Agnus Dei

The Agnus Dei is an anthem in litany form traditionally sung or said to accompany the breaking of the consecrated bread at the Eucharist. In a varied form it occurs within the Gloria in Excelsis. It appears, for example, in The Book of Common Prayer of 1552 and 1662, not for use at holy communion but rather as a prayer within the litany.

Since its introduction in the seventh century into the Western liturgy the Agnus Dei has undergone a number of variations in Latin and vernacular forms. At first the petition miserere nobis (“have mercy on us”) was unchanged at each repetition, but in the tenth and eleventh centuries it became common to substitute in the last line dona nobis pacem (“grant us peace”). This was also varied at requiems to “grant them rest” and “grant them rest eternal.” The medieval period gave rise to other variations on the anthem. Sometimes phrases were added to bring out the meaning more clearly. In the Reformation liturgies of England and Germany, pacem in line 6 was rendered “thy peace” both to keep two syllables for musical reasons and under the influence of such texts as John 14:27. The German form also sought clarity by prefixing the name “Christ” to each of lines 1, 3, and 5.

“Lamb of God,” though full of meaning for those familiar with the biblical background in such passages as John 1:29, Isaiah 53:7, and Revelation 5:6ff., does not reveal its richness at first sight. The first form above, based on ICET, reveals some aspects of the meaning more clearly and immediately. The name “Jesus” has been prefixed to the title “Lamb of God” at the beginning of line 1. The name rather than the title is then used at the beginning of lines 3 and 5. Instead of the three-times-repeated relative clause qui tollis peccata mundi (“who take away the sins of the world”) a phrase is used in each of lines 3 and 5 to bring out the dual meaning of these words. The verb tollis, like the corresponding Greek verb aireis in John 1:29, means both “take away” and “bear” or “lift up.”

The alternative, more traditional, version is especially suitable when the Agnus Dei is treated as the accompaniment to a sometimes lengthy breaking of bread. “Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world, have mercy on us” may be repeated as many times as necessary.

In response to submissions received, the Consultation made three changes to the ICET text:

In both versions the punctuation has been lightened by replacing the colon at the ends of lines 1, 3, and 5 with commas.

To accord more closely with the Gloria in Excelsis and John 1:29, “sin” has replaced “sins” in the alternative version. The Consultation agrees that both the singular (a collective condition of alienation from God) and the plural (the many trangressions, individual and corporate, for which we need forgiveness) are legitimate and has therefore retained the plural in line 3 of the more modern version.

The last lines of both versions have also been made to agree. This is less confusing for congregations where both versions have come into regular use. “Grant” was preferred to “give” as being more gracious in this context and a better translation of dona, as against da. There were some requests for the phrase “your peace” but the Consultation was reluctant to add something not found in the original Latin text.