The Cult of Saints in Late Antiquity

The Gothic Missal (Missale Gothicum)

MISSA IN NATALE SANCTAE EVLALIA VIRGINIS

138. <PRAEFATIO.> Deum omnipotentem, fratres karissimi, qui tantum prudentem uirginitatem fidei sociatam apice gloriae consecrauit, ut per quem facta est mater Maria, fierit martyra Eulalia. Illa periendi effectu felix, ista moriendo, illa implens incarnationis officium, ista rapiens passionis exemplum, illa crededit angelo, ista restetit inimico, illa electa per quam nasceretur Christus, ista per quam uinceretur diabulus. Supplici oratione poscamus ut beatam Eulaliam pro nobis orantem exaudiat, et omnia quae peccatis aduersantibus impendimur, eius exilio ab omni labe peccaminum eruamur. Per dominum nostrum Iesum Christum filium suum secum.

139. COLLECTIO SEQVITVR. Deus, qui sanctae martyrae tuae Eulaliae pro poena gloriam, pro morte uitam, pro infirmitate uirtutem, pro passione coronam tribuisti, praest ut sicut illa exultat in gloria, sic nos de tua misericordia gratulermur et in aeternum ueniam te donante consequi mereamur. Per dominum nostrum Iesum Christum filium tuum.

140. COLLECTIO POST NOMINA. Deum, qui sanctae famulae suae Eulaliae gloriosam et inmarciscibilem coronam martyrii contulit, fratres karissimi, supplices depraecemur ut praestante diuina misericordia ipsius praecibus obteneamus ueniam, qui gloriam non meremur, caris etiam nostris, qui nos in somno pacis praecesserunt, perennis aeui beatitudinem et perpetuae lucis gratiam remunerare dignetur. Per dominum nostrum Iesum Christum filium suum secum uiuentem.

141. COLLECTIO AD PACEM. Deus, simultatum discussor, pacis quaesitor, cuius ut pietatis est disiuncta coniungere, ita amoris est casta pacifice allegari, tu nunc nos, domine, apostulorum tuorum dogmate obsequentes pace necte, caritate orna, castitate sanctifica. Et qui de beatae uirginis Eulaliae passionem meruimus habere exemplum, mereamur de euicta iracundia obtenere triumphum. Per dominum nostrum Iesum Christum filium tuum, qui tecum uiuit.

142. IMMOLATIO MISSAE. Dignum et iustum est, aequm et salutare est nos tibi semper et ubique gratias agere, domine, sancte pater, omnipotens aeterne deus, teque laudare in omnibus operibus tuis. Qui dono gratiae tuae famulam tuam Eulaliam nobiliorem mentis stigmate decorasti, ut inlaesam in se imaginis tuae pulchritudinem custodiret. Digna uere comes filii tui, quae tenero sexu bellum fortis inuaderet, et ultra opinionem humanae uirtutis ad tolerantiam poenarum se zelo tui amoris obtulerit, quae in speciem praeciosi ungenti sanguinem suum sub testimonio bonae confessionis effunderit, et incorrupta flammis uiscera in odorem suauissimi tymiamatis adoleret. Vadit ad tribunal cruenti praesidis nec quaesita lucratura regnum, contemptura supplicium, inuentura quesitum, uisura confessum, non trepida de sententia, non ambigua de corona, non defessa de aeculeo, no diffisa de praemio. Interrogatur, confitetur ingentique miraculo maiestas tua exalatum uirginis spiritum, quem adsumpsit per flammam, suscepit per columbam, ut hoc prodigio in caelis uirgo et martyr ascenderet, quo in terris filium tuum pater ostenderas. Per quem maiestatem, tuam laudant angeli atque archangeli non cessant clamare dicentes.


'Mass for the Feast of the Holy Virgin Eulalia

138. [Preface.] Let us, most beloved brothers, [pray] to almighty God, who with the crown of glory so consecrated the wise virginity joined with faith, that through him who brought Mary motherhood, Eulalia became a martyr. The one was blessed through the result of giving birth, the other through dying, the one because she fulfilled the duty of Incarnation, the other by seizing the example of martyrdom, the one believed the angel, the other resisted the enemy, the one [was] elected so that through her Christ was born, the other so that through her the devil was conquered. Let us ask with a humble prayer that he hears the blessed Eulalia when she prays for us, and that we who are impeded in all things because sin turns against us, are rescued from all stain of sin through her help. Through our Lord Jesus Christ the Son, who with him [...]

139. Collect follows. God, who granted glory to your holy martyr Eulalia in exchange for punishment, life in exchange for death, strength in exchange for weakness, the crown in exchange for martyrdom: grant that we may so rejoice in your mercy as she delights in glory, and that we may be considered worthy to obtain forgiveness in eternity by your grace. Through our Lord Jesus Christ your Son, who with you [...]

140. Collect after the names. Let us humbly pray to God, most beloved brothers, who has granted the glorious and imperishable crown of martyrdom to his holy servant Eulalia, that we, who do not deserve glory, may with the help of divine mercy obtain forgiveness through her prayers. And that he also deigns to grant to our beloved, who have gone before us in the sleep of peace, the beatitude of everlasting life and the grace of perpetual light. Through our Lord Jesus Christ his Son, who lives with them [...]

141. Collect at the kiss of peace. God, Dissipator of enmities, Seeker of peace, whose goodness tends to join together what is disjoined as your love tends to peacefully maintain what is pure: grant, Lord, that when we obey the teaching our your apostles, you connect us with peace, adorn us with love and sactify us with purity. And may we who are deemed worthy to take as our example the martyrdom of the blessed virgin Eulalia be considered worthy to obtainthe victory over wrath so overcome. Through our Lord Jesus Christ your Son, who lives with you [...]

142. Prayer of sacrifice. It is worthy and just, fair and salutary that we always and everywhere bring thanks to you Lord, holy Father, almighty and everlasting God, and that we praise you in all your deeds. For through the gift of your grace you have adorned your servant Eulalia with a noble mark of the spirit, so that unharmed in herself she preserved the beauty of your image. She was truly a worthy companion of your Son, as, though of the weaker gender, she entered strongly into combat and, above what could be expected from human strength, she surrendered herself to undergo punishment in the fervour of love for you. For she shed her blood as a precious salve under the testimony of the good confession, and offered her unspoiled body to the flames to become a fragrance of the sweetest incense. She went to the judgement seat of the bloodthirsty ruler: not because she was sought [but] to gain the Kingdom, out of contempt for punishment, to find what she sought, to behold him whom she had confessed, without fear of judgement, convinced of the crown, not weakened by the tools of torture, not distrustful of the reward. She was questioned and she acknowledged you, and through a remarkable miracle your majesty received the exhaled spirit of the virgin, which [your majesty] took from the flame, in the form of a dove, so that she ascended into heaven as virgin and martyr under this sign through which you, Father, had revealed your Son on earth. Through whom the angels praise your majesty and the archangels do not cease to proclaim, saying [...]'


Text: Rose 2005, 405-7.
Translation: Rose 2017, 175-7.

Service for the saint
Eucharist associated with cult
Liturgical invocation
Chant and religious singing
Other liturgical acts and ceremonies

Saint’s feast

Prayer/supplication/invocation
Transmission, copying and reading saint-related texts

Miracle at martyrdom and death

Angels
Animals

Source

Discussion

Bibliography