Thread: Fraction anthems Board: Ecclesiantics / Ship of Fools.


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Posted by The Scrumpmeister (# 5638) on :
 
In the Roman rite, the anthem sung at the Fraction is the Agnus Dei, and, as far as I'm aware, this is the case in most modern western rites as well. However, there's a lot of variation here across traditions and I wonder what the practice is in your own churches and others that you have come across.

In the Orthodox Divine Liturgy of St Germanus, we sing the following, which can be heard (in French) here:

quote:
V/. Wisdom has built her house. She has founded it on her seven pillars. She has sacrificed her victims, mingled her wine, and set her table.
R/. They recognised the Lord, Alleluia. in the breaking of the bread. Alleluia. Alleluia.
V/. Come and eat of my bread, and drink of the wine which I have mixed. Depart from ignorance and you shall live.
R/. They recognised the Lord, &c.
V/. The Bread which we break is the Body of the Lord; the Cup which we bless is the Blood of the Lord: a sole and unique Mystery.
R/. They recognised the Lord, &c.

I think that, in both text and music, this is beautiful. Things I love about it are that it is almost pure Scripture, that it conjures up the eucharistic imagery of the encounter at Emmaus (which is one of my favourite Resurrection passages anyway), and that the setting commonly used is Maxim Kovalesvky's beautiful harmonisation of the well-known plainsong responsory melody. All of that comes together to make it really prayerful for me.
 
Posted by Og, King of Bashan (# 9562) on :
 
In the Episcopal Church, the instructions for the fraction are as follows:

quote:
The Celebrant breaks the consecrated Bread.

A period of silence is kept.

Then may be sung or said


[Alleluia.] Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us;
Therefore let us keep the feast. [Alleluia.]

In Lent, Alleluia is omitted, and may be omitted at other times except
during Easter Season.

In place of, or in addition to, the preceding, some other suitable
anthem may be used.

At our church, we say the phrase, and then sing an appropriate anthem, sometimes Agnus Dei, sometimes not. We usually use one anthem throughout a season. Lent we always use Tallis' "Verily, Verily."
 
Posted by goat (# 18740) on :
 
I know Hebrew backwards but not forwards so google tells me that :

9:2 †äv'chäh †iv'chäH ( actually "tabach tebach")
Massoretic Text OT Hebrew Proverbs 9:2 "She hath killed her beasts;"
literally "she has slaughtered the slaughtered".

A Jewish priest was not female and it was not wise to murder the son of their deity. Is a Mass like a wine-party with maidens inviting guests ? Surely it's not his mother arranging it ?
 
Posted by The Scrumpmeister (# 5638) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by Og, King of Bashan:
In the Episcopal Church, the instructions for the fraction are as follows:

quote:
The Celebrant breaks the consecrated Bread.

A period of silence is kept.

Then may be sung or said


[Alleluia.] Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us;
Therefore let us keep the feast. [Alleluia.]

In Lent, Alleluia is omitted, and may be omitted at other times except
during Easter Season.

In place of, or in addition to, the preceding, some other suitable
anthem may be used.

At our church, we say the phrase, and then sing an appropriate anthem, sometimes Agnus Dei, sometimes not. We usually use one anthem throughout a season. Lent we always use Tallis' "Verily, Verily."
Thank you for this, Og, King of Bashan. I think the Verily, verily is beautiful.

Presumably you use unleavened hosts. If so, is the anthem not a little long for the Fraction? The one I posted above takes a while but the Fraction in this case involves cutting up a small loaf of leavened bread, so takes a little longer.

Thanks for sharing the whole Fraction rite, as well. I love the "Christ our Passover" versicle and response. In our rite, we don't have this but, during the singing of the anthem, the priest says in a low voice:

quote:
The table is set. The Lamb of God is slain; shared but not divided, eaten but never consumed. The wine is mixed, the Blood is poured out. Let us drink of the inexhaustible cup, let us leave ignorance and proclaim this singular, unique, and inspiring Mystery.
quote:
Originally posted by goat:
I know Hebrew backwards but not forwards so google tells me that :

9:2 †äv'chäh †iv'chäH ( actually "tabach tebach")
Massoretic Text OT Hebrew Proverbs 9:2 "She hath killed her beasts;"
literally "she has slaughtered the slaughtered".

I'm no linguistic scholar and have neither Hebrew nor Greek, but two English texts to which I have ready access, and which are translated from the LXX (which is generally preferred for Orthodox purposes), are the St Athanasius Academy Septuagint and the NETS. Their respective renderings of these verses are:

quote:
Wisdom built her house,
And she supported it with seven pillars.
She offered her sacrifices;
She mixed her wine in a bowl
And prepared her table.

quote:
Wisdom built herself a house
and supported it with seven pillars.
She slaughtered her own sacrificial victims;
she mixed her own wine in a mixing bowl,
and she prepared her own table.

So, relying on these translations, there does seem to be a clear element of sacrifice in this passage.

quote:
A Jewish priest was not female and it was not wise to murder the son of their deity.
This is true, but I understand that the Greek Σοφία (Sophia) is a feminine noun, so it makes sense that feminine pronouns be used.

Divine Wisdom is understood variously as one of the energies of God and also as the Second Person of the Trinity. In this passage, Christ (Wisdom) has founded his Church on the seven pillars (the gifts of the Spirit) and, in the eucharistic sacrifice, He is both priest and victim. He ascended voluntarily to the Cross, and in the Mass as on the Cross, it is He Who offers and Who is offered (as the priest prays at the Great Entrance).

Understood in this context, the meaning of the preparation of the wine and setting of the table becomes obvious.

quote:
Is a Mass like a wine-party with maidens inviting guests ?
No.

quote:
Surely it's not his mother arranging it ?
No.

[ 12. March 2017, 12:56: Message edited by: The Scrumpmeister ]
 
Posted by Bishops Finger (# 5430) on :
 
Thank you, Scrumpmeister, for such a clear exposition of a challenging post...

Wine-party, indeed.

IJ
 
Posted by goat (# 18740) on :
 
We have various options , from literal breakfast to Deicide. Which is closest to offering meat and drink to the public ?

They're to take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses where they eat the lamb.
Jesus sent Peter and John ahead and said, "Go and prepare the Passover meal, so we can eat it together."
"I tell you the truth, I will not drink wine again until the day I drink it new in the Kingdom of God."

“I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites. Tell them, ‘At twilight you will eat meat, and in the morning you will be filled with bread. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God." That evening quail came and covered the camp, and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp.

"Your ancestors ate manna in the wilderness, but they all died."
Jesus said to them, "Very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven.
"Your ancestors ate manna in the wilderness, but they all died."

And the bull for the sin offering and the goat for the sin offering, whose blood was brought in to make atonement in the Holy Place, shall be carried outside the camp. Their skin and their flesh and their dung shall be burned up with fire.

Jesus told them, "My food is doing the will of the one who sent me".

'And get the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate; for this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!' And they began to celebrate.
 
Posted by goat (# 18740) on :
 
or maybe:
But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut.

For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready.
 
Posted by Og, King of Bashan (# 9562) on :
 
Re: Verily Verily being a bit long, except for Ash Wednesday and Holy Thursday, we stop halfway (after "has eternal life" and before "And I will raise him up...).
 
Posted by goat (# 18740) on :
 
Another thought about Wisdom and sacrifice :
Jesus arranged the cup and bread before he died .
He was offered to disciples as himself not as having been already slaughtered. The test of willing sacrifice came in the garden as he prayed
after the meal. He could have arranged wine and bread after sacrifice and resurrection but didn't.
 
Posted by Bishops Finger (# 5430) on :
 
Call me obtuse if you will, but what has all that got to do with the subject of the various Fraction Anthems used by various denominations?

FWIW, Our Place, using Common Worship Order One, sings the Agnus Dei. This is the default anthem, I think, but the alternative Jesus, Lamb of God is permitted. We don't use that now, as there isn't a musical setting for it in our current hymnbook.

IJ
 
Posted by Enoch (# 14322) on :
 
Og, in addition to the Agnus, which usually follows what is below, Common Worship provides,
quote:
Pr:- We break this bread to share in the body of Christ.
All:- Though we are many, we are one body, because we all share in one bread.
(or)
Pr:- Every time we eat this bread and drink this cup,
All:- we proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

Isn't this fairly general in other ecclesial communities?
 
Posted by goat (# 18740) on :
 
In logic there seems a misapplication of text.
Emmaus was not about meat and wine as a symbolic banquet nor the communion . It was just bread and blessing. In Jewish times a meal with sacrificed meat and wine was not the temple rite nor describes Passover. And Jesus bread and wine was not his deceased body . He didn't mention 7 pillars of wisdom there. He did say significant things at the bread and wine which are omitted in this Agnus Dei Fraction.
 
Posted by goat (# 18740) on :
 
The meal of Wisdom is more like Matt 22 1-14 as a marriage feast , which is in effect the opposite of Jesus Fraction.
 
Posted by Og, King of Bashan (# 9562) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by Enoch:
Og, in addition to the Agnus, which usually follows what is below, Common Worship provides,
quote:
Pr:- We break this bread to share in the body of Christ.
All:- Though we are many, we are one body, because we all share in one bread.
(or)
Pr:- Every time we eat this bread and drink this cup,
All:- we proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

Isn't this fairly general in other ecclesial communities?
I have heard the first used in TEC. The rubrics in the 1978 BCP leave a lot of room for innovation and appropriate substitutions.
 
Posted by Al Eluia (# 864) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by Og, King of Bashan:
quote:
Originally posted by Enoch:
Og, in addition to the Agnus, which usually follows what is below, Common Worship provides,
quote:
Pr:- We break this bread to share in the body of Christ.
All:- Though we are many, we are one body, because we all share in one bread.
(or)
Pr:- Every time we eat this bread and drink this cup,
All:- we proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

Isn't this fairly general in other ecclesial communities?
I have heard the first used in TEC. The rubrics in the 1978 BCP leave a lot of room for innovation and appropriate substitutions.
Indeed, the first of those fractions is included in Enriching Our Worship (TEC supplemental liturgical texts).
 
Posted by Og, King of Bashan (# 9562) on :
 
I actually remembered at some point that the phrase is familiar because we use it to bless lay Eucharistic ministers at the end of the service. (I googled it and only then discovered that it was from one of the letters to the Corinthians- yet another line of scripture I had memorized without any idea that it actually came from scripture.)
 
Posted by The Scrumpmeister (# 5638) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by Og, King of Bashan:
Re: Verily Verily being a bit long, except for Ash Wednesday and Holy Thursday, we stop halfway (after "has eternal life" and before "And I will raise him up...).

That makes sense.

quote:
Originally posted by Bishops Finger:
FWIW, Our Place, using Common Worship Order One, sings the Agnus Dei. This is the default anthem, I think, but the alternative Jesus, Lamb of God is permitted. We don't use that now, as there isn't a musical setting for it in our current hymnbook.

I remember the Jesus, Lamb of God hymn being sung at my childhood parish. We usually used the John Rutter setting but during Advent and Lent it was a setting by the Fisherfolk. The latter was really very sweet.
 


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