Ecce Sacerdos
  • canadashcanadash
    Posts: 1,501
    We are hosting a Mass for a number of parishes for our Cardinal elect. I was asked to sing the Ecce Sacerdos after the processional hymn, as an introit, but Ecce is the gradual. I was thinking of using Stainer's Ecce, but a hymn following a hymn seems a bit silly. The processional hymn is being mandated by the office of the Cardinal, so not much choice there. Do I suggest we use the proper introit, or do I just have a schola sing the refrain of the Ecce. I'm becoming more confused as time goes on.
  • Paul_D
    Posts: 133
    “Behold, a great priest” is given as an Entrance Antiphon (2nd choice) in the Roman Missal for the Common of Pastors. Missal antiphons are a great mystery, but here is a perfectly valid justification to consider the text as an introit option.

    HOWEVER, I hope you are NOT planning to use the Mass for the Common of Pastors, unless, God forbid, the Cardinal is going to be snatched up to heaven before your Mass takes place. These Masses are to honour the saints, and introductory rubric no. 4 specifically cautions against mixing things up.

    The correct Mass to use for your event is from the Masses for various needs and occasions, for the Church, no. 2 for the Bishop. The introit should be Dominus fortitudo plebis suae.

    While there is a (small-t) tradition of singing an Ecce sacerdos for a living priest, I think it is very telling that in the rites of the Church, this is not done. I recommend an end to the (small-t) tradition. Sing in honour of the saints, sing praise and thanks to God above all. I think there is a bit of lex orandi, lex credendi at stake here.
    Have a splendid celebration in honour of your new cardinal, an exemplary man of the Church – would that be in the proto-diocese of Pickering, perhaps?
    Thanked by 1canadash
  • Mark P.
    Posts: 248
    The Ecce sacerdos of Maximillian Stadler screams out "processional." Maybe the less triumphalistic setting by Victoria would be better in the introit position after a processional hymn.
    Thanked by 1canadash
  • canadashcanadash
    Posts: 1,501
    Lex orandi, lex credendi... Thank you. I have learned a good deal (after checking my thesaurus and Latin dictionary). I keep hearing the phrase "we should avoid celebrating ourselves" so I suppose your direction to avoid Ecce for a living priest is from the same line of reasoning. Many of our priests are going to Rome, so I certainly hope God isn't planning any snatching!
  • JDE
    Posts: 588
    Why not sing "Sacerdos et Pontifex" instead? That's prescribed in the EF for the "Solemn Reception of a Bishop." There is also a very nice setting of the text by Lorenzo Perosi for organ and mixed voices (A/T, but works with SA/TB). I have a PDF of that I can send you.
    Thanked by 1canadash
  • Jeffrey Quick
    Posts: 2,086
    The small-t tradition was alive and well at St. James Anglican Catholic when I was there; after the reception of the bishop at the door, we'd do the Elgar Ecce sacerdos. So I found the liturgical niceties here quite interesting. I would tend to invoke the "Shelve the books upside down" rule here (As we say at work, "If library administration tells us to shelve the books upside down, we'll do it, because we need our jobs."), but certainly polite remonstration with facts marshalled would be in order.
    Thanked by 1canadash
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