ASPERGES ME: Is it used in the Novus Ordo Mass ?
  • RagueneauRagueneau
    Posts: 2,592
    FROM ICEL

    These two antiphons are in the Missal in Appendix II (Rite for the Blessing and Sprinkling of Water) for use Outside Easter Season. They have not been changed recently. ICEL did not do a musical setting of either since the texts do not appear with chant in the Missal.

    Antiphon 1 • Ps 50: 9
    Sprinkle me with hyssop, O Lord, and I shall be cleansed; wash me and I shall be whiter than snow.

    Antiphon 2 • Ez 36: 25-26
    I will pour clean water upon you, and you will be made clean of all your impurities, and I shall give you a new spirit, says the Lord.

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  • chonakchonak
    Posts: 9,157
    Appendix II of the 2002 Missale has the rite of sprinkling blessed water, including the Asperges.
  • Mark P.
    Posts: 248
    It takes the place of the Penetential Rite in the Novus Ordo. After the Entrance Rite (including incensation) and greeting, the celebrant prays over the water and then sprinkles the congregation with it. On Sundays without a Gloria, the Opening Prayer (Collect) then is proclaimed. For Sundays when the Gloria is sung, a prayer proceeds the Gloria and concludes the Sprinkling Rite.
    Thanked by 2ClergetKubisz Carol
  • RagueneauRagueneau
    Posts: 2,592
    OK, awesome. Can anyone provide the new ICEL text for this? THANKS!
  • RagueneauRagueneau
    Posts: 2,592
    Also, can someone provide what the ROMAN MISSAL APPENDIX II says about the Sprinkling Rite? What chant is prescribed, if any? Kyrie? Asperges? Suitable chant?
  • chonakchonak
    Posts: 9,157
    I have it in Latin; but you want the English, right?
  • RagueneauRagueneau
    Posts: 2,592
    chonak, not just any English, but the NEW ICEL version.
  • If I didn't misunderstand him, Aristotle Esguerra told me that ICEL had declined to make a musical setting of the Asperges, which is rather sad. I don't know how to access the new ICEL English text of it either, since, to my knowledge, the full text is not yet available.
  • chonakchonak
    Posts: 9,157
    Let us know if you get any tips; I haven't been able to locate it via search engines. Also, the "Grey Book" or "White Book" PDFs released don't contain it (and they wouldn't be 100% reliable anyway). If all else fails, I suppose you might ask any officials of ICEL whom you happen to know.
  • Mark P.
    Posts: 248
    The lame duck version of the Sacramentary says about the chant to be sung during the sprinkling: "Meanwhile, an antiphon or another appropriate song is sung."

    I know this isn't helpful but the good news (for me) is that I found my favorite choral recessional when I opened the Sacramentary: "Blest Creator of the Light" by Richard Keys Biggs.
  • newmanbenewmanbe
    Posts: 76
    By Flowing Waters has this, which I imagine to be straight from the NRSV:

    Lord, cleanse me from my sin, and I will be purer than gushing water; Lord, scour and purge me and I shall be brighter than snow.


    There may not be an official translation; it is just a psalm verse.
  • Paul F. Ford
    Posts: 857
    Lord, cleanse me from my sin, and I will be purer than gushing water; Lord, scour and purge me and I shall be brighter than snow.

    Is my translation. It was approved for liturgical use by the USCCB/BCDW [then BCL] on July 2, 2003.
  • RagueneauRagueneau
    Posts: 2,592
    FROM ICEL

    These two antiphons are in the Missal in Appendix II (Rite for the Blessing and Sprinkling of Water) for use Outside Eastertime. They have not been changed recently. ICEL did not do a musical setting of either since the texts do not appear with chant in the Missal.

    Antiphon 1

    Ps 50: 9
    Sprinkle me with hyssop, O Lord, and I shall be cleansed; wash me and I shall be whiter than snow.

    Antiphon 2 Ez 36: 25-26

    I will pour clean water upon you, and you will be made clean of all your impurities, and I shall give you a new spirit, says the Lord.
  • CharlesW
    Posts: 11,933
    As a practical matter, the only time I ever see that sprinkling rite is during Easter. Does anyone else ever see it done at other times?
  • MarkThompson
    Posts: 768
    I don't know what that "authoritative answer" is talking about -- the Asperges Me most certainly is in the 3rd edition of the Missal (I guess 2008 is the editio typica tertia emendata? I'm looking at the 2002, but they obviously didn't strip it out). Maybe he just means that there was no musical setting in the Latin missale, which is true.

    As to the English translation, it was definitely in the "2008 missal" which has been going around for some time, located right in Appendix II where you would expect. I don't know whether it's been revised since then, but that version had:

    Antiphon 1
    Sprinkle me with hyssop, O Lord, and I shall be cleansed;
    wash me and I shall be whiter than snow.

    Antiphon 2
    I will pour clean water upon you,
    and you will be made clean of all your impurities,
    and I shall give you a new spirit, says the Lord.
  • chonakchonak
    Posts: 9,157
    There's a 2008 Missale Romanum? I feel so behind the times.

    Fr. Z. wrote about it in 2009.

    It's billed as correcting spelling errors and minor omissions in the 2002 -- but JMO is told that the Asperges me is not in the 2008. Does that mean we need a 2012 edition to correct that omission?
  • Mark P.
    Posts: 248
    "As a practical matter, the only time I ever see that sprinkling rite is during Easter. Does anyone else ever see it done at other times?"

    Advent III and the Baptism of the Lord
  • Adam WoodAdam Wood
    Posts: 6,451
    You mean you can't just sing "Wade in the Water?"
  • gregpgregp
    Posts: 632
    We have it every Sunday, but that's in the EF.
  • RagueneauRagueneau
    Posts: 2,592
    ACTUALLY, IN LIGHT OF MARK THOMPSON'S ANSWER, ICEL IS GETTING BACK TO ME.

    THE FELLOW I SPOKE TO DID NOT HAVE HIS NOTES IN FRONT OF HIM, AND FEARS HE (PERHAPS) MADE A MISTAKE.
  • RagueneauRagueneau
    Posts: 2,592
    FROM ICEL

    These two antiphons are in the Missal in Appendix II (Rite for the Blessing and Sprinkling of Water) for use Outside Eastertime. They have not been changed recently. ICEL did not do a musical setting of either since the texts do not appear with chant in the Missal.

    Antiphon 1

    Ps 50: 9
    Sprinkle me with hyssop, O Lord, and I shall be cleansed; wash me and I shall be whiter than snow.

    Antiphon 2 Ez 36: 25-26

    I will pour clean water upon you, and you will be made clean of all your impurities, and I shall give you a new spirit, says the Lord.
  • Jeffrey TuckerJeffrey Tucker
    Posts: 3,624
    Yes, this is what I had heard too. Pity.

    And yet: I don't think that the Vidi appears with music and yet it is in the Eng Missal.
  • I don't think I've seen one by Fr. Weber or Fr. Columba.
  • chonakchonak
    Posts: 9,157
    Well, here's a draft, trying to adapt the authentic melody to the English text:
    image

    For folks wishing to modify this in Gregorio, here's the code:

    name: Asperges me;
    annotation: VII;
    centering-scheme: english;
    %%
    (c2)SPrin(c)kle(d) me(fe) with(f) hys(gh)sop,(g.) (,) O(hiwj) Lord,(ji) (,) and(hg) I(h) shall(g_f) be(de) clean(c_d_c_)sèd;(c.) (:)
    wash(cd/fe/ff) me(g.) (;)
    and(ghwivHG) I(fe) shall(df) be(ef) whi(gvF)ter(de) than(dd) snow.(c.) (::)
    Thanked by 2IanW CHGiffen
  • janetgorbitzjanetgorbitz
    Posts: 964
    Thanks, Richard!
  • RagueneauRagueneau
    Posts: 2,592
    Just FYI,

    The VIDI has music in the new ICEL Missal.

    Also, Fr. Samuel Weber is including several brilliant settings of the ASPERGES ME in the Vatican II Hymnal, which will be released in a 2-3 weeks.
  • I gave it a try out of necessity.
  • CharlesW
    Posts: 11,933
    To actually use this requires the cooperation of the priest. If the priest doesn't do sprinkling except at Easter, it's a bit difficult to slip this one into the mass. I suppose that if one wants this every Sunday, one would have to attend an EF mass.
  • hartleymartin
    Posts: 1,447
    Vidi Aquam is used during Eastertide, Asperges Me for the rest of the liturgical year.

    The antiphon and verse are both from Psalm 50, I believe.

    The Simple Choral Gradual has a setting of it.

    I'll be using a setting by Joseph Gruber (d. 1933) for a confirmation mass to be held in a few weeks time.

    Take note, you are meant to repeat the first page (Asperges Me, etc) at the end of the Gloria Patri.
  • You know, you can do just about anything at a Novus Ordo... :)
  • Except the Dies Irae during a requiem.
  • Richard MixRichard Mix
    Posts: 2,767
    The visiting priest at last week's Baptism of Our Lord sprinkled both Masses after the sermon, and this is what I came up with on the fly, By Flowing Waters in one hand and Liber cantualis in the other:

    (c2)Purge(cd) me(fED) from(e) my(f) sin,(g.) (,) O(h) Lord,(hiwjIHG) (,)
    and(h) I(gf) will(ef) then(gFD) be(e) made(cdc) clean.(c.) (:)
    Lord,(cd) wash(fEDef) me,(g) and(g) I(ghwiHG) shall(fED) be(f) made(ef) bright(gFD)er(e) than(cdc) snow.(c.) (::) Have(cfe) mer(fg)cy(gi) on(h) me,(hg) Lord…(gh..) (:)

    I do like Chonak's "Sprinkle me with hyssop" idea, though, and note that Bruce Ford has yet another version.
    Thanked by 1CHGiffen
  • chonakchonak
    Posts: 9,157
    BTW, the Rite of Blessing and Sprinkling with Holy Water is in an appendix to the Roman Missal at page 1453; the text of the Asperges, Vidi Aquam, and other antiphons which may be sung are at p. 1455.
  • CharlesW
    Posts: 11,933
    We used sprinkling during Easter but no other time.
  • Even if it exists in the official texts, would using it be tantamount to needless repetition? We have, after all, a Confiteor of sorts in the Mass itself, and even a Kyrie eleison, so do we really need the other thing? (I'm only half joking, in an OF world view.)
  • Liam
    Posts: 4,940
    Roman Missal, 3rd edition, GIRM 51, second paragraph:

    "From time to time on Sundays, especially in Easter Time, *instead* of the customary Penitential Act, the blessing and sprinkling of water *may take place* as a reminder of Baptism." (emphases added.)

    Likewise footnoted to the Penitential Act itself on p 515 in the Order of the Mass, with a parenthetical reference to Appendix II for the rite of blessing and sprinkling of water.
  • Liam,

    Yes, but the penitential rite of the Mass and the Vidi Aquam are two completely different things.
  • Liam
    Posts: 4,940
    Which is why the Vidi Aquam is included in Appendix II. So there is no needless repetition...just half joking.
  • a_f_hawkins
    Posts: 3,369
    The prayers at the foot of the altar had been moved ¿in 1570? from the sacristy but were not really part of the Roman Mass, which had no penitential rite. Sarum had a number of alternative ways with these, all clearly preliminaries.
    On Palm Sunday, and other occasions, there are special ways of starting Mass, which replace the penitential rite in the same way as the sprinkling procession. There are other options, such as parts of the Office, counting minor variants I was told over 80 ways of getting to the opening collect (but maybe that is 40 doubled by including or omitting the Gloria).

  • As a practical matter, the only time I ever see that sprinkling rite is during Easter. Does anyone else ever see it done at other times?


    Perhaps the Anglican Use Ordinariate uses it in parishes where they use the Roman Missal instead of the Missal of Divine Worship.

    I only see it done at Easter as well with the dreadful “Rain Down” sung. Other than that, I sing it whenever I’m shaking water out of basting brushes and paint brushes, but that’s because I’m a bit peculiar.
    Thanked by 1tomjaw
  • GerardH
    Posts: 410
    We've started using the sprinkling rite a bit more often as a way to delineate seasons. It gets used at the Easter Vigil already, and is usually repeated on Easter Day, but using it on the first Sundays of Advent and Lent helps to underscore the penitential character of those seasons. Our holy water fonts have been empty since the pandemic started, so it has been nice to still include holy water liturgically.
    Thanked by 2CHGiffen hilluminar
  • a_f_hawkins
    Posts: 3,369
    Our small remote parish has sprinkling on the first Sunday of the month, and Easter Day. The asperges and the marian antiphons are the only things we sing in Latin.

    Sponsa, the sprinkling rite is in Divine Worship. It's in Appendix 2, with mention of "principal Mass" and in the old form, blessing of water beforehand.
  • To those of you who speak of the Sprinkling Rite as if it were one thing....

    I guess this is in the OF?

    Do you sing both Asperges me hyssopo and Vidi Aquam?
  • In the Missal of pope Saint Paul VI, the Rite for the Blessing and Sprinkling of Water can, on Sundays, take the place of the Penitential Act: the rite begins straight after the greeting Dominus vobiscum (or another formula) and when it is concluded, the Gloria is sung (when it is prescribed).

    The rite begins with an invitation to prayer, which connects the rite with Baptism. Then, the water is blessed using a prayer. Optionally, salt is added to the water, accompanied by a prayer. Then, the faithful are sprinkled, while an antiphon is sung (Asperges me and, during Easter Time, Vidi aquam; other texts are provided). Returned to his chair, the priest concludes the rite with a prayer.

    It's one rite, existing of different parts. The blessing of the water is always part of the rite (except on Easter Sunday, when the baptismal water, blessed at the Easter Vigil, is used. See this note from Fr. McNamara).
    Thanked by 1Jehan_Boutte
  • Thank you for the clarification.
  • ronkrisman
    Posts: 1,388
    Pasting an English text onto a melismatic chant usually never works, as both musical examples posted on this thread demonstrate.
  • davido
    Posts: 873
    And editing a chant to fit the English words usually never retains the charm and beauty of the original melody.

    The problem with the musical examples above is that the translation was done with no sensitivity to the chant melody. Un-musical language is difficult to put to music.
    Thanked by 2CharlesW tomjaw
  • The Sprinkling Rite is on p. 81 of the Gregorian Missal, along with 3 (!) versions of the Asperges, and the Vidi Aquam.
    Thanked by 1a_f_hawkins
  • a_f_hawkins
    Posts: 3,369
    Having a tenth century and a thirteenth century version of of the same tune side by side shows that drawing attention to oneself in the liturgy is not a new aberration.
    Thanked by 1Liam
  • Having a tenth century and a thirteenth century version of of the same tune side by side shows that drawing attention to oneself in the liturgy is not a new aberration.


    I'm confused. Can you explain what you mean?
  • a_f_hawkins
    Posts: 3,369
    I mean that GR(1973) shows the well known Asperges tune on p707, and the tenth century version on p708. (I don't have a Gregorian Missal but I imagine it shows the same three tunes) They are the same tune but the better known 13th century version is more florid, in my view for the reasons condemned by St Jerome long before - the desire of cantors to show off.
    Thanked by 1tomjaw