The Prymer: Office of the Dead and Commendations (Middle English) (English Primer, Cambridge MS Dd.11.82, c. 1420–30)

Placebo (Vespers of the Dead)

And here beginneth Placebo, or Vespers of the Office for the Dead.

Psalm 116 (Dilexi quoniam: I loved; for the Lord shall hear the voice of my prayer). Antiphon: I shall please the Lord in the country of them that live.

Psalm 120 (Ad Dominum cum tribularer: When I was set in tribulation). Antiphon: Woe is me! for my dwelling is drawn along.

Psalm 121 (Levavi oculos: I raised mine eyes to the hills). Antiphon: The Lord keep thee from all evil! the Lord keep thy soul!

Psalm 130 (De profundis: Lord, I cried to thee from the depths). Antiphon: Lord! if thou keepest wickednesses, Lord, who shall sustain?

Psalm 138 (Confitebor: Lord, I shall acknowledge to thee in all mine heart). Antiphon: Lord! despise thou not the works of thine hands.

The Magnificat. Antiphon: I heard a voice from heaven saying, "Blessed be dead men that die in the Lord."

V. From the gate of hell, R. Lord, deliver their souls!

Lord, have mercy on us! Christ, have mercy on us! Lord, have mercy on us! Pater noster: Our Father [etc.].

Psalm 146 (Lauda, anima mea: My soul, praise thou the Lord!).

V. Endless rest give them, Lord, R. And everlasting light lighten to them! V. From the gate of hell, R. Lord, deliver their souls! V. I believe to see the goods of the Lord R. In the land of living men. V. Lord, hear thou my prayer, R. And my cry come to thee!

Orison: Inclina, Domine. Lord! bow thou thine ear to our prayers, with which we beseech lowly thy mercy; that thou set the souls of thy servants, both of men and women, that thou hast commanded to pass out of this world, in the country of peace and of light; and command that they be fellows of thy saints; by Christ, our Lord. Amen!

For father and mother: Deus, qui patrem et matrem. God, that commanded us to worship father and mother, have mercy of the souls of my father and of my mother, and forgive them all their sins; and make us to live with them in the bliss without end. Amen!

For a corpse present: Deus, cui proprium. God, to whom it is proper to have mercy and to spare evermore, lowly we beseech thee that thou set the soul of thy servant, which thou hast commanded today to pass out of this world, be not taken into the hands of our enemy, nor forget it not unto the end, but command it to be taken up of holy angels, and to be led into the country of life; so, for that he hoped and believed in thee, let him deserve to be ever glad in the company of thy saints. Amen!

For a soul on a mind-day [anniversary]: Deus, indulgentiarum. Lord God of forgiveness, grant thou to the soul of thy servant, whose year's mind we make today, a seat of refreshing, bliss of rest, and clearness of light. Amen!

Dirige: Matins, the First Nocturn

Here beginneth Dirige.

Psalm 5 (Verba mea: Lord, perceive thou my words with ears). Antiphon: My Lord God, direct thou my way in thy sight.

Psalm 6 (Domine, ne in furore: Lord, reprove thou not me in thy strong vengeance). Antiphon: Lord, be thou converted, and deliver my soul; for there is no man in death that mindfully hath mind of thee.

Psalm 7 (Domine Deus meus, in te speravi). Antiphon: Lest any time he take my soul as a lion, while there is none to redeem, neither to make safe.

V. From the gate of hell, R. Lord, deliver their souls! Pater noster: Our Father [etc.].

The first lesson: Parce mihi, Domine (Job 7.16–21). Lord, spare thou me, for my days be nought! What is man, that thou magnifiest him? or what settest thou thine heart towards him? Thou visitest him early, and suddenly thou provest him. How long sparest thou not me, neither sufferest that I swallow my spittle? I have sinned; O thou keeper of men, what shall I do to thee? Why hast thou set me contrary to thee, and I am made grievous to myself? Why doest thou not away my sin, and why takest thou not away my wickedness? Lo, now I sleep in powder; and if thou seekest me early, I shall not abide.

R. I believe that mine again-buyer [redeemer] liveth; and I shall rise out of the earth in the last day; and in my flesh I shall see God, my saviour. V. Whom I myself shall see, being not another, and mine eyes shall behold him. [Repeat] And in my flesh I shall see God, my saviour.

The second lesson: Taedet animam (Job 10.1–7). It annoyeth my soul of my life; I shall let my speech against me, I shall speak in the bitterness of my soul. I shall say to God, "Nill thou condemn me; show thou to me why thou deemest me so. Whether it seemeth good to thee, if thou falsely challengest and oppressest me, the work of thine hands, and if thou help the counsel of wicked men? Whether fleshly eyes be to thee? or as a man seeth, so thou shalt see? Whether thy days be as the days of man, and thy years be as man's times, that thou enquire my wickedness, and search my sin, and wit that I have done no wicked thing, since no man is that may deliver from thine hand?"

R. Thou that raisedst again stinking Lazarus from his grave, thou, Lord, grant them rest and place of forgiveness! V. Thou that art to come to deem the quick and the dead, and the world by fire! [Repeat] Thou, Lord, grant them rest, and place of forgiveness!

The third lesson: Manus tuae (Job 10.8–12). Thine hands made me, and formed me all in compass; and thou castest me down so suddenly! I beseech thee have thou mind that thou madest me of clay, and shalt bring me again into powder. Whether thou hast not softened me as milk, and hast cruddled me together as cheese? Thou hast clothed me with skin and flesh, and thou hast joined me together with bones and sinews. Thou hast given life and mercy to me, and thy visitation hath kept my spirit.

R. Lord, when thou shalt come to deem the earth, where shall I hide me from the face of thy wrath? for I have sinned full much in my life. V. I dread my trespasses, and I am ashamed before thee: when thou shalt come to judgement, nill thou condemn me. [Repeat] For I have sinned full much in my life.

Dirige: the Second Nocturn

Psalm 23 (Dominus regit me: The Lord governeth me, and nothing shall fail to me). Antiphon: He hath set me in place of pasture.

Psalm 25 (Ad te, Domine, levavi). Antiphon: Lord, remember thou not the trespasses of my youth, and mine ignorances!

Psalm 27 (Dominus illuminatio). Antiphon: I believe to see the goods of the Lord in the land of them that live.

V. Rightful men shall be in endless mind; R. they shall not dread of evil hearing. Pater noster: Our Father [etc.].

The fourth lesson: Quantas habeo (Job 13.23–28). How great sins and wickednesses have I! Show to me my felonies and trespasses! Why hidest thou thy face, and deemest me thine enemy? Thou showest thy power against a leaf which is ravished with the wind, and thou pursuest dry stubble; for thou writest bitternesses against me, and wilt waste me with the sins of my waxing age. Thou hast set my foot in a stock, and thou hast kept all my paths, and thou hast beheld the steps of my feet; and I shall be wasted as rottenness, and as a cloth which is eaten of a moth.

R. Woe is me, Lord! for I have sinned full much in my life. What shall I, wretch, do? Whither shall I flee, but to thee, my God? Have mercy on me, when thou shalt come in the last day! V. My soul is greatly troubled; but thou, Lord, succour thou it. [Repeat] When thou shalt come in the last day.

The fifth lesson: Homo natus de muliere (Job 14.1–6). A man that is born of a woman liveth short time, and is filled with many wretchednesses; which goeth out and is defouled as a flower, and fleeth as a shadow, and dwelleth never perfectly in the same state. And guessest thou it worthy to open thine eyes on such a man, and to bring him into doom with thee? Who may make him clean that is conceived of unclean seed? Whether not thou, that art alone? The days of a man be short; the number of his months be at thee; thou hast set his terms, the which may not be passed. Therefore go thou away from him a little, that he have rest, till the meed desired come; and his day is as the day of an hired man.

R. Lord, rehearse thou not my sins when thou shalt come to deem the world by fire! V. My Lord God, direct thou my way in thy sight. [Repeat] When thou shalt come to deem the world by fire!

The sixth lesson (Job 14.13–16). Who may grant to me this, that thou defend me in hell, and hide me till thy great vengeance pass, and that thou ordain me a time in which thou have mind of me? Guessest thou not that a dead man shall live again? All the days in which I travail now, I abide till my changing come. Thou shalt call me, and I shall answer thee; thou shalt stretch thy right hand to the work of thine hands. Surely thou hast numbered my steps; but, Lord, spare thou my sins!

R. Lord, nill thou deem me after my deed! I have done nothing worthy in thy sight; therefore I beseech thy majesty, that thou, God, do away my wickedness. V. Moreover, God, wash thou me from mine unrightfulness, and cleanse thou me of my trespass! for I have sinned to thee alone. [Repeat] Therefore I beseech thy majesty, that thou, God, do away wickedness.

Dirige: the Third Nocturn

Psalm 40 (Expectans expectavi). Antiphon: Lord, please it to thee that thou deliver me! Lord, look thou forth to help me!

Psalm 41 (Beatus qui intelligit). Antiphon: Lord, heal thou my soul! for I have sinned to thee.

Psalm 42 (Quemadmodum). Antiphon: My soul thirsted to God, that is a quick well! When shall I come and appear before the face of the Lord?

V. Lord, grant thou them endless rest; R. And everlasting light lighten to them! Pater noster: Our Father [etc.].

The seventh lesson: Spiritus meus (Job 17.1–3, 11–15). My spirit shall be made feeble; my days shall be made short; and only the sepulchre is left to me. I have not sinned, and yet mine eye dwelleth in bitternesses. Lord, deliver thou me, and set thou me beside thee; and the hand of whomsoever thou wilt, fight against me! My days be passed; my thoughts be scattered, tormenting mine heart. They have turned the night into day; and eft after darknesses, I hope light. If I sustain, hell is mine house, and I have arrayed my bed in darknesses. I said to rottenness, "Thou art my father", and to worms, "Ye be my mother and my sister." Therefore, where is now mine abiding, and my patience? My Lord God, thou it art!

R. The dread of death troubleth me every day, the while I sin and repent me not; for in hell is no redemption. Have mercy of me, God, and save thou me! V. God, in thy name make me safe, and in thy virtue deliver thou me! [Repeat] For in hell is no redemption; have mercy of me, God, and save thou me!

The eighth lesson: Pelli meae (Job 19.20–27). When my flesh was wasted, my bone cleaved to my skin, and only lips be left about my teeth. Have ye mercy on me, have ye mercy on me, namely ye my friends! for the hand of the Lord hath touched me. Why pursue ye me as God doth, and be filled with my fleshes? Who may grant me that my words be written? Who may grant me that they be written in a book, with an iron pointel, or with a plate of lead, or with a chisel be graven in a flint? For I wot that mine again-buyer liveth; and in the last day I shall rise from the earth, and eft I shall be compassed with my skin; and in my flesh I shall see God my saviour, whom I myself shall see, and mine eyes shall behold, being not another: this is mine hope, and kept in my bosom.

R. Lord, grant thou them endless rest! and everlasting light lighten to them! V. Lord, that raisedst stinking Lazarus from his grave, grant them rest! [Repeat] And everlasting light lighten to them!

The ninth lesson: Quare de vulva (Job 10.18–22). Why broughtest thou me forth from the womb? Would God that I had been wasted, that none eye had seen me! Then had I been as though I had not been, from the womb borne to the grave. Whether the fewness of my days shall not be ended in short time? Lord! suffer thou me, that I wail a little while my sorrow, ere I wend hence, that I turn not again, to the dark land, and covered with the darkness of death; the land of wretchedness and of darkness, where the shadow of death and none order, but everlasting grisliness dwelleth in.

R. Lord, deliver thou me from endless death, in that dreadful day, when heavens and earth shall be moved; when thou shalt come to deem the world by fire! V. That day is a day of wrath, and of challenge, and of wretchedness; a great day, and a full bitter, when heaven and earth shall be moved. V. Therefore what shall I, most wretchful, think? What shall I say, or what shall I do, when I shall show forth no goodness before so great a judge, when thou shalt come to deem the world by fire? V. Now, Christ, we ask thee, we beseech thee, have mercy on us! Thou that came to again-buy them that were lost, nill thou damn them that thou hast bought, when thou shalt come to judge the world by fire! V. Burning souls weep without end; they weep without end, walking by darknesses; and each of them saith, "Woe! woe! woe! how great be these darknesses!" [When thou shalt come to judge the world by fire!] V. God, maker-of-nought of all creatures, that formedst me of the earth, and wonderly with thine own blood hast bought us: though my body rot now, thou shalt make it rise out of the sepulchre in the day of doom. Hear thou me! hear thou me! that thou command my soul to be put in the bosom of Abraham, the patriarch, when thou shalt come to judge the world by fire!

R. Lord, deliver thou me from the pains of hell, thou that brake the gates of brass, and visitedst hell, and gave light to them that they might see, that were in pains of darknesses, V. Crying and saying, "Our again-buyer! thou art come to us"; thou that brake the gates of brass and visitedst hell, and gave light to them that they might see, that were in the pains of darknesses!

Dirige: Lauds

Psalm 51 (Miserere mei, Deus). Antiphon: Bones made meek shall glad to the Lord.

Psalm 65 (Te decet). Antiphon: Lord, hear thou my prayer! each man shall come to thee.

Psalm 63 (Deus, Deus meus: God, my God! I wake to thee full early) and Psalm 67 (Deus misereatur: God, have mercy on us and bless us!). Antiphon: Lord, thy right hand hath taken me up.

The Song of Hezekiah (Ego dixi, Isaiah 38.10–20: I said: in the middle of my days I shall go to the gates of hell). Antiphon: From the gate of hell, Lord deliver their souls!

Psalms 148, 149 and 150 (Laudate Dominum de caelis: Of heavens, praise the Lord!). Antiphon: Each spirit praise the Lord!

V. Endless rest give them, Lord! R. And everlasting light lighten to them!

The Benedictus (Luke 1.68–79). Antiphon: I am again-rising and life; he that believeth in me, though he be dead, he shall live; and every man that liveth and believeth in me shall not die without end.

Lord, have mercy on us! Christ, have mercy on us! Lord, have mercy on us! Pater noster: Our Father [etc.].

Psalm 30 (Exaltabo te, Domine: Lord, I shall enhance thee; for thou hast up-taken me).

V. Requiem aeternam: Endless rest give them, Lord, R. And everlasting light lighten to them! V. From the gate of hell, R. Lord, deliver their souls! V. I believe to see the goods of the Lord R. in the land of living men. V. Lord, hear thou my prayer, R. and my cry come to thee!

Orison: Inclina, Domine, aurem tuam. Lord, bow thou thine ear to our prayers, with which we beseech lowly thy mercy, that thou set the souls of thy servants, both of men and women, that thou hast commanded to pass out of this world, in the country of peace and of light; and command that they be fellows of thy saints, by Christ our Lord! Amen!

For father and mother, for a corpse present, and for a soul on a mind-day, the orisons as at Placebo.

Here endeth Dirige.

The Commendations

And here begin Commendations.

Psalm 119, in five parts (Beati immaculati: Blessed be men in the way without wem, that go in the law of the Lord; In quo corrigit; Retribue servo tuo; Memor esto verbi tui; Vide humilitatem).

Lord, have mercy of us! Christ, have mercy of us! Lord, have mercy of us! Pater noster: Our Father [etc.].

Psalm 139 (Domine, probasti me: Lord, thou hast proved me).

V. Endless rest give them, Lord; R. And everlasting light lighten to them! V. From the gate of hell, R. Lord, deliver their souls! V. I believe to see the goods of the Lord, R. In the land of living men. V. Rest they in peace! R. Amen!

Orison: Tibi, Domine, commendamus. Lord! to thee we betake the souls of thy servants, both men and women; so they that be dead to the world may live to thee. And all the sins that they have done by frailty of worldly living, thou, Lord, wash them away, by the forgiveness of thy most merciful pity; by Christ our Lord. Amen!

Here end Commendations.