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The first unit extends from Christe fili Dei vivi through the second miserere nobis. The words qui sedes ad dexteram patris have dropped out, though the equivalent phrase is still present in the German translation. Thus the original Latin text was:
This is a short responsory from the Gregorian chant of the Divine Office, the cycle of prayers for the hours said or sung by all priests and other clergy, contained in the liturgical book known as the breviary. Though there was much variety among medieval breviaries, this text was normally said or sung at Prima or Prime on Sundays, the first of the four "minor hours" of the Office for that day.17 The NY concurs in attributing this text to "the Prima prayers," but seems to err in stating that this particular text was recited every day. Unlike the quotations cited previously, which come from important points of the Mass and Baptism ritual, Christe fili Dei vivi is a relatively obscure text that would not have been known to a Christian layman or a casual non-Christian observer. It is unlikely that a Jewish writer bent on refuting Christianity could have found this text on his own. On the other hand, the responsory Christe fili Dei would have been quite familiar to any Christian cleric who recited the breviary regularly. Thus it is easy to imagine a Christian proselytizer quoting it to support an argument that Christ is the Son of God who sits at the right hand of the Father. The next unit, Offerimus tibi calicem salutaris, is also an obscure text like Christe fili Dei. It means "We offer to you the cup of salvation." Obviously it comes not from the breviary, but from the Mass, where it was part of a prayer the priest said quietly while offering the chalice filled with wine.18 Thus it would have been known to every priest, but not heard by the laity attending the Mass. The NY recognizes this by attributing the prayer to Stillmesse, the "low Mass" said privately by a priest without music, and often without even a congregation. As the NY says, "they teach it only to those who are ordained as priests, and those priests whisper it silently in their house of prayer." Again, this text must have entered Christian-Jewish polemic from the Christian side. Following this are two quotations that seem to come from the Bible rather than the liturgy: secundum ordinem Melchisedek (Psalm 110:4), and secundum ordinem Moysi et Aaron in sacerdotibus eius et Samuel inter eos qui invocant nomen Domini (cf. Psalm 99:6).19 Though the Canon of the Mass does refer to the sacrifice of Melchisedek, along with those of Abel and Abraham,20 it does not quote the words of this psalm, nor does it mention Moses, Aaron, or Samuel at all. It is easy to imagine, however, that these psalm verses would have become known to the compilers of NY by having been cited in some sermon on the priesthood of Christ, an idea with which Psalm 110 was especially associated.21 Such a context would explain the close juxtaposition with a prayer from the Mass, and the responsory that refers to Christ sitting at the right hand of the Father. It is also possible, though, that these texts were only aggregated during the second stage of Jewish transmission, when Christian proof texts were being assembled, but translations and refutations had not yet been added. The assimilation of these quotations into a single pseudo-prayer could have happened during the third stage, when the quotations were being transliterated and written down in Hebrew letters. In any case it had already been accomplished by the fourth stage, when the German translator treated them all as a single continuous text. |
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