Hours of the Cross
The leaf presently held by Stony Brook University (whose image is not yet available) contains a portion of the Hours of the Cross, the first to be examined from FOL 47’s version of this brief liturgy.
The Hours of the Cross are typically described as following a simple, unvarying pattern with no characteristic regional variations (Drigsdahl, 2005): at each hour, one verse of the hymn Patris sapientia, veritas divina is followed by the responses “Adoramus te christe . . . /Quia per sanctam crucem . . .” and a specific prayer ("Domine iesu christe, filii dei vivi, pone passionem, crucem, et mortem tuam . . .").
In FOL 47, however, a slightly more elaborate version of this simple structure appears. One relatively minor difference is the incorporation of some familiar phrases from the Hours of the Virgin. For example, the frequently used transitional sequence “Domine, exaudi orationem meam/Et clamor meus ad te veniat” (Psalms 101:2) appears here between just before the central prayer “Domine iesu christe . . .” . Similarly, the exchange “Benedicamus domino/Deo gratias”, which follows “Domine, exaudi orationem meam . . . at the conclusion of most of the Hours of the Virgin, concludes the hour here as well, appearing after “Domine iesu christe . . .” While many examples of the Hours of the Cross do use the bare-bones version described by Drigsdahl, these particular minor additions do not appear to be uncommon in northern France (Walters Art Museum Ms. W.99, 153v; Ms. W.262, 77r; Ms. W.269, 85r).
More unusually, FOL 47 also interposes another text, from Psalms 65:4, immediately after “Adoramus te, christe”: “Omnis terra adoret te, Deus./Psallat tibi et psalmum dicat nomini tuo.” The verse appears commonly in chants associated with the Feast of the Epiphany, but is also sometimes used for feasts of the Cross (Koláček and Lacoste).
The addition of “Omnis terra . . .” is not universal in manuscripts following the Use of Troyes (see, for example, University of Iowa xMMs.Bo6, 24v-25r, or Bibliothèque de l'Arsenal Ms-651 réserve, 19v-20r). However, it does appear in Troyes exemplars such as Bibliothèque nationale de France Latin 924 (30v-31r) and Bibliothèque de l'Arsenal Ms-647 réserve (99v-100r), whose versions also resemble FOL 47 in their placement of “Domine, exaudi . . .” and “Benedicamus domino . . .”.
“Omnis terra . . .” as an element of the Hours of the Cross cannot be considered a definitive marker of the Troyes liturgy, since it can be found in at least one northern French manuscript with no discernable Troyes connections (the Malet-Lannoy Hours, Walters Art Museum Ms. W.281, 144r). However, the presence of this text in FOL 47 is certainly consistent with the rest of its liturgical identity.