Does anyone know the origin of the prayer that the priest says during Mass right after the Our Father?
This prayer, the
Libera nos (from its first two words in Latin), is known as an “appendix” or “embolism” (a Greek word meaning “insertion”).
The presence of this prayer after the Our Father is attested to in the
Ordo Romanus Primus, describing the liturgy in Rome in the eighth and ninth centuries.
But at the end of the canon, the district-subdeacon stands behind the archdeacon with the paten. And when the pontiff says
And safe from all unquiet [from the *Libera nos] the archdeacon turns round…
Finito vero canone subdiaconus regionarius stat cum patena post archidiaconum; quando dixerit:
Et ab omni perturbatione, securi vertit se archidiaconus…
(Ordo Romanus Primus, I.18; pp. 138-139)
Pontiff. Deliver us, O Lord, from every evil, past, present, and to come; and at the intercession for us of the blessed and glorious and ever-virgin, Mary the Theotokos, and of thy blessed apostles Peter and Paul and Andrew, and all saints, graciously give thy peace in our days, that we, being aided by the help of thy mercy, may ever be freed from sin
and safe from all unquiet; through our Lord Jesus Christ, thy Son, who with thee liveth and reigneth, God, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, for ever and ever.
(Ordo Romanus Primus, III; p. 177)
It appears to date from the time of Pope St. Gregory the Great (late sixth / early seventh century), if not earlier.
The
Catholic Encyclopedia says: “The embolism may date back to the first centuries, since, under various forms, it is found in all the Occidental and in a great many Oriental, particularly Syrian, Liturgies. The Greek Liturgies of St. Basil and St. John Chrysostom, however, do not contain it. In the Mozarabic Rite this prayer is very beautiful and is recited not only in the Mass, but also after the Our Father at Lauds and Vespers.”
I don’t know about the Jewish precedent you mention.
The embolism has changed since the version I quote above. The Latin of that prayer is:
Líbera nos, quæsumus Dómine, ab ómnibus malis,
prætéritis, præséntibus et futúris:
et intercedénte beáta et gloriósa semper Vírgine Dei Genitríce María,
cum beátis Apóstolis tuis Petro et Páulo, atque Andréa, et ómnibus Sanctis,
da propítius pacem in diébus nostris:
ut, ope misericórdiæ tuæ adiúti,
et a peccáto simus semper líberi
et ab omni perturbatióne secúri.
Per eúndem Dóminum nostrum Iesum Christum, Fílium tuum.
Qui tecum vivit et regnat in unitáte Spíritus Sancti Deus.
Per ómnia sæcula sæculórum.
The parts in bold above were removed from the prayer in the version in the Pauline Missal of 1969, and a final clause (in bold below) about awaiting the blessed hope of the coming of our Savior Jesus Christ was added:
Libera nos, quaesumus, Domine,
ab omnibus malis,
da propitius pacem in diebus nostris,
ut, ope misericordiae tuae adiuti,
et a peccato simus semper liberi,
et ab omni perturbatione securi:
expectantes beatam spem et adventum
Salvatoris nostri Iesu Christi.
The last two lines are a liturgical quotation of Titus 2:13:
awaiting our blessed hope,
the appearing of the glory
of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ…
expectantes beatam spem
et adventum gloriae
magni Dei et
salvatoris nostri Iesu Christi
