Procession And Holy Mass Of The Greater Litanies (25 April). Procession Et Sainte Messe Des Litanies Majeures.

Procession And Holy Mass Of The Greater Litanies (25 April).

Procession Et Sainte Messe Des Litanies Majeures.

The Church of Saint-Eugène - Sainte-Cécile, Paris.

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Procession of The Greater Litanies: Pope Saint Gregory the Great has a vision of Saint Michael the Archangel on Castel Sant'Angelo sheathing his sword, marking the end of the plague epidemic in Rome. The Clergy carry in Procession the miraculous icon Salus Populi Romani.

Illustration: SCHOLA SAINT CECILE

The following Text is from SCHOLA SAINT CECILE

“De Jerusalem exeunt” – First Parisian Processional Antiphon for the Procession of The Greater Litanies on 25 April.

By: Henri de Villiers

In Litaniæ Majores

In Processione, Prima Antiphona

De Jerusalem * exéunt relíquiæ et salvátio de monte Zion; proptérea protectio erit huic civitáti, et salvábitur propter David fámulum ejus.

Alleluia.

From Jerusalem come the relics, and the salvation of Mount Zion; also this city will be protected and saved because of David, his servant.

Alleluia.

Source: Parisian Missal from the old background of Notre-Dame de Paris (c. 1225) – F-Pn lat. 1112 f°250 v° ( CAD n°1543 ).

This Antiphon, from “De Jerusalem exeunt”, is part of a large series of Processional Antiphons which were sung in Rome during the Procession of The Greater Litanies, which are held on 26 April.

Not having been recorded in the Missale Romanum of Pope Saint Pius V, they have in fact fallen into disuse, despite their great antiquity.

The custom of Paris has preserved a certain number of them and began the procession of The Greater Litanies with this one, “De Jerusalem exeunt”.

These Antiphons were transcribed both in the Missal and in the Processional, they were used not only for The Greater Litanies, Celebrated on 25 April concomitantly with the Feast of Saint Mark, but also for The Lesser Litanies, that is to say three days of Rogation (Rogation Monday, Rogation Tuesday, Rogation Wednesday) immediately preceding the Feast Day of The Ascension.

These Antiphons were called in The Middle Ages “Litaniales Antiphons” – “Antiphonæ Lætanialis” or even “Antiphons of Mercy” – “Antiphonæ de Misericordia” . They most likely date back to the time of Pope Saint Gregory the Great (6th-Century A.D. ) or even earlier.

Originally, and before seeing their use specialising in Mediæval manuscripts for The Greater Litanies and The Lesser Litanies, they were used in Rome for all Processions, beginning with those that took place every day of Station between the Collect Church and that of the Station.

The text of our Antiphon “De Jerusalem exeunt” recalls that the Relics of the Saints must be carried to the Processions of The Greater Litanies and The  Lesser Litanies (The Rogations Days), as can be seen on all the graphic representations of these Ceremonies.