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Tag Archives: prayer

Medieval Latin Hymn Fragment: “…bone now from my bones…”

08 Saturday Dec 2018

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Adam, alphabet, antiphonal, bone, Cain, call and response, Christ, creation, Divine Office, Ecclesiasticus, Elizabeth Peterson, Eve, Feast of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Genesis 2, Hebrew, hymns, James T Svendsen, Jerusalem Bible, Jesus, Latin, leaf, matins, parchment, Plainchant, Portugal, prayer, Proverbs 31, Psalm 21, Spain, The University of Utah, Utah Museum of Fine Arts, Wisdom, Word of God


V. Os nu(n)c de ossibus
meis et caro de carn(e)
mea. R. Fortitudo
et decor indume(n)tum
eius: byssus et purpura…

V. (You are) bone now from my bones
and flesh from my flesh.
Strength
and beauty (are her clothing:
silken linen and purple…


vestis illius D(o)m(in)e
In sole posuit tab-
ernaculu(m) R.V. Liberasti me Do(min)e
ex ore leomis all’a= Alleluia
R. E. a cornibus
unicorniu(m) humi-
littem mea(m) all’a=Alleluia
Ego ex ore (Altisimi prodivi)

are her vestment O Lord
In the sun (on high) he has placed
his tabernacle [or, tent] V. You have freed me, Lord
from the mouth of the lion Alleluia
R. And my humility from the horns
of the unicorns Alleluia
(I came forth) from the mouth (of the Most High)

These hymns were sung at matins on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary…celebrated on December 8. Many people believe that the feast celebrates Jesus’ conception, but in fact it celebrates Mary’s Immaculate Conception; the fact that Mary was, from the very first moment of her existence (her conception), without sin, and chosen to be the Mother of Jesus. The verses are in antiphonal Plainchant, a pattern of verse and response much like hymns sung today with “call and response.” At matins, a…part of the Divine Office sung early in the morning, a priest or cantor would sing the verse and the choir would respond. The first verse “Os nunc de ossibus” comes from Genesis (2, 23) where Adam exclaims upon the creation of Eve: “This at last is bone from my bones and flesh from my flesh” (Jerusalem Bible). Mary is in some ways a counter-Eve, immaculately conceived and the mother of Christ rather than the mother of Cain and cause of expulsion from the garden. The response “Fortitudo et decor” comes from the last chapter of Proverbs (31, 25) which is the “Alphabetic Poem on the Perfect Wife,” a chapter in which each verse begins with a consecutive letter of the Hebrew alphabet. This verse begins with the Hebrew letter “ain.” The verse “Ex ore prodivi” comes from chapter 24 of Ecclesiasticus and the Discourse or Eulogy of Wisdom, the pivotal chapter in the book. Here personified Wisdom speaks of her own creation, and she is identified with the Word of God hovering over the abyss in Genesis. The verse “Liberasti me” is a variation of prayer for aid and salvation from “the virtuous man” of Psalm 21 (22) where he prays in the imperative “Salva me ex ore leonis.”

~Transcription, translation, and commentary by James T. Svendsen, associate professor emeritus, World Languages and Cultures, The University of Utah

MS chant frag. 4 — Parchment leaf from an Antiphonal, 16th c Spain/Portugal

~Description by Elizabeth Peterson, associate professor, Dept. of Art & Art History, The University of Utah, from Paging Through Medieval Lives, a catalog for an exhibition held November 2, 1997 through January 4, 1998 at the Utah Museum of Arts.

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Book of the Week — Prayers Written at Vailima

03 Monday Dec 2018

Posted by rarebooks in Book of the Week

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Allwyn O'Mara, Bembo, Bonnie Thompson Norman, California, Catherine Kanner, Fanny Stevenson, french-fold, Hiromi-Sansui, letterpress, linoleum cuts, Pacific Palisades, poet, prayer, Robert Louis Stevenson, Samoa, Scottish, The Melville Press, The Windowpane Press, Vailima

“Deliver us from fear and favor; from mean hopes and cheap pleasures. Have mercy on each in his deficiency; let him not be cast down; support the stumbling on the way, and give at last rest to the weary.” — Robert Louis Stevenson

Prayers Written at Vailima
Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894)
Pacific Palisades, CA: The Melville Press, 1999
PR5488 P75 1999

In 1889, Robert Louis Stevenson moved his family to Vailima in the South Sea island of Samoa. The Scottish novelist and poet was in failing health. His doctors hoped that a change in climate would help. Stevenson believed in the power of prayer and composed many of his own. He held evening prayer services in his home, attended by his family members and his Samoan servants. The Samoans had a strong tradition of closing each day with prayer and hymns.

Stevenson lived for another four years, dying on December 3rd. In 1910, Fanny Stevenson had her husband’s prayers published as an ornate gift book, to which she added her own introduction. There is a morning prayer and two evening prayers, a prayer for time and a prayer for rain, a prayer for separation, a prayer for friends and a prayer for family, a prayer for Sunday, a prayer for self-blame and a prayer for self-forgetfulness, and a prayer for joy.

In this edition, both book and jacket have a delicate, handmade quality that reflects the subject matter of native prayers in a far corner of the world. Designed by Catherine Kanner, with her linoleum cuts used directly to print the many illustrations. The text was composed using handset Bembo types and printed letterpress by Bonnie Thompson Norman of The Windowpane Press. The paper used is natural white Hiromi-Sansui paper in the 24 gsm weight, in French-folded signatures. The binding design is a collaboration between the book’s designer and Allwyn O’Mara, the binder.

Edition of two hundred numbered copies. Rare Books copy is no. 95, signed by the designer.

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Rare Books Goes to Leiden!

13 Wednesday Sep 2017

Posted by rarebooks in Publication, Recommended Reading

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amulet, Arabic, Auburn University, Brill, condolence, Fayoum, ḥadīth, history, Islam, J. Willard Marriott Library, Khaled Younes, Leiden, Leiden University, letters, Matt Malczycki, papyrology, papyrus, prayer, Quranic, rare books, Sobhi Bouderbala, Special Collections, Sylvie Denoix, The University of Utah, University of Sadat City

ArabicPapyrologyCover
New Frontiers of Arabic Papyrology: Arabic and Multilingual Texts from Early Islam, edited by Sobhi Bouderbala, Sylvie Denoix, and Matt Malczycki, Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 2017

Papers presented at the fifth conference of the International Society for Arabic Papyrology (ISAP), held in Tunisia in 2012.

The cover of this volume features P.Utah.Ar.inv.342 from the Arabic Papyrus, Parchment, and Paper Collection, Rare Books, Special Collections, J. Willard Marriott Library, The University of Utah. The piece is a Quranic amulet on papyrus.

Two of the ten papers discuss pieces from our collection:

“Arabic Letters of Condolence on Papryrus” by Khaled Younes

Papyrus338r
second/eighth century
prob. Fayoum

‘Indeed we belong to God and indeed to Him we will return.’

In this letter, the sender writes to console the addressee on the death of two men.

Khaled Younes received his PhD from Leiden University in 2013. He is a lecturer of Islamic history and civilization at the University of Sadat City.


“A Comparison of P. Utah. Ar. inv. 205 to the Canonical Hadith Collections: The Written Raw Material of Early Hadith Study” by Matt Malczycki

 

Papyrus205rPapyrus205v

second/eighth century

‘When you sit after the two prostrations you say the profession of faith, being very careful not to add anything to it or leave anything out until you finish your profession of faith. When you finish, say what you wish. Verily, the good words are great!’

Instructions for prayer.

Matt Malczycki received his PhD from The University of Utah in 2006. He is associate professor in the Department of History at Auburn University.

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Book of the week – Preghiera alla vergine…

02 Monday May 2016

Posted by rarebooks in Book of the Week

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Antiochia, aristocracy, art, Cappadocia, Christ in Majesty, Christian, church, divine, dragon, Emperoro Diocletian, evangelists, facsimile, faith, folios, fresco, George of Cappadocia, Georgius, Goreme, Gothic rotunda, Gothic semi-Italic, holy, Il Bulino edizion d'arte, illuminated manuscript, illuminations, legends, Margherita, message, miniatures, Modena, monastery, monastery of Santa Maria Maddalena, mother, Olibrio, Pisanello, prayer, prefect, preghiera, rebellion, Roman, Roman Empire, Saint Anastasia, Saint Christopher, Saint George of Cappadocia, Saint Margherita of Antiocha, shepherdess, Syrian, Tiziano, torture, Turkey, vellum, vernacular, Verona, Veronese, Virgin Mary, virgine

SaintGeorge

Preghiera alla Vergine…
Modena: Il Bulino edizioni d’arte, 2007

Facsimile. This illuminated manuscript belonged to a young woman of the Veronese aristocracy. Produced on vellum in the second half of the thirteenth century, it is illustrated throughout with miniatures and consists of forty-two folios, or eighty-four pages. The first two folios are written in a Gothic semi-italic hand. The text is a prayer to the Virgin Mary and one of the oldest known prayers written in the Veronese vernacular.

The rest of the manuscript consists of the legends of Saint George of Cappadocia and Saint Margherita of Antiochia. The script for the legends is Gothic rotunda. At the end of the manuscript are two full page illuminations: Christ in Majesty surrounded by the four evangelists, and Saint Christopher.

A note of ownership indicates that the manuscript was entrusted to the Monastery of Santa Maria Maddalena in 1350. This monastery thrived between 1200 and 1300 as a harbor for young women.

Graphic miniatures illustrate the story of the tribulations of George of Cappadocia, from the time he declared to the Emperor Diocletian his Christian faith, until, after seven years of torture, he was beheaded for not recanting. The story ends with an illumination for which this legend is best known: St George astride a horse, piercing with a lance a dragon led on a leash by a princess. In 1435 the painter Pisanello used this subject on his fresco in the church of Saint Anastasia in Verona. Georgius (ca. 275-23 April 303), born of a Roman army officer from Cappadocia (present-day Turkey) and a Syrian mother, served as an officer in the Roman army.

The legend of the holy Margherita, a shepherdess of Antiochia, tells the story of the prefect Olibrio, who falls in love with Margherita. Her refusal of his advances was deemed an act of rebellion against the Roman Empire. Margherita was tortured and beheaded. Her story became a favorite subject of Christian art, in both the East (tenth century frescos adorn a church in Goreme, Cappadocia) and in the West, including a painting by Tiziano in 1550.

The manuscript is an exceptional example of early interconnection between text and illustration, as small paintings weave in and out amidst the written word. This interplay of text and image was used as an instrument in helping the viewer, if not the reader, comprehend the divine message.

alluNeedSingleLine

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The Winds Have Welcomed You With Softness

17 Tuesday Mar 2015

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Balloon Race Scholarship Committee, Black Rock Press, Irish, Nevada, prayer, Reno, University of Nevada

Z232.5-B4-W57-1999The Winds Have Welcomed You With Softness
Reno, NV: Black Rock Press, 1999
Z232.5 B4 W57 1999

The “Balloonist’s Prayer” is believed to have been adapted from an old Irish sailors’ prayer. Printed at the Black Rock Press for the Balloon Race Scholarship Committee of the University of Nevada, Reno, September 1999.

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