Harley MS 5793

Contents:

f. 2v: The words: 'Honor Amor Regum Regi'; followed by two prayers, beginning: 'Benedictio dei patris omnipotentis cum angelis suis sit super me'; and 'Salvator mundi savlum me fac domine ihesu Christe rex eterne glorie'.

f. 3r: A prayer for protection, attributed to St Augustine, with the rubric: 'Sanctus Augustin hanc oracionem scripsit ut siquis eam dixerit vel super se portaverit nullus inimicus sibi nocere poterit et in illa die non peribit aqua nec igne nec veneno mortifero nec morte subitanea morietur et si anima egressa fuerit de corpore inferno non apropinquabit et siquid iustum a deo pecieit impetrabit Oracio'; beginning: 'Deus propicius esto mihi peccatori et custos mei sis omnibus diebus vite mee'.

f. 3r: A prayer to St Michael, entitled: 'Oracio ad sanctum michaelem'; beginning: 'Sancte michael archangele superni regis milicie princeps ac fidelium protector animarum'.

f. 3v: A prayer to Christ, beginning: 'O bone ihesu o pijssime ihesu o dulcissime ihesu'.

f. 3v: A prayer to the Virgin Mary, beginning: 'Gaude flore virginali honore que speciali'.

f. 3v: A prayer to Christ, beginning: 'Domine ihesu Christe fili dei vivi que beatissima genitricem tuam gloriosissimam virginem Mariam perpetuis et felicibus gaudijs in celo letificasti'.

ff. 4r-7v: Sets of lections for feasts of the Virgin Mary throughout the liturgical year. The first one is entitled: 'Lectiones de sancta Maria quando fit plenum servicium de ea per totum adventum'.

ff. 8r-13v: Calendar of Saints, featuring St Wulfstan, St Edward the Martyr, St Cuthbert, St Richard of Chichester, St John of Beverley, St Dunstan, St Aldhelm, St Augustine of Canterbury, St Albans, St Edith, St Winifred, St Frideswide, St Edmund the Martyr, and St Thomas Becket in red; each month is followed by rubrics with astronomical information.

ff. 16r-42r: Breviary, beginning with the Office of the Dead: 'In vigilia mortuorum antiphone'.

ff. 42v-45r: The Seven Penitential Psalms.

ff. 45r-49r: Litanies of saints for different days of the Holy Week.

ff. 49r-52r: Prayers to be said before and after Mass.

ff. 52r-53r: 'Oracio ad placitum'; beginning: 'Mecum esto domine deus Sabaoth mene isto intende ad me'.

f. 53r: 'Oracio devota de trinitate'; beginning: 'Te deum patrem et filium et spiritum sanctum'.

ff. 53r-54v: Prayers to Christ in preparation for Communion, the first one begins: 'Deus propicius esto michi peccatori'.

f. 54v: A prayer for the Elevation, beginning: 'Salve salus mundi'.

f. 54v: A prayer for the Elevation with an indulgence of 300 days, beginning: 'Ave verum corpus'.

ff. 54v-55r: A prayer 'De sancto Johanne baptista'; beginning: 'Salve sacratissime Zacharie nate'.

f. 55r: Prayers to so-called Holy Helpers or Auxiliary Saints, beginning: 'Fratres pro subsidio sanctos invocamus'.

f. 55v: A prayer to the Virgin Mary, beginning: 'Ave digna, ave virgo, ave flos'.

ff. 55v-57r: The Fifteen Oes ('Quindecim [Orationes]').

f. 58r: 'Benedictiones ante prandium in vigilia pasche'.

ff. 58v-74v: The Hours of the Virgin Mary.

f. 74v: A prayer to the Virgin Mary, beginning: 'Sancta maria mater domini nostri ihesu Christi in manus eiusdem filii tui et in tuas comendo hodie et in omni tempore animam meam'.

ff. 75r-79v: 'Extractiones libelli de miseria hominis quam fecit innocencius tercius'; beginning: 'Mirabilis est humane condicionis ingressus culpabili progressus'; also in Stonyhurst, Stonyhurst College, MS 49, ff. 91v-110v.

ff. 79v-81v: Psalms 22-30.

f. 81v: 'Devote oraciones beate virginis marie et sancti iohannis evangeliste'; beginning: 'O beata et intemerata atque in eterni benedicta singularis atque incomparabilis virgo dei genitrix maria gratissimum dei templum'.

ff. 81v-83v: Prayers to Christ, entitled: 'Salutacio ad filium beate virginis'; beginning: 'Ave ihesu Christe verbum patris filius virginis agnus dei salus mundi hostia sacra verbum caro fons pietatis'.

ff. 83v-84r: Prayers to the Virgin Mary, beginning: 'Kyrieleyson Christe eleyson Christe audi nos Sancata maria excellentissima regina intercede pro nobis'.

f. 84r: A prayer to the Trinity, entitled: 'De sancta trinitate. Oracio', beginning: 'Omnipotens sempiterne deus pater omnium creaturarum sit pietas tua super me'.

ff. 84r-84v: Prayers to the Virgin Mary, entitled: 'De sancta maria virgine. Oracio', beginning: 'Sancta maria gloriosa dei genitrix et semper virgo que mundo meruisti generare salutem'.

f. 84v: A prayer against thieves of church property, entitled: 'Contra captores possessionum ecclesie. Oracio', beginning: 'Concede nobis omnipotens et iustissime deus apud quem non est iniquitas'.

ff. 84v-85r: Memoriae for St Katherine, St John the Evangelist, St Michael.

ff. 85r-85v: An indulgence for reading or hearing the Gospel of St John, attributed to Pope John XII: 'Omnibus vere confessis et contritis dominus papa iohannes xij concessit audientibus sequens evangelii iii CCC. annos venie et dicentibus totidem - Passio domini nostri ihesu Christi secundum iohannem'; beginning: 'In illo tempore apprehendit pylatus ihesum et flagellavit eum'.

f. 85v: A prayer to the Elevation with an indulgence: 'Quicumque dixerit in tempore elevacionis corporis Christi et sanguinis versus sequentes in CCC dies indulgencie habebit'; beginning: 'Ave verum corpus natum' (also on f. 54v).

ff. 85v-94v: Pseudo-Bernardine Meditations, entitled: 'Meditaciones sancti bernardi'; beginning: 'Multi multa sciunt et seipsos nesciunt'.

ff. 94v-95v: 'Copia bulle Eugenie pape - Pro festo corporis'; beginning: 'Sacrosancta generalis sinodus Basiliensis in spiritu sancto legitime congregata universalem ecclesiam representans ad perpetuam rei memoriam Plasmatori omnium simul et redemptori deo cunctipotenti laudes debitas'.

ff. 95v-96r: 'Hec dicenda sunt in extremis homini'; beginning: 'Hec dicenda sunt a penitente agente in extremis'.

f. 96r: Short theological texts, with the headers: 'Tria sunt que ducunt hominem ad regnum'; 'De tribus peccatis'; 'De tribus generibus mortis'; 'De tribus generibus elemosinarum'; 'Tria sunt genera benedictionis divine'.

f. 96v: 'Barnadus de mundi amatoribus'; beginning: 'sunt amatores mundi qui per pauca tempora nobiscum fuerunt'.

f. 96v: A prayer for the Elevation with an indulgence: 'Johannes papa concessit CCC dies indulgencie omnibus dicentibus istam oracionem inter levacionem corporis Christi et tercium Agnus dei. dum tunc fuerit vere contritus et confessus de peccatis'; beginning: 'Anima Christi sanctifica me'.

f. 96v: A prayer for the Elevation with an indulgence attributed to Pope Boniface VI: 'Bonefacius vj papa concessit omnibus devote dicentibus oracionem sequentem inter levacionem corporis Christi et communionem mille annos indulencie'; beginning: 'Domine ihesu Christe qui hanc sacratissimam carnem de gloriose virginis utero assumpsisti'.

f. 97r: A prayer to Christ with an indulgence: 'Dicenti hanc oracionem sequentem a sede apostolicam conceduntur x. millia dierum indulgentiarum'; beginning: 'Salve sancta facies nostri redemptoris'; written in a single column.

f. 97r: A prayer to the Virgin Mary, attributed to St Bernard, and with an indulgence ascribed to Pope Boniface: 'Sanctus Bernardus fecit istud planctum de dolore et compassione beatissime et gloriosissime virginis marie die genitricis. Et postea papa bonifacius invenit istam oracionem in litteris per manum angelicam scriptam ; in ecclesiam sancte marie de rotundo in urbe romana et concessit omnibus vere contritis et confessis istam oracionem quotidie devote dicentibus mille annos indulgencie'; beginning: 'Stabat mater dolorosa iuxta crucem lacrimosa'; written in a single column.

f. 97v: A prayer, beginning: Illumina oculos meos ne unquam obdormiam in morte nequando dicat inimicus meus'; written in a single column.

f. 97v: A prayer to the angels: 'Angele, qui meus es custos pietate superna'.

f. 97v: A prayer 'ad proprium angelum'; beginning: 'Deus qui sanctorum angelorum tuorum aliquos tibi benigne concedis assistere'.

ff. 97v-98v: Psalms 55-56, 85; written in a single column.

f. 98v: Three prayers, written in two columns, beginning: 'Deprecor te domine ihesu'; 'Stella celi extirpavit'; and 'Deus misericordie, die pietatis, dies indulgencie'.

The manuscript contains later additions:

f. 1r: A prayer to Henry VI, with the introduction: 'Hanc oracionem summus pontifex Sixtus Rome quartus composuit ad laudem et honorem gloriosissimi Regis Henrici Rex Anglie post conquestum sexto'; beginning: 'Beatus Rex Henricus pauperum et ecclesiae defensor ad misericordiam pronus in cantate fervidus'; added in the late 15th century.

f. 1r: A tract on the Virgin Mary, entitled: 'Maria mater dei fuit castissima'; beginning: 'Maria a nullo unquam homini concupisci potuit', with reference to Edmund of Abingdon, Archbishop of Canterbury; and ending with the statement: 'Istud habetur in libro de miraculis beate marie virginis'; added in the late 15th century (in same hand as the previous item).

f. 1v: Prayers to King Henry VI, beginning: 'O bone rex regnum nos protege hoste maligno'; added in the late 15th century (in same hand as the previous item).

f. 1v: A prayer to God, beginning: 'Cunctipotens Agios qui diceris ore redemptory; added in the late 15th century (in the same hand as the previous item).

f. 14r: Pope Innocent III, De Incommodis Senectutis [from De Contemptu Mundi sive De Miseria Humanae Conditionis Libri Tres], beginning: 'cum homo ad senectutem pervenerit: cor eius affligitur'; written in the 15th or 16th century in a Humanistic script.

f. 14v: An excerpt of Flavius Josephus, Antiquitates Iudaicae, entitled: 'Iosephus in octavodecimo libro Antiquitatum - Capitulum Nonum'; written in the 15th or 16th century in a Humanistic script (in the same hand as the previous item).

ff. 15r-15v: Publius Lentulus, Epistola de forma et statura Jesu Christi ad Senatum romanorum, entitled: 'Temporibus Octaviani Cesaris qum [sic] ex universis mundi partibus illi qui preerant provinciis scriberent Senatoribus qui Rome erant novitates que occurrebant per mundi climata: quidam nomine Lentulus habens in partibus Iudee Herodis Regis scripsit Senatoribus in hunc modum Epistola'; written in the 15th or 16th century in a Humanistic script (in the same hand as the previous item).

Decoration:

Large (3- or 5-line) puzzle initials in blue and red in frames of red penwork decoration (f. 58v); Large (3-line) initials in brown ink in frames with antropomorphic and zoomorphic heads in brown ink and highlighted in yellow (only on ff. 16r-41r) Large (2-line) blue initials in frames of red penwork decoration, occasionally featuring human and zoomorphic heads (e.g. see ff. 3v, 60r, 61r). Small (1-line) capitals in blue or red. Rubrics in red. Music bars of 4 staves in red ink. A pasted miniature or woodcut has been removed from f. 97r. It accompanied the prayer 'Salve sancta facies nostri redemptoris' and probably featured an image of the Veronica or Christ.