May 6, 2005

Supra Quae

Missale Romanum 1962

Supra quæ propítio ac seréno vultu respícere dignéris: et accépta habére, sícuti accépta habére dignátus es múnera púeri tui justi Abel, et sacrifícium Patriárchæ nostri Abrahæ: et quod tibi óbtulit summus sacérdos tuus Melchísedech, sanctum sacrifícium, immaculátam hóstiam.

And this do Thou deign to regard with gracious and kindly attention and hold acceptable, as Thou didst deign to accept the offerings of Abel, Thy just servant, and the sacrifice of Abraham our patriarch, and that which Thy chief priest Melchisedech, offered unto Thee, a holy sacrifice of thanks, and a spotless Victim. 1

Alternate translations:

Upon which do Thou vouchsafe to look with favorable and gracious countenance, and accept them, as Thou did vouchsafe to accept the gifts of Thy just servant Abel, and the sacrifice of our Patriarch Abraham, and that which Thy Highpriest Melchisedech offered unto Thee, a holy Sacrifice, an unspotted Victim.2

Vouchsafe to look upon them with a gracious and tranquil countenance, and to accept them, even as Thou wast pleased to accept the offerings of Thy just servant Abel and the sacrifice of Abraham, our patriarch, and that which Melchisedech, Thy high priest, offered up to Thee, a holy sacrifice, a Victim without blemish. 3

Missale Romanum 1970

Supra quæ propítio ac seréno vultu respícere dignéris: et accépta habére, sícuti accépta habére dignátus es múnera púeri tui justi Abel, et sacrifícium Patriárchæ nostri Abrahæ: et quod tibi óbtulit summus sacérdos tuus Melchísedech, sanctum sacrifícium, immaculátam hóstiam.

Look with favor on these offerings and accept them as once you accepted the gifts of your servant Abel, the sacrifice of Abraham, our father in faith, and the bread and wine offered by your priest Melchisedech. 4

Of the most striking importance of this prayer is what I found conveyed by it in Rev. Dr. Gihr's explanation: "sanctam sacrificium, immaculatam hostiam is not in apposition with supra quae gramatically and therefore it refers not to the Eucharistic sacrifice but to quod ... obtulit summus sacerdos tuus Melchisedech."5 This prayer refers to the Old Testament prefigurement of the Eucharistic Sacrifice - the offering of bread and wine which Melchisedech offered at the foot of Mt. Moriah. This entirely astounded me, given as I was according to my understanding of the text in the Father Lasance missal and the My Sunday Missal translations as understanding these same phrases as referring to the Eucharistic Sacrifice.

There are three prefigurements given in this prayer. Abel offered a lamb and was himself innocently slain. Abraham offered Isaac, whose blood was not shed. Spiritually he sacrificed Isaac but from God Abraham received him from death for a parable (Heb 11:19) that is, as a figure of the Risen Savior who offers himself as a Lamb as it were slain (Abel) (Rev 5:6) upon the altar in an unbloody manner (Isaac) under the species of bread and wine (Melchisedech).

Mistakes given in the ICEL translation are plentiful. They translate summus sacerdos tuus as 'your priest' instead of 'your high priest'. This obscures the fulfillment of typology between Melchisedech and Christ. This fulfillment is one of the main arguments which St. Paul uses in the Epistle to the Hebrews where he argues for the efficacious sacrifice of the Cross by the High Priest Jesus Christ who ever-liveth to make intercessions for us before God the Father. This symbolism is rich in scripture and tradition upon which the Church Fathers have drawn inspiration for many commentaries. The translation of Patriarchae nostri as 'father in faith' while indicative of scriptural allusions is not literal and as in previous texts I prefer the literal. In the translation for sanctum sacrificium, hostiam immaculatam the ICEL has chosen 'the bread and wine' apparently in an attempt to make a more visceral connection to the actual offering of Melchisedech. However, such recourse to avoid the confusion of previous translations serves also to obscure how Melchisedech's offerings were sacrificial and hence how our own spiritual sacrifices and offerings are as well. We offer to God the Father the one Victim of the Cross and also our own spiritual sacrifices in union with the priest and the One both offering and offered through the priest's ministry. Neither were any of the sacrifices offered in the Old Testament of any worth except as they were accepted in looking forward to the one true sacrifice of the Cross. Similarly our own daily sacrifices are not things which are worthy of God but which still delight him with regards to the rememberance of the one true sacrifice of the Cross and especially during the Mass where that one sacrifice is made mystically present upon the Altar.




1 My Sunday Missal, Rt. Rev. Msgr. Joseph F. Stedman Director of the Confraternity of the Precious Blood, Confraternity of the Precious Blood, 1961. page 52-3.

2 The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass: Dogmatically, Litugically and Ascetically Explained, Rev. Dr. Nicholas Gihr, 1877 1st edition, 1897 6th edition, translated from German ©1902, printed 1924, page 647.

3 The New Roman Missal, Rev F. X. Lasance, Christian Book Club of America, 1993 “Faithful reprint of the 1945 Copyright edition of the Fr. Lasance New Roman Missal with appendix and changes of feasts promulgated under the pontificate of His Holiness Pope Pius XII, page 784.

4 Daily Roman Missal, Rev. James Socias, Midwest Theological Forum, 2003, pages 760-61.

5 The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, Gihr, pg. 660, footnote 1.

Yet Again Another URL Change!

I've recently begun taking ecclesiastical latin lessons from a parishoner in my dioceses. After looking over my site Dr. Zoritas has informed me that the site should be sanctaliturgia instead of sanctamliturgiam. Apparently it is more proper to give as the title the words in the nominative case. Therefore, I am changing the web-page to sanctaliturgia.blogspot.com