Sub Tuum Praesidium

SUB TUUM PRAESIDIUM. - It is the oldest prayer to the Most Holy Virgin that is known.

I. THE ORIGINAL TEXT

It is preserved on a sheet of papyrus (18 x 9.4 cm.) found in an unspecified locality in Egypt and purchased, in 1917, by the "John Rylands Library" of Manchester (Pap. Ryl., 470); published in 1938 by C. H. Roberts, The Catalogue of the Greek and Latin Papyri in the John Rylands Library, III: Theological and literary Texts, Manchester 1938, pp. 46-47 (cf. A. Calderini, in Aegyptus, 18 [1938], p. 349). Roberts, for theological reasons (cult of the Virgin), dates it to the 4th century; but E. Lobel, his colleague and co-editor of the Oxyrhynchus papyri (vol. XIX, London 1948), considering objectively only the paleographic grounds, declares himself (as Roberts himself reports) "reluctant to place it later than the 3rd century". The writing in uncial letters, tall and upright, narrow and at the same time airy, with ornamental elements, has a decorative appearance, in part characteristic of inscriptions, for which reason H. J.

Bell, with whom Roberts agrees, thinks that the papyrus was a copy intended as a "model for an engraver".

II. COMPOSITION

Since the right side of the papyrus is very torn, Roberts missed the specific nature of the prayer, and it is thanks to Fr. Feuillen Mercenier, of the monastery of Chevetogne, that the S. t. p. was recognized in it, thus proposing the complete reconstruction of the text on the basis of the corresponding liturgical formulas still in use today in the Coptic and Byzantine rites (Le Muséon, 52 [1939], p. 233). Like all ancient liturgical prayers, the S. t. p., even in its simplicity and spontaneity of feeling, is inspired by biblical texts, borrowing characteristic expressions from the Greek of the Septuagint. The opening evokes the image of the "shadow of the wings," dear to the Semites and the Egyptians, as an expressive symbol of divine protection: ὑπὸ τὴν σκέπην τῆς... (Is. 49, 2; 51, 16; cf. Ps. 16, 8 and the commentary of F. Vigouroux, ad loc., with monumental illustrations). It is noteworthy that the Coptic formula has preserved, without translating it, the sacred term σκέπη (praesidium) and that the concept of the shadow of the wings is found in certain versions, such as the Syriac, the Syro-Chaldean and the Armenian.

Throughout the composition, moreover, one discerns the same spiritual situation as in the individual psalms (e.g., 16, 27, 30, 38, 60) imploring the immediate help of the Lord, refuge and deliverer (καταφυγή and βύστης) of the faithful who have recourse to him to escape from impending danger (Ps. 17, 3; 60, 5; 70, 4; 90, 1 ff.; 114, 2-5; 142, 9 = καταφεύγομεν and βύσαι ἡμᾶς [ἐκ κινδύνου] of the S. t. p.). Significant in this regard is the comparison with the most ancient prayer of the papyrus of Dér-Balizeh (fol. 1a, lines 8-12: PO 18, 425 and 428; ed. Roberts-Capelle, An early Euchol., Louvain 1949, p. 14), whose expression: ἀλλὰ βύσαι ἡμᾶς ἀπὸ παντὸς κινδύνου, recalls the periculis cunctis of the Roman S. t. p.

III. IMPORTANCE OF PRAYER

a) Historical value. - The tone of the prayer seems to indicate a time of persecution (Valerian, Decius) from which deliverance is longed for (βύσαι ἡμᾶς, orue nos; the λυτρώσαι of the Greek liturgy no longer has this meaning, but a theological value).

b) Theological value. - In such great necessity (περίστασις) the Christian seeks refuge under the mantle of the Virgin, in the shadow of her εὐσπλαγχνία, which is not the ἔλεος of the Psalms, an attribute of God, but the great mercy and solicitude of the maternal heart (cf. Eccl. 30, 7, and eisera misericordiae, σπλάγχνα ἐλέους, of Lk. 1, 78). And the prayer is addressed to her directly, as helper and savior, since she is the Mother of God, Θεοτόκος. The finding of this word in a euchological text shows that in Egypt it was not merely a term of the school, but a liturgical one. One thus understands what the historian Socrates relates, that Origen, in the first book, now lost, of his commentary on Rom., "explained (ἐρμηνεύω) in what sense [Mary] is called Θεοτόκος" (Hist. eccl., VII, 32: PG 67, 812 B). Considering then how in the period before the Council of Ephesus (431) this dogmatic word is found in authors connected with the School of Alexandria (cf. Hefele-Leclercq, II, p. 244, note; Fliche-Martin-Frutz, IV, p. 167, n. 17; Manteau-Bonamy [v. bibl.], pp. 10-12), one perceives in this an influence of the Alexandrian liturgy, and the harshness of the anti-Nestorian struggle is all the more explained, in which Cyril fought not for a term of the school, but for an expression of the faith of the people, consecrated by liturgical use (cf. Denz-U, 139). Until now no positive document was known proving the cult of invocation to the Virgin in the ante-Nicene period (cf. E. Neubert, Marie dans l'Eglise anténic., Paris 1908, pp. 268 and 275; E. Dublanchy, Marie, in D'ThC, IX, col. 2443): Pap. Ryl. 470 fills the documentary gap, eliminating all discussion. With the clear affirmation of Mary's divine Maternity the S. t. p. also contains a manifest allusion to her immaculate purity, proclaiming the Holy Virgin as "the only pure one," "the only chaste and blessed one": ἡ μονὴ ἁγνῆ, καὶ ἡ εὐλογημένη.

c) Liturgical value. - The text of the papyrus, reconstructed by Mercenier, represents the primitive redaction, and explains the two later recensions: the Eastern (Byzantine-Ambrosian), and the Western (Alexandrian-Roman). The Roman formula, in fact, appears to belong to the same family as the Coptic text, while the Ambrosian one depends on the Byzantine text.

IV. DIFFUSION AND LITURGICAL USE

From its country of origin, Egypt, the S. t. p. spread through the two principal rites: the Byzantine and the Roman. The Coptic liturgy has preserved, almost integrally, the original formula that the Greek papyrus offers us, and even today, at least among Catholics, it makes use of it at Vespers. The Byzantine and Roman liturgies must have received the S. t. p. from Egypt before the Christological controversies of the 5th century.

a) Roman liturgy. - In the Latin West the S. t. p. had various redactions, which attest to different Greek originals. The Roman formula is found again in the Antiphonary of Compiègne (9th-10th century) among the antiphons in Evangelio (a series of antiphons that were intercalated into the various verses of the Benedictus) for the feast of the Assumption (PL 78, 799). At present it is in use at Compline of the Little Office of the B. Virgin (antiphon Nunc dimittis). It is used in part in the offices of the Maternity of Mary (Oct. 11: V responsory) and of the B. V. Mediatrix of all graces (May 31: Respons. breve at the Little Hours). It is then of frequent use in various exercises of piety; in France, also in the Saluts of the Most Blessed Sacrament. A. Wilmart has published a medieval office in honor of the Seven Sorrows of the Most Holy Virgin, attributed to Innocent IV, where the S. t. p. is the opening prayer for each individual part (Auteurs spirituels, Paris 1932, pp. 518, 523-26). In the Dominican liturgy it is sung at Compline for various feasts of the Madonna. The Salesians have it as a special devotion in honor of Mary Help of Christians; among

(from F. Mercenier, L'Antienne Mariale grecque la plus ancienne, in Le Mustois 38 (1939), p. 231)

« SUB TUUM PRAESIDIUM » - Text of the papyrus of the Rylands Library, n. 470, col. 1, placed in comparison by Fr. F. Mercenier with the texts: Byzantine, col. 2 (Ὠρολόγιον τὸ μὲν), ed. Rome 1938, p. 232); Roman, col. 3; Ambrosian, col. 4 (Missale ambrosianum, Milan 1831, pp. 381-92); and the Latin version of the Coptic text, col. 5.

for the Jesuits it is part of the single daily exercise of piety that they practice in common. Noteworthy is the beginning, simplified with the omission of the word misericordia (εὐσπλαγχνία), and the ending: Libera nos semper, Virgo gloriosa et benedictia. The semper is joined, also in the Gregorian melody, to « libera nos », whereas critically it should be joined to Virgo, according to the characteristic Greek epithet Ἀειπάρθενος: a term, however, that is not found in the original formula, nor in that of the Byzantine liturgy, which instead has the corresponding μόνη ἀγνή. The word gloriosa is likewise a Roman variant: it is not known whether ancient; Fr. Mercenier admits that it may be original (σεμνή); it is lacking in the Antiphonary of Compiègne and in the Dominican liturgy. The Gregorian melody, of mode VII, in its almost syllabic simplicity, expresses a sentiment of trusting and filial abandonment, and, in its insistent motif, the urgency of immediate succor. Before the Gregorian restoration, another melody of mode II was also in use in Italy (cf. J. Pothier, Antienne « S. t. », in Rev. du chant grég., 2 [1893-94], pp. 3-4).

b) Ambrosian liturgy. - The Milanese text (Sub tuam misericordiam) derives from the Byzantine one (Ὑπὸ τὴν σὴν εὐσπλαγχνίαν); but it seems later than St. Ambrose, also because of the erroneous translation « ne inducas in tentationem » (instead of: ne despicias in necessitate), which cannot be attributed to the Saint, who knew Greek well; such a variant, however, might not belong to the original translation, and might be a late contamination of the Lord's Prayer. In the Middle Ages the prayer was used (according to cod. T 103 Sup. of the Biblioteca Ambrosiana) on the VI Sunday of Advent, among the antiphons or litanic psalendae (cf. Cagin [v. op. cit. in bibl.]). Today it is found only as an antiphon post Evangelium in certain Masses of the Madonna (Aug. 5 and July 16 [same Mass]; St. Mary on Saturday [ferial Mass] and solemn votive Mass). It is also sung by the people with a melody proper to the rite.
c) Byzantine liturgy. - In comparison with the original text given by Pap. Ryl., 470, that of the Byzantine liturgy constitutes a more elaborate form, with variants due above all to the requirements of rhythm.

In the Byzantine liturgy (and therefore in the various idioms proper to the rite) the prayer is employed as a θεοτόκον (tropation in honor of the « Mother of God ») at the end of ferial Vespers (Ὠρολόγιον, Rome 1876, p. 104; 2nd ed. ibid. 1937, p. 232), always associated with the Hail Mary that precedes as the first troparion (θεοτόκε παρθένε χαίρε).

d) Other Eastern rites. - The Armenian, Syro-Antiochene, Syro-Chaldean and Malabaric, Maronite, and Ethiopian Churches, even though they do not have the S. t. p. in their liturgy, have it in their devotional books (apparently through the influence of Rome). The Maronites make very frequent use of it, together with the Litany of Loreto (in Arabic, employed in all extraliturgical functions). For the Catholics of Ethiopia it was translated from the Latin by the missionaries, and it is recited together with the Salve Regina. The Syro-Antiochene formula, which seems very ancient, has several variants, with a biblical flavor, which constitute a profound reworking of it (cf. P. Hinds, Disciplina Antiochena antica: Siri, IV [Fonti per la Cod. can. Orient., 2nd series, fasc. 28], Vatican City 1943, p. 307, note 1).

Ipino Cecchetti