Agnus Dei
Agnus Dei ('Lamb of God') is the Latin name under which Jesus is honoured within Christian liturgies descending from the historic Latin liturgical tradition, including those of Catholicism, Lutheranism and Anglicanism.[1] It is the name given to a specific prayer that occurs in these liturgies, and is the name given to the music pieces that accompany the text of this prayer.[2][3]
The use of the title "Lamb of God" in liturgy is based on John 1:29,[4] in which John the Baptist, upon seeing Jesus, proclaims "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!"
Liturgical usage
Latin Catholic
The Syrian custom of a chant addressed to the Lamb of God was introduced into the Roman Rite Mass by Pope Sergius I (687–701),[5][6] in the context of his rejection of the Council of Trullo of 692 (which was well received in the Byzantine East), whose canons had forbidden the iconographic depiction of Christ as a lamb instead of a man.[7]
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis.
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis.
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, dona nobis pacem.
— Latin
Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world,
have mercy on us.
Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world,
have mercy on us.
Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world,
grant us peace.
— English translation[8]
The verse used in the first and second invocations may be repeated as many times as necessary whilst the celebrant prepares the host and wine for communion.[9]
In a Tridentine Requiem Mass, the words miserere nobis are replaced by dona eis requiem ('grant them rest'), while dona nobis pacem is replaced by dona eis requiem sempiternam ('grant them eternal rest'). Virtually every Mass setting includes an Agnus Dei.
The priest uses the phrase "Lamb of God" again, later in the Mass. While displaying the Eucharistic species to the people before giving them Holy Communion, he says: "Ecce Agnus Dei, ecce qui tollit peccata mundi. Beati qui ad cenam Agni vocati sunt." ("Behold the Lamb of God, behold him who takes away the sins of the world. Blessed are those called to the supper of the Lamb.")[8]: 132
Lutheran
The version found in the Lutheran Service Book of the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod is:
Lamb of God, You take away the sin of the world; have mercy on us.
Lamb of God, You take away the sin of the world; have mercy on us.
Lamb of God, You take away the sin of the world; grant us Your peace, grant us Your peace.
In celebrations of the Mass done in English, the following translation is employed by the Church of Sweden:[1]
Lamb of God, you take away, the sin of the world, have mercy on us.
Lamb of God, you take away, the sin of the world, have mercy on us.
Lamb of God, you take away, the sin of the world, grant us peace.[1]
Anglican
The following instances are found in the Church of England's Book of Common Prayer:
From "The Litany":
O Lamb of God: that takest away the sins of the world; Grant us thy peace.
O Lamb of God: that takest away the sins of the world; Have mercy upon us.
From "Holy Communion":
Lamb of God, Son of the Father, that takest away the sins of the world, have mercy upon us.
The following versions are found in Common Worship, the alternative Anglican liturgical resources, and also in the Episcopal Church's liturgical resources:
Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world, have mercy on us.
Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world, have mercy on us.
Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world, grant us peace.
O Lamb of God, that takest away the sins of the world, have mercy upon us.
O Lamb of God, that takest away the sins of the world, have mercy upon us.
O Lamb of God, that takest away the sins of the world, grant us thy peace.
Jesus, Lamb of God, have mercy on us.
Jesus, bearer of our sins, have mercy on us.
Jesus, redeemer of the world, grant us peace.
Evangelical Protestants
A popular worship song among Evangelical Protestants is a reaction to the Lamb of God being seated on the throne in Revelation 5 by Michael W. Smith. This version is response of praise to scene, while the other liturgical versions are prayers.
The words are:
Alleluia Alleluia
For our Lord God Almighty reigns
Alleluia Alleluia
For our Lord God Almighty reigns
Alleluia Holy
Holy
Are You Lord God Almighty
Worthy is the Lamb
Worthy is the Lamb
You are Holy
[Last stanza repeats 3 times]
A Ukrainian translation was sung in 2015 in Lviv, Ukraine, during the War in Donbas[10] at an event organized by Franklin Graham. The song was notably sung again on Easter 2022 in Lviv by a choir of Ukrainian refugees fleeing the Russo-Ukrainian War.[11]
From the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia
Agnus Dei.—The name Agnus Dei has been given to certain discs of wax impressed with the figure of a lamb and blessed at stated seasons by the Pope. They are sometimes round, sometimes oval in diameter. The lamb usually bears a cross or flag, while figures of saints or the name and arms of the Pope are also commonly impressed on the reverse. These Agnus Deis may be worn suspended round the neck, or they may be preserved as objects of devotion. In virtue of the consecration they receive, they are regarded, like holy water, blessed palms, etc., as "Sacramentals".
Origin
The origin of Agnus Deis is a matter of much obscurity. Recent authorities lay stress upon the lack of evidence for their existence before the ninth century. But it seems probable that they had their beginning in some pagan usage of charms or amulets, from which the ruder populace were weaned by the employment of this Christian substitute blessed by prayer. The early history of Catholic ceremonial affords numerous parallels for this Christianizing of pagan rites. It is not disputed that the Agnus Deis originated in Rome. If so, we may probably trace the custom back to the final overthrow of Paganism in that city, say the fifth century. We know that when we first hear of them (c. 820) they were made of the remnants of the preceding year's paschal candle. We also know from Ennoldius (c. 510) that fragments of the paschal candles were used as a protection against tempests and blight (Migne, P.L., LXIII, pp. 259, 262). It is also possible that a mention of the blessing of wax under Pope Zosimus (418) in the "Liber Pontificalis" (first edition) should be interpreted, with Mgr. Duchesne, of the Agnus Dei, though it more probably refers to the paschal candle. It was at this period and before the Trullan Council of 691 that the symbolism of the Lamb most flourished; see the Sarcophagus of Junius Bassus. The alleged examples of early Agnus Deis, e.g. one of Gregory the Great in the treasury of Monza (see Kraus, "Real-Encyclopädie," s.v.) cannot be trusted. The earliest certain specimen now in existence seems to belong to the time of Gregory XI (1370).
History
From the time of Amalarius (c. 820) onwards we find frequent mention of the use of Agnus Deis. At a later period they were often sent by the Popes as presents to sovereigns and distinguished personages. A famous letter in verse accompanied the Agnus Dei despatched by Urban V to the Emperor John Palæologus in 1366. In the penal laws of Queen Elizabeth Agnus Deis are frequently mentioned among other "popish trumperies" the importation of which into England was rigorously forbidden.
Blessing and Distribution
We learn from an "Ordo Romanus" printed by Muratori ("Lit. Rom", II, p. 1,004) that in the ninth century the archdeacon manufactured the Agnus Deis early on Holy Saturday morning out of clean wax mixed with chrism, and that they were distributed by him to the people on the Saturday following (Sabbato in Albis). At a later date the Pope himself generally assisted at both the blessing and the distribution. The great consecration of Agnus Deis took place only in the first year of each pontificate and every seventh year afterwards, which rule is still followed. The discs of wax are now prepared beforehand by certain monks, and without the use of chrism. On the Wednesday of Easter week these discs are brought to the Pope, who dips them into a vessel of water mixed with chrism and balsam, adding various consecratory prayers. The distribution takes place with solemnity on the Saturday following, when the Pope, after the "Agnus Dei" of the Mass, puts a packet of Agnus Deis into the inverted mitre of each cardinal and bishop who comes up to receive them.
Symbolism and Use
The symbolism of the Agnus Deis is best gathered from the prayers used at various epochs in blessing them. As in the paschal candle, the wax typifies the virgin flesh of Christ, the cross associated with the lamb suggests the idea of a victim offered in sacrifice, and as the blood of the paschal lamb of old protected each household from the destroying angel, so the purpose of these consecrated medallions is to protect those who wear or possess them from all malign influences. In the prayers of blessing, special mention is made of the perils from storm and pestilence, from fire and flood, and also of the dangers to which women are exposed in childbirth. It was formerly the custom in Rome to accompany the gift of an Agnus Dei with a printed leaflet describing its many virtues. Miraculous effects have been believed to follow the use of these objects of piety. Fires are said to have been extinguished, and floods stayed. The manufacture of counterfeits, and even the painting and ornamentation of genuine Agnus Deis, has been strictly prohibited by various papal bulls.
Martyrs' Paste
There are also Agnus Deis of a grey colour, made from wax mingled with the dust which is believed to be that of the bones of martyrs. These, which are called "Paste de' SS. Martiri", are held to need no special consecration and are treated as relics.
Mangenot in Dict. de théol, cath., I, 605; Henry in Dict. d'archéol. I, 909; Kraus, Real-Encyclopädie, I, 29; Barbier de Montault in Analecta Juris Pontificii, VIII, 1475; Baldassari, I Pontifici Agnus Dei (Venice, 1714); Thurston, Holy Year of Jubilee (London, 1900), 247–256; Barbier de Montault, Un Agnus Dei de Grégoire II (Poitiers, 1880); Cozza Luzzi, Sopra un antico atampo di Agnus Dei in the Römische Quartalschrift (1893), 263.
References
- Back to citation occurrence 1.0 Back to citation occurrence 1.1 Back to citation occurrence 1.2 "The Eucharist also called Holy Communion (High Mass)". Church of Sweden. 2007. Archived from the original on 4 July 2007. Retrieved 19 May 2025.
- Back to citation Randel, Don Michael, ed. (2003). The Harvard Dictionary of Music (4th ed.). Cambridge, Massachusetts: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. p. 28. ISBN 0-674-01163-5.
- Back to citation Atkinson, Charles Mercer (1975). The Earliest Settings of the Agnus Dei and Its Tropes. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina. p. 14.
- Back to citation John 1:29
- Back to citation Duffy, Eamon (2006). Saints & Sinners: A History of the Popes (3rd ed.). New Haven: Yale University Press. p. 84. ISBN 0-300-11597-0.
- Back to citation Reader Daniel Lieuwen. "Lives of Orthodox Western Saints". McKinney, Texas: St Nicholas Orthodox Church.
- Back to citation Ekonomou, Andrew J. (2007). Byzantine Rome and the Greek Popes: Eastern Influences on Rome and the Papacy from Gregory the Great to Zacharias, A.D. 590–752. Lanham, Maryland: Lexington Books. p. 223. ISBN 978-0-7391-1977-8.
- Back to citation occurrence 8.0 Back to citation occurrence 8.1 "Texts for Order of Mass Settings". International Committee on English in the Liturgy and United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.
- Back to citation General Instruction of the Roman Missal. §83. “The supplication Agnus Dei, is, as a rule, sung by the choir or cantor with the congregation responding; or it is, at least, recited aloud. This invocation accompanies the fraction and, for this reason, may be repeated as many times as necessary until the rite has reached its conclusion, the last time ending with the words dona nobis pacem ('grant us peace').”
- Back to citation Chandler, Charles (20 June 2015). "Christians in Ukraine After Festival of Hope: 'Great and Mighty Is Our God'". Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. Archived from the original on 4 April 2023. Retrieved 4 April 2023.
- Back to citation "Ukrainian choir composed of refugees celebrates Easter from Lviv". Fox News. 17 April 2022. Retrieved 4 April 2023.