DIVINUM OFFICIUM Responsory

Responsorium Breve

Common of Feasts of the Blessed Virgin Mary - Terce Brief Responsory

Psalm 44:5 (Vulgate: 44:4-5) provides this royal psalm text applied to Mary as Queen. 'Specie tua et pulchritudine tua' describes beauty both exterior and interior - 'species' being form/appearance, 'pulchritudo' being deeper beauty. The versicle's triple imperative 'intende, prospere procede, et regna' (aim, proceed prosperously, reign) describes royal progress - the queen advancing to her throne. At Terce, when the Spirit descended at Pentecost, this responsory celebrates Mary's beauty as the Spirit's masterwork and her queenship as earned through her fiat to divine overshadowing.

LATINE
R. br. Specie tua * et pulchritudine tua. Specie. V. Intende, prospere procede, et regna. Et pulchritudine. Gloria Patri. Specie.
ENGLISH
R. br. With thy comeliness * and thy beauty. With. V. Set out, proceed prosperously, and reign. And thy beauty. Glory be. With.
NOTA
FONS
Breviarium Romanum (1962)
USUS
Common of Feasts of the Blessed Virgin Mary - Terce Brief Responsory
HORA
Terce
GENVS
Responsory