Latin meaning, theological interpretation of Prefaces of the Roman Missal

Nota bene: Since we will miss our first session on Tuesday 6 November 2020, I request participants to prepare for gathering on Tuesday 13 November 2020 by choosing a preface from the Missale Romanum of 2008 you would like to understand better. Please let me know by email your selection. You may choose any preface found in the Missale Romanum of 2008.

Secondly, I would like one volunteer to present his or her preface during our first gathering and then a second volunteer to present his or her preface during the same session. You may present the preface of your choice.

In order to make our time together more fruitful, I request that, before you present your preface during any one of our sessions, you send to me by email a copy of your work on the preface so that I may review your work and offer suggestions that will make our time in class more profitable. Please note that the analysis of the Latin text of the preface comprises five main steps listed below (See: Tuesday 13 October 2020). Each of these steps ends with the request that the participant present his or her work to the instructor for review. These five steps, each with a review, will take several days to complete, so the participant is encouraged to begin this process several days prior to his or her presentation to the class. If this process is rushed at the last minute it may not be fully completed before the presentation. Experience has shown that participants have more difficulty with what they are unaware of. This dialogue is intended to help the participant to come to a fuller understanding of the prayer text before presenting it to the class.

Please send your work to me by email for review no later than Monday before our session on Tuesday. I’ll make my comments on your document and return it to you via email. If you would like more help from me, please send your work to me earlier and we can correspond by email.

My email address is available here.

Before you submit your work, please consult my English translations of the prefaces and my commentary on them, which are now available in the library of Sant’Anselmo in the volume Companion to the Missal which will either be reserved on a shelf for this course or found here: Lit 3727b.bis. Or available by subscription to The Tablet of London in their online archives.

Pontifical Liturgy Institute

The Latin Expression and Theological Meaning
of Selected Prefaces

Taught by: Daniel McCarthy

optional course offered in English: 94174 (3 ECTS):

Brief description

This course comprises a detailed study of selected prefaces of the Missale Romanum using the methodology of the Pontifical Liturgical Institute. The Latin expression, structure and dynamic of the prefaces will be made clear and four pairs of interpretative keys will be used to appreciate the meaning of the prefaces in their liturgical-ritual context. Students will grow in their ability and confidence to understand the Latin texts of these prayers and render them into standard English, and to discuss their theological meaning.

Aims

By the end of the course the student will be able:

to follow a method presented in understanding and interpreting a different preface during each class session,
to apply the given method to one named Latin preface, accounting for its Latin expression, and rendering it into standard English,
to explain the principles behind the four pairs of interpretative keys:
anamnesis (narration – ritual programme);
presentation – epiclesis;
eschatology – moral life and personal maturation.
theandric – theosis (personal communion in freedom and love).
to interpret the named Latin preface in its liturgical-ritual context according to these four pairs of interpretative keys.

Structure of the course

During each session we shall follow a determined method in examining together a preface. New elements of this method will be presented each session according to two major areas:

First, the Latin expression of the preface will be considered to understand the function of each word in the sentence and the literary structure of the preface, its timeline of events, the interpretative categories of its clauses and its presentation of the divine – human exchange.

Second, the interpretation of the preface begins with an understanding of its liturgical-ritual context and continues with an application of the four pairs of interpretative keys to distern their expression in the preface.

Learning activities

The instructor will present the elements of the method gradually each session, beginning first with an analysis of the Latin text and literary structure of the prayer, and then continuing with the interpretation of the prayer’s liturgical-ritual context and the four pairs of interpretative keys.
A student will be asked to assist in the presentation of each preface guided by the instructor, and all students will participate in applying gradually more elements of this method to a different preface each session.
At the beginning of the course each student will select an agreed upon preface from the Missale Romanum. As each element of the method is presented, the student will apply it to the named preface during private study

Schedule

This course is taught all afternoon for six weeks on Tuesdays of the Autumn semester 2020. It was scheduled to begin on Tuesday 6 October 2020, but that week of term has been cancelled, leaving us only five encounters. So our first gathering will be held on Tuesday 13 October 2020 and continues through Tuesday 10 November 2020, followed by the exam period. Our sessions will be held on each of the following days:

6 October 2020 cancelled,
13, 20, 27 October 2020 and
3, 10 November 2020.

Our encounters begin at 15:30 and continue until 18:50 with three short breaks. If there is unanimous agreement among those enrolled in the course, during our first session together the students may request that we begin our sessions earlier in the afternoon and end them earlier.

Hours: 15:30-18:50

First session 15:30-16:15
5 minute Break: 16:15-16:20
Second session 16:20-17:05
10 minute Break: 17:05-17:15
Third session 17:15-18:00
Break: 18:00-18:05
Fourth session 18:05-18:50

I am very pleased to end each session on time, but I also request that we begin our sessions on time. If you are attending online, please sign in before the beginning of our session, otherwise your request to join the group may not be noticed while the lecture is in progress.

Office Hours

Please do not phone the instructor. Rather email him at this email address. He is available outside of class time by appointment.

Bibliography

♦ Latin-English dictionary such as D.P. SIMPSON, Cassell’s English Dictionary, New York-Oxford 1968; better yet: LEWIS, C.T., – C . SHORT, A Latin Dictionary, Oxford UP, Oxford – New York 1879, reprinted thereafter.

♦ Appreciating the Collect: An Irenic Methodology, ed. J.G. Leachman – D.P. McCarthy (Documenta rerum ecclesiasticarum instaurata, Liturgiam aestimare: Appreciating the Liturgy 1), St. Michael’s Abbey Press, Farnborough 2008.

♦ FOSTER, R. – D.P. MCCARTHY, Ossa Latinitatis Sola ad mentem Reginaldi rationemque: The mere bones of Latin according to the thought and system of Reginald (Latinitatis Corpus 1), Catholic University of America Press, Washington DC 2016.

♦ MCCARTHY, D.P., “The Preface of the Eucharistic Prayer”, in Transition in the Easter Vigil: Becoming Christians. Paschali in vigilia Christiani nominis fieri, ed. D.P. McCarthy – J.G. Leachman (Documenta rerum ecclesiasticarum instaurata, Liturgiam aestimare: Appreciating the Liturgy 2), St. Michael’s Abbey Press, Farnborough 2011.

♦ MCCARTHY, D.P., “Seeing a Reflection, Considering Appearances: The History, Theology and Literary Composition of the Missale Romanum at a Time of Vernacular Reflection”, Questions Liturgiques / Studies in Liturgy 94 (2013) 109-143.

Also recommended:

♦ MCCARTHY, D.P. – J.G. Leachman – R.T. Foster, Companion to the Missal: Reprints from The Tablet of London originally published from 18 March 2006 to 26 November 2011 (Documenta rerum ecclesiasticarum instauratum. Liturgiam aestimare : Appreciating Liturgy. Varia), published in collaboration with the library officials of Sant’Anselmo 2019.

♦ LEACHMAN, J.G. – D.P. McCarthy, “Preparation for the Piazza. The Preface of the Second Scrutiny (the Fourth Sunday in Lent): The Mystagogical Formation of the Neophytes and the Assembly”, Societas Liturgica Conference, 11 August 2007, Studia Liturgica 38 (2008) 114-133.

♦ LEACHMAN, J.G. “A New Liturgical Hermeneutic: Christian Maturation by Developmental Steps”, New Blackfriars 90 (2009) 219-231.

♦ GILDERSLEEVE, B.L, – G. LODGE, Gildersleeve’s Latin Grammar, Bolchazy-Carducci, Wauconda IL 2003, reprint of ³1895.

Works by other authors on the prefaces:

♦ ASHWORTH, H., “Praefationum fontes novarum liturgici, biblici et patristici“, Ephemerides Liturgicae 82 (1968) 430-444.

♦ BEALL, S., “Mirabilia Dei: Style and Translation int he Prefaces of the Missale Romanum“, Antiphon 8:1 (2003) 10-21. (download PDF here).

♦ DUMAS, A., “Les préfaces du nouveau missel”, Ephemerides Liturgicae 85 (1971) 16-28.

♦ RUSSELL, N., The Doctrine of Deification in the Greek Patristic Tradition (Oxford Early Christian Studies), Oxford UP, Oxford 2006.

♦ TRIACCA, A.M., “La strutturazione eucologica dei Prefazi. Contributo metodologico per una loro retta esegesi. In margine al nuovo ‘MIssale Romanum”, Ephemerides Liturgicae 86 (1972) 233-279.

♦ WARD A. – C. JOHNSON, The Prefaces of the Roman Missal: A Source Compendium with Concordance and Indices, Congregation for Divine Worship, Centro liturgico vincenziano edizioni liturgiche, Rome 1989.

♦ WARD A. – C. JOHNSON, “The sources of the Roman Missal (1975) II. Prefaces”, Notitiae 24 (1987) 559-568.

♦ WARD A. – C. JOHNSON, “Fontes liturgici. The Sources of the Roman Missal (1975), 2. Prefaces”, Notitiae 23 (1987) 409-1009.

Parsing tool with Lewis and Short Dictionary

♦ Latin Work Study Tool with the Lewis and Short dictionary available here:

Enter an inflected form of your word in the field under the heading “Dictionary Entry Lookup”, located in the column on the right.

♦ LEWIS and SHORT entry word search: Enter the dictionary entry for your word in the field under the heading “Dictionary Entry Lookup”, located in the column on the right.

♦ LEWIS and SHORT entry word search: The above link is another version of the above entry word search. This one is well laid-out for easier reading. Enter the dictionary entry for your word in the field at the top left of the page.

Logeion
Even more Latin dictionaries are available on Logeion, including Lewis and Short. Enter the dictionary entry for your word in the field at the top of this page. If the search produces entries from several different dictionaries, they are listed first and you can choose which one you wish to consult.

Examination in detail

Explanation: During the oral exam the instructor chooses one of the four interpretative keys. The student both demonstrates an understanding of the theory involved in the chosen interpretative key and then applies the interpretative key to the preface in its liturgical-ritual context. The instructor ask the student about the function of any Latin word of the preface and its literary composition.

Criteria for evaluation: Both the regular participation of the student in class discussions and a final oral exam are assessed based on the following criteria:

a clear understanding of the function of each word and the literary structure of the Latin preface,
a clearly developed presentation of the selected interpretative key,
a well considered application of the selected interpretative key to the text of the preface in its liturgical-ritual context.

This is an open book exam, so students may bring their notes and printed resources. The exam is timed, so the student is advised to prepare the material well and then to focus on the essential elements for presentation. The instructor may ask questions to help the student provide a fuller response.

Academic program

The program of studies, course descriptions and calendar for the current academic year is available for download here.

Place

This course is offered in English at the Pontifical Institute of Liturgy housed at:

Sant’Anselmo
Piazza Cavalieri di Malta, 5
00153 Roma, Italia

See map below.

Participants who cannot be present are welcomed to follow the course online, with the same requirement of giving presentations on a chosen preface.

The Latin Expression and Theological Meaning
of Selected Prefaces

Note well: Participants are encouraged to download and print this document with the prefaces of the Missale Romanum 2008. Please bring this document to each encounter so that you may use it to take notes on the prefaces as they are presented. If the order of prefaces is changed without notification, you will have the text already in hand and will not have to take class time to write out the text in longhand. The same prefaces are also found on this web-page.

Participants are recommended to print this web-page which contains the course description and the class schedule and bring them to each encounter so that the participant will have all of the resources necessary for our discussions. Of particular importance for each encounter is the method of approaching the Latin expression of each preface as it is given in the first several encounters.

Each participant is encouraged to access the instructor’s English translations of numerous mass formularies of Sundays and feasts published in The Tablet of London from 28 November 2009 – 20 November 2010. These articles include our study translation of each preface along with a commentary. I have printed all of the articles and bound them into one volume which is available in the library of Sant’Anselmo in the volume Companion to the Missal which will either be reserved on a shelf for this course or found here: Lit 3727b.bis.

A listing of these commentaries arranged according to their liturgical day is found at this link. In the entry for each liturgical day, following the heading “Praefatio”, you will find bibliographical entry given for my article on the preface. If you have access to the online version of The Tablet of London, you may also access the original articles in their online archives.

Schedule in detail

revised for academic year
2020-2021

List of prayers and presenters:

Encounter 1: Tuesday 6 October 2020 – Cancelled

Encounter 2: Tuesday 13 October 2020
Participant: preface:
Participant: preface:

Encounter 3: Tuesday 20 October 2020
Participant: preface:
Participant: preface:

Encounter 4: Tuesday 27 October 2020
Participant: preface:
Participant: preface:

Encounter 5: Tuesday 3 November 2020
Participant: preface:
Participant: preface:

Encounter 6: Tuesday 10 November 2020
Participant: preface:
Participant: preface:

We shall discuss the possibility of holding the exams on Tuesday 17 November 2020 so that they do not interfere with our session on Tuesday 10 November 2020.

Encounter 1: Tuesday 6 October 2020 – cancelled

Encounter 2: Tuesday 13 October 2020
Two participants will each present his or her respective prefaces

We shall meet one another.

The instructor will introduce the course, and explain the method of the exam.

We shall also begin our method of understanding a preface using the following steps. Please note that there are five main steps below. Each of these ends with the request that the participant present his or her work to the instructor for review. These five steps, each with a review, will take several days to complete, so the participant is encouraged to begin this process several days prior to his or her presentation to the class. If this process is rushed at the last minute it may not be fully completed before the presentation. Experience has shown that participants have more difficulty with what they are unaware of. This dialogue is intended to help the participant to come to a fuller understanding of the prayer text before presenting it to the class.

Write out the prayer.
1. Write out the prayer as it appears in the liturgical books.
2. This means that the prayer is broken up into sense lines so that the words on each line of text belong together – it does no good to write the prayer as one sentence of prose text.
3. Leave double spacing or more between each line of text so that there is room to make notes.
4. If your computer automatically corrects the Latin text or capitalises the first word of each line, please correct these – these are your responsibility. If your word processor automatically corrects Latin terms by substituting other words, consider turning off the auto-correct function of your word processor.
5. You may include the accent marks to help people read the prayer aloud.
6. Above the prayer write out the heading that the prayer appears under in the liturgical book so that we may have an idea of its context.
7. Read outloud the prayer.
8. It is best to complete this section above and ask the instructor to review your work before continuing to the next section below. Otherwise, difficulties in transcribing the prayer will make difficult both reading and further analysis of the prayer.
Mark up the text of the prayer in the following ways:
1. Underline the action words (verbs, participles, gerunds, gerundives).
2. Put a box around the main, independent, finite verb of the sentence.
3. Put circles around connecting words such as et, -que, sicut etc. Identify the words they connect.
4. The relative pronoun opens a clause. Put an open square bracket before the relative pronoun: “ [ ”. Then answer these two questions in the following order:
  1. Where is its verb?
  2. Where does the clause end? Mark its end with a close square bracket: “ ] ”. (See: Ossa, Encounters 10-11, 23, 28, 33)
  3. Name the antecedent of the relative pronoun.
    1. Remember the function of the relative pronoun comes from whithin its own clause. It functions either as:
      1. subject (qui, quae, quod) = nomimnative,
      2. object (quem, quod, quos, quas, quae) = accusative,
      3. of-possession (cuius, quorum, quarum) = genitive,
      4. to-for-from (cui, quibus) = dative,
      5. by-with-from-in (quo, qua, quibus) = ablative.
    2. The gender and number of the relative pronoun come from its antecedent usually located or implied outside its own clause.
5. The ut opens a clause. Put an open fancy bracket “ { ” before the ut. Then answer these two questions in the following order:
  1. Where is its verb?
  2. Where does the clause end? Mark its end with a close fancy bracket: “ } ”. (See: Ossa, Encounters 58, 84)
  3. Note the fourteen ways to express purpose given in Ossa, Encounter 84.
6. Identify the prepositions and their complements (accusative or ablative). Put ( rounded parentheses ) around prepositional phrases. (See: Ossa, Encounters 6, 28)
7. Put [ square brackets ] around participial clauses. (See: Ossa, Encounters 50-53, 84)
8. Identify any ablative absolute and mark it with [ square brackets ].
  1. Identify the subject given in the ablative form.
  2. Give the full, natural meaning of the participle with its subject in English, noting the time of the participle.
  3. Decide what the relationship of the ablative absolute is to the rest of its sentence:
    1. when, after = temporal (this is the lightest touch and thus used most frequently),
    2. because, since = causal,
    3. although = concessive.
    4. The ablative absolute can function in just about any way in relation to the main sentence. (See: Ossa, Encounters 54-57)
9. Where there is an infinitive, determine:
  1. Wether it the subject or object of another verb (and thus functions as a gerund); (See: Ossa, Encounters 77)
  2. Wether it a part of an accusative with the infinitive (indirect discourse) (See: Ossa, Encounters 71-73).
    1. Identify the subject of the infinitive which is given in the object (accusative) form.
    2. Underline the entire sentence in the accusative with the infinitive and put a box around it. Use some distinctive form of underlining such as with a wavy line or dotted line to distinguish this from the verbal forms already underlined.
    3. Identify the verb of M&M which gives rise to the sentence in the accusative with the infinitive.
    4. Give the three possible ways to express the accusative with the infinitive in English, namely:
      1. The English accusative with the infinitive.
      2. Supply the word “that”, then make the accusative subject a regular subject and make the infinitive a finite verb – be careful of the times of the infinitives and finite verbs.
      3. Replicate the above, without the word “that”.
    5. Note that sometimes a subject is given in an accusative form, but its infinitive is only in part as a participle.
10. Is there a cum clause?
  1. Does cum function as a preposition followed by an object in the ablative?
  2. Is cum followed by a verb in the indicitave or subjunctive?
    1. Cum with all times of the indicative means “when”.
    2. Cum with all times of the subjunctive means either:
      1. because, since = causal,
      2. although = concessive.
    3. On Track II (historical sequence of tenses):
      1. Cum with the indicative means “when” as in clock-time coincidence
      2. Cum with the subjunctive can mean “when” giving a temporal circumstance and almost means “because”.
11. Other forms of causal clauses meaning “because” may begin with:
  1. quod, quia, quoniam:
    1. followed by the indicative to give the author’s own idea,
    2. followed by the subjunctive to give the idea of another, a reported idea;
  2. Quando, quandoquidem (followed by the indicative), siquidem;
  3. qui, quae, quod followed by the subjunctive;
  4. quippe qui, utpote qui followed by the subjunctive (see: Ossa, Encounter 59.3).
12. It is best to complete this section above and ask the instructor to review your work before continuing to the next section below. Otherwise, even small errors made in the above analysis will continue through your work.
Draw a tree showing how the dependencies of the clauses.
1. Note that the tree is a graphic way of representing the brackets you have already drawn and the dependency of one clause upon another (see: Ossa, Encounter 11.4 on the box effect).
2. The main verb goes in the trunk of the tree.
3. Each clause in brackets, depending directly on the main verb, forms a branch comming off of the main trunk.
4. Within these main brackets, each smaller clause is drawn as a branch coming off the branch it depends upon.
5. When drawing each branch:
  1. Write the verbal form on the branch itself.
  2. At the place where the branch joins the rest of the tree give the connecting word such as a relative pronoun qui, quae, quod …, or such as ut, cum, or coordinating particles such as sicut.
  3. If this connnecting word is a relative pronoun, name the antecedent on the main branch. If it is not expressed, then give it as a pronoun such as: is, ea, id, eius, ei, eo, ea, eum, eam, ii (ei), eae, ibus, eos, eas according to the gender and number of the relative pronoun.
  4. Where the connecting word is a correlative particle such as sicut, give the other part of the correlative in its proper place.
6. It is best to complete this section above and ask the instructor to review your work before continuing to the next section below. Otherwise, even small errors made in the above analysis will continue through your work.
Establish the times of verbs and their several possible English equivalents (see: Ossa, Encounters 7).
1. Draw a timeline of the actions and goals (see: Ossa, Encounters 44).
2. It is best to complete this section above and ask the instructor to review your work before continuing to the next section below. Otherwise, even small errors made in the above analysis will continue through your work.
Discern the interpretative categories of the prayer. Draw a box with three columns.
1. In the column on the left write each word of the Latin text one clause at a time.
2. In the middle column give the function of the clause in the Latin sentence (its grammatical term).
3. In the column to the right assign the interpretative category (see De Zan). These include:
  1. Address expressed as direct address (see: Ossa, Encounter 38.3);
  2. Amplification given as:
    1. A relative clause (see: Ossa, Encounters 10-11),
    2. A noun or adjective in apposition (butted up against another word, without a connecting word);
  3. Profession (others call this the confession) given as:
    1. A relative clause (see: Ossa, Encounters 10-11),
    2. An accusative with the infinitive (see: Ossa, Encounters 71-73),
    3. A causal clause giving a reason for offering thanks;
  4. Motor driving the prayer to its conclusion given as:
    1. A participial phrase, active or passive (see: Ossa, Encounters 50-53),
    2. A relative clause (see: Ossa, Encounters 10-11),
    3. An ablative absolute (see: Ossa, Encounters 54-57),
    4. Note that what I call “motor”, Prof. De Zan calls “motive”;
  5. Purpose expressed in one of 14 ways (see: Ossa, Encounter 84);
  6. Premise (presumed context for the prayer) expressed as:
    1. Accusative with the infinitive (see: Ossa, Encounters 71-73),
    2. ablative absolute (see: Ossa, Encounters 54-57);
  7. Goal (in or ad + object) (see: Ossa, Encounter 6).
  8. On interpretative categories see: 1) R. De Zan, “How to Interpret a Collect”, Appreciating the Collect, 6.3 on p. 75;
    2) D.P. McCarthy, “Between Memories and Hopes: Anamnesis and Eschatology in selected collects”, Appreciating the Collect;
    3) Listen to the Word – many examples of using this method.
    4) Transition in the Easter vigil – many examples of using this method.
4. Note that several grammatical categories such as the ablative absolute and the accusative with the infinitive may function in different ways, so a degree of interpretation needed when assigning the interpretative categories. The question is how the clause functions in the overall sentence in moving the thought forward.
5. It is best to complete this section above and ask the instructor to review your work before continuing to the next step below. Otherwise, even small errors made in the above analysis will continue through your work.
6. Please note: the instructor encourages each participant to present his or her work for the instructor’s review well in advance of his or her presentation to the group, so that the participant and instructor have time to consider each of the

We shall consider each of the three sections of the following preface in turn, asking all of the above questions for each.

Encounter 2a: Tuesday 9 October 2018
We shall examine preface ???

Of particular note in the following preface ??? are:

PRAEFATIO ???
De ???

We shall examine the four participles (see: Ossa, Encounters 50-53):

contemporaneous active
antecedent passive (antecedent active – deponent)
futurity
passive necessity

We shall examine the construction of the Ablative Absolute and its role in the sentence, and how to render it into clear English (see: Ossa, Encounter 54, 55, 57).

We shall note causal clauses that use: quod, quia, quoniam (see: Ossa, Encounter 59):

Followed by the indicative to give the author’s own idea,
Followed by the subjunctive to give the idea of another, a reported idea = “allegedly”.

Encounter 2b: Tuesday 9 October 2018
We shall consider preface III for the Sundays of Ordinary Time

We shall give particular attention to the following elements found in preface III for Sundays of Ordinary Time:

The two different functions of the infinitives agere and admitti,
The problematic time of the infinitive pertinère, which should perhaps be pertinuisse,
The several possible meanings for the time of each verb,
Purpose clause constructed of ut followed by T.1s (we don’t say “present subjunctive”) or T.2s (we don’t say “imperfect subjunctive”),
The sequence of tenses on Track I and Track II,
The relative pronoun cuius and quem and quibus and their antecedents,
The correlatives unde and inde followed by the subjunctive,
The full, natural meaning of two participles, in two different time-frames.

PRAEFATIO ???
De ???

Vere dignum et iustum est,

Translation and commentary: D.P. McCarthy, “Title”, Listen to the Word, The Tablet (day month year) page number.

We shall examine the 14 ways to express purpose (see: Ossa, Encounter 84; Appreciating the Collect, p. 44-45). Of these, we shall give specific attention to the construction of ut followed by the subjunctive. We shall examine the full time frame of verbs in the first and second subjunctive according to the sequence of tenses.

Encounter 3a: Tuesday 16 October 2018
We shall consider the proper preface for ???

N and N led us in considering the following elements of preface ???

PRAEFATIO ???
De ???

Vere dignum et iustum est, …

Translation and commentary: D.P. McCarthy, “Title”, Listen to the Word, The Tablet (day month year) page number.

We shall begin to apply a basic semiotic analysis to the prayer. In order to prepare for this more involved form of analysis the previous analysis of the Latin text of the prayer must be completed well.

Write out the preface in sense lines, as it appears in the Missale Romanum of 2008. Align the text to the left margin of the page. Place only one section of the preface on a page and double space the text so that you have plenty of room for the images you will draw to the right of the text.

Prepare the text.
1. Write out the preface in sense lines, as it appears in the Missale Romanum of 2008.
2. Align the text to the left margin of the page.
3. Double space the text and
4. Place only one section of the preface on a page so that you have plenty of room for the images you will draw to the right of the text.
Who does it?
1. Identify the action words: verbs, participles, infinitives, gerunds, gerundives.
  1. Underline each action word of the prayer.
  2. Write the action word in the empty space on the page directly to the right of its text in the prayer, so that the word aligns directly across horizontally with its line of the prayer.
2. Identify the subject (person or thing) of each action word.
3. Now start over with a clean sheet of paper with the text of the prayer printed on it as above. From the previous chart, take the action words you wrote in the space to the right of the prayer and organise these into columns. This is done by grouping like subjects together into one column.
  1. In the column to the furthest left I usually put all action words whose subject is Deus, Domine, Pater.
  2. In a column to the right I usually put all action words whose subject is nos.
  3. Between these two columns I usually locate one or more columns indicating various mediations between God and us as they appear in the prayer. For example in columns arranged from left to right I might put:
    1. one column for Jesus Christus,
    2. another for the Spiritus Sanctus,
    3. another for the Ecclesia.
    4. another column for the sacramenta
    5. I label each column with its subject.
  4. At the far right I often need a column that indicates either the world, mundus, or peccatores, or other elements indicated in the prayer, which may be understood as farther from God than nos.
  5. Thus, the columns are arranged as needed in the following order: God, Jesus, Spirit, church, sacraments, us, world, sinners. Other columns may be needed according to the text of the prayer.
4. I treat the subject of passive verbal forms the same as the subjects of other verbal forms. The passive verbal form is written on the column corresponding to its subject.
  1. But the subject undergoes the action of the passive verb, and the agent doing the action is someone else. Often the agent is not mentioned explicitely. Typically the implied agent is God, but on occassion other agents seem more appropriate.
  2. The agent doing the action is indicated by writing the name of the agent (in rounded parentehses) in its column. Then I draw a dotted line from the agent to the passive verbal action.
5. At this point you can look at the pattern of subjects sketched out to discern whether there is a pattern.
  1. Typically in collect type prayers the divine action is initially dominant in the prayer and gradually gives way to human action which becomes dominant. For collects I indicate this with a zig-zag line that runs in diagonal lines up and down.
  2. Collects, however, are petitions whereas prefaces are expressions of thanksgiving, so the overall pattern of subjects may follow a different pattern than is typical for collects.
  3. Sometimes it is better to look for a pattern among the subjects of one section of a preface; each section may have its own pattern.
  4. Please submit the above chart to the instructor for comment, before continuing with the next step.
Who does what?
1. Begin by making an exact copy of the chart developed above so that you can add new elements to a fresh chart.
2. Here I indicate direct objects by writing the Latin word on the chart to the right. I arrange these objects on the columns where they belong with similar elements.
3. Next I draw an arrow from the action word to the direct object of the verb. This shows the action of the subject upon the object.
4. The 65 verbs that take the dative as their complement are included here and the dative complement is indicated by writing its word in the appropriate column. A line is drawn from the subject to the dative complement. The same may be done for compound verbs which take a dative complement.
5. Passive verbal forms do not have objects unless they are deponent verbs, which are treated with the regular verbs with active meaning. Truely passive verbal forms have no objects to indicate.
6. Intransitive verbs such as esse, “to be”, and fieri, “to become” do not have objects, nor do they have agents. Their action is contained in the subject.
7. Once you have sketched out the objects and drawn the arrows to indicate action of the subjects upon the objects, then you can once again look for an over-all developing pattern of greater complexity.
8. Be mindful that the object of a verbal form may be an entire sentence with dependent phrases. In these cases I place a box around the entire object sentence and then draw an arrow from the action word to the box indicating the action of the subject upon the entire object sentence.
9. Please submit the above chart to the instructor for comment, before continuing with the next step.
Who does what to whom?
1. Begin by making an exact copy of the chart developed above so that you can add new elements to a fresh chart.
2. This question concerns indirect objects, natural datives in particular.
3. I arrange these objects on the columns where they belong with similar elements.
4. Next the arrow from the action word to the direct object is extended to the indirect object or the natural dative. This shows the action of the subject upon the object to or for the indirect object.
5. Be mindful that the indirect object of a verbal form may be an entire sentence such as dative a gerundive with dependent phrases. In these cases I place a box around the entire sentence expressing the indirect object.
6. Once again begin with an exact copy of the chart just made and add to it anything else you can from the text of the prayer, including the ablative expressing instrument or means, and goals expressed by the prepositions ad or in followed by the accusative object as well as various prepositional phrases.
Once this schema is mapped-out, once again the overall pattern is considered for any complex pattern it may have.
1. When working with the collects, the divine human exchange often appears in the prayer at this point of analysis as a zig-zag pattern that runs right and left.
2. Sometimes it is best to consider the zig-zag pattern developed in different sections of the prayer.
3. This analysis of who does what to whom and the zig-zag lines it produces is used as a basis for discerning the divine-human exchange in the prayer and the interpretative key of theosis.

Encounter 3b: Tuesday 16 October 2018
We shall consider the preface ???

N. will lead us in considering the following preface

PRAEFATIO ???
De ???

Vere dignum et iustum est,

Translation and commentary: D.P. McCarthy, “Title”, Listen to the Word, The Tablet (day month year) page number.

We shall next begin the second half of the course:

We will focus on the four interpretative keys for understanding a ritual action, or in this case a collect offered in its ritual context. We present each of these four interpretative keys as a pair:

anamnesis is understood according to the presentation of Prof. De Zan in terms of the narrative of the saving works of God and celebrating the ritual programme

Epiclesis is understood in terms of the presentation of one’s self to God in prayer at the prompting of the Holy Spirit, and the invocation of God. As we process to meet Christ the one coming, this double procession leads to an encounter in which the human person is changed in the following two ways

Eschatology is the graced process of transcending one’s former self in order to become one’s self anew in a greater communion. By such stages of human maturation a person cooperates in one’s own graced transformation into the body of Christ. This is lived in daily life, according to the Gospel of Matthew chapter 25, by our moral behaviour in the world

Theosis is the graced experience of coming to full human personhood, that is to share on a human level in the personal way of being proper to the Divine Trinity. This is experienced in the personal exercise of freedom in a bond of love.

For the discussion of theosis, see the comments of Norman Russell on the contribution of John Zizioulas in N. Russell, The Doctrine of Deification in the Greek Patristic Tradition(Oxford Early Christian Studies), Oxford UP, Oxford 2006, 318; For theosis in the Latin authors see: J. Ortiz, “Making Worshipers into Gods: Deification in the Latin Liturgy”, in Deification in the Latin Patristic Tradition, ed. J. Ortiz,Catholic University of America Press, Washington DC forthcoming; G. Ladner, The Idea of Reform: Its Impacton Christian Thought and Action in the Age of the Fathers, Harvard University Press, Cambridge Mass 1959, 133-316; G.M. Lukken, Original Sin in the Roman Liturgy: Research into the Theology of Original Sin in the Roman Sacramentaria and the Early Baptismal Liturgy, Brill, Leiden 1973, 373-74.

In this encounter we shall begin to consider the interpretative key of anamnesis. See: D.P. McCarthy, “Between Memories and Hopes: Anamnesis and Eschatology in selected collects”, Appreciating the Collect; see also: Transition in the Easter vigil, pp. 124-127; see also: J.G. Leachman – D.P. McCarthy, “A Liturgical Study of the proper prayers for St Charles of St Andrew Houben, C.P. 1: The Opening Prayer”, Questions Liturgiques: Studies in Liturgy 92 (2011) 28-44, especially 40-41.