur, qui cum patre et spiritu sancto uiuit et regnat deus in saecula.

95. COLLECTIO SEQVITVR. Deus, qui dum opus illud fabricae mundialis, quod sola imperii iussione creaueras, perire non pateris, domum tibi in aluum uirginis fabricasti, et ne periret gens a te plasmata, reuelasti saeculis inaudita mysteria, ut quem caelorum excelsa non capiunt, paruus puellulae aluus includeret, praecamus supplices ut de quibus et pro quibus suscepisti membra mortalia, intercedente beata Maria genetrice tua capere facias deuicta saeculi ambitione uicturiam. Saluator mundi, qui cum aeterno patre uiuis et regnas deus in spiritus sancti deus in saecula.

96. COLLECTIO POST NOMINA. Habitatorem uirginalis hospicii, sponsum beati thalami, dominum tabernaculi, regem templi, qui eam innocentiam contulit genetrici, qua dignaretur incarnata deitas generare, quae nihil saeculi conscia tantum praecibus mens attenta, tenuit puritatem in moribus, quam perciperat angeli benedictione uisceribus, nec per assumptione de morte sensit inluuiem, quae uitae portauit auctorem, fratres karissimi, fusis praecibus dominum imploremus ut eius indulgentia illuc defuncti liberentur a tartaro, quo beatae uirginis translatum corpus est de sepulchro. Quod ipse praestare dignetur, qui in trinitate perfecta uiuit.

97. COLLECTIO AD PACEM. Deus, uniuersalis machinae propagator, qui in sanctis spiritaliter, in matre uero uirgine etiam corporaliter habitasti, quae ditata tuae plenitudinis ubertate, mansuetudine florens, caritate uegens, pace guadens, pietate praecellens, ab angelo gratia plena, ab Elisabeth benedicta, a gentibus merito praedicatur beata, cuius nobis fides mysterium, partus gaudium, uita prouectum, discessus attulit hoc festiuum, praecamur supplices ut pacem, quae in adsumptione matris tunc praebuisti discipulis, sollemni nuper largitas in cunctis. Saluator mundi, qui cum patre et spiritu sancto uiuis.

98. CONTESTATIO. Dignum et iustum est, omnipotens deus, nos tibi magnas merito gratias agere, tempore celeberrimo, die prae ceteris honorando, quod fidelis Israhel egressus est de Aegipto, quo uirgo dei genetrix de mundo migrauit ad Christum. Quae nec de corruptione suscepit contagium nec resolutionem pertulit in sepulchro, pollutione libera, germine gloriosa, assumptione secura, paradyso dote praelata, nesciens damna de coitu, sumens uota de fructu, non subdita dolori per partum, non labori per transitum. Nec uita uoluntate, nec funus soluitur ui naturae. Speciosus thalamus, de quo dignus prodit sponsus, lux gentium, spes fidelium, praedo daemonum, confusio Iudaeorum, uasculum uitae, tabernaculum gloriae, templum caeleste. Cuius iuunenculae melius praedicantur merita, cum ueteris Euae conferuntur exempla. Siquidem ista mundo uitam protulit, illa legem mortis inuexit, illa praeuaricando nos perdedit, ista generando saluauit, illa nos pomo arboris in ipsa radice percussit, ex huius uirga flos exiit, qui nos odore reficeret, fruge curaret, illa maledictione in dolore generat, ista benedictionem in salute confirmat. Illius perfidia serpenti consensit, coniugem decepit, prolem damnauit, cuius oboedientia patrem conciliauit, filum meruit, posteritatem absoluit. Illa amaritudinem pomi suco propinat, ista perennem dulcidinem nati fonte desudat. Illa aceruo gusto natorum dentes deterruit, haec suauissimi panis blandimenti cybo formauit. Cui nullus deperit, nisi qui de hoc pane saturare fauce fastidit. Sed iam ueteres gemitos in gaudia noua uertamus. Ad te ergo reuertimur, uirgo faeta, mater intacta, nesciens uirum puerpera, honorata per filium, non polluta, felix, per quam nobis inspirata guadia successerunt. Cuius sicut gratulati sumus ortu, trepudiauimus partu, ita glorificamur in transitum. Parum fortasse fuerat, si te Christus solo sanctificasset introitu, nisi etiam talem matrem adornasset egressu. Recte ab ipso suscepta es in assumtione feliciter, quem pie suscepisti conceptura per fidem, ut quae terrae non eras conscia, non teneret rupes inclusa. Vere diuersis infolis anima redemta, cui apostoli sacrum reddunt obsequium, angeli cantum, Christus amplexum, nubis ueicolum, assumptio paradysum, inter choros uirginum gloria principatum. Per Christum dominum nostrum, cui angeli atque archangeli non cessant.

99. COLLECTIO POST SANCTVS. Vere sanctus, uere gloriosus unigenitus tuus dominus noster Iesus Christus, qui, cum de suo genitori esset aequalis, de nostra factus est minor ab angelis et ex patre habens inmortalitatem, ex matre quod moreretur adsumpsit, ut in se liberaret genus humanum de tartaro dum ipsum mors non tenuit in sepulchro. Ipse enim pridie quam pateretur.

100. POST MYSTERIVM. Discendat, domine, in his sacrificiis tuae benedictionis coaeternus et cooperator paraclytus spiritus, ut oblationem, quam tibi de tua terra fructificante porregimus, caelesti per munerationem te sanctificante sumamus, ut translata fruge in corpore, calicem in cruore, proficiat meritis quod obtulimus pro delictis. Praesta omnipotens deus, qui uiuis et regnas in secula.

101. ANTE ORATIONEM DOMINICAM. Exaudi, omnipotens aeterne deus, supplicem plebem tuam ob honorem Mariae beatissimae genetricis. Et ita praeces nostras benignus intende, ut cum fiducia dicere mereamur orationem quam nos dominus noster Iesus Christus filius tuus orare sic docuit dicens: PATER.

102. POST ORATIONEM DOMINICAM. Libera nos ab omni malo, ab omni delicto, auctor omnium bonorum et conditor deus. Et intercedentem beata Maria gentrice tua contra cotidiani hostis insidias cotidiana nos protectione defende. Saluator mundi, qui cum patre et spiritu sancto uiuis et regnas.

103. BENEDICTIO POPVLI. Deus, qui cum te non capiunt caeli, dignatus es in templo uteri uirginalis includi. AMEN. Vt mater integra haberet fructum de spiritu et incorruptione de partu. AMEN. Da plebi angelum custodem, qui filium Mariae fide concipiente praedixit. AMEN. Sanctificet gregem tuum illa benedictio, quae sine semine humano redemptorem uirginis firmauit in utero. AMEN. Vt te protegente exultet aeclesia de congregato populo, sicut Maria meruit gloriari de fructu. AMEN. Quod ipse praestare digneris, qui cum patre et spiritu sancto uiuis et regnas deus in saecula saeculorum. AMEN.

104. POST EVCHARISTIAM. Adesto, quaesomus domine, fidelibus tuis ut quae sumpsit fideliter et mente sibi et corpore, beatae Mariae intercessione custodiat. Quod ipse praestare digneris, qui cum aeterno patre uiuis et regnas in saecula.

105. COLLECTIO SEQVITVR. Quaesomus, domine deus noster, ut interueniente beata Maria sacrosancta mysteria quae sumpsimus, actu subsequamur et sensu, et eius nobis indulta refectio uitam conferat sempiternam. Per eum, qui tecum et cum spiritu sancto uiuit et regnat.


'Mass for the Assumption of the Blessed Mary, mother of our Lord

94. Preface. The inexplicable mystery of the noble day of the mother of the Lord is all the more worthy to be celebrated the more it is exceptional among humankind by reason of the assumption of the Virgin. For through her the integrity of life has obtained a Son and death has found no equal example. And the blessed one caused no less wonder through her departing than exultation through the birth of her only child. [She is] not only admirable because of the pledge she received through faith, but [also] laudable because of the death through which she departed. Let us pray, dear brothers, with particular joy, with all-embracing love, with a faithful prayer and an attentive heart, that we will be assisted and protected through the support of her who is praised as fertile virgin, as blessed through her offspring, as illustrious through her merit, as happy through her departure, while we implore the mercy of our Redeemer, that he deigns to lead the faithful standing around here to the same place where he has taken the blessed mother Mary to glory while the apostles served her. May he deign to grant this, who with the Father and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, God for ever [...]

95. Collect follows. God, who because you do not allow that the work of the creation of the world that you have created alone on command of your authority go to waste, have built a house for yourself in the womb of the Virgin, and have revealed unheard secrets to the world, lest the people fashioned by you were lost, so that the little womb of a modest maiden could contain him who the heights of the heavens [could] not grasp: we humbly ask you to allow those from whom and for whom you took on mortal body, through the intercession of your blessed mother Mary, to gain the victory, having conquered the desire for worldly honour. Saviour of the world, who with the eternal Father lives and reigns, in unity with the Holy Spirit, God for ever [...]

96. Collect after the names. By pouring out our prayers, most beloved brothers, let us invoke the Lord, the inhabitant of the virgin hospice, the bridegroom of the blessed wedding canopy (Ps. 19, 5), the Lord of the tabernacle, the King of the temple, who conferred that innocence on the mother from which the incarnate deity deigned to be begotten. And this spirit, conscious of nothing of this world and only attentive to prayer, retained purity in her behaviour, which she had received in her womb through the blessing of the angel. And through her assumption, she who carried the Author of life did not experience the stain of death. Let us therefore invoke the Lord, that by his mercy the dead may be liberated from hell to that place where the body of the blessed Virgin was taken from her tomb. May he deign to grant this, who lives in the perfect Trinity.

97. Collect at the kiss of peace. God, Father of the whole world, you who have lived spiritually in the saints and even bodily in the Virgin mother, who, enriched with the fertility of your abundance, flowering in gentleness, strong in love, joyful through inner peace, outstanding in faith, praised by the angel as 'full of grace' (Luc. 1, 28), by Elizabeth as 'the blessed one' (Luc. 1, 42), by the peoples rightly as the 'blissful one' (Luc. 1, 48), whose faith has given us mystery, whose delivery joy, whose life profit and whose decease this feast: we humbly ask that you will generously grant to all, now at the solemn celebration, the peace that you have given to your disciples at the assumption of your mother. Saviour of the world, who lives with the Father and the Holy Spirit.

98. Prayer of sacrifice. It is worthy and just, almighty God, to duly give great thanks to you at this most festive time, on the day that must be revered more than all others, on which the faithful people of Israel came out of Egypt, on which the Virgin mother of God departed from this world to Christ. For she is not infected with sin through corruption and has not endured decomposition in the tomb, she is free from defilement, glorious through her child, untroubled through her assumption, exalted through the gift of paradise. She did not know the injury of coition, she accepted the promises concerning her child, not subjected to the pains of childbirth, nor to the toils of death. And her life was not annulled by will, nor her death the power of nature. [She is] the most beautiful wedding canopy from which a worthy bridegroom comes forth (Ps. 19, 5), light to the nations (Is. 42, 6; 49, 6), hope of the faithful, robber of the demons, confusion of the Jews, vessel of life, tabernacle of glory, heavenly temple. And the merits of this young girl are praised [still] higher when the examples of the old Eve are offered for comparison. For the one who brought life to this world, the other introduced the law of death, the latter sent us to death by collaborating with the enemy, the former saved us by generating life, the latter, through the apple from the tree, struck us in the very root, but from this shoot a flower has emerged (Is. 11, 1) to restore us with its scent and to heal us with its fruit. The latter begets a curse consisting of grief, the former confirms a blessing that entails salvation. The perfidy of the latter consented with the serpent, deceived her husband, damned her offspring, but the obedience of the former reconciled the Father, merited the Son and absolved posterity. The latter gives bitterness to drink from the juice of the apple, the former exudes an eternal sweetness through the fount of her Son. The latter, through the sour taste, has deterred the teeth of her children, the former has fashioned the food of delight from the very sweetest bread. For, depending on her, nobody will perish except those scornful of sating their throats with this bread. But let us now change the old moans into new joys. We therefore turn back to you, fruitful virgin, untouched mother, woman in labour without having known a man, woman of honour through your Son, unsoiled, happy through whom inspired joys have succeeded one another for us. For as we have rejoiced in her birth and celebrated her delivery, so we glory in her departure. It were perhaps insufficient if Christ had sanctified you through his entry alone, if he had not also honoured so excellent a mother through her departing. You were rightly taken up through the assumption by him who you took up devotedly by receiving him through faith, so that the earth could not keep you enclosed as you did not belong to it. O soul, truly adorned with different crowns of honour, to whom the apostles render their holy service, the angels their chant, Christ his love, the cloud its vehicle, the assumption paradise and glory the place of honour amid the choirs of virgins. Though Christ our Lord, to whom the angels and archangels unceasingly [sing, saying: Holy, holy, holy...]

99. Collect after the Sanctus. Truly holy, truly glorious is your only-begotten Son our Lord Jesus Christ, who, although he was of himself equal to the Father, became of our [being], still lower than the angels (Hebr. 2, 9), and while from his Father's side he had immortality, from his mother's side he assumed that which must die, so that in himself he would liberate humankind from hell, while death did not keep him in the tomb. For he, on the day before his suffering [...]

100. After the consecration. Let, O Lord, the co-eternal and co-operating Comforter, the Holy Spirit, descend in this sacrifice of your blessing, so that we accept the offering that we bring to you from your fertile ground, after you have sanctified it through a heavenly reward, so that when the blood is changed into the body and the cup into the blood, that which we have offered for our sins contributes to our merits. Grant this, almighty God, who lives and reigns forever.

101. Before the Lord's prayer. Almighty and everlasting God, hear your people who beseech you by reason of the honour of the most blessed Mary. And be so bounteous to our prayers that we may be considered worthy to say with confidence the prayer that our Lord Jesus Christ your Son has taught us to pray, saying: [OUR] FATHER [...]

102. After the Lord's prayer. Deliver us from all evil, from every sin, Author of all good and God the Creator, and defend us through the intercession of your blessed mother Mary with daily protection against the snares of the daily enemy. Saviour of the world, who with the Father and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns.

103. Blessing of the people. God, who, while the heavens do not hold you captive, has deigned to be enclosed in the sanctuary of the Virgin's womb. AMEN. So that the untouched mother bore fruit through the Holy Spirit and gained incorruptibility though her child. AMEN. Give your people the angel as guardian, who foretold to Mary the Son that faith would receive [in her]. AMEN. So that under your protection the Church rejoices in the congregated people, as Mary is considered worthy to glory in her child. AMEN. May you deign to grant this, who with the Father and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, God for ever and ever. AMEN.

104. After the Eucharist. Safeguard your faithful, so we ask, O Lord, so that what they have faithfully adopted with soul and body may protect them through the intercession of the blessed Mary. May you deign to grant this, who with the everlasting Father lives and reigns forever.

105. Collect follows. We ask, O Lord Our God, that through the intervention of the blessed Mary, the holy mysteries which we have received actively may also be pursued mindfully, and that the comfort thus given to us may confer on us eternal life. Through him who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns.'


Text: Rose 2005, 387-92.
Translation: Rose 2017, 151-8.

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