The Gothic Missal includes prayers for the celebration of mass on the feast day of *Laurence (deacon and martyr of Rome, S00037). Written in Latin in Gaul, perhaps at Luxeuil for the Christian community of Autun, c. 680/710.
E08243
Liturgical texts - Sacramentaries
Late antique original manuscripts - Parchment codex
The Gothic Missal (Missale Gothicum)
MISSA IN NATALE SANCTI LAVRENTI MARTYRIS
394. Deus, fidelium tuorum saluator et recotr, omnipotens sempiterne deus, adesto uotis sollemnitatis hodiernae et eclesiae gaudiis de gloriosa marrtyris tui passione beati Laurenti conceptis benignus aspira. Augeatur omnium fides tantae uirtutis ortu et corda laetantium supplicio martyrum igniantur, ut aput misericordiam tuam illius iuuemur merito, cuius exultamus exemplo. Per dominum nostrum.
395. COLLECTIO SEQVITVR. Deus, mundi creator et rector, qui hunc diem in leuitae tui Laurenti martyrio consecrasti, exaudi propitius supplices tuos et concide ut omnes, qui martyrii eius merita ueneramur, intercessionibus eius ab aeternis genennae incendiis liberemur. Per dominum.
396. COLLECTIO POST NOMINA. Concide nobis, domine, gratiam tuam in beati Laurenti martyris celebritate multiplicem, ut de tanti agonem certaminis discat populus christianus et firmam solidare patientiam et pia exultare uicturia.
397. COLLECTIO AD PACEM. Sancti Laurenti nos, domine, quaesomus, praecatio iusta tueatur, et quod nostra conscientia non praesumit, eius nobis, qui tibi placuit, oratione donetur. Per dominum nostrum filium tuum.
398. IMMOLATIO MISSAE. Vere dignum et iustum est, omnipotens sempiterne deus, tibi in tanti martyris Laurenti laudis hostias immolare, qui hostiam uiuentem hodie in ipsius laeuitae tui beati Laurenti martyris ministerio per florem casti corporis accepisti. Cuius uocem per hymnidicum modolamini psalmi audiuimus, canentis atque dicentis: Probasti cor meum, deus, et uisitasti noctem, id est in tenebris saeculi, igne me examinasti et non est inuenta in me iniquitas. O gloriosa certaminis uirtus. O inconcussa constantia confitentis. Stridunt membra uiuentia super graticulam inpositam et prunis saeuientibus anhelantes incensum suum in modum timiamatis diuinis naribus exhibent odorem. Dicit enim martyr ipse cum Paulo: Christi bonus odor sumus deo. Non enim cogitabat, quomodo in terram positus a passionis periculo liberaretur, sed quomodo inter martyres in caelis coronaretur. Per Christum dominum nostrum, per quem.
'Mass for the Feast of the Holy Martyr Laurence
394. God, Saviour and Ruler of your faithful, almighty and everlasting God, hear the prayers of today's feast, and mercifully encourage the Church by receiving the joys through the glorious passion of your martyr the blessed Laurence. Let the faith of all be increased by the birth of such great virtue, and let the hearts of us who rejoice in the sacrifice of the martyrs be ignited such that, with your mercy, we are helped by his good work, through whose example we rejoice. Through our Lord.
395. Collect follows. God, Creator and Ruler of the world, who consecrated this day by the martyrdom of your deacon Laurence, mercifully hear your supplicants and grant that [we] all, who venerate the merits of his martyrdom, are delivered through his intercession from the eternal flames of hell. Through the Lord.
396. Collect after the names. Grant us, O Lord, such abundant grace through the feast of the blessed martyr Laurence, that the Christian people learns from the contest of such a great battle both to strengthen steadfast patience and to rejoice at the righteous victory.
397. Collect at the kiss of peace. Let the righteous prayer (cf. Iac. 5, 16) of Saint Laurence protect us, so we ask, O Lord, and may that for which our conscience does not presume to hope be given to us through the prayer of him who pleased you. Through our Lord your Son.
398. Prayer of sacrifice. It is truly worthy and just, almighty and everlasting God, that [we] offer you sacrifices of praise (Hebr. 13, 15) on [the feast] of so great a martyr as Laurence, you who today received the living sacrifice through the ministry of this your deacon the belssed martyr Laurence through the flower of a pure body. We have heard his voice through the song of the psalm that sings, saying: 'You have tried my heart, God, and visited me by night - that is, in the darkness of the world - you have tested me with fire and no wickedness was found in me (Ps. 17, 3).' O glorious strength of combat! O unshakeable steadfastness of the confessor! Laid on the gridiron, the living limbs sizzle, and while the flames roar, fuming their burning smell, they spread a fragrance of incense before the nose of God. For this martyr says with Paul: 'We are the good aroma of Christ to God' (II Cor. 2, 15).' Indeed, living on earth, he did not consider how he could be delivered from the peril of suffering, but how he could be crowned amid the martyrs of heaven. Through Christ our Lord, through whom [...]'
Text: Rose 2005, 501-3.
Translation: Rose 2017, 268-9.
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 NarrativesEcclesiastics - lesser clergy
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.
This entry for Laurence in the Gothic Missal is - like that for his companion-martyr Sixtus (E08243) - the only one of its kind in the surviving corpus of Gallic liturgical books. It is heavily dependent on liturgical material from Rome, although (unlike the Sixtus entry) that material has also been 'adapted and extended, lending it a strongly Gallican character' (Rose 2005, 282-5).
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 | S00037 | Laurence/Laurentius, deacon and martyr of Rome | Certain |
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