|
THE
PROCESSION CHANTS
The
choir sings these chants in two or three stages. The first part
(usually a Responsory) is sung as the procession wends its way around the
church, up to the great rood (the great cross atop the iconostasis or rood
screen). Often at the "station" here, there are special
prayers, such as the Intercessory Prayers on Sundays, or the veneration of
the Cross as shown below, and frequently there is an Antiphon here for the
choir, such as that of the Holy Cross throughout the summer season on
Sundays. The last part (usually an Antiphon, or a Responsory) is
sung as the procession concludes, starting with the entrance through the
rood screen. We should like to show the ornate chant notation for
the chants whose words appear below; perhaps in the future we may add the
notation to this site.
Procession
Responsory Per
tuam, tone 1: By
Thy Cross save us, O Christ our Redeemer, Who by dying hast
abolished our death, | And by rising again hast restored us to life.
Verse:
Have mercy on us, O gracious
Jesus, Who mercifully didst suffer for our sakes.
Choir:
And
by rising again hast restored us to life.
Verse:
Glory be +
to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
Choir:
And
by rising again hast restored us to life.
VENERATION OF THE CROSS
This
is done at the station before the great rood.
Choir:
They begin the antiphons below.
Clergy:
A veiled Cross is brought out as for Great Friday (p. 141), held between
two Priests (or Deacons or Acolytes). The Cross is unveiled during the
first antiphon below.
Antiphon
Ecce lignum, tone 1
Behold the wood
of the Cross, on which the salvation of the world
did hang: O come, let us worship.
Prostration:
All make a prostration to the earth, then stand.
No
psalm verses are sung with the antiphon.
The
clergy venerate the Cross within the iconostasis on the altar-step,
approaching it with three prostrations, kissing the earth each time, then
kissing the feet of the Crucified, while ‘Adoramus’ is sung as shown
below.
Antiphon
Adoramus, tone 4: We adore Thy Cross, O Lord, and we praise
and glorify Thy holy Resurrection; for lo, because of the Cross, joy hath
appeared unto all the earth! (prostration)
Psalm 66
God be gracious
unto us and bless us : and cause His face to shine upon us, and have
mercy on us.
Choir:
We adore Thy Cross... (with
prostration afterwards)
Cantor: That we may know upon the
earth Thy way : among all the nations Thy salvation.
Choir:
We adore Thy Cross... (with
prostration afterwards)
Cantor: Let the peoples give Thee
praise, O God : let all the peoples praise Thee.
Choir:
We adore Thy Cross... (with
prostration afterwards)
Cantor: Let the nations be glad and
rejoice, for Thou shalt judge peoples with uprightness : and nations
shalt Thou guide upon the earth.
Choir:
We adore Thy Cross... (with
prostration afterwards)
Cantor: Let the peoples give Thee
praise, O God, let all the peoples praise Thee : the earth hath yielded
her fruit.
Choir:
We adore Thy Cross... (with
prostration afterwards)
Cantor: Let God, our God, bless us;
let God bless us : and let all the ends of the earth fear Him.
Choir:
We adore Thy Cross... (with
prostration afterwards)
Next
the Cross is carried through the midst of the choir enclosure, the clergy
making a prostration as it passes them, until a station is made outside
the holy doors, in the nave.
People:
There the people venerate the Cross, with prostrations, as on Great
Friday.
Choir:
During the veneration they sing as many of the chants on pp. 144-145
as time requires.
Final
Prostration: After all have reverenced the cross, everyone makes
together a final, complete prostration over the earth. Then the antiphon
below is begun while the cross is borne back to the altar and set there
in a high place:
Antiphon
Super omnia, tone 1:
Above all the
branches of the cedars, thou only art loftier, for upon
thee the Life of the world did hang; upon thee Christ won His victory; and
His death conquered death for evermore.
The
procession now concludes with the entry through the choir doors in the
iconostasis or rood screen, the choir singing:
Choir:
As for me, I will go to the
mountain of myrrh and unto the hill of Lebanon, and I will speak to my
Bridegroom. Thou art all fair, O My love, and there is not a spot in thee.
Come from Lebanon, My spouse, come from Lebanon, come! Thou wilt come and
cross over to the mountain of Sanir and Hermon, from the dens of the
lions, and from the mountains of the leopards. (Cant.4:6-8)
V. After
childbirth, O Virgin, thou didst remain inviolate.
R. O
Theotókos, intercede in our behalf.
Priest:
Let us pray. Collect: Grant, we
beseech Thee, O merciful God, bulwark of our frailty, that we who keep the
remembrance of the holy Theotókos and Virgin Mary may, by the help of her
intercession, rise again from our iniquities. +
Through the same our Lord Jesus Christ Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with
Thee in the communion of the Holy Spirit, God through all the ages of ages. R.
Amen.
Back to the
Old Sarum Mass
|
