Exsulted
The exsultet ( Latin "es jauchze", present subjunctive of exsultāre), also Praeconium paschale , is the Easter praise sung in the Roman Catholic and Evangelical Lutheran liturgy of the light celebration at the beginning of the Easter vigil . In him Christ is praised as the light of the world and his resurrection is linked to the divine plan of salvation revealed in the Old Testament .
Surname
The Exsultet (historical spelling: Exultet) takes its name from its Latin initial word . Since the reform of the Holy Week liturgy in 1955, the liturgical name has been Praeconium paschale (Latin for "Easter Announcement", "Easter Praise"). More rarely it is also referred to as Laus cerei (Latin for "praise of the candle"), Benedictio cerei (Latin for "blessing of the candle") or Exsultet iam angelica turba .
Origin and structure
The dating of the Latin text is controversial. Praise for the Easter candle is a practice in the 4th century ( criticized by Hieronymus , practiced by Augustine ). The oldest surviving text version comes from northern Italy or southern Gaul from the end of the 4th or beginning of the 5th century. The author is unknown; Echoes of the theology of Ambrose suggest an origin in Milan or its sphere of influence. The history of the origins of the Exsultet undoubtedly includes Byzantine liturgical models, especially the versified homilies sung there , which are also called Kontakia . In the Middle Ages, the Easter praise was written on parchment sheets that were pinned together, resulting in an Exsultet scroll of considerable length.
The exultet consists of two parts: a prologue (invitation to Easter joy and request for assistance, verses 1–5) and a main part, which is comparable to the prayer of Holy Mass . It is opened by a prefation (praise and thanks for salvation, verses 6-7) with introductory acclamations . This is followed by anamnesis (verses 8–19), epiclesis (offering praise, verses 20–21), a second anamnesis (praise of the candle, bee and Easter vigil, verses 22–25) and final requests (verses 26–27). The five "Haec sentences" of the first anamnesis (verses 8-12) place the Easter vigil in the context of salvation history , the following five "O-calls" name the paradox of redemption, including the motif of the "wonderful exchange" and the call O felix culpa . The melody of the main part corresponds to a solemn prefatory tone, the prologue has a characteristic free melody.
The Exsultet in the Roman Catholic Church
In the Roman Catholic Easter Vigil liturgy, the exultet is preferably performed by the deacon at the ambo .
Current versions of the text
In the post-conciliar form there is officially a long and a short version for the Exsultet. If the Easter praise is sung by a cantor who is not a cleric , the words in brackets are omitted. The long version reads:
Latin: Missale Romanum ³2002 | German: Missal |
---|---|
Exsultet iam angelica turba caelorum |
Rejoice, you choirs of angels, |
Gaudeat et tellus tantis irradiata fulgoribus |
Sing praises, you earth, outshone by the shine from on high! |
Laetetur et mater Ecclesia |
You too are happy, Mother Church, |
(Quapropter astantes vos, fratres carissimi, |
(Therefore I ask you, beloved brothers, |
Ut, qui me non meis meritis |
that he who, without my merit, out of pure grace, |
(V. Dominus vobiscum. |
(V: The Lord be with you. |
Vere dignum et iustum est, |
In truth, it is worthy and right
to praise |
Qui pro nobis aeterno Patri Adae debitum solvit |
He paid for us debt to the eternal father of Adam |
Haec sunt enim festa paschalia, |
Holy Easter has come, |
Haec nox est, |
This is the night that delivered |
Haec igitur nox est, |
This is the night |
Haec nox est, |
This is the night |
Haec nox est, |
This is the blessed night |
Nihil enim nobis nasci profuit, |
Indeed, we would have been born in vain if |
O mira circa nos tuae pietatis dignatio! |
|
O certe necessarium Adae peccatum, |
O truly salvific sin of Adam, |
O felix culpa, |
O happy guilt, |
O Vere beata nox, |
O truly blessed night, |
Haec nox est, de qua scriptum est |
This is the night of which it is written: |
Huius igitur sanctificatio noctis |
The splendor of this holy night |
In huius igitur noctis gratia, suscipe, sancte Pater, |
On this blessed night, holy father, |
Sed iam columnae huius praeconia novimus, |
So the praise of this precious candle has now sounded, |
Qui, licet sit divisus in partes, |
Even if its light has spread around the circle, it has |
Alitur enim liquantibus ceris, |
Because the flame is nourished by the melting wax that |
O Vere beata nox, |
O truly blessed night that |
Oramus ergo te, Domine, |
This is what we ask of you, O Lord: |
Flammas eius lucifer matutinus inveniatili |
It shines until the morning star appears, |
The short version is:
Latin: Missale Romanum ³2002 | German: Missal |
---|---|
Exsúltet iam angélica turba cælórum: |
Rejoice, you choirs of angels, |
Gáudeat et tellus tantis irradiáta fulgóribus: |
Sing praises, you earth, outshone by the shine from on high! |
Lætétur et mater ecclésia, |
You too are happy, Mother Church, |
(V. Dóminus vobíscum. |
(V: The Lord be with you. |
Hæc nox est, |
This is the blessed night |
In huius ígitur noctis grátia, |
On this blessed night, holy father, |
Before the liturgical reform (1970)
Before the liturgical reform in the course of the Second Vatican Council, the exsultet concluded with an intercession for the clergy, namely the Pope and the local bishop, as well as for the imperator , i.e. the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire . Originally this part of the Exsultet was as follows:
Latin: until 1955 | German: until 1955 |
---|---|
Precamur ergo te, Domine: |
We ask you now, O Lord: |
After Franz II was the last German-Roman emperor until 1806, it was no longer possible to insert a name for the ruler; In the course of the reform of the Holy Week liturgy, the following general formulation was inserted in 1955:
Latin: from 1955 | German: from 1955 |
---|---|
Precamur ergo te, Domine: |
We ask you now, O Lord: |
Wording in the Lutheran Church
The Exsultet is sung in the Independent Evangelical Lutheran Church with the following wording by the cantor or pastor:
Rejoice now, you angels; exult you heavenly armies; bright tones, trumpet of salvation, praise the victory of the eternal king. Let the earth rejoice too, illuminated by the radiant light and shining in the splendor of the eternal King; see how the darkness has departed from it at every end! May our mother, the Church, rejoice in the splendid splendor of such light; May the joyful hymns of their children fill the house of our God. Therefore I ask you, who are present at the glow of the Easter light: Call with me to the mercy of Almighty God, that he may fill us with the clarity of his light and graciously accept our hymn of praise. Through Jesus Christ, his Son, our Lord, who lives and rules with him and the Holy Spirit for ever and ever. Amen
- V: The Lord be with you
- A: And with your mind
- V: Hearts aloft
- A: We raise them to the Lord.
- V: Let us give thanks, Lord, our God.
- A: That is worthy and right.
V: It is truly worthy and right to praise the invisible God, the Almighty Father and his only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord from the bottom of the heart and to praise with a jubilant voice. He paid Adam's debt to Heavenly Father and erased the debt with his holy blood, shed out of love. This is the feast of Easter when the true Passover lamb is sacrificed: Christ, whose blood marks the doors of the believers and protects the people from death and destruction. This is the night when God delivered his people out of Egypt and led them dry-footed through the waters of the sea. This is the night when Christ tore the bonds of death and rose from hell victorious. Oh how wonderfully your mercy has graced us, we would have been born in vain if the Redeemer had not saved us! O inconceivable grace of your love: to redeem the servant, you gave the son. O blissful guilt that was honored by such a Savior! This is the night when Christ drives out iniquity and washes away sin; innocence gives joy to the fallen and the mourning. On this night of grace, accept, Lord Holy Father, the sacrifice of our thanks that we offer you by the light of this candle. Let this bright light drive away the darkness of the night; it continues to shine in undiminished splendor until the morning star appears, the true morning star that will not set in eternity: your son, our Lord Jesus Christ, who rose from the dead and lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit from eternity to eternity,
A: Amen
literature
- Clara Vasseur OSB: Rediscovering the old: The rich symbolism of the Easter candle . Beuroner-Kunstverlag, Beuron 2007, ISBN 978-3-87071-160-3 [incl. CD with recording of the Exsultet Latin and German as well as other works].
- Guido Fuchs and Hans M. Weikmann: The Exsultet. History, theology and design of the Easter light thanksgiving . 2nd Edition. Pustet, Regensburg 2005, ISBN 3-7917-1306-X .
- Norbert Lohfink : The Exsultet German. Critical analysis and redesign. (PDF; 155 kB) In: Georg Baulik, Norbert Lohfink: Easter Vigil and Old Testament. Studies and suggestions. With an exsultet setting by Erwin Bücken (Österreichische Biblische Studien 22; Lang, Frankfurt 2003), pp. 82–120.
- Thomas Forrest Kelly: The Exultet in Southern Italy . Oxford 1996, ISBN 0-19-509527-8 .
- G. Cavallo: Exultet, rotoli liturgici del medioevo meridionale . IPZS, Rome 1994.
- Independent Evangelical Lutheran Church : The celebration of Easter vigil . Groß Oesingen 1993, ISBN 3-86147-099-3 (liturgical booklet with notes and sequence).
- Heinrich purpose: Easter praise and baptism. Studies on the structure and theology of the Exsultet and other Easter preconies with special consideration of the baptism motifs. Lang, Frankfurt / M. u. a. 1986 [dissertation] ISBN 3-8204-8216-4 .
- Hansjörg Auf der Maur : The Easter light thanksgiving. In: Liturgisches Jahrbuch , No. 21, 1971, pp. 38–52.
Web links
- Texts in Latin and German
- Exsultet sung by Br. René Dorer OFM, Telfs
- Sung Exsultet in the version by Norbert Lohfink SJ (translation) and Erwin Bücken SJ (setting). (MP3; 9.9 MB)
- Evangelical text with notes and explanations (PDF; 410 kB)
- Explanations by Alfred Ehrensperger for the Swiss Liturgy Commission ( Memento from March 31, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 98 kB)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Guido Fuchs and Hans M. Weikmann: The Exsultet. History, theology and design of the Easter light thanksgiving . Pustet, 2nd edition, Regensburg 2005, p. 16.
- ^ Edward Foley, Mark Paul Bangert: Worship Music . Liturgical Press, 2000, ISBN 978-0-8146-5889-5 , p. 110
- ^ Friedrich Hauck, Gerhard Schwinge: Theological specialist and foreign dictionary. With a list of abbreviations from theology and church and a compilation of lexical reference works . Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2002, ISBN 978-3-525-50146-7 , p. 160
- ↑ Laus cerei among other things also: Peter C. Bower: The Companion to the Book of Common Worship . Geneva Press, 2003, ISBN 978-0-664-50232-4 , pp. 139, pp. 139
- ↑ Guido Fuchs, Hans M. Weikmann: The Exsultet. History, theology and design of the Easter light thanksgiving . 2nd Edition. Pustet, Regensburg 2005, p. 19 f., P. 103
- ↑ Missale Romanum ex decreto Sacrosancti Oecumenici Concilii Vaticani II instauratum auctoritate Pauli PP. VI promulgatum Ioannis Pauli PP. II cura recognitum. Editio typica tertia 2002. pp. 342-347.
- ↑ Missal : for the dioceses of the German-speaking area; authentic edition for liturgical use; Holy Week and Easter Octave; supplemented by the celebration of baptism and confirmation as well as the consecration of the oils. Edited on behalf of the Bishops' Conferences of Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Solothurn u. a. 1996, ISBN 978-3-451-23926-7 .
- ↑ Missale Romanum ex decreto Sacrosancti Oecumenici Concilii Vaticani II instauratum auctoritate Pauli PP. VI promulgatum Ioannis Pauli PP. II cura recognitum. Editio typica tertia 2002.
- ↑ Missal : for the dioceses of the German-speaking area; authentic edition for liturgical use; Holy Week and Easter Octave; supplemented by the celebration of baptism and confirmation as well as the consecration of the oils. Edited on behalf of the Bishops' Conferences of Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Solothurn u. a. 1996, ISBN 978-3-451-23926-7 .
- ↑ The complete Roman Missal in Latin and German. Following the missal by Anselm Schott OSB, published by the Benedictines of the Beuron Archabbey. Herder Verlag, Freiburg / Basel / Vienna 1963, pp. 403f.
- ↑ The celebration of the Easter Vigil , ed. from the Independent Evangelical Lutheran Church, Groß Oesingen 2003, pp. 7–11.