The Bobbio Missal includes prayers for the celebration of a mass in honour of *Sigismund (king and martyr of the Burgundians, ob. 523, S00380), in which a cure is sought for a person with quartan fever. Written in Latin in south-east Gaul, perhaps at or near Vienne, c. 675/725; possibly incorporating text originally composed at Saint-Maurice-d'Agaune in the 6th/7th c.
E08338
Liturgical texts - Sacramentaries
Liturgical texts - Invocations, prayers and spells
Late antique original manuscripts - Parchment codex
The Bobbio Missal (Missale Bobbiense)
<LICTIONES IN MISSA SANCTI SIGISMVNDI>
334. Epistola Iohannes apostoli ad gentis
[...]
335. Lictio sancti aeuangelii secundum Mattheum
[...]
MISSA SANCTI SIGISMUNDI REGIS
336. Omnipotentem dominum qui per apostolus et martires suos . diuersa sanitatum . dona largiatur . fratres dilectissimi deprecimur . ut huic seruo suo ill. qui typum quartiani uixacione fatigatur . fidelis . famoli sui sigismundi . precibus clementer . occurras . dum nobis illius facit . merita isti conferas medicinam .
337. SECRETA. Inclina domine pias precis ad disideria supplicancium et que deuote corde poscimus benignus admitte ut seruo tuo ill. qui typum quartani uixacione fatigatur fidelis famoli tui . sigismundi . precibus clementer . occuras . nobis illius . patefacias . merita presenti egroto conferas medicinam
338. <CONTESTATIO> Uere dignum et iustum est omnipotens deus nomen tuum laudare Cuius maiestatem tuam tanto magis . obnoxii sumus . quantum illi . pro suscepta nostri corporis humilitate debemus . exemplum nobis reliquens . ut sequamini uistigia eius . qui peccatum . non fecit . nec dolus inuentus est in ore eius . quis in hoc mundo ita poterit sequi ut nec dolus . in ore nec peccatum eius inueniatur . in opere : sed in paciencia que deus amat . maiestas diuina commendat Nunc ergo dono maiestatis tuae agnuscimus : reliquiae esse homeni pacifico ; tu ergo domine deus noster qui inter bellorum . tumultos . non examinacione persecutoris . elicto tuo . sigismundo triumphum martirii . contulisti . tu dispensando pauperibus pulsanti . aperire dignatus es . secutus gracia consecutus . misericordiam . ut post mortem . ostendas . in uirtute quem ante mortem firmasti in fide tua enim dona sunt domine ut in nomine elicti tui sigismundi per communionem corporis et sanguenis . domini nostri iesu christi filii tui . a famolo tuo ill. tempestatis frigora excucias . febrium ardorem repellas . et . ad sanitatem . pristinam reuocare digneris . Presta quem in trinetate laudant . omnes angeli .
'(Readings for the Mass of Saint Sigismund)
334. The letter of John the Apostle to the Gentiles (...) (Reading from I John 2:15-6)
335. Reading of the Holy Gospel according to Matthew (...) (Reading from Matth. 4:23-4)
Mass for Saint Sigismund the King
336. Let us pray, beloved brothers, to the Almighty Lord, who grants many gifts of health through his apostles and martyrs, that he might mercifully hear the prayers of his faithful servant Sigismund, and in performing for us his merits, grant a cure to this man, his servant N, who suffers from the vexation of quartan fever.
337. Secret (= in a low voice). O Lord, bend your ears (correcting 'pias precis' with 'tuas aures') to the desires of supplicants and to those things which we ask with a devoted heart, and kindly allow it, that you might mercifully hear the prayers of your faithful servant Sigismund, and in revealing to us his merits, grant a cure to the present sick man, your servant N, who suffers from the vexation of quartan fever.
338. (Prayer of sacrifice). It is truly right and just, Almighty God, to praise your name, to whose majesty we are all the more obliged as much as we, N, are humbly indebted to you for receiving our body. You leave to us an example, so that we might follow his footsteps, he who did not sin, nor was guile found in his mouth, he who in this world can thus be followed, so that neither guile might be found in his mouth nor sin in his works, but rather patience, which the Lord loves, and which divine majesty commends. Now therefore we acknowledge by the gift of your majesty that these are the relics of a peaceful man. You therefore, our Lord God, who conferred the triumph of martyrdom on your chosen one Sigismund, not through the trial of a persecutor, but through the turmoil of wars, you, who in dispensing to the poor, deigned to open the door to those knocking upon it, followed with grace, followed with mercy, so that after death you reveal in virtue (or: a miracle) that which before death you made firm in faith. For these are your gifts, O Lord, that in the name of your chosen one Sigismund, through the communion of the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ your son, you strike out from your servant N the cold sickness of the season, you repel the burning of fevers, and you deign to restore pristine health. Grant this, whom all the angels praise in the Trinity...'
Text: Lowe 1917-24, ii. 101-2.
Translation: B. Savill.
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
MiraclesMiracle after death
Healing diseases and disabilities
RelicsUnspecified relic
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesMonarchs and their family
Source
The Bobbio Missal (Missale Bobbiense) is the modern editorial name given to the manuscript Paris, Bibliothéque nationale de France, Lat. 13246, following in the northern Italian monastery of that name in the 17th century. The manuscript is now understood to have been compiled within Merovingian Gaul, thus providing a rare witness to the early Gallican liturgy (and not Italian, nor even Irish liturgical observance, as was once argued). The most recent extended study of the codex argues for its production in a late 7th/early 8th c. scriptorium in south-eastern Gaul, perhaps in the city of Vienne or somewhere in its diocese, where it may have been used as a priest's personal handbook (Hen and Meens, 2004).The Bobbio Missal is comparable to the contemporary Gothic Missal (E08220), although it differs from the latter in its smaller size, lower-grade script, and – most significantly for our database – much more limited content concerning the cult of saints.
The full manuscript is now available to view online: https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b550103970.image . We have also included on our database photographs of this entry for Sigismund: see the 'Images' tab.
Discussion
For the full list of entries of saints in the Bobbio Missal, see E08335.This entry for King Sigismund is the earliest extant text of a service invoking his perceived ability to intercede for sufferers of quartan fever. It would go on to appear in various other forms over the course of the middle ages (Paxton, 1993, 1994). It has been argued that this liturgy may be much older than the Missal, perhaps dating back to the 6th century, when it was possibly composed at Vienne or Sigismund's cult site at Saint-Maurice-d'Agaune (Wood, 2004). However, it is worth noting that the version of Sigismund portrayed here – as a man 'who did not sin, nor was guile found in his mouth' – is closer to the innocent depiction of the saint in his late 7th/earlier 8th c. Martyrdom (E08266) than it is to Gregory of Tours' 6th c. account, where he is commemorated as a penitent with a dark past (E00621).
It may be significant that neither this text nor its rubric make any mention of a feast day: in the view of the specialised, votive nature of this mass, it may have been recorded for use at any time throughout the year when a cure from quartan fever was sought, and not only on the appointed day celebrating the saint's martyrdom (1 May).
Bibliography
Edition:Lowe, E.A., The Bobbio Missal: A Gallican Mass-Book (MS. Paris. Lat. 13246) (Henry Bradshaw Society, vols. 53 (facsimile), 58 (edition), 61 (ancillary material); London, 1917-20).
Further reading:
Hen, Y., and Meens, R. (eds.), The Bobbio Missal: Liturgy and Culture in Merovingian Gaul (Cambridge, 2004).
Paxton, F.S., "Power and the Power to Heal: The Cult of St Sigismund of Burgundy," Early Medieval Europe 2 (1993), 95-110.
Paxton, F.S., "Liturgy and Healing in an Early Medieval Saint's Cult: The Mass In honore sancti Sigismundi for the Cure of Fevers," Traditio 49 (1994), 23-43.
Wood, I.N., "Liturgy in the Rhône Valley and the Bobbio Missal," in Hen and Meens, Bobbio Missal, 206-218.
Images
Paris, BnF, Lat. 13246, f. 164v (Source gallica.bnf.fr / BnF)
Paris, BnF, Lat. 13246, f. 165 (Source gallica.bnf.fr / BnF)
Paris, BnF, Lat. 13246, f. 165v (Source gallica.bnf.fr / BnF)
Paris, BnF, Lat. 13246, f. 166 (Source gallica.bnf.fr / BnF)
Paris, BnF, Lat. 13246, f. 166v (Source gallica.bnf.fr / BnF)
Benjamin Savill
09/09/2022
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00380 | Sigismund, king and martyr of the Burgundians, ob. 523 | Sigismundus | Certain |
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