"Sancta Maria dei genetrix"
Unlike "Obsecro te" and "O intemerata," the prayer “Sancta Maria dei genetrix” is not routinely included in Books of Hours (Wieck 94-96, 103-111). It seems to be relatively rare overall, surviving principally in collections of miscellaneous prayers (Baroffio; Hilg 192; List; Lourdaux and Haverais 368; Olivar 35-41; Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften; Pellegrin 66-79, University of Fribourg) and evolving considerably since its first recognizable appearance in tenth-century Bavaria (Barré 114-15). By the fourteenth century, the prayer does begin to make occasional appearances in French Books of Hours (such as BnF Latin 10527), although it remains a somewhat uncommon choice.
As further examples come to light, the context provided by other manuscripts may help us to understand why the first user of FOL 47 wished to have it included in her book.
The text of “Sancta Maria dei genetrix” in FOL 47 can be challenging to read due to abbreviations and omissions, but the following is a proposed transcription and translation:
Sancta Maria dei genitrix [sic] mitissima per amorem unigeniti filii tui do-
mini nostri Iesu Christi cum omnibus sanctis et electis dei veni in adiutorium mihi et dignare intercedere pro me peccatrice anima mea in angustiis posita est et spiritus astuens [sic] clamat ad te. Exaudi piissima te benedico cum omnibus generationibus quia fecit tibi magna qui potens est et sanctum nomen eius. Te gloriosa regina caelorum te deprecor beatissima virgo Maria per natatem [sic] in qua
creatoris omnium genuisti ut sis miserrimae in adiutorium in die exitus mei cum sanctis tuis per crucem in qua filius tuus stans te discipulo suo Iohanni commendavit dicens ecce mater tua. Per ipsius nomen et amorem adiuva me miseram in omnibus horis et causis quibus angustiatum [sic] me esse cognoscit [sic]. Ave Maria gratia plena dei
genitrix qui [sic] es semper [sic] solem [et] luna[m] pulcherrima. Ave gloriosa cuius species [sic] rex caeli et terrae concupivit. Ave salutata ab angelo. Ave obumbrata a spiritu sancto. Ave prae[g]nans de deo. Ave quae tuis visceribus meruisti filium dei generare. Ave quae filium panis [sic] restrinxisti atque in praesaepio reclinasti quaeque in balneum misisti. Ave quae filium dei in tem-
Translation
Holy Mary, most gentle mother of God, through the love of your only-begotten son our lord Jesus Christ, with all the holy and elect of God, come to my aid and deign to intercede for me, a sinful woman. My soul is buried in difficulties and [my] roiling soul cries out to you. Hear [me], most tender [lady]. I bless you with all generations because the one who is powerful has done great things for you, and holy is his name. You [are] the glorious queen of the heavens, [and] I entreat you, most blessed Virgin Mary, by the birth in which you bore the creator of all things, that you may be in aid of a wretch on the day of my death, with all of your holy ones, by the cross on which your son, remaining, commended [you] to his disciple John, saying, behold your mother. By his name and love help me, poor wretch, in all times and occasions in which you know difficulties to be [upon] me. Hail, Mary, full of grace, Mother of God, [you] who are beautiful beyond the sun and moon. Hail, [you] whose beauty the king of heaven and earth desired. Hail, greeted by the angel. Hail, overshadowed by the Holy Spirit. Hail, pregnant with God. Hail, [you] who from your [own] body were worthy to bear the Son of God. Hail, [you] who bound [your] son in [swaddling] clothes and also laid him to rest in a crib, and who accompanied [him] to the font. Hail [you who] the Son of God also . . .
Notes
FOL 47's version of this text includes a number of departures from "standard" Latin grammar and orthography, suggesting that the scribe may not have known Latin well, or that the prayer was unfamiliar to him, or both.
On line 6 of page 2, "astuens" appears to be an error for "estuans," meaning "roiling" or "seething."
On line 1 of page 3, "qui" appears to be an error for "quae" (often written as "que" in FOL 47).
On the same line, the scribe appears to have accidentally substituted the word "semper" ("always") for the word "super" ("above" or "beyond"), as indicated both by the sense of the text and comparison to other versions.
On line 12 of page 3, "angustiatum" appears to be an errror for "angustiarum" (the genitive plural of "angustia, angustiae") although if so, this error was introduced at least as long ago as the 12th century (Clm 18541B, Bayersiche Staatsbibliothek).
On line 13 of page 3, "cognoscit" (third person indicative) appears to be an error for "cognoscis" (second person indicative), the form used most commonly in other versions of the prayer.
On line 14 of page 3, "natatem" appears to be an error or abbreviation for "nativitatem."
On line 3 of page 4, the fifth declension noun “species, speciei” appears in the the nominative case ("species") rather than the required accusative ("speciem"). It is possible that the -s ending of the nominative "sounded" more like correct grammatical agreement to the scribe's ear, since the preceding word is "cuius" (or "whose," the genitive case of the relative pronoun). Other late medieval examples of the text (including BnF Latin 10527 and several Italian versions compiled by Baroffio) use the correct inflection, suggesting that this error is specific to FOL 47.
On line 11 of page 4, the scribe has written “panis” (the nominative or genitive case of a familiar word for “bread” ) rather than "pannis" (the ablative plural of “pannus," meaning "clothes" or "rags").
In common with other late medieval texts, FOL 47 uses the spelling "genitrix" rather than the classical Latin "genetrix," probably by confusion with the masculine form, "genitor".
This prayer does not appear to be particularly unusual in either themes or source material. Lines 8-11 on the second page (“te benedico cum omnibus generationibus quia fecit tibi magna qui potens est et sanctum nomen eius”) echo the language of the Latin Vulgate version of the Magnificat, Mary’s longest statement in the New Testament: “beatem me dicent omnes generationes quia fecit mihi magna qui potens est et sanctum nomen eius,” or “all generations will call me blessed, because the one who is powerful has done great things for me, and holy is his name” (Luke 1:48-9).
On line 6 of page 3, the prayer refers to Jesus “standing” or “remaining” (“stans”) on the cross at the time that he commended his mother into the care of St. John (John 19:27). Other versions of the prayer, somewhat more appropriately, use the word “suspensus” (“suspended”) or “pendens” (“hanging”) instead (Baroffio, OxL82 and OxB249).
The phrase “gratia plena” on line 14 of page 3 similarly recalls the angel Gabriel’s greeting to Mary at the Annunciation in Luke 1:28, well known as the opening of the “Ave Maria".
On lines 11 and 12 of page 4, the phrase "quae filium panis [sic] restrinxisti atque in praesepio reclinasti" recalls the Vulgate description of Jesus’ birth in Luke 2:7: “et peperit filium suum primogenitum et pannis eum involvit et reclinavit eum in praesepio." The modern Italian word “presepio” (from Latin "praesaepes", a term meaning "enclosure" that can be used in the sense of either "crib" or "stall") is still used to refer to a Nativity scene (Collins Italian Dictionary).
On page 4, the somewhat odd phrase “in balneum misisti” ("sent to the bath") has been translated as “accompanied [him] to the font” based on a hint to the meaning from another version of this text (Baroffio, OxB249), in which the phrase “in praesepio reclinasti” is followed by “Ave quae filium dei in templo praesentasti.” The titles for Mary in this section of the prayer follow the sequence of events in her life as recounted in Scripture: Jesus’ conception, then the Annunciation, then Jesus’ birth in a barn or stable. The next major event is his Presentation in the Temple, which ritually recognizes Jesus’ birth in a way that might remind medieval Christian readers of the ritual of infant baptism. The version of the prayer that we have in FOL 47 appears to be alluding to the Presentation in baptismal language, so that "font" appears to capture the sense of "balneum" better than "bath" in this instance. The verb "mitto, mittere, misi, missum" normally means "to send" or to "dismiss," but in context it can also mean "to escort" (Cassell's New Latin Dictionary 375).