As a boy of 12, I remember our protestant minister commenting on the playing of my friend who was practicing the trumpet. ‘That is heavenly music’ he said with a wide grin. My friend’s satisfaction with the complement was shattered as the elderly man continued ‘it’s of no earthly use!’ What seemed like a remark made in jest, shattered my poor companion – once he had fully realised what it meant, that is.
In recent years, Corpus Christi has become the Feast of the Body and Blood of the Lord, but it as not always been so. Until Pope Paul VI’s liturgical reform, part of the rationale for which was to ‘simplify’ and contract feast days, a whole chain of related feasts followed Corpus Christi.
Most Catholics would associate the text Pange Ligua with the hymn for the feast of Corpus Christi by the Angelic Doctor of the Church, St Thomas Aquinas. It is however, from the much earlier chant Pange Lingua by Venantius Fortunatus (530-609) that St Thomas took inspiration. It is worth pondering in this the true nature of tradition: development in seamless continuity with what has been handed down.
Ubi Caritas is one of the antiphons prescribed for the Mandatum – the washing of feet at the evening Mass on Holy Thursday (Novus Ordo, Ubi Caritas is an option for the offertory antiphon). The hymn reflects Our Lord’s ‘new commandment’ that the apostles might love on another as well as His prayer that they ‘may all be one.’ The text therefore is expressive of the Holy Eucharist and the Sacred Priesthood.
On beginning a study and comparison of the liturgies of Holy Week before and after the 1955 reform of Pope Pius XII, I came across the following website. The site contains many outstanding resources for anyone wishing to learn more. I have only compared Palm Sunday liturgies so far and will post on that separately.
As a director of liturgical music, I have the privilege of preparing, teaching and performing the great chants of the church and her rich polyphonic repertoire. I have often thought that I would like to find a way to share the beauty and theological depth of the texts which comprise the liturgy. They have indeed been inspired by God the Holy Ghost through generations and many were penned by saints. I hope that sharing liturgical texts, liturgical chant and motets, I might aid others in deepening their appreciation of the prayer of the Church and in fostering their own personal prayer life.
The first text that I would like to share is the Vespers Hymn for Passiontide, Vexilla Regis. The hymn was written by Venantius Fortunatus (530-609). The hymn is also used on the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross.
VEXILLA Regis prodeunt: Fulget Crucis mysterium, Qua vita mortem pertulit, Et morte vitam protulit.
Quae vulnerata lanceae Mucrone diro, criminum Ut nos lavaret sordibus, Manavit unda, et sanguine.
Impleta sunt quae concinit David fideli carmine, Dicendo nationibus: Regnavit a ligno Deus.
Arbor decora et fulgida, Ornata regis purpura, Electa digno stipite Tarn sancta membra tangere.
