The Gothic Missal includes prayers for the celebration of mass on the feast day of *Agnes (virgin and martyr of Rome, S00097). Written in Latin in Gaul, perhaps at Luxeuil for the Christian community of Autun, c. 680/710.
E08227
Liturgical texts - Sacramentaries
Late antique original manuscripts - Parchment codex
The Gothic Missal (Missale Gothicum)
MISSA IN NATALE AGNES VIRGINIS ET MARTYRIS
106. <PRAEFATIO.> In beatae martyris Agnes natalicia trepudiantes, fratres karissimi, deuoto corde domino adsistamus. Vere enim huius est honorandus natalis, quae sic nata est mundo ut sit caelo renata, sic sub morte legis procreata ut contereret mortis auctorem, sic infirmo sexu condita ut metuenda uiris fortibus dispiceret tormenta, sic fragile conditione producta ut puella uirginibus et potestatibus triumpharet. O uera nobilitas, quae sic terrena generatione processit ut ad diuinitatis consortium perueniret. Oremus ergo ut pro nobis interueniat praecibus, quae digna adsistit diuinis obtutibus. Quod ipse praestare digneutr, qui cum patre et spiritu sancto uiuit et regnat.
107. COLLECTIO SEQVITVR. Deus, uictrices Agnes adiutor et praemium, exaudi nos illius interuentu, cuius passionis natalem celebramus. Cui tanti muneris gratiam contulisti, ut diabulum, qui per Euam humanum genus omne subuerterat, tenera aetate Agnes contereret et sexu inbecile superaret, ueritatis confessione prosterneret, euidenter ostendens quod non solum perpetuae uirginitatis martyra esset et uirgo mansura, sed agni inmaculati sponsa fieri mereretur integre de nomine. Adsume ergo huius sacrificii immolatione gratanter, qui coronasti gloriosam pro tantis meritis uirginem. Per dominum nostrum Iesum Christum filium tuum.
108. COLLECTIO POST NOMINA. Deus, qui uirgineum florem per Mariae uterum renouas, reddens nobis in matre uirgine quod per incontinentem perditum fuerat matrem, quam sequentes sanctae uirgines cum palma martyrii ad tuum usque thalamum peruenerunt, ex quibus est beata Agnes martyra, cuius hodie passionis sollemnitas agitur, quae nos ad laeticiam suae deuocionis excitauit. Vere est enim honorandus huius diei natalis, quae sic terrena generacione processit ut ad diuinitatis consorcium per consecracionem uirginitatis perueniret. Per dominum.
109. COLLECTIO AD PACEM. Laeta nos domine, quaesomus, beatae martyres tuae Agnes festiuitas semper excipiat, quae et iocunditatem nobis suae glorificacionis et pacis sinceritatis infundat et tibi nos reddat acceptos. Per dominum.
110. IMMOLATIO. Vere dignum et iustum est. Tibi enim domine festa sollemnitas agitur, tibi dies sacrata celebratur, quam Agnes uirginis sanguis in ueritatis tuae testificacione profusus, magnifico nominis tui honore signauit. Cui ad mirificanda graciam tuam, in tenero adhuc corpore et necdum puellare flore maturo, hanc uirtutem fidei et pacienciae fortitudinem contulisti, ut saeuiciae persecutores non cederit constancia uirginalis. Quo gloriosior fierit corona martyrii, quia inter acerua supplicia nec sexui potuit eripere nec aetati. Huius igitur passionis diem hodierna deuocionem celebrantes immolamus tibi, domine deus noster, uictimam laudis, quam cum filio tuo domino nostro et sancto spiritu per claritatem regnantem cum angelis et archangelis, dominaciones, principatus et potestates caeli caelorumque uirtutes ac beata seraphin socia excultacione concelebrant dicentes: Sanctus.
'Mass for the Feast of Saint Agnes, Virgin and Martyr
106. Preface. On the feast of the birth of the blessed martyr Agnes, most beloved brothers, let us be present before the Lord with great joy and a devoted heart. For truly worthy of honour is the feast of her who was born for the world and was reborn for heaven, who was begotten under the law of death (Rom. 8, 2) and such that she crushed the author of death, who was made in the weak gender so that she looked down on the tortures that are terrifying for strong men, who was made in such a fragile condition that, as a girl, she triumphed over virgins and powers. O true nobility, that so came forth from the earthly race that it has come to the fellowship of divinity. Let us therefore pray that she who stands worthy before the divine countenance intervenes for us with her prayers. May he deign to grant this, who with the Father and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns.
107. Collect follows. God, Helper and Reward of the conqueror Agnes, hear us through her intervention now that we celebrate the feast of her passion. For you have granted Agnes the grace of such a great gift, that she crushed at her young age and overcame in the weakness of her gender the devil, who through Eve had overthrown the entire human race, that she struck him down through her confession of the truth, while clearly showing that she was not only a martyr of perpetual virginity and would remain a virgin, but that she [also] deserved to become the bride of the unblemished Lamb (Ex. 12, 6; Lev. 23, 12), purely on the grounds of her name. Accept therefore the offering of this sacrifice with joy, you who have crowned the virgin, glorious through such great merits. Through our Lord Jesus Christ your Son.
108. Collect after the names. God, who renews the flower of virgins through Mary's womb by returning to us in the Virgin mother what was lost through the intemperate mother. And by following [Mary], the holy virgins have come into your wedding canopy with the palm of martyrdom. One of them is blessed martyr Agnes, whose passion is solemnly celebrated today, who has roused us to the joy of her piety. For her feast is truly worthy of honour, who so came forth from the earthly race that through the consecration of her virginity she came to the fellowship of the divinity. Through our Lord.
109. At the kiss of peace. May the feast of your blessed martyr Agnes always greet us joyfully, so we ask, O Lord, so that she may pour the joy of her glorification and the purity of peace into us, and make us people who are pleasing to you. Through our Lord.
110. Prayer of sacrifice. It is truly worthy and just [that we praise you.] For it is you, O Lord, that the solemn celebration is held, for you the sacred day is celebrated, which the blood of the blessed virgin Agnes, shed as a testimony to your truth, has marked with the magnificent honour of your name. Although she was as yet of a tender body and not yet of the mature blossom of a girl, to the glorification of your grace you gave her this virtue of faith and strength of patience, so that the constancy of the virgin did not yield to the cruelty of her persecutor, so that through this the crown of martyrdom would be all the more glorious, since amid the bitter suffering this could not be snatched away from her gender or her age. And now that we together celebrate the day of her passion with devotion, we offer you a sacrifice of thanksgiving, O Lord our God, as you are glorified in the fellowship of joy by the dominions, rulers and powers, the heavens and the powers of the heavens (Eph. 1, 21; Luc. 21, 26), and the blessed seraphim with the angels and archangels, while you rule in glory with your Son our Lord and with the Holy Spirit, saying: HOLY [...]'
Text: Rose 2005, 392-5.
Translation: Rose 2017, 159-62.
Service for the saint
Eucharist associated with cult
Liturgical invocation
Chant and religious singing
Other liturgical acts and ceremonies
FestivalsSaint’s feast
Non Liturgical ActivityPrayer/supplication/invocation
Transmission, copying and reading saint-related texts
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesAngels
Source
The Gothic Missal (Missale Gothicum) is the standard editorial name used for Vatican City, Bibliotheca Apostolica Vaticana, Reg. Lat. 317, a liturgical manuscript (sacramentary) compiled in Burgundy at the turn of the eighth century. It provides an exceptionally rare witness to late antique liturgical practice in Gaul. The inclusion of an entry for the late Merovingian political martyr Leudegar of Autun (eastern Gaul) (ob. 677/9) gives both an earliest possible date for the manuscript's compilation, and, since it appears alongside an entry for the earlier Autun martyr Symphorianus, an indication of the community for which the codex might have been made. On palaeographical grounds, E.A. Lowe located the Missal's production to the scriptorium of Luxeuil (c. 130 miles northeast of Autun), at a date no later than c. 710.The full manuscript is now available to view online: https://spotlight.vatlib.it/it/latin-paleography/catalog/Reg_lat_317
Discussion
The codex as it survives includes entries for nine biblical saints and nine from the city of Rome (plus Cyprian of Carthage, commemorated with Pope Cornelius), alongside six Gallic feast days and one from Spain (Saturninus, Eulalia, Ferreolus and Ferrucio, Symphorianus, Maurice and the Theban Legion, Leudegar, and Martin). The Missal covers most feasts in roughly chronological order, beginning after Christmas with the feast of Stephen (usually 26 Dec.). The manuscript does not, however, provide any dates for the celebration of these feasts: presumably, its users would have also had a separate liturgical calendar at hand.For an overview of the contents of the Gothic Missal, see E08222.
Els Rose argues that, since this mass for Agnes incorporates elements referring to both her 'birth' into heaven (natale... caelo renata), and her more conventional worldly birth (natalicia... nata est mundo), it may in fact combine prayers meant for the feast of Agnes' birthday (usually 27/28 Jan.) with those for the separate anniversary of her martyrdom (usually 21 Jan.). The text is 'unique in the Gallican liturgy, and is certainly based on Roman models' (Rose 2005, 272-7).
Bibliography
Edition and study:Missale Gothicum e codice Vaticano Reginensi latino 317 editum, ed. Els Rose (Turnhout, 2005).
Translation:
The Gothic Missal, trans. Els Rose (Turnhout, 2017).
Further reading:
Lowe, E.A., Codices latini antiquiores, 11 vols (Oxford, 1937-71), i. 32.
Benjamin Savill
04/09/2022
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00033 | Mary, Mother of Christ | Maria | Certain | S00097 | Agnes, virgin and martyr of Rome | Agnes | Certain |
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