Choirs of angels rejoice, all the saints exult: they welcome their Queen with festivity, with the rejoicing of all creation. The pilgrim Church is joyful and praises God the almighty Father: he has done great thing in his humble servant, and raised her to the royal throne of the Son. This is the Easter of the Virgin Mother, who is raised in her body to the glory of heaven, radiant image of the Church in the future, brought to perfection in the kingdom. This is the day in which the new Adam, who overcame sin and death, raised the new Eve to be beside him, as his obedient and generous companion. Today the Virgin Mother of God, immaculate in her conceptiom, and virgin even after giving birth, triumphs over the corruption of the grave. O happy wedding day: the great daughter of Zion is presented to the Bridegroom, the Lord, adorned in pure beuaty. O day of exceeding hope: today the Star has been lit in heaven to light up the path of humanity with gentle rays of divine splendor. This is the day of peace and hope that sees the Mother, mediator of grace, adorned with the glory of the Son, watching over the steps of all her children. O God, receive our prayers on this festival day: may the Light that glows fully in Mary also shine in us. To you, God the Father, be glory and praise; you who live and reign with Christ your Son, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, for ever and ever. R/ Amen.
LATINE
Exsultet iam Angelica turba caelorum, exsultant et universi Sancti dum Reginam laetanter excipiunt cum quibus omnis concelebrat gaudiis creatura. Laetatur et Ecclesia in terra peregrinans dum Patrem laudat Omnipotentem, qui ancillae suae mirabilia fecit et in Unigeniti thronum eam exaltavit. Haec sunt enim festa Paschalia Deiparae Virginis, quae ad caelestem gloriam in suo corpore assumpta est, Ecclesiae in regno consummandae fulgens imago. Haec est dies in qua Novus Adam peccati mortisque Victor Novam Evam in solium sublimavit ministram suam et Matrem nobis faventem. Felix namque dies in qua Dei Genetrix in sua Conceptione immaculata et post partum Virgo sepulchri triumphat corruptionem. O vere beatae nuptiae, in quibus Filia Sion Sponso et Domino tota formosa praesentatur. Dies felix, dies spei, dies coelestis stellae luce illuminata, semitam mortalibus suis divini splendoris radiis ostendens. Felix haec planeque pacis veneranda dies, in qua Gratiarum Mediatrix Filii gloria induta negotiis omnium filiorum invigilat. In huius igitur diei gratia suscipe Sancte Pater supplicationes nostras; concede ut quod in Maria omni plenitudine lumen ardet in nobis quoque indeficiens perseveret. Sit Tibi Deo Patri omnis honor et gloria, qui cum Christo Unigenito tuo vivis et regnas in unitate Spiritus Sancti per omnia saecula saeculorum. Amen.
Why are caelorum and caelestem spelt with ae, while coelestis is spelt with oe?
ReplyDeleteI have found a possible reference here :-
ReplyDelete“La Asunción de María en la Iglesia, en el Císter y en Poblet” (The Assumption of Mary in the Church, in the Cistercians, and in the Monastery of Poblet ) Jordi M. Bou I Simó. 277-288. Mary’s Assumption is presented as the Easter of the Virgin Mother.
The author is was a Cistercian monk of Poblet in Catalonia †2016
I do not know whether the text appears in this book :-
María Madre Virgen
Jordi M. Bou i Simó
ISBN 10: 8428808880 / ISBN 13: 9788428808880
Published by PPC, Madrid, 1988
One thing that jumped out at me: where you write: “... ad caelestem gloriam in suo corpore assumpta est” – it seems to me that “in suo corpore” would point to something “in the body” but in her bodily assumption she was “assumpta corpore” not “in corpore”. It might be that our thinking is slow to process the difference because in English we say: “in her body” in order to express what the Latin ablative expresses without the “in”. Take for instance Mark 5:29 where the Vulgata has “et sensit corpore quia sanata esset” whereas English translations have it as “in her body”. Somehow I feel that “in corpore” should be used to point out something in the body, whereas “bodily assumed” should be rendered as “corpore”. The difference is perhaps not so much grammatical as rational.
ReplyDeleteMy compliments on this fine piece of work! I humbly offer a few observations and suggestions.
ReplyDelete1.) There seems to be a minor typo - or should I say 'clerical error'? - in the first line: 'exsultant' should be (subjunctive) 'exsultent', surely.
2.) Perhaps the phrase starting with 'cum quibus ...' is a bit unwieldy; couldn't one attach 'concelebrat' to the dum-clause with an 'et' or so? (I like the Lucretian allusion very much, however.)
3.) On 'in suo corpore', I think I agree with 'Frugifex': it doesn't seem quite right. One might also consider the wording in Munificentissimus Deus, where the BVM is said to have been assumed 'corpore et anima' (simple ablatives); on occasion, one also finds the phrase 'cum corpore'. Also: is 'suo' really necessary? (No confusion possible on that point, after all.)
4.) Regarding triumphat: Lactantius did use the verb with a direct object. But the classical de might serve perfectly: e.g. 'de corruptione sepulchri triumphat', which delivers a nice cursus planus as well!
5.) In the sentence beginning with 'Dies felix', I am not sure about 'suis'. If it is meant to agree with 'radiis', the placing (in hyperbaton) next to 'mortalibus' seems confusing. Apart from that, the rays are emphatically not 'her own'! If, on the other hand, it belongs with 'mortalibus', the sense is unclear to me. Perhaps it is best left out all together? Then, however, 'mortalibus' might be read, wrongly, as an adjective attached to 'radiis'. One would like to keep the mortales (always a nice Sallustian touch), but perhaps something along the lines of humanae genti would be clearer in this context.
6.) And, lastly, might not 'planeque veneranda pacis dies' be a better word order than 'planeque pacis ...'? I think that the adverb plane usually pertains to the word immediately following.