Improperia (the Reproaches)
O My People, what have I done unto thee?
It is a natural, and desirable, consequence of striving to live as a devout Catholic that the more you love God and His Church, the more you will hate sin and become increasingly sensitive to it. But living in this fallen world, and at a time when grave evils such as abortion, homosexuality and fornication are publicly celebrated on all levels of society, it can be easy as a Catholic to fall into a kind of Pharisaism which, as in Our Lord’s parable (Luke 18:9-14), pridefully elevates itself above other men, compared to whom your own sins can seem trifling or insignificant. I may be vain or spiteful, but at least I’m not like the Kardashians!
One of the most ancient chants of the Mass helps us to overcome this mentality. The Improperia, or Reproaches, are a series of responsorial antiphons sung on Good Friday, traditionally called the Mass of the Presanctified because the previously-consecrated Eucharist is communicated and there is no consecration; they are also the only prayers in the Roman rite, besides the Kyrie Eleison, which include some passages in Greek (from the Trisagion). They are specifically sung during the Adoration of the Cross, reinforcing its profound implication that we, and not only those who lived at the time, share in the guilt of Christ’s Crucifixion, as it was also our own sins that motivated His saving Passion. In the Improperia, which date from at least the eighth and ninth centuries or even earlier and were officially added to the Roman Ordo in the fourteenth century, Christ remonstrates His people for their ingratitude, as they continue to fall into sin and adulterate against Him despite His consistent acts of faithfulness to them.
While the words of the Improperia apply specifically to the Jews, being spoken by Christ during His Passion, they also apply to Christians, since, as St. Paul taught, the Church is the true Israel and thus shares in her history. We are not Gentiles but the true fulfillment of Israel, whose “remnant” maintained the Faith of Christ in anticipation of His coming. (Romans 2, 9, 11) In these poignant words, Christ asks why His people, whom He saved from Egypt, led through the desert and planted as a vineyard in the Promised Land, in return have condemned Him to be crucified. He asks what He did to deserve this treatment, what offense He gave that merited our infidelity – and of course, the answer is nothing. In return for His unfailing love, we gave, and continue to give, only disobedience, rejection and hatred, preferring the glamorous idols of the world over His gift of divine life.
As we look around at the evils which seem to increase daily in both the world and the Church, let us pray with these words and hear Christ reproaching us personally for our own sins and calling us to flee from them with even greater zeal than we flee from the sins of the world.
Latin:
Cantor 1: Popule meus, quid feci tibi? Aut in quo contristavi te? Responde mihi.
Cantor 2: Quia eduxi te de terra Ægypti: parasti Crucem Salvatori tuo.
Choir A: Hagios o Theos.
Choir B: Sanctus Deus.
Choir A: Hagios Ischyros.
Choir B: Sanctus Fortis.
Choir A: Hagios Athanatos, eleison hemas.
Choir B: Sanctus Immortalis, miserere nobis.
Cantors 3 & 4: Ego propter te flagellavi Ægyptum cum primogenitis suis: et tu me flagellatum tradidisti.
Choirs A & B: Popule meus, quid feci tibi? Aut in quo contristavi te? Responde mihi.
Cantors 1 & 2: Ego eduxi te de Ægypto, demerso Pharaone in mare rubrum: et tu me tradidisti principibus sacerdotum.
Choirs A & B: Popule meus, quid feci tibi? Aut in quo contristavi te? Responde mihi.
English:
O My People, what have I done unto thee? Or in what have I offended thee? Answer Me.
O My People, what have I done unto thee? Or in what have I offended thee? Answer Me.
Because I led thee out of the land of Egypt, thou hast prepared a cross for thy Saviour.
O Holy God
O Holy God
O holy, O mighty One
O holy, O mighty One
O holy, immortal One, have mercy on us
O holy, immortal One, have mercy on us
Because I led thee out through the desert in forty years, and fed thee with manna, and brought thee into a very good land, thou hast prepared a cross for thy Saviour.
O Holy God
O Holy God
O holy, O mighty One
O holy, O mighty One
O holy, immortal One, have mercy on us
O holy, immortal One, have mercy on us
What more should I have done, and did it not? Behold I have planted thee as My fairest vine, and thou has become very bitter unto Me, for thou hast quenched My thirst with vinegar, and with a lance has thou pierced thy Saviour’s side.
O Holy God
O Holy God
O holy, O mighty One
O holy, O mighty One
O holy, immortal One, have mercy on us
O holy, immortal One, have mercy on us
For thee did I scourge Egypt and its firstborn, and thou has given Me over to be scourged.
O My People, what have I done unto thee? Or in what have I offended thee? Answer Me.
With great power I lifted thee up, and thou hast hung Me upon the gibbet of the cross.
O My People, what have I done unto thee? Or in what have I offended thee? Answer Me.