The Litany of the Saints
(fols. 54v-56v)
The Litany (from the Greek litaneia) is a form of prayer consisting of supplications sung by a deacon, a priest, or cantors and to which people make fixed responses.
In the Western Church, The Litany of the Saints became part of the established rite during the Middle Ages. It was read on certain days of the week and at special occasions. It consists of:
- A series of biddings addressed to God, starting with the Greek Kyrie eleison (we beseech thee, Lord, hear us grant us, fol.54v, line 18), and the latin miserere nobis, (take pity on us fol. 55r, line 1).
- The biddings are followed by invocations for intercession (ora pro nobis, pray for us, fol. 55r, line 5) addressed to the Virgin, angels and saints (apostles, martyrs, confessors and virgins) individually or as groups. Starting fol. 55r, line 6, the invocations are abbreviated as ‘or’ and ‘ort’ at the end of the line, the latter for orate pro nobis, the plural form when more than one saint is mentioned.
- There are also invocations for deliverance (liberamus domine, deliver us, Lord, starting fol. 56r, line 7 and thereafter abbreviated to ‘l’).
The list of the saints included in a litany (or in another part of the book) can often provide clues on the origins of the manuscript, since the saints invoked varied locally and according to patronage. The list also increased in length steadily throughout the Middle Ages, until 1570, when papal license was mandated for the inclusion of saints not in official use in Rome.
In this Collectar, the list of saints confirms evidence of date and patronage gathered from other aspects of the book such as the decorative style, the script, and the colophon.
Concerning Patronage by the Cistercian Order
The last 5 individual saints who are evoked on fol. 55v, are of particular significance for the Cistercian monastic order.
Fol. 55v, line 15: St Malachy (1094-1148), archbishop of Armagh, Ireland, was important in Irish ecclesiastical affairs. As a reformer of the Irish church, he worked to bring it into subjection to Rome. He was a zealous promoter of monasticism. He was particularly important to the Cistercians. On a journey to Rome in early 1139, he stopped at Clairvaux to meet with St Bernard, which led to the foundation of the abbey of Mellifont in 1142 that became the model for other Cistercian abbeys built in Ireland. In the words of St. Bernard, "St. Malachy restored the discipline of the Church, grown lax during the intruded rule of a series of lay-abbots, and had the Roman Liturgy adopted." St. Bernard continues, "Having extirpated barbarism and re-established Christian morals, seeing all things tranquil, he began to think of his own peace."
He died in the arms of St. Bernard at Clairvaux in 1148 while on another trip to Rome. His cult, fostered by St. Bernard, was approved among the Cistercians in 1190 by Pope Clement III which was tantamount to a canonization (feast day early November; 2, 3, or 5).
Fol. 55v, line 6: St. William of St Thierry (1075?-1148), abbot of the Benedictine monastery of St Thierry, a good friend of St Bernard, and with a strong wish to join him at Clairvaux. St Bernard, however, wanted him to stay a Benedictine so that he could be influential in reforming the order. Ill and yearning for a more contemplative life, St. William resigned his abbacy in 1135 and retired to the Cistercian abbey at Signy.
His many writings include letters to St Bernard, texts on the contemplative life and the first three chapters of a Life of St Bernard to which other authors added after St Bernard’s death. In the 12th century his writings were often misattributed to St. Bernard.
Fol. 55v, line 17: St Benedict (480?-543?), the author of the Rule of Benedict, whose influence is at the origin of the Benedictine and Cistercian monastic orders (feast day March 21, recently changed to July 11).
Fol. 55v, line 18: St Bernard (1090-1153), an Abbot of Clairvaux, he was the most influential monastic reformer in the foundation of the Cistercians (canonized 1174; feast day August 20).
Fol. 55v, line 19: St. Robert refers to Robert of Molesme (1027-1110), the original founder of the abbey of Cîteaux, joined shortly thereafter by St Bernard (canonized in 1222; feast day April 29).
Litanies and dating
The saints included in the Litanies are sometimes helpful in dating a manuscript. Although not in the Litany, the inclusion of St Thomas Aquinas (fol.19v, lines 18-19) among the saints celebrated in the Divine Office (on March 7th) gives us a terminus post quem for dating the manuscript no earlier than 1323, the year in which this Dominican friar and Theologian was canonized.