Agnus Dei

Last updated
The fraction rite at which the Agnus Dei
is sung or said Fractio-panis1.JPG
The fraction rite at which the Agnus Dei is sung or said

Agnus Dei is the Latin name under which the "Lamb of God" is honoured within Christian liturgies descending from the historic Latin liturgical tradition, including those of Roman Catholicism, Lutheranism and Anglicanism. It is the name given to a specific prayer that occurs in these liturgies, and is the name given to the music pieces that accompany the text of this prayer. [1] [2]

Contents

13th century ivory carving, Louvre. Crozier lamb Louvre OA7267.jpg
13th century ivory carving, Louvre.

The use of the title "Lamb of God" in liturgy is based on John 1:29, in which St. John the Baptist, upon seeing Jesus, proclaims "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!"

Agnus Dei from Schubert's Mass No. 2

Liturgical usage

Latin Catholic

The Syrian custom of a chant addressed to the Lamb of God was introduced into the Roman Rite Mass by Pope Sergius I (687–701) [3] [4] in the context of his rejection of the Council of Trullo of 692 (which was well received in the Byzantine East), whose canons had forbidden the iconographic depiction of Christ as a lamb instead of a man. [5]

The verse used in the first and second invocations may be repeated as many times as necessary whilst the celebrant prepares the host and wine for communion. [7]

In a Tridentine Requiem Mass, the words "miserere nobis" are replaced by "dona eis requiem" (grant them rest), while "dona nobis pacem" is replaced by "dona eis requiem sempiternam" (grant them eternal rest). Virtually every Mass setting includes an Agnus Dei

Agnus Dei from Fauré's Requiem

The priest uses the phrase "Lamb of God" again, later in the Mass. While displaying the Eucharistic species to the people before giving them Holy Communion, he says: "Ecce Agnus Dei, ecce qui tollit peccata mundi. Beati qui ad cenam Agni vocati sunt." ("Behold the Lamb of God, behold Him who takes away the sins of the world. Blessed are those called to the supper of the Lamb.") [6] :132

Anglican

The following instances are found in the Church of England's Book of Common Prayer:

From "The Litany":

O Lamb of God: that takest away the sins of the world; Grant us thy peace.
O Lamb of God: that takest away the sins of the world; Have mercy upon us.

From "Holy Communion":

Lamb of God, Son of the Father, that takest away the sins of the world, have mercy upon us.

The following versions are found in Common Worship, the alternative Anglican liturgical resources, and also in the Episcopal Church's liturgical resources:

Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world, have mercy on us.
Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world, have mercy on us.
Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world, grant us peace.

O Lamb of God, that takest away the sins of the world, have mercy upon us.
O Lamb of God, that takest away the sins of the world, have mercy upon us.
O Lamb of God, that takest away the sins of the world, grant us thy peace.

Jesus, Lamb of God, have mercy on us.
Jesus, bearer of our sins, have mercy on us.
Jesus, redeemer of the world, grant us peace.

Lutheran

The version found in the Lutheran Service Book of the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod is:

Lamb of God, You take away the sin of the world; have mercy on us.
Lamb of God, You take away the sin of the world; have mercy on us.
Lamb of God, You take away the sin of the world; grant us Your peace, grant us Your peace.

Evangelical Protestants

A popular worship song among Evangelical Protestants tradition is a rendition of the traditional Agnus Dei by Michael W. Smith. Based on a paraphrase of Revelation 5, the words are

Alleluia Alleluia
For our Lord God Almighty reigns
Alleluia Alleluia
For our Lord God Almighty reigns
Alleluia Holy

Holy
Are You Lord God Almighty
Worthy is the Lamb
Worthy is the Lamb
You are Holy

(Last stanza repeats 3 times)

A Ukrainian translation was sung in 2015 in Lviv, Ukraine, during the War in the Donbass [8] at an event organized by Franklin Graham. The song was notably sung again on Easter 2022 in Lviv by a choir of Ukrainian refugees fleeing the Russo-Ukrainian War. [9]

Outside religious use, the text has been used by composers and groups such as:

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mass (liturgy)</span> Type of worship service within many Christian denominations

Mass is the main Eucharistic liturgical service in many forms of Western Christianity. The term Mass is commonly used in the Catholic Church, Western Rite Orthodoxy, Old Catholicism, and Independent Catholicism. The term is also used in some Lutheran churches, as well as in some Anglican churches, and on rare occasion by other Protestant churches.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tridentine Mass</span> Form of liturgy in the Roman Rite

The Tridentine Mass, also known as the Traditional Latin Mass or the Traditional Rite, is the liturgy in the Roman Missal of the Catholic Church codified in 1570 and published thereafter with amendments up to 1962. Celebrated almost exclusively in Ecclesiastical Latin, it was the most widely used Eucharistic liturgy in the world from its issuance in 1570 until the introduction of the Mass of Paul VI.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Requiem</span> Mass celebrated for the repose of deceased peoples souls

A Requiem or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead or Mass of the dead, is a Mass of the Catholic Church offered for the repose of the soul or souls of one or more deceased persons, using a particular form of the Roman Missal. It is usually celebrated in the context of a funeral.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lamb of God</span> Title for Jesus

Lamb of God is a title for Jesus that appears in the Gospel of John. It appears at John 1:29, where John the Baptist sees Jesus and exclaims, "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world." It appears again in John 1:36.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gloria in excelsis Deo</span> Christian hymn

"Gloria in excelsis Deo" is a Christian hymn known also as the Greater Doxology and the Angelic Hymn/Hymn of the Angels. The name is often abbreviated to Gloria in Excelsis or simply Gloria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Absolution</span> Traditional theological term for the forgiveness experienced by Penance

Absolution is a theological term for the forgiveness imparted by ordained Christian priests and experienced by Christian penitents. It is a universal feature of the historic churches of Christendom, although the theology and the practice of absolution vary between Christian denominations.

The Fraction or fractio panis is the ceremonial act of breaking the consecrated sacramental bread before distribution to communicants during the Eucharistic rite in some Christian denominations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Penitential Act</span> Form of confession of sinfulness practiced in Roman Catholicism

The Penitential Act is a Christian form of general confession of sinfulness that normally takes place at the beginning of the celebration of Mass in the Roman Rite of the Catholicism, as well as in Lutheranism.

The ordinary, in Catholic liturgies, refers to the part of the Mass or of the canonical hours that is reasonably constant without regard to the date on which the service is performed. It is contrasted to the proper, which is that part of these liturgies that varies according to the date, either representing an observance within the liturgical year, or of a particular saint or significant event, or to the common which contains those parts that are common to an entire category of saints such as apostles or martyrs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roman Rite</span> Most widespread liturgical rite in the Roman Catholic Church

The Roman Rite is the most common ritual family for performing the ecclesiastical services of the Latin Church, the largest of the sui iuris particular churches that comprise the Catholic Church. The Roman Rite governs rites such as the Roman Mass and the Liturgy of the Hours as well as the manner in which sacraments and blessings are performed.

<i>Agnus Dei</i> (Barber) Choral composition by Samuel Barber

Agnus Dei(Lamb of God) is a choral composition in one movement by Samuel Barber, his own arrangement of his Adagio for Strings (1936). In 1967, he set the Latin words of the liturgical Agnus Dei, a part of the Mass, for mixed chorus with optional organ or piano accompaniment. The music, in B-flat minor, has a duration of about eight minutes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mass in the Catholic Church</span> Central liturgical ritual of the Catholic Church

The Mass is the central liturgical service of the Eucharist in the Catholic Church, in which bread and wine are consecrated and become the body and blood of Christ. As defined by the Church at the Council of Trent, in the Mass "the same Christ who offered himself once in a bloody manner on the altar of the cross, is present and offered in an unbloody manner". The Church describes the Mass as the "source and summit of the Christian life", and teaches that the Mass is a sacrifice, in which the sacramental bread and wine, through consecration by an ordained priest, become the sacrificial body, blood, soul, and divinity of Christ as the sacrifice on Calvary made truly present once again on the altar. The Catholic Church permits only baptised members in the state of grace to receive Christ in the Eucharist.

The Divine Service is a title given to the Eucharistic liturgy as used in the various Lutheran churches. It has its roots in the Pre-Tridentine Mass as revised by Martin Luther in his Formula missae of 1523 and his Deutsche Messe of 1526. It was further developed through the Kirchenordnungen of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries that followed in Luther's tradition.

"Pie Jesu" is a text from the final couplet of the hymn "Dies irae", and is often included in musical settings of the Requiem Mass as a motet. The phrase means "pious Jesus" in the vocative.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elevation (liturgy)</span> Christian liturgical practice

In Eastern and Western Christian liturgical practice, the elevation is a ritual raising of the consecrated Sacred Body and Blood of Christ during the celebration of the Eucharist. The term is applied especially to that by which, in the Catholic Roman Rite of Mass, the Sacred Body of Christ (Host) and the chalice containing the Most Precious Blood of Christ are each lifted up and shown to the congregation immediately after each is consecrated. The term may also refer to a musical work played or sung at that time.

In Lutheranism, the Eucharist refers to the liturgical commemoration of the Last Supper. Lutherans believe in the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist, affirming the doctrine of sacramental union, "in which the body and blood of Christ are truly and substantially present, offered, and received with the bread and wine."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Litany of the Sacred Heart of Jesus</span> Formal prayer in the Catholic Church

The Litany of the Sacred Heart of Jesus is a formal prayer in the Catholic Church dedicated to Sacred Heart of Jesus. It is one of six approved litanies for public use.

The Litany of the Most Precious Blood of Jesus is a litany of the Roman Catholic Church, usually prayed in devotion to the Eucharist. The Litany was drawn up by the Sacred Congregation of Rites and promulgated by Pope John XXIII on February 24, 1960.

References

  1. Randel, Don Michael, ed. (2003). The Harvard Dictionary of Music (4th ed.). Cambridge, Massachusetts: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. p.  28. ISBN   0-674-01163-5.
  2. Atkinson, Charles Mercer (1975). The Earliest Settings of the Agnus Dei and Its Tropes. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina. p. 14.
  3. Duffy, Eamon (2006). Saints & Sinners: A History of the Popes (3rd ed.). New Haven: Yale University Press. p.  84. ISBN   0-300-11597-0.
  4. Reader Daniel Lieuwen. "Lives of Orthodox Western Saints". McKinney, Texas: St Nicholas Orthodox Church.
  5. Ekonomou, Andrew J. (2007). Byzantine Rome and the Greek Popes: Eastern Influences on Rome and the Papacy from Gregory the Great to Zacharias, A.D. 590–752. Lanham, Maryland: Lexington Books. p. 223. ISBN   978-0-7391-1977-8.
  6. 1 2 "Texts for Order of Mass Settings". International Committee on English in the Liturgy and United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.
  7. General Instruction of the Roman Missal . §83. The supplication Agnus Dei, is, as a rule, sung by the choir or cantor with the congregation responding; or it is, at least, recited aloud. This invocation accompanies the fraction and, for this reason, may be repeated as many times as necessary until the rite has reached its conclusion, the last time ending with the words dona nobis pacem ('grant us peace').
  8. Chandler, Charles (20 June 2015). "Christians in Ukraine After Festival of Hope: 'Great and Mighty Is Our God'". Billy Graham Evangelistic Association . Retrieved 4 April 2023.
  9. "Ukrainian choir composed of refugees celebrates Easter from Lviv". Fox News. 17 April 2022. Retrieved 4 April 2023.