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A guide to the responsories of the Ambrosian Office
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 15 March 2016
Abstract
A guide, with historical observations, that distinguishes the kinds of responsories employed in the Ambrosian liturgy, describes their liturgical functions and performance practice, determines the size of the various repertories, and discusses the textual and musical characteristics of the types.
- Type
- Research Article
- Information
- Plainsong & Medieval Music , Volume 25 , Issue 1: Plainsong and Medieval Music , April 2016 , pp. 5 - 26
- Copyright
- Copyright © Cambridge University Press, 2016
References
1 The Antiphonale missarum and Liber vesperalis, both published in Rome.
2 It is clear from the variation found in the antiphoners that the differentiae were not included in the archetype.
3 See Bailey, Terence, ‘Ambrosian Choral Psalmody: The Formulae’, Rivista internazionale di musica sacra, 1/3 (1980), 300Google Scholar–28.
4 Manuale ambrosianum: ex codice saec. XI olim in usum canonicae Vallis Travaliae, ed. Marco Magistretti (Milan, 1904–5) (available online).
5 Milan, Biblioteca Ambrosiana (I-Ma), Trotti 414. Natale Giglione would date this manuscript to the ninth century: Trotti 414: un codice ambrosiano del IX secolo, Considerazioni storico-paleografiche e musicali edizione, Quaderni Ambrosiani 2 (Lucca, 2009).
6 By Gregorian I mean the Roman liturgy as it was adapted by the Franks.
7 Albi, Bibliothèque municipale Rochegude (F-AI) 44.
8 Paris, Bibliothèque nationale (BnF) lat. 17436.
9 The Manuale and Albi 44 both contain the texts of the Mass and office.
10 One other responsory is assigned to second Vespers of the first Sunday of Advent; a few more to the lesser hours, but these, presumably (the manuscript contains only text), are responsoria brevia.
11 It seems hopeless to try for precise numbers (see below, note 27). If the figures I give are considered nearly exact, they will usually serve just as well.
12 The term responsorium is normally reserved for chants of the office. In the Ambrosian Mass the corresponding chant, identical in form, is called psalmellus (respond-gradual in the Gregorian). There are rare exceptions. Sixteen chants identified as responsories are assigned in the funeral office ‘after the washing of the corpse’; eleven of these have other assignments. Six are assigned to Masses in Holy Week, where (as might be expected) the service books change their designation to psalmelli. Two others, however, were sung (later, at least) in the funeral Mass, where Qui suscitasti Lazarum (assigned for an extra reading) is identified as a responsory, and Libera me domine is assigned as the offertory chant. These two reassignments, especially the egregious use of Libera me as an offerenda (Suñol, 1935), are clearly the result of the late revisions of the penitential Masses. For more on the matter of these Masses, see Bailey, Terence, ‘Ambrosian Mass Chants before the Carolingian Intervention’, Plainsong and Medieval Music, 21 (2012), 1–21CrossRefGoogle Scholar.
13 As, for example, the responsories ‘in the baptistry’: Declara super nos, Ecce veniet dominus protector, Eripe me de inimicis meis . . . et, Laudate nomen domini, Ne derelinquas me, Paratus esto Israel . . . quia . . . venturum, etc.
14 Caput, i.e., head (in the sense of beginning) is a useful term employed in the Ambrosian ordinal. The term respond has been too widely applied, used (not without risk of confusion) to refer to the whole responsory, to the first part of a responsory, and to the response to a versicle (e.g., ‘Dominus vobiscum’ and the reply ‘Et cum spiritu tuo’).
15 Lux lucis verbum, the responsory after the first hymn at Matins on Christmas, has three verses; Venite filii audite, sung after Mass on the Saturday ‘in traditione Symbolum’, has three verses plus a doxology (Manuale, 56, 169).
16 Didascalia et constitutiones apostolorum, ed. F.X. von Funk (Paderborn, 1906); Apostolic Constitutions II, 57, 5–7. The translation above is by McKinnon, James, Music in Early Christian Literature (Cambridge, 1987), item 233, 108–9CrossRefGoogle Scholar. I have added the words in square brackets.
17 Matutinis horis lectum est, ut meministis, fratres, quod summo animi dolore respondebamus: Deus, venerunt gentes in hereditatem tuam. Letter 20 (online at Biblioteca Augustana: http://www.hs-augsburg.de).
18 This is widely suggested. See The Catholic Encyclopedia, s.v. ‘Responsorium’, for example.
19 Beroldus, sive ecclesiae ambrosianae mediolanensis kalendarium et ordines, Saec. XII, ed. Marco Magistretti (Milan, 1894). The ordinal was compiled shortly after 1126 by Beroldus, a minor cleric at the principal cathedral, but inconsistencies demonstrate what would anyway be taken for granted: that the book incorporated much that was older.
20 Beroldus, 40.
21 In the case of Milan, readings are not, as a rule, specified in the Manuale. Definitive lists were no doubt to be found elsewhere, but none that is complete survives for the Ambrosian Office of the eleventh to fifteenth century.
22 Perceived ‘references’ to the saints of the Christian era in the psalms or other Old Testament texts might be serendipitous, but could not have been intended.
23 The Ambrosian matutinae combined the night office and what in Gregorian regions would be called Lauds.
24 Vigiliae, an idiosyncratic Ambrosian Office for the saints’ feasts, began like the Jewish Sabbath on the day before the date assigned in the calendar (notionally at sundown). So, for example, the feast of St Martin, assigned the calendar date 11 November, began in the afternoon of November 10.
25 No responsory followed the analogous hymn in the Gregorian or Benedictine night office. And no responsory followed the second, closing, hymn of the Ambrosian Matins, whether general (e.g., Splendor paternae on Sundays) or proper (such as Illuminans altissimus on Epiphany). Manuale, 80, 90.
26 I will not normally comment on who it was who sang (we should rather say began) the responsories; his rank varied, from the archbishop himself to a cleric of the lowest grade. Generally speaking, the greater the occasion, the more important the singer.
27 It must be kept in mind that such numbers often include chants that have other, different, assignments, and are therefore included in other totals. The amount of detail in the service books notwithstanding, the usage is not always entirely clear, and it must be assumed that some assignments not mentioned were simply taken for granted.
28 The responsories of Vigils are always entered, but the associated hymns are scarcely ever mentioned in the service books. In the Manuale, there are only two relevant entries. The first for the feast of St Andrew, Miraculum laudabile, is specified at the Ambrosianum (where the office of Vigils began), this hymn is followed by the responsory Posui adiutorium super potentem v. Nihil proficiet (Manuale, 120). The second is for the feast of St Michael in Monte Gargano: ‘Hymnus ad vig[ilias], Mysteriorum signifer, 
subd[iaconile] Factum est silentium’ (Manuale, 357).
29 Ecce magnum et (Matins and Vigils of the Deposition of St Martin), Ecce vir splendidus (Matins and Vigils of St John Evangelist), Factum est silentium (Matins and Vigils of the feast of the Dedication of St Michael in Monte Gargano and also at Mass as the offerenda for the same feast). This last transgressive assignment suggests the ‘ad hocery’ of a late revision.
30 ‘In vigilia festivitatum’, ‘ubi festum celebratur’ (Beroldus, 63, 64).
31 The position of the singers of the responsories sung at the stational churches is not recorded.
32 Presbyter stans post altare deosculetur illud et dicit ‘Dominus vobiscum’, et puer magistri scholarum semper canit lucernaria minora . . . Majora vero lucernaria terminarius lector ebdomadarius canit. Finito lucernario, iterum dicit ‘Dominus vobiscum’; et primicerius cum lectoribus canit antiphonam in choro, sicut consuetudo est. Deinde presbyter vadit ante altare et salutat, et incipit hymnum; . . . tunc incipit chorus hymnum. Et quando lector canit lucernarium, magister scholarum canit hymnum cum pueris alternatim cum choro. . . . Finito hymno, presbyter dicit: ‘Dominus vobiscum’, et lector [terminarius] ebdomadarius canit , excepto quando est cum pueris (Beroldus, 64).
33 The performance of the gradalia and the Confitemini is discussed more fully below.
34 See the rubric just below. Repetendum usually refers to the last part of the caput, but occasionally the whole of the first section was repeated after the verse.
35 See, below, the wording of the rubric concerning the Confitemini.
36 sed finitis duodecim kyrie terminarius . . . canit gradale responsorium leni voce caput et versum, et chorus similiter; . . . in ceteris diebus, quando canitur graduale, minor lector semper canit illud leni voce, et tantum [recte: iterum?] caput, et chorus similiter (Beroldus, 85).
37 puer magistri scholarum . . . cantat Confitemini . . . caput et versum, et iterum caput. Et magister scholarum similiter cum pueris (Beroldus, 54).
38 Hanssens, J-M, ed., Amalari episcopi opera liturgica omnia (Rome, 1948Google Scholar–50), 3:155; see Hiley, David, Western Plainchant: A Handbook (Oxford, 1993), 73Google Scholar.
39 ‘quod semel repetitur ante versum’ (Beroldus, 162, n. 32).
40 Minor magister chori sive scholarum cantat primum versum solus in pulpito stans in medio puerorum; . . . magister cum pueris respondet; . . . versus debet dicere magister scolarum solus qui dixit primum. (The ellipses in the extract are Magistretti's.)
41 As in the case of Canite initio mensis and Venite filii audite (see below).
42 On Sundays and holidays, a notary usually sang; on ordinary weekdays an officiating deacon (Manuale, 56).
43 This additional direction is given in the Manuale, but only in Magistretti's Ms. M (a copy from the thirteenth century, intended for the summer cathedral). See Manuale, 83: ‘quod [the responsory] canere debet magister cantorum [i.e., scholarum]’. The participation of the boys (infantes) can be explained by the occasion: the octave of Christmas is also the commemoration of the circumcision of the infant Jesus on the seventh day after his birth.
44 There, the two readings were each followed by a responsory.
45 Except the last, when the Te deum was sung instead, but this is probably a late substitution. In the Rule of St Benedict, a responsory and the Te deum are both sung after the last lesson (RB ch.12: ‘then a lesson from the Apocalypse to be recited by heart, the responsory, the Ambrosian hymn [Te Deum]’).
46 Vespers of the saint were sung at the stational church, but it seems likely that the office was also sung in the cathedral by the ‘off duty’ clergy (the observatores, those on the roster for the following week) who remained behind. That was certainly the practice on other occasions when it was necessary for the clergy to be in two places: at the end of Matins and Vespers, when the duty clergy (the ordinarii) went in procession to the baptistries, observatores concluded the office in the chancel for those that remained in the cathedral.
47 There were two cathedrals, one for the winter and one for the summer. These were razed in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries to make way for the present enormous Duomo and its precincts. On saints’ festivals (the reason is not obvious), Terce was always sung in the winter church: ‘In vigiliis sanctorum, quando ordinarii canunt psalmos, semper canunt tertiam in ecclesia hyemali, deinde proficiscuntur ad festum cum processione’ (Beroldus, 57).
48 In vigilia s. Simpliciani . . . duobus notariis, qui legunt lectiones in psalmis, et tertio, qui legit primam lectionem ad vigiliam, et notario qui cantat primum in psalmis, et secundicerio qui canit secundum in psalmis, et alii notario qui canit secundum in vigilia, et lectori qui canit tertium ad vigiliam, istis septem, v per unumquemque dantur denarii (Beroldus, 28).
49 ‘et si lectiones leguntur in vigilia’ (Beroldus, 59). The term ‘in vigilia’ is, of course, ambiguous, but in the ordinal the passage comes under the general heading de vigiliis festivitatum. In any case, since in the Middle Ages there were no readings at Vespers, and there were always readings at Matins, it would seem that the ‘if’ in this citation can refer only to the office of Vigils.
50 ‘On all these [saints’] feasts [the clergy], when they return, come in procession [back] to the winter church singing a psallenda (in his omnibus festis, quando revertuntur, veniunt cum processione in ecclesiam hyemalem cum psallenda)’ (Beroldus, 58). In this rubric psallenda may also mean ‘with singing’ or ‘singing psalms’.
51 It seems that on this occasion there was neither a procession of the clergy from the winter cathedral (the clergy simply assembled in the Ambrosianum), nor from this church back to the cathedral.
52 Extra stations and responsories are specified in the Manuale for nine festivals: those of St Andrew, the Ordination of St Ambrose, Sts Protasius and Gervasius, Sts Peter and Paul, Sts Nabor and Felix, Sts Nazarius and Celsus, for the combined feast of the Holy Machabees with the Deposition of St Eusebius, for St Lawrence, and for the combined feast of the Translation of Sts Sissinius and Alexander with the Deposition of St Simplicianus.
53 Magistretti's Ms M (Manuale, 247 et seq.) is known to have been used in the summer cathedral.
54 See Manuale, 454 (cf. 447, 448, 450, etc.). Cf. Beroldus, 90.
55 Manuale, 454.
56 The Gregorian counterpart, the Major Litany, was held on the three days before Ascension. Both usages situated these penitential exercises within the joyous season of Eastertide (which did not conclude until Pentecost).
57 Vespers of the first two days were considered part of the litany, but Vespers on the last day was not: the sequential cursus of psalms was resumed and the commune chant for Wednesdays was assigned as responsorium in choro. The responsories sung at Vespers on Day 1 and Day 2 had no other assignment.
58 Almost all were allocated to various weekdays in Lent – but, additionally, Domine miserere nobis et libera to the octave of Christmas, and Convertimini ad me to Sexagesima, no doubt replacing a chant from the Commune dominicarum. Indeed, in almost every case it may be assumed that the secondary assignments, no doubt casually made, replaced chants from the Commune. The assignment of Domine miserere for the octave of Christmas was certainly not casual, although not to be explained by its penitential text. The verse (Qui regis Israel intende) – like the first of the responsoria inter lectiones on the same day (Tua est potentia, tuum regnum) – refers to the Kingdom of God on earth. And it must also be significant that the verse of the re-assigned penitential responsory echoes the opening words, Intende qui regis Israel, of St Ambrose's hymn for the Christmas season. The complete hymn text is available online on the Biblioteca Augustana website, https://www.hs-augsburg.de/~harsch/Chronologia/Lspost04/Ambrosius/amb_hymn.html#4 (accessed 20 August 2015).
59 Examples of such texts will be given later.
60 It might seem that the office of Vigils would displace the visits to the baptistries after Vespers on saints’ feasts, since a procession set out after Terce from the cathedral to the stational church (see note 47), where among other observances a Vespers Mass, and the offices of Vespers and Vigils were sung. But it appears that on saints’ feasts offices following Terce were also sung in the cathedral by those left behind: in the Manuale and in the antiphoners psallendae are entered after the items for Vespers, these presumably for the usual procession to the baptistries.
61 ‘Et vadunt in baptisterium; et in dominicis diebus et in solemnibus diebus, si responsorium habetur notarius canit, excepto’ (Beroldus, 56). The words ‘si responsorium habetur’ may refer to ordinary Sundays – no responsory in the baptistry is provided in the Commune dominicarum – or it may refer to the saints’ feasts (sollemnes dies), for which there was not usually a responsory in the baptistry. See below.
62 Alleluia v. Aedificans Ierusalem dominus (for Thursday in Easter Week), Alleluia v. Dominus regnavit decorem (for Tuesday in Easter Week), Alleluia v. Praeveniamus faciem eius (for the Saturday in Easter Week) and Alleluia v. Venite exsultemus domino (for Friday in Easter Week) are properly Mass alleluias. Counted in the sixty-nine are Ecce veniet dominus, Gaudete filiae Sion . . . vobis and Protector noster veni; although these three are also assigned with lessons in the feriae de exceptato, this is probably owing to a late revision by Beroldus himself in the twelfth century (see Magistretti's, ‘Praefatio’ in Beroldus, ix). Included also (although its primary assignment cannot be determined) is Haec est domus domini aedificata firmiter, sung in the baptistry on the feast of the Minor Dedication (that of the lesser cathedral), but sung with lessons at Vigils on the same occasion and on the feast of St Michael in monte Gargano.
63 At least one proper chant is entered in the antiphoners of the twelfth and thirteenth century for fifty-seven saints’ festivals; and several more are assigned prayers in the Manuale. Any number of others might, notionally, have been provided for ad hoc from the Commune sanctorum.
64 See just below. The antiphoners assign Pacem tuam da . . . quia, properly a responsorium inter lectiones from the Commune dominicarum in the baptistry after Vespers. Nothing is entered in the Manuale. This lapse in the Manuale, and the neutral text, make it clear that the principal assignment of Pacem tuam was in the Commune.
65 I mentioned earlier that nothing is entered for Feria IV.
66 See note 61.
67 ‘In cottidianis diebus anni circuli’ (Feriis II–VI, In die sabbati).
68 See Bailey, Terence, ‘The Ambrosian responsoria gradalia: Their place in the liturgy; the adaptation of a type-melody’, in Studies in Medieval Chant and Liturgy in Honour of David Hiley, ed. Bailey, Terence (Budapest-Ottawa 2007), 3–28Google Scholar; idem, ‘A remnant of the Old-Ambrosian office?’, in Cantare amantis est: Festschrift zum 60. Geburtstag von Franz Karl Praßl (Purkersdorf, 2014), 28–35.
69 Beroldus, 85. In the antiphoners the gradalia are entered only in Lent, but it is clear they were sung on all feriae: ‘In feriis vero, quibus festum non habetur, excepto in albis in paschalibus, minor lectorum semper canit gradale post Kyrie’ (Beroldus, 44).
70 The rubrics, under the general heading ‘De Quadragesima’ (Manuale, 82) have obviously been complicated and confused by later revision; the citation that follows just below is under the general heading ‘De quadragesima’ and in a section prefaced by ‘Sed in dominicis diebus’ (Manuale, 82, 85), but there is no doubt (see note 68) that the gradalia were sung on weekdays only, and throughout the year.
71 The alternative is excelsa voce (‘with full voice’), apparently for more important occasions. See Beroldus, 41, 49, 51. etc.
72 In the ordinal, the word is tantum, i.e., only (cf. ‘Sequitur Gloria in excelsis Deo, et magister scholarum canit totam Gloriam, excepto in praecipuis solemnitatibus, quando canit tantum usque ad suscipe deprecationem nostram’, Beroldus, 49). I have assumed that iterum was intended: cf. the related rubric for the Confitemini, below.
73 Unus duorum minorum custodum ebdomadariorum portat illud per totam ecclesiam masculis et foeminis; deinde ille praebet thuribulum ebdomadario cicendelario ut reponat; et sic perficiunt officium matutini, sicut ordo expostulat, ad honorem et laudem dei. Sed finitis duodecim Kyrie . . . in ceteris diebus, quando canitur graduale, minor lector semper canit illud leni voce, [caput et versum] et tantum [recte: iterum?] caput, et chorus similiter (Beroldus, 85).
74 It appears that the responsorium gradale was sung before the officiating clergy set out in procession to the baptistries.
75 This was mentioned earlier. It appears that on ordinary weekdays the clergy conducted themselves to the baptistries in silence.
76 The text of the Thursday chant, Laudate nomen domini v. Qui statis in domo is found in Gregorian books set as a responsory, but the melody is different.
77 The alternative is ‘excelsa voce’ (Beroldus, 41, 49, 55, etc.).
78 Antequam tertia sonetur . . . puer magistri scholarum in sabbatis et in dominicis diebus et in praecipuis solemnitatibus vestitus camisiolo ascendit pulpitum et cantat Confitemini leni voce caput et versum et iterum caput. [See note 72.] Et magister scholarum similiter cum pueris suis leni voce in sabbatis, et in dominicis diebus tantum, et in Natale Domini et in sequentibus feriis, et in Epiphania, exceptis in sabbatis quadragesimae, et in Pascha usque ad octavam. Et idem magister semper stat extra cancellos ab initio Confitemini usque ad initium hymni prope pulpitum (Beroldus, 54). I have included the detail about the Master standing ‘outside the chancel near the pulpit’ because it makes clear that the pulpit was in the nave.
79 The Manuale (411) and some at least of the antiphoners (see Vimercate C, f. 197v) place this chant in the Commune dominicarum as the first lucernarium of Vespers. This scribal confusion was no doubt caused by the position of the chant outside the regular offices.
80 Ex utero ante luciferum genui te v. Dixit dominus domino, Sede a dextris meis.
81 Deus dominus et inluxit nobis v. Constituite solemnitatem in confrequentionibus usque ad cornu altaris.
82 Dominus pastor bonus animam suam ponit pro ovibus suis v. Vulneratus est propter peccata nostra; afflictus est propter scelera nostra; sicut ovis ad occisionem ductus est.
83 Following, as examples, are the first three, for the first week in Lent: 1. O God have pity on me according to your great mercy v. And in keeping with your many acts of compassion, wipe clean my iniquity (Miserere mei deus secundum magnam misericordian tuam v. Et secundum multitudinem miserationum tuarum dele iniquitatem meam); 2. Lord, remember not, you who are gentle as well as just, the sins of my youth v. For your name's sake will you forgive my sin, for it is manifold (Pecata iuventutis meae ne memor fueris, domine, quia tu domine suavis et rectus est v. Propter nomen tuum, domine, propitiaberis peccato meo; multum est enim); 3. Have mercy on me Lord, for I cry to you all the day long v. Give joy to the soul of me your servant, for it is lifted up unto you (Miserere mihi domine quoniam ad te clamavi tota die v. Laetifica animam servi tui quia ad te, domine, animam meam levavi).
84 In Lent, the Ambrosian liturgy, fatiguing as it must have been the rest of the year, was considerably augmented, no doubt as a special penitential duty. On weekdays, for example, extra readings from Genesis, accompanied by psalmelli, were added after (not during) Terce. It is conceivable, therefore (although there is nothing in the Manuale to suggest it and although readings were not customary at Vespers) that the three responsories on Wednesdays and on Good Friday were, or once were, associated with readings.
85 The Magnificat was not sung on Fridays in Lent.
86 The rubric may be corrupted; if not, we learn that the deacons might need help in remembering these extra chants.
87 Et notandum, quia in iv feria ad vesperum, finita oratione quae est post Magnificat [presbyter] dicit Dominus vobiscum; tunc major diaconus vadit ad cornu altaris et cantat ibi ad cornu altaris sicut in alia: primicerio lectorum indicante sibi et cantante, si opus ei fuerit. Alter vero diaconus subsequitur ad illud [recte aliud?] , tertius ad tertium simili modo (Beroldus, 89).
88 See note 57.
89 Fac nobiscum domine, which had been sung the previous day, was nevertheless re-assigned.
90 Eram quasi agnus innocens; ductus sum ad immolandum et nesciebam; consilium fecerunt inimici mei adversum me dicentes, Venite mittamus lignum in panem eius et conteramus eum de terra viventium v. Exurge domine praeveni eos et subverte illos qui cogitaverunt adversum me dicentes (venite). The text is strange. In Hebrew, Jeremiah 11:19 seems to mean something like: ‘let us destroy the tree with its fruit’.
91 Ierusalem luge et exue te vestibus iocunditatis; induere cinere cum cilicio quia in te est occisus salvator Israel v. Luctum unigeniti fac tibi planctum amarum (quia).
92 Velum templi scissum est et omnis terra tremuit; latro de cruce clamabat dicens, Memento mei, domine, dum veneris in regnum tuum v. Miserere mei deus, miserere mei, quoniam in te confidit anima mea (memento).
93 In traditione symboli omnia tintinnabula sunt sonanda, finita missa, et cuncta ostia claudenda; tamen nullus expellendus nisi cathecumeni. Et presbyter ebdomadarius cum orario et cappa retro altare salutat et diaconi per ordinem cum orario dicunt has voces: Si quis cathecumenus, procedat. Si quis judaeus, procedat. Si quis paganus, procedat, Si quis haereticus, procedat. Cujus cura non est, procedat. . . . His dictis cantatur cum infantibus: Venite filii (Beroldus, 94–5).
94 Manuale, 169. ‘Come children, hear me; I will teach you to fear the Lord v. [sic] Come children, hear me; I will teach you to fear the Lord v. I will ever bless the Lord, his praise always on my lips, come* [then the repetendum:] Come [children, hear me; I will teach you to fear the Lord] v. In [praising] the Lord my soul shall be praised; let the meek hear and rejoice, [come*?] [repetendum:] Come [children, hear me; I will teach you to fear the Lord] v. Glory to the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and forever, through all eternity, amen, come* [repetendum:] Come [children, hear me; I will teach you to fear the Lord].’
95 In the Vimercate antiphoners the extra venite is inserted only twice, before the repetendum after the last verse (In domino laudabitur), and after the doxology.
96 Sacri fontis aqua perennis, ubi renovantur, alleluia v. Beati quorum remissae sunt iniquitates et quorum tecta sunt peccata.
97 Immediately after the baptisms were concluded, the the archbishop left the baptistry of the winter church on horseback to say Mass in the basilica of St Ambrose; it was the anniversary of the day the the great saint ‘departed this life’ (‘In hoc die migravit ex hoc seculo’). Ambrose died on Holy Saturday in 397.
98 Deinde, finita missa, archiepiscopus revertitur ad fontes, indutus pluviali dicit ‘Dominus vobiscum’. Sequitur oratio Celebratis atque perfectis. Sequitur , quod archiepiscopus debet cantare excelsa voce ad cornu altaris, Sacri fontis, et versum similiter (Beroldus, 113). It is not clear whether this responsory was doubled. How would one find a chorus of clerics with the same rank as the archbishop to repeat what he had sung?
99 sequitur processio a fontibus in ecclesiam hyemalem . . . psallentium: Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia v. Beati quorum, et ceteri versus. Dum psallentium cantatur (Beroldus, 113).
100 Cf. Beroldus, 125: ‘finito evangelium archiepiscopus cum toto clero vadit ad ecclesiam s. Simpliciani . . . Finito psallentio in atrio ejusdem ecclesia’ (when the gospel is finished the archbishop goes with the entire clergy to the church of St Simpliciano . . . When the procession (psallentium) ends in the atrium of that church)’.
101 Folio 1. In Vimercate C and in the earlier copies of the pars aestiva the first page is either missing or illegible.