The Gothic Missal includes prayers for the celebration of mass on the feast day commemorating the martyrdom of *John the Baptist (S00020). Written in Latin in Gaul, perhaps at Luxeuil for the Christian community of Autun, c. 680/710.
E08241
Liturgical texts - Sacramentaries
Late antique original manuscripts - Parchment codex
The Gothic Missal (Missale Gothicum)
MISSA IN DIEM PASSIONIS SANCTI IOHANNIS BAPTISTAE ET MARTYRIS
384. <PRAEFATIO.> Deum patrem et filium et spiritum sanctum humili confessione et supplici deuocione, fratres karissimi, unianimes obsecramus ut nos hodie uaticinatae uocis uerbi praecursoris, legum limitis, lucernae lucentis, sancti martyris baptitste Iohannis passionem celebrantibus, eiusdem intercessione inluminet, defendet et sanctificet, ut qui pro ueritate sacrum sanguinem fudit, pro nobis ad deum praeces fundere dignetur. Per dominum nostrum.
385. COLLECTIO SEQVITVR. In honorem beatissimi martyris tui baptistae Iohannis, cuius hodie passionem celebramus, his maiestati tuae, omnipotens deus, laudibus seruientes sollempnia festa concinnemus, suppliciter dipraecantes ut cuius meritis obsequimur eius te donante aput clementiam tuam praecibus adiuuemur. Per.
386. POST NOMINA. Munera populi tui, omnipotens deus, quae tibi in hac beatissimi martyris tui baptistae Iohannis festituitate deferimus, quaesomus, propitiatus intende, ut perfecti huus sacrificii sanctificatione purgati nostrorum a te mereamur consequi ueniam delictorum. Per.
387. COLLECTIO AD PACEM. Suscipe, quaesomus, domine, praeces nostras et intercessione martyris tui baptistae Iohannis, quem in tuo honore ueneramur, eclesiae tuae uota confirma, qui etiam dignus est habitus, ut te baptizandum, mundi saluator, offerres. Dignum est enim hoc mereri, ut omnes nos baptismatis tui gratia consecutos meretorum suorum intercessione conciliet. Saluator mundi.
388. IMMOLATIO MISSAE. Dignum et iustum est, aequum et salutare est nos tibi semper agere gratias, omnipotens et misericors deus, inter has sacramentorum aepulas martyris tui caput cum euangelica recordatione misceri, ut uelut in disco metalli radiantis, ita super mensam tuae propitiationis offerre. Sit ergo nobis, domine, iocunda laudatio, sit in honore martyris recordatio cantici triumphalis, et cum his caelestibus supernisque uirtutibus fidelis populi sinphonia misceatur, quae a dextris tuis consona uoce sub trina repetitione estan dicentes: SANCTUS, SANCTUS, SANCTUS.
'Mass for the Anniversary of the Passion of Saint John the Baptist, Martyr
384. [Preface]. Most beloved brothers, let us in unity, with humble confession and meek devotion, beseech God the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, that we who celebrate today the passion of the holy martyr John the Baptist, the voice of prophecy, the Forerunner of the World, the end of the [Old] Law, a shining lamp, are illuminated, protected and sanctified through his intercession, so that he who shed his holy blood only behalf of truth deigns for us to pour out our prayers before God. Through our Lord.
385. Collect follows. Almighty God, while we serve your majesty with these praises, we sing of the solemn feast in honour of your most blessed martyr John the Baptist, whose passion we celebrate today, and we humbly pray that, if you are willing to grant this in your mercy, we are helped through the prayers of him whose merits we honour. Through.
386. After the names. Look mercifully upon the gifts of your people, so we ask [you], almighty God, which we offer you on this feast of your most blessed martyr John the Baptist, that we, cleansed of our sins through the sanctification of this perfect sacrifice, are deigned by you worthy to obtain forgiveness. Through.
387. Collect at the kiss of peace. Accept our supplications, so we ask, O Lord, and strengthen the prayers of your Church through the intercession of your martyr John the Baptist, whom we venerate in your honour, who was even found worthy that you offered yourself to be baptised [by him], Saviour of the world. It is worthy that he merits this, that he unites us all, who have obtained the grace of your Baptism, through the intervention of his merits. Saviour of the world.
388. Prayer of sacrifice. It is worthy and just, fair and salutary that we always bring thanks to you, almighty and merciful God, [and] that the head of your martyr is mingled with this meal of your mysteries, mindful of the Gospel, and that is sacrificed, as if on a platter (cf. Matth. 14, 8) of radiant metal, on the table of your mercy. Let there be for us, O Lord, a joyful praise, let there be in honour of the martyr a remembrance of your song of victory. And let the music of the faithful people mingle with these heavenly and lofty powers, which at your right hand sing with one voice under threefold repetition: HOLY, HOLY, HOLY.'
Text: Rose 2005, 498-99.
Translation: Rose 2017, 265-6.
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
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.
The timing of the different feasts for John the Baptist varied among the late antique churches. The sequencing of this service for his martyrdom in the Gothic Missal appears to agree with the Calendar of Willibrord (E05858) and Martyrologium Hieronymiamum (E04934), which date the feast to 29 August. For full discussion see Rose 2005, 252-8.
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 | S00020 | John the Baptist | Iohannes Baptista | Certain |
|---|
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