The Gothic Missal includes prayers for the celebration of mass on the feast day of *Caecilia (virgin and martyr of Rome, S00146). Written in Latin in Gaul, perhaps at Luxeuil for the Christian community of Autun, c. 680/710.
E08228
Liturgical texts - Sacramentaries
Late antique original manuscripts - Parchment codex
The Gothic Missal (Missale Gothicum)
MISSA IN NATALE SANCTAE CAECILIAE VIRGINIS
111. <PRAEFATIO.> Venerabilem ac sublimem beatae martyris Caeciliae passionem et sanctam sollemnitatem pia deuotione celebrantes, conseruatorem omnium deum, fratres karissimi, depraecemur ut piis aeclesiae suae praecibus propitiatus adsistat, et sicut illi hodie coronam dedit, nobis quoque misercordiam largiatur. Per dominum nostrum Iesum Christum filium suum secum uiuentem.
112. COLLECTIO SEQVITVR. Omnipotens sempiterne deus, qui elegis infirma mundi, ut fortia quaeque confundas, da nobis in festiuitate Caeciliae martyrae congrua deuotione gaudere, ut et potentiam tuam in eius passione laudemus et prouisum nobis percipiamus auxilium. Per dominum nostrum Iesum Christum filium tuum.
113. COLLECTIO POST NOMINA. Respice domine, quaesomus, plebem tuam de sanctae Caeciliae martyris glorificatione gratulantem et beneplacitum tribue sacratarum tibi mentium famulatum ut qui in sanctis tuis te honorare non desinunt, pepetua donorum tuorum largitate potiantur, et quod uisibiliter exhibent, inuisibiliter adprehendant, ut sicut illius grata sunt merita, sic nostrae seruitutis accepta reddantur officia. Per dominum nostrum Iesum filium tuum.
114. COLLECTIO AD PACEM. Sanctae martyrae tuae Caeciliae, domine, supplicationibus tribue nos fouere, ut cuius uenerabilem sollemnitatem praeuenimus obsequio, eius intercessionibus commendemur et meritis. Et praesta, quaesomus, domine, ut pax, quae profertur in labiis, etiam cordibus non negetur. Per.
115. IMMOLATIO MISSAE. Dignum et iustum est, aequum et salutare est nos tibi semper gratias agere, omnipotens sempiterne deus, qui perficis in infirmitate uirtutem. Quia beata gloriosaque Caecilia dispecto mundi coniugio ad consortia superna contendens nec aetate mutabili praepedita est nec inlecebris est reuocata carnalibus nec sexu fragilitatis deterrita, sed inter puellares annos, inter saeculi blandimenta, inter supplicium persequentium multiplicem uicturiam uirgo casta martyra impleuit, et ad potiorem triumphum secum ad regna caelestia Valerianum, cui fuerat nupta, perduxit, et sic coronam pudititiae meruit, ut regium thalamum non solum uirgo, sed etiam martyra intraret. Per Christum dominum nostrum, per quem maiestatem tuam laudant angeli, adorant dominationes.
116. BENEDICTIO POPVLI. Summe optime misericordissime deus, benedic famulos et famulas tuas. AMEN. Tribue eis per interuentu sanctae Caeciliae uirginis cor in tuo amore sollicitum, in tuo timore deuotum, in tuo honore perfectum. AMEN. Da eis tranquillitatem temporum, salubritatem corporum, salutem animarum. AMEN. Mereantur te fide quaerere, operibus inuenire, gratia promerere. AMEN. Et illa studeant agere te teste, quae digna fiant in remuneratione te iudice. AMEN. Quod ipse praestare digneris, qui in trinitate perfecta uiuis, dominaris et regnas.
'Mass for the Feast of the Holy Virgin Caecilia
111. [Preface.] Let us pray to God the Keeper of all things, most beloved brothers, now that we celebrate with faithful devotion the venerable and exalted passion of the blessed martyr Caecilia and the sacred ceremony, that he favourably attends the faithful prayers of his Church and that, as he has given her the crown today, he also generously grants us mercy. Through Our Lord Jesus Christ his Son, who lives with him [...]
112. Collect follows. Almighty and everlasting God, who chooses what is weak in the world to confound all that is strong (I Cor. 1, 27), grant us that we rejoice with fitting devotion in the feast of the holy martyr Caecilia, so that we prase your power in her passion and gain the help that is foreseen for us. Through Our Lord Jesus Christ your Son.
113. Collect after the names. Look upon your people, we ask you, O Lord, rejoicing in the glorification of the holy martyr Caecilia, and grant that obedience of the hearts sanctified to you that pleases [you], so that those who continually honour you in your saints may acquire the perpetual abundance of your gifts. And may they invisibly embrace what they visibly offer, so that as the merits of Caecilia are pleasing, the offices of our worship may be rendered agreeable [to you.] Through our Lord Jesus your Son.
114. Collect at the kiss of the peace. Grant Lord, that we are cherished by the supplications of your holy martyr Caecilia, so that we are recommended by the intercession and merits of her whose venerable feast we anticipate with the ceremony. And grant, so we ask Lord, that the peace expressed with the lips may be confirmed by the hearts. Through.
115. Prayer of sacrifice. It is worthy and just, fair and salutary that we always bring thanks to you, almighty and everlasting God, who makes your power perfect in weakness (II Cor. 12, 9). For the blessed and glorious Caecilia, striving for heavenly fellowship by despising the marriage of this world, was not impeded by the capriciousness of her age, nor held back by fleshly enticements, nor deterred by the fragility of her gender, but amid her youthful years, amid the delights of the world,amid the punishment of her persecutors, she gained as a chaste virgin and martyr a multiple victory, and to yet greater triumph she led her Valerianus, whose bride she had been, to the heavenly kingdom. And she merited the crown of chastity such that she entered the wedding canopy of the King not only as a virgin but also as a martyr. Through Christ our Lord, through whom your majesty is praised by the angels and worshipped by the dominions.
116. Blessing of the people. Most high, most excellent, most merciful God, bless your manservants and maidservants. AMEN. Grant them, through the mediation of the holy virgin Caecilia, a heart concerned with love for you, devoted to fear of you and perfect in honour of you. AMEN. Give them tranquil times, health of the body and salvation of the soul. AMEN. Let them be considered worthy to seek you through the faith, to find you through their deeds and to please you through grace. AMEN. And with you as witness, let them do these things with diligence that, with you as judge, will be worthy of reward. AMEN. May you deign to grant this who lives, rules and reigns in the perfect Trinity.'
Text: Rose 2005, 395-7.
Translation: Rose 2017, 162-4.
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 NarrativesRelatives of the saint
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 (2005, 277-9) argues that this mass for Caecilia provides the earliest known evidence for the veneration of this saint in Gaul, besides, that is, a brief remark by Venantius Fortunatus (E06245), himself an Italian (who anyway imagines Caecilia in Sicily, not Rome). Excepting the evidence of the Martyrologium Hieronymianum (E04915, E04958, E05022, E05027: a complex text raising many difficulties of interpretation, but which was known in Gaul from at least the seventh century) our database suggests the same.
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 | S00146 | Caecilia, virgin and martyr of Rome | Caecilia | Certain |
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