Note: The Great Priest, referred to in the Antiphon, relates to Christ, the High Priest, in whose place the Bishop stands.
Zephyrinus noted that Fr Timothy Finigan, Our Lady of the Rosary, Blackfen, used the term Ecce Sacerdos Magnus, in one of his 2008 Postings, referencing the, then, Bishop McMahon of Nottingham, on his excellent Blog, THE HERMENEUTIC OF CONTINUITY
It was announced this week that Bishop McMahon OP has been appointed the new Archbishop of Liverpool.
Ad Multos Annos.
Bishop McMahon OP
at Merton, Oxford,
2008.
Photo from
Ecce Sacerdos Magnus,
by Anton Bruckner.
Mass of the Most Precious Blood
of Our Lord Jesus Christ,
Westminster Cathedral,
London, 2010.
The mosaic, that captures
Pope Benedict XVI's attention,
is that of Dewi Sant,
(Welsh for Saint David).
Available on YouTube at
Gregorian Chant
for the Festival of a Confessor Bishop.
Date: 1895.
Source: Liber Responsorialis pro Festis I. Classis
et Communi Sanctorum juxta Ritum Monasticum
Author: Monastery of Solesmes.
(Wikimedia Commons)
The Responsory "Ecce sacerdos magnus" for the Festival of a Confessor Bishop,
from the Liber Responsorialis juxta Ritum Monasticum, Solesmes, 1895, page 194.
Since it is the Second Responsory of its Nocturn, it doesn't have a half-doxology.
The Responsory ends with the repetition of the Partial Respond.
Ecce Sacerdos Magnus.
Available on YouTube at
Ecce sacerdos magnus is an Antiphon and a Responsory from the Common of Confessor Bishops in the Liturgy of the Hours and in the Graduale Romanum, and the Epistle in their proper Mass.
Its words are: Ecce sacerdos magnus, qui in diebus suis, placuit Deo, which means: "Behold the great Priest, who, in his days, pleased God".
In certain cases, those words are followed by: Et inventus est iustus (meaning: "And has been found just").
In others, the Response is: Non est inventus similis illi, qui conservaret legem excelsi, which means: "No-one has been found to be like Him in the keeping of the Laws of the Most High).
The following is a complete Text and translation of a different version, which may be used at the Procession of a Bishop at a Solemn Celebration of Ordination:
Ecce sacerdos magnus, qui in diébus suis plácuit Deo: Ideo jure jurando fecit illum Dóminus crescere in plebem suam. Benedictiónem ómnium géntium dedit illi, et testaméntum suum confirmávit super caput ejus. Ideo jure jurando fecit illum Dóminus crescere in plebem suam. Gloria patri et filio et spiritui sancto . . .
"Behold a great Priest, who, in His days, pleased God: Therefore, by an oath, the Lord made Him to increase among His people. To Him He gave the Blessing of all nations, and confirmed His covenant upon His head. Therefore, by an oath, the Lord made Him to increase among His people. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit . . ."
The Priest mentioned in the Hymn refers to Christ, the High Priest, in whose place the Bishop stands.
The Hymn has often been set to music by composers, including Anton Bruckner, Jules Van Nuffel and Edward Elgar.
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