Latin Calligraphy Translation

Liturgy of the Hours

This is an inquiry I presented to the rec.music.early newsgroup. I have an original parchment page that has latin calligraphy text and some old-looking musical notation on it. I wanted to know what the text said and if anyone could translation the music to modern notation.

I received a very interesting response from Mike Martin about what the text says and how it was (and is) used in the Catholic church.

Bryan,

The text in question is (as I had suspected) from the Liturgy of the Hours. Since I do not know how much you know about the Liturgy of the Hours, let me explain it first so I can better explain your text.

The Liturgy of the Hours (LH) is as old as the Mass itself, coming to us from the earliest centuries of Christianity. It is composed of Psalms, hymns, Canticles and Scriptural readings prescribed for recitation at certain 'fixed' times of the day. Let me digress yet further here for the moment and mention that originally the 'day' (and for that matter the night) was divided into 12 hours. The first hour of the day (1:00) began with sunrise and the last hour of the day (12:00) concluded with sunset. This meant that the length of an hour was different according to the different seasons since the length of daylight varies according to the season. A 'daylight hour' would be shorter in the winter than the summer. If you have an old Bible handy, look up the section on Jesus' trial and crucifixion and you will see the old Roman terminology for the hours (most modern Bibles today use the modern equivalents).

Now the LH was originally fixed to this cycle of day/night hours and gets a number of its names from the old Roman Hours. They are:

• Matins (late night or early, early morning 'vigil').
• Laudes (before dawn).
• Prime, from Latin for 'first', the first hour of the day (6:00AM).
• Terce, from Latin for 'third', the third hour of the day (9:00am).
• Sext, from Latin for 'sixth', the sixth hour of the day (noon).
• Nones, from Latin for 'ninth', the ninth hours of the day (3:00pm).
• Vespers, from Latin for 'evening', the last hour of the day (6:00pm).
• Compline, (before retiring).

The particular text you have is from the Matins service for the Dedication of a Church. Certain days of the year are marked for celebration in commemoration of the dedication (opening, if you will) of a church that is in some way, near and dear to the hearts of the faithful. This can either be an important church, such as St. Mary Major on August 5, and celebrated by all Catholics all over the world, or a particular local church of some importance.

Matins, itself, is composed of three 'Nocturns' (Lat. 'nocte' - at night) and each nocturn is composed of three Psalms and followed by three readings. Each Psalm (as is for all the Psalms of the LH) are preceded by an antiphon and followed by the 'Minor Doxology' and then finally concluded with the Antiphon. This Antiphon marks the nature of the Psalm and is a reflection upon the meaning and setting of the Psalm. The 'Minor Doxology' is relates to the 'euouae'. It is as follows:

        Gloria Patri. et Filio, et Spiritui Sancto. Sicut erat in principio,
        et nunc, et semper, et in saecula saeculorum. Amen.

--literally this is: Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and always, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

-- The 'standard' English for this prayer iis: Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, as ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Now on to your particular text. The particular text you have is the third nocturn of Matins. In as much as these texts were originally developed long before printing and had to be copied by hand, certain abbreviations and the like were developed for the sake of economy. Since the Psalms are used repeatedly in the Liturgy, often just the Antiphon and Responses are given along with just a simple reference to the Psalm. Indeed, since the Psalms were so ubiquitous, it was customary for monks to simply memorize all 150 Psalms.

I think it might be easiest if I give the complete text first. I will give the text of the relevant parts and a short English translation.

    In Nocturno III  (At the 3rd Nocturn)

-- First Psalm:

Antiphon: Qui habitat in adiutorio Altissimi, in protectione Dei caeli
commorabitur. TP Alleluia.

    (He who dwelleth in the shelter of the Most High, in the protection
    of the God of heaven shall he linger.
    TP: means Tempore Pascale of 'Pascal Time' which is the time between Easter
    and Ascension Thursday)

Psalm: Psalm 90 (Vulgate, 91 for KJV):
Qui habitat in adiutorio Altissimi, in protectione Dei caeli commorabitur. ...

    (He who dwelleth in the shelter of the Most High, in the protection
    of the God of heaven shall he linger ...)

Gloria Patri.... (see above).

Above antiphon is repeated.


-- 2nd Psalm

Antiphon: Domum istam protege, Domine: et Angeli tui custodiant muros eius.
TP Alleluia.

    (Protect Thy house, O Lord, and may Thy Angels protect its walls.)

Psalm 95 (Vulgate, 96 for KJV):
Cantate Dominum canticum novum: cantate Domino, omnis terra. ...

    (Sing the Lord a new song, sing to the Lord, all ye earth...)

Gloria Patri.... (see above).

Above antiphon is repeated.


--3rd Psalm

Antiphon: Fundata est domus Domini super verticem montium: et exaltata est
super omnes colles. TP Alleluia.

    (Thy house, O Lord, is built upon the summits of mountians: et raised
    above all the hills.)

Psalm 96 (Vulgate, 97 for KJV):
Dominus regnavit, et exsultet terra: laetentur insulae multae. ...

    (The Lord has reigned, let the earth rejoice: let all the islands be glad..)

Gloria Patri.... (see above).

Above antiphon is repeated.


Responsorium:

V. Beati qui habitant in domo tua, Domine. TP Alleluia.
        (Blessed are they who live in Thy house, O Lord.)

R. In saecula saeculorum laudabunt te. TP Alleluia.
        (Lit: Unto the ages of ages they shall praise Thee.)
        (Fig: They shall praise Thee forever.)


Capitulum:  Luke 19 1:2.

Then there are the three readings:

#1 - Homily by St. Ambrose ()

Responsorium:

R. Lapides pretiosi omnes muri tui: Et turres Ierusalem gemmis aedificabuntur.
        (All Thy walls are (built of) precious stones. And the towers of
        Jerusalem are built with gems).

V. Haec est domus Domini firmiter aedificata: bene fundata est supra firmam
petram. - Et turres....
        (This house of the Lord is firmly built: well anchored upon solid rock.
        And the towers ...)

On a closing note, the above text is still used for the monastic orders using the Monastic Breviary. However, the modern texts of today for the secular clegy are quite a bit different in structure. Matins is composed of just one set of three Psalms instead if three nocturns of three Psalms. However, the Anitphons and responsories retain much of what is above.

>BTW, someone wrote and said that the vowels euouae were shorthand for
>"seculorum Amen".  I wonder if those church people back then
>really got into saying all this stuff??  

Yes, they did and still do. I, myself, recite the Liturgy of the Hours and the 'saecula saeculorum. Amen.', which is the last part of the Minor Doxology or 'Glory be' as it is sometimes called, makes a nice touch to the end of the Psalms.

Mike Martin

>I just spent 1/2 hour writing a response back to you and I hit the wrong
>key and erased it all... aaaarrrgghh.

You might be 'glad' to know you are not the only one who does such things. On my set-up the 'enter' key sends the message. I cannot count the number of times I missed they key pad and hit enter by mistake.

>So, to sum up what I said - basically I wanted to thank you for your
>patient responses to my ignorance of the Catholic faith.  I appreciate
>the time you spent researching the liturgy for me.  I am still curious
>about the Catholic traditions and the reasons and purposes for
>recitation and verse/response types of worship.  I guess visiting a
>local Catholic bookstore would help...

Oh it was no trouble at all. Glad to be of help. This is basically what the INTERNET is for, the mutual exchange of information, and if that information happened to have a Christian bent, all the better. As to researching the liturgy, the word 'researching' is much too strong. You have to realize the liturgy IS a part of me. The nearest equivalent would be like some one asking you to look up a Scripture passage. All I really needed was a good 1/2 hr and my indexes.

>I am still curious about the Catholic traditions and the reasons and purposes
>for recitation and verse/response types of worship.

Catholic traditions - we have lots, got one in particular in mind?

As to verse/response structures, I am not sure I entirely understand the question. The history of v/r liturgy goes way back, at least to the time of Moses, probably father back. If you recall the OT, there are several places where the prophet assembles Israel and says 'do you xxxxx' and they reply 'we do' and this goes on for several passages. There are other such v/r sequences in Scripture and they were also used in formal worship services in the temple. Now in as much as the earliest Christians were Jews, it is natural that this type of structure was incorporated into early Church Liturgies.

As to the purpose of such a device, it is to call attention to some particular element in the Liturgy itself. For example, after a Scripture reading the verse, "The Word of the Lord", with the reply, "Amen!", is often employed. What this does is spell out that what was read was no less than the Word of God. "Amen" is an affirmative response, a sort of 'Right On', if you will. Hence the peoples' response of "Amen" is reaffirming that indeed they hold this to be the Word of the Lord.

>I'd also like to visit a monastery some day - I think it would be
>interesting (and informative) to talk with those who have dedicated
>their daily existence to God.

There are many monasteries who have visiting hours and retreats and the like. Probably the best way is to find out which Diocese you are in and call them. They should be able to give you a list. Make sure though you specify WHAT kind of monastery though. (Meaning a 'traditional' one). Different communities of religious respond to different needs/callings, the poor, education, contemplative, etc. So you need to do a little checking to make sure you find the type you want.

Good luck on your music search,

Mike Martin