The great Christmas Proclamation (Kalenda)

"The Twenty-fifth Day of December, when ages beyond number had run their course from the creation of the world, when God in the beginning created heaven and earth, and formed man in his own likeness; when century upon century had passed since the Almighty set his bow in the clouds after the Great Flood, as a sign of covenant and peace; in the twenty-first century since Abraham, our father in faith, came out of Ur of the Chaldees; in the thirteenth century since the People of Israel were led by Moses in the Exodus from Egypt; around the thousandth year since David was anointed King; in the sixty-fifth week of the prophecy of Daniel; in the one hundred and ninety-fourth Olympiad; in the year seven hundred and fifty-two since the foundation of the City of Rome; in the forty-second year of the reign of Caesar Octavian Augustus, the whole world being at peace, JESUS CHRIST, eternal God and Son of the eternal Father, desiring to consecrate the world by his most loving presence, was conceived by the Holy Spirit, and when nine months had passed since his conception, was born of the Virgin Mary in Bethlehem of Judah, and was made man:  The Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ according to the flesh."

     Kalenda, Roman martyrology (Martyrologium Romanum) for 25 December, editio typica of 2001, as mounted by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.  The immediately previous revision of the Kalenda (sometimes called the Christmas Proclamation) approved by Pope Benedict XV in 1922 read as follows:

In the 5199^th year of the creation of the world, from the time when God in the beginning created the heaven and the earth; the 2957^th year after the flood; the 2015^th year from the birth of Abraham; the 1510^th year from Moses, and the going forth of the people of Israel from Egypt; the 1032^nd year from the anointing of David King; in the 65^th week according to the prophecy of Daniel; in the 194^th Olympiad; the 752^nd year from the foundation of the City of Rome; the 42^nd year of the rule of Octavian Augustus, all the earth being at peace, Jesus Christ, the Eternal God, and the Son of the Eternal Father, desirous to sanctify the world by his most merciful coming, being conceived by the Holy Spirit, nine months after his conception was born in Bethlehem of Juda, made Man of the Virgin Mary.  The Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ according to the Flesh.

Source:  The Roman martyrology. . . . An English translation from the fourth edition after the typical edition (1956) approved by Pope Benedict XV (1922), ed. J. B. O’Connell (London:  Burns & Oates, 1962), 279.

Image:  Bronze coin struck in Antioch, Syria, in 5/4 B.C., at about the time of the birth of Jesus in 6/4 B.C.  Obverse:  IMP·AVGVST TR·POT (IMPERATOR AUGUSTUS TRIBUNICIA POTESTAS , POTESTATE, etc.); reverse:  SC (SENATUS CONSULTUM).  Roman provincial coinage, vol. 1, From the death of Caesar to the death of Vitellius (44 B.C. to A.D. 69) (London:  British Museum Press; Paris:  Bibliothèque Nationale de France, 1992), no. 4247.  Color image from http://www.wildwinds.com/coins/ric/augustus/RPC_4247.jpg.

     For a history-cum-evolving-text beginning with the "de luxe" Chronograph (ODCC, 3rd ed. rev. (2005), sv Chronographer of AD 354, which cites T. Mommsen in MGH, Auctores Antiquissimi 9.1 (1892), 13–196) written and illustrated for a wealthy Christian named Valentin by the artist Furius Dionysius Philocalus in 354 (which read simply "VIII Kal. Ianuarii, natus Christus in Betleem Iudeae" (Mommsen, 71)), see, among other things, Philippe Beitia, "L'annonce de la naissance du Christ dans le Martyrologe Romain:  histoire, évolution et sens théologie," Bulletin de littérature ecclésiastique 105 (2004):  339-352.

"What is lost is lostness itself."

For the British theologian Charles Raven (1884-1964), "Jesus is the Perfect Pneumatic Human Being, himself becoming in a condensed fashion the history of human pneumatic transformation.  The pneumatic core to this claim is important:  Christ himself constitutes the supreme moment in this process of Life or Spirit, his assertion within the world belongs to the world's own being, and thus his pneumatic perfection is simply a given.  Jesus' own body is therefore never truly under threat, for it is a modality of spirit-in-becoming; and with it the fullness of life itself is therefore never menaced.

     "The theodical claim in this scheme is that this movement of Christ's life constitutes our own becoming too.  By contrast, that bodies could simply be bodies, pain could simply be pain, and death simply death—as it appears to be, and as it is suffered in the descriptive fullness of [Georges] Duhamel, such that redemption is always itself unexpected grace—all this seems simply too difficult a paradox to insist upon.  If bodies are not only lived realities but realities that assert their lack of life, even in the midst of living, our own or others'—and this is at least implied by a person's history within the world—then Raven's argument loses something fundamental.  What is lost is lostness itself."

     Ephraim Radner, A profound ignorance:  modern pneumatology and its anti-modern redemption (Waco, TX:  Baylor University Press, 2019), 185-186.

"the Scriptural necessity of such meetings in times of [plague]"

"But here we are obliged to add with great concern, that we find ourselves brought in guilty in a thing which we had looked upon as having produced many blessed effects; we are charged of having done considerable damage by our public worship:  in evidence of this charge they allege the great number of deaths, in our congregation, above all others in the city; and what is of the greatest consequence, they attempt to prove our guilt from Scripture.

[Answer to the charge respecting the holding of Public Worship.]

     "This charge having repeatedly been made against us, it is our duty to give a short answer to it in these sheets.  Take it as follows:

     "We know that the Most High doth not dwell in temples made with men's hands; but that he dwells in a contrite and humble mind; but we know likewise, that few people have a contrite and humble heart at the time of the judgments of God, and that the Lord makes use of his word, to produce in them this blessed disposition:  we know that the public preaching of the Gospel, and common means of edification, promote the same very much; we know that the Lord dwells with such really contrite souls particularly then, when they unite in a church or in any other house for his worship; for has he not said, 'The Lord loveth the gates of Zion more than all the dwelling-places of Jacob.'  Has our Blessed Saviour given this promise?  Where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them.  Has he not called to us through his Apostle, Let us not forsake the assembling of ourselves together.  Has there been any exception made in any part of Scripture with respect to sickness, or the time of plague?  Do we blame the first Christians, when they assembled together for the common adoration of Jesus Christ at the utmost hazard of their of [sic] lives?  was it not in these meetings where the blessed martyrs gathered courage and strength, joyfully to shed their blood for Christ's sake?  Do we believe that the law of self-preservation would have excused them if they had for that reason neglected the opportunities, which prepared the way for them to a glorious death?  The narrow compass of this small pamphlet will not allow us to say any more of the blessings of God upon such associations of his people; and even of the Scriptural necessity of such meetings in times of calamity; we will only add a few remarks concerning our meetings themselves, from whence it will appear that we were extremely cautious, and endeavored to render them not only harmless, but even useful."

     Justus Henry Christian Helmuth, A short account of the yellow fever in Philadelphia, for the reflecting Christian, trans. Charles Erdmann (Philadelphia:  Jones, Hoff & Derrick, 1794), 43-44 =Kurze Nachricht von dem sogenannten gelben Fieber in Philadelphia für den nachdenkenden Christen (Philadelphia:  Steiner und Kämmerer, 1793), 81-83.  Among the precautions taken (45 =85),

Those who had sick people at home, or did not feel well themselves, were particularly requested not to come to our meetings; all who attended were advised to sit as far apart as the numbers of hearers would permit.  The service itself lasted seldom longer than half or three quarters of an hour.

I was put onto this by Ephraim Radner, A profound ignorance:  modern pneumatology and its anti-modern redemption (Waco, TX:  Baylor University Press, 2019), 387n50. 

Pseudo Thomas Aquinas

"Creator of all things, true source of light and wisdom, lofty origin of all being, graciously let a ray of your brilliance penetrate into the darkness of our understanding and take from us the double darkness in which we have been born, an obscurity of both sin and ignorance. Give us a sharp sense of understanding, a retentive memory, and the ability to grasp things correctly and fundamentally. Grant us the talent of being exact in our explanations, and the ability to express ourselves with thoroughness and charm. Point out the beginning, direct the progress, and help in completion; through Christ our Lord. Amen."

     That, just one of a number of very closely related versions, derives from the "Creator ineffabilis," which Corpus Thomisticum (which tends to follow the better editions, including the Leonine whenever possible) places under "Some works falsely ascribed to Thomas" ("OPERA ALIQUA FALSE ADSCRIPTA THOMAE") and "by an unknown author" ("Ignoti Auctoris").  I have not gone looking for any of the actual scholarship in confirmation of this, however.  For some rather different versions, search Google for "Creator ineffable", "Ineffable Creator", etc. (see M. A. van den Oudenrijn in Angelicum 6, nos. 1-2 (1929):  77-82 for an Armenian version beginning "Creator omnium, incomprehensibilis et ineffabilis" (79-81)).  This version, taken from Wikipedia most immediately, and just one of several translations undoubtedly, follows the Latin (taken from Corpus Thomisticum) a bit more closely:

"Ineffable Creator, Who, of the treasures of Thy wisdom hast formed the nine choirs of Angels, and set them on high above the heavens in a wonderful order, and hast exquisitely fashioned and knit together all parts of the universe; do Thou, Who art the true fountain and one principle of light and wisdom, deign to shed the brightness of Thy light upon the darkness of my understanding, and thus to disperse the twofold darkness of sin and ignorance wherein I was born. O Thou, Who makest eloquent the tongues of babies, instruct my tongue, and pour forth on my lips the grace of thy blessing. Grant me acuteness in understanding what I read, power to retain it, subtlety to discern its true meaning, and clearness and ease in expressing it. Do Thou order my beginnings, direct and further my progress, complete and bless my ending; Thou Who art true God and true Man, Who livest and reignest world without end. Amen."

"Creator ineffabilis, qui de thesauris sapientiae tuae tres Angelorum hierarchias designasti, et eas super caelum empyreum miro ordine collocasti, atque universi partes elegantissime disposuisti, tu, inquam, qui verus fons luminis et sapientiae diceris, atque supereminens principium: infundere digneris super intellectus mei tenebras tuae radium claritatis, duplices, in quibus natus sum, a me removens tenebras, peccatum, scilicet, et ignorantiam. Tu, qui linguas infantium facis disertas, linguam meam erudias, atque in labiis meis gratiam tuae benedictionis infundas. Da mihi intelligendi acumen, retinendi capacitatem, addiscendi modum et facilitatem, interpretandi subtilitatem, loquendi gratiam copiosam; ingressum instruas, progressum dirigas, egressum compleas. Tu qui es verus Deus et homo. Qui vivis et cetera."

     According to Enrique Alarcón, of Corpus Thomisticum, "the general criterion [of authenticity] that currently prevails is that explained by the Leonine Commission" in its "Introductio generalis" to Les opuscules de Saint Thomas on pp. I-X of Opera omnia iussu Leonis XIII P. M. edita 40 (Ad Sanctae Sabinae, Rome, 1969).  (This, by the way, is in French, not Latin.)  Offhand, though, I don't see a mention of the prayers (preces).

Bibliography (in progress):

• Esser, Th.  D. Thomae Aquinatis monita et preces.  3rd ed.  Paderborn:  1890.  Pp. 60-73.
• Grabmann, Martin.  Die Werke des hl. Thomas von Aquin:  eine literarhistorische Untersuchung und Einführung.  Beiträge zur Geschichte der Philosophie und Theologie des Mittelalters, Texte und Untersuchungen 22.1/2.  3. stark erweiterten Auflage.  Münster Westfalen:  Aschendorffsche Verlagsbuchhandlung, 1949.  Pp. 370-372, on the Gebete, including the Creator ineffabilis.  "Uccelli [(below)] hat das Alter seiner Handschriften nicht angegeben."  Whereas Grabmann, coming along behind him, came to the conclusion that, with the exception of the Concedi mihi, these prayers all appear for the first time in manuscripts of the 15th century, and thus well within the period in which the clear dubia et spuria, too, arise.  For as long as we have no earlier testimony, then, "a strongly scientific proof for the authenticity of these prayers" is not to be expected.  And that because no proof from internal evidence alone can be ultimately compelling.
• Quétif, Jacques, and Echard, Jacques.  Scriptores ordinis praedicatorum recensiti. . . . .  Vol. I, . . . ab initio ad an. M.D. (Paris:  1719), 344 (see no. 4 at the bottom of col. 1 and the top of col. 2).  "Eae quidem quoad stylum non elegantes, sed quoad sensus piissimae.  Ex quibus discimus has orationes traditione acceptas sub nominee S. Thomae in sacrario S. Jacobi publice omnibus sacerdotibus in exemplum prostasse, unde Valleoletanus exscripserit":  "These [prayers] are, with respect to style, inelegant to be sure, but with respect to sense, most pious.  From [all of] which [considerations] we learn that these prayers, accepted by the tradition under the name of St. Thomas, have, for example, been offered up [(prostasse, on the model of prostrasse (from prosterno), the perfect active infinitive of prosto)] in the sanctuary/at the shrine of St. James publicly by all priests; hence [Ludovicus] Valleoletanus copied/reproduced them]."  Ludovicus Valleoletanus (Ludovicus de Valleoleti (Valladolid), etc.) seems to have been an early 15th-century Dominican who composed a bibliographical Tabula of some sort, though I have been unable so far to find out anything else about him.
• Sertillanges, A.-D.  Prières de saint Thomas d'Aquin.  Paris:  1920.
• Uccelli, P. A.  "Orazioni e detti di San Tommaso d'Aquino."  La scienza e la fede 68 (1868):  353-372, 441-450.

Modern natural science as pneumatologically Unitarian

     "Modern empirical science is joined at the hip to the modern, if inchoate, claim to the universal accessibility to Spirit, just as it is joined to the breakdown of Christian claims regarding the Trinity and its difficult distinctions.  While More would have disapproved, many seventeenth- and eighteenth-century scientists, including Newton, moved in Arian and Unitarian directions.  Breaking down distinctions at their metaphysical roots simply made more sense of a world that required pacification and the alleviation of pain.  The Spirit dissolves differences, in favor of visible commonalities of behavior.  Such dissolution is just what a conflicted polity and a tortured body demand."

     Ephraim Radner, A profound ignorance:  modern pneumatology and its anti-modern redemption (Waco, TX:  Baylor University Press, 2019), 102.

"a movement away from incarnational specificity"

"The contrast between 'incarnational' ecclesial forms and 'pneumatic' political revolution may seen tendentious, except that, as Quakerism and other movements show, the trajectory of pneumatic revolution does in fact involve the shedding of specific Christological and scriptural detail."

     Ephraim Radner, A profound ignorance:  modern pneumatology and its anti-modern redemption (Waco, TX:  Baylor University Press, 2019):  74.

"to ransom a slave you gave away your Son!"

"O God, by whom we are redeemed and receive adoption, look graciously upon your beloved sons and daughters, that those who believe in Christ may receive true freedom and an everlasting inheritance.  Through."

"Deus, per quem nobis et redemptio venit et praestatur adoptio, filios dilectionis tuae benignus intende, ut in Christo credentibus et vera tribuatur libertas, et hereditas aeterna."

O God, through whom to us both redemption comes and adoption is offered, direct, [being] benignant, your thoughts at the sons you have chosen-in-love, that upon those who believe in Christ both true liberty may be conferred and[, surpassing that, an] eternal inheritance.

     redemptio, libertas; and, beyond that, adoptio, hereditas.  Collect for the Twenty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time.  "surpassing that," I say, on account of both et . . . et and an original sense of praestare (the verb that goes with the pair adoptio, hereditas), "to surpass or excel."
     This one begins like Corpus orationum 1310a-c (it is most like 1310a, which is found in the 8th-century Gelasian, among many others, and which asks God to look back at the works of his mercy and confer upon those [baptismally] regenerated (Blaise:  renatus, from renascor) in Christ an artfully reversed pair of nouns (redemptio, libertas; and, beyond that, hereditas, adoptio).  CO 1310a:

Deus, per quem nobis et redemptio venit et praestatur adoptio, respice in opera misericordiae tuae, ut in Christo renatis et aeterna tribuatur hereditas et vera libertas.

(Corpus orationum says nothing close to this much at no. 483 on p. 177, on the current 3rd ed. of the Missale Romanum.)