Agnus Dei

This article is about an element of Western liturgy. For the Christian theological concept, see Lamb of God. For other uses of the term, see Agnus Dei (disambiguation).

Agnus Dei is the Latin name under which the "Lamb of God" is honoured within Christian liturgies descending from the historic Latin liturgical tradition, including those of Roman Catholicism, Lutheranism and Anglicanism. 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.^[1][2]

13th century ivory carving, Louvre.

The fraction rite at which the Agnus Dei is sung or said

The use of the title "Lamb of God" in liturgy is based on John 1:29, in which St. John the Baptist, upon seeing Jesus, proclaims "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!"

Agnus Dei from Schubert's Mass No. 2

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)^[3][4] 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.^[5]

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.	Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy on us. Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy on us. Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, grant us peace.
—Latin	—English translation[6]

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.^[7]

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

Agnus Dei from Fauré's Requiem

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.")^[6]: 132

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.

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.

Evangelical Protestants

A popular worship song among Evangelical Protestants tradition is a rendition of the traditional Agnus Dei by Michael W. Smith. Based on a paraphrase of Revelation 5, 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 the Donbass^[8] 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.^[9]

In popular culture

Outside religious use, the text has been used by composers and groups such as:

• Seigmen for Agnus Dei
• Elliot Goldenthal for Alien 3
• Keiki Kobayashi for Ace Combat 04: Shattered Skies
• Elitsa Alexandrova for Assassin's Creed Rogue
• Enya for the song "Trains and Winter Rains"
• Halsey for the song "Castle"
• Kuroshitsuji (Black Butler) soundtrack for episodes 17 and 18
• Jon Bellion for Ooh
• New Age Worldbeat group Enigma for the song "Agnus Dei"
• Rufus Wainright for the song "Agnus Dei" from the album Want Two
• Mylène Farmer "Agnus Dei" (1991)
• Dream Theater for the song "Bridges in the Sky" from the album A Dramatic Turn of Events
• Paul Ruskay for Homeworld
• Michael W. Smith "Agnus Dei" (1990)
• Britten's War Requiem, in which the text is interleaved with Wilfred Owen's poem "At a Calvary near the Ancre"
• Power metal group Powerwolf for the song Agnus Dei, intro of the album Blood of the Saints.^[10]
• Dan Simmons' sci-fi novel Hyperion, inserted as a sentence in the first chapter
• Matt Hylom in the outro for "Unfamiliar Faces" (2021)

References

1. 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.
2. Atkinson, Charles Mercer (1975). The Earliest Settings of the Agnus Dei and Its Tropes. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina. p. 14.
3. Duffy, Eamon (2006). Saints & Sinners: A History of the Popes (3rd ed.). New Haven: Yale University Press. p. 84. ISBN 0-300-11597-0.
4. Reader Daniel Lieuwen. "Lives of Orthodox Western Saints". McKinney, Texas: St Nicholas Orthodox Church.
5. 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.
6. "Texts for Order of Mass Settings". International Committee on English in the Liturgy and United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.
7. 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').
8. Chandler, Charles (20 June 2015). "Christians in Ukraine After Festival of Hope: 'Great and Mighty Is Our God'". Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. Retrieved 4 April 2023.
9. "Ukrainian choir composed of refugees celebrates Easter from Lviv". Fox News. 17 April 2022. Retrieved 4 April 2023.
10. Powerwolf – Opening: Agnus Dei, retrieved 2024-08-10