We have been cheated of the beauty of our Catholic worship in Latin, which is our common patrimony.
In fact, the swindle is far deeper. People have been denied the opportunity to learn Latin, which pretty much every more or less schooled person had as something so fundamental that it wasn’t even questioned.
At a certain point, those who wanted to subvert the Church (and society with it) had enough power to strike. They knew that Latin, which helped people learn how to think if nothing else, had to go. It has now been a long time since Latin was commonplace in schooling. After such a gap of time, it will be difficult for many to grasp these tightly woven ancient Latin Collects with their lovely rhythms, their clarity of thought, their force. After many centuries they still communicate the profound intellectual formation and the faith of their composers, our Christian family ancestors.
Alas, the treasury doors were slammed in people faces. And ears! By getting rid of Latin, they got rid of the sacred music! And since there was nothing written in the vernacular, they quickly glommed onto the lowest possible denominator of music – popular ditties, poorly played and without substance.
The erosion began and still goes on.
We have arrived at a point where hardly any of our bishops can pronounce Latin much less read it. What does that mean for our identity as Roman Catholics of the Latin Church? (Yes, I know that not all of you are Romans.) This may be one of the reasons why certain bishops are so hostile to Mass being celebrated in the Church’s official language of prayer: they don’t know Latin themselves and, therefore, they suppress it contra legem (that’s Latin, btw).
I digress.
The Collect for the 16th Ordinary Sunday, Novus Ordo, is not in any pre-Conciliar Missale Romanum. It has its antecedent in a 9th century manuscript. Enjoy the fine clausula (rhythmic ending).
Propitiare, Domine, famulis tuis, et clementer gratiae tuae super eos dona multiplica, ut, spe, fide et caritate ferventes, semper in mandatis tuis vigili custodia perseverent.
I like that cusTOdia perseVErent. If memory serves, I think that’s called cursus velox. It’s been a long time.
Famulus and feminine famula appear frequently in our Mass orations. Famulus is probably from Latin’s ancient cousin, the Oscan faama, “house.” A Latin famulus or famula was a household servant or hand-maid, slave or free. They were considered members of the larger family under the paterfamilias.
Custodia is “a watching, guard, care, protection” and has the military overtone of “guard, sentinel”. Vigil is “wakeful, watchful”, and, like custodia, can also be “a watchman, sentinel”. Liturgically, a “vigil” is the evening and night before a great feast day. In ancient times vigils were times of fasting and penance. Men who were to be knighted kept a night’s vigil. They were watchful against the attacks of the world, the flesh and the Devil. They fasted, prayed, and examined their consciences in order to be pure for the rites to follow. In the ancient Roman churches there were great vigils before ordinations when the whole people would wake during the night for prayers and readings.
LITERAL VERSION:
Look propitiously on Your servants, O Lord, and indulgently multiply upon them the gifts of Your grace so that, burning with faith, hope and charity, they may with vigilant watchfulness persevere always in your commands.
OBSOLETE ICEL (1973):
Lord, be merciful to your people. Fill us with your gifts and make us always eager to serve you in faith, hope, and love.
Notice any concept missing?
It’s like they were trying to make entire generations quit going to church.
CURRENT ICEL (2011):
Show favor, O Lord, to your servants and mercifully increase the gifts of your grace, that, made fervent in hope, faith and charity, they may be ever watchful in keeping your commands.
Scripture often gives us images of watches during the night. At the birth of the Lord shepherds “were keeping watch over their flock by night (vigilantes et custodientes vigilias noctis)” (Luke 2:8). Jesus said, “Watch (vigilate) therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. But know this, that if the householder had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have watched (vigilaret) and would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore you also must be ready; for the Son of man is coming at an hour you do not expect” (Matthew 24:42-44). Our Lord explains that servants should keep watch in order to open the door for the master of the house even if he returns in the dead of the night (cf Luke 12:37-39).
St Paul constantly urges Christians to be “watchful”. In 1 Peter 5:8 we read sobering, “Be sober, be watchful. Your adversary the Devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour”.
The Enemy is seeking you!
In the ancient Roman countryside there were great estates (latifundia) having many buildings for family, household servants, the various workers, storage, etc. These dwellings were often self-sufficient, and were surrounded with walls against attacks by brigands. Even into Renaissance times, a great house in a city (domus) might be fortified with watch towers. The householder or the lord of the estate was the head or father of the larger “family”. Kind or cruel, the paterfamilias was judge, protector and provider to everyone under his care.
Simple ancient famuli had to work to produce good fruits in order to survive with a good quality of life and a safe place to belong. We sophisticated modern famuli, marked with the family name “Christian”, marked permanently with the family seal through baptism and confirmation, must produce fruits according to our vocations.
When life’s reckoning comes, will we be like the foolish virgins? They watched all night for the arrival of the Bridegroom, but they didn’t have enough oil for their lamps. They were locked out of the house in the dangerous night with no place to go, no work to do, no purpose to fulfill. They no longer belonged. They were… out.
“Vigilate… Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour” (Matthew 25:13).
When you hear the priest pronounce this Collect, beg our Lord – so gracious and patient with us even when we are lazy and sinful – to continue to give us the gifts of faith, hope and charity that we need for salvation.
Sue in soCal on Daily Rome Shot 1660 – A day that will live in INFAMY: “20/20 for me. I have an old, crank up record player that still works beautifully! I learned as a child…”
