The advent of Christ is often said to be threefold; that of the past, in the flesh and in weakness, that of the present, in spirit and in power, and that of the future, in glory and in majesty. The three may be found in these hymns; the past in intacta prodis victima, 34, 12 as well as in 35, 3-4 and 36, 7-10; the present in defende nos ab hostibus, 34, 20 and the future in 35, 9–12. Creator alme siderum, Aeterna lux credentium, Jesu, redemptor omnium, Intende votis supplicum. 5 Qui, daemonis ne fraudibus Commune qui mundi nefas Cujus potestas gloriae Is Et caelites et inferi Tremente curvantur genu. Te deprecamur ultimae Magnum diei judicem, Armis supernae gratiae 20 Defende nos ab hostibus. Hymn 34 Jesus, loving creator of the heavenly bodies, eternal light of the faithful and redeemer of all men, hear Your suppliants' prayers. For, urged on by generous love, You became a healing power to a sick world to prevent it being, through the devil's wiles, sick even to its death. You went forth as a sinless victim from Mary's sacred womb to die on the Cross to atone for the sin of all mankind. The might of Your glory and the reverence which the very mention of Your name inspire are so great that heaven and hell tremble and adore. We beseech You, our mighty judge at the last day, defend us with the arms of heavenly grace from our enemies. Verbum supernum prodiens Hymn 35 Heavenly Word, proceeding from the eternal Father's bosom, by Your birth You came to man's help when time's course was The Vesper hymn is built round the idea of siderum, the Matins one is a good summary of the chief ideas of Advent and the Lauds one is inspired by the message of the Baptist. They were greatly altered, to their disadvanatge, by the revisers, especially the Vesper one, of which only one line 'was left unaltered, and only twelve words of the original were retained', B. Notes on Hymn 34 Author. Unknown. Perhaps of the seventh century. Use. Vespers of Advent. I. siderum, i.e. the heavenly bodies, including the sun and moon. 'The word strikes the keynote of the hymn, forecasting the light which Christ, Himself the eternal light, was to bring into the world', W. 7. Languidi, sick; cf. curavit lauguidos eorum, Mt. 14, 14, and 10, 6, note. The revisers ruined this as a hymn. At 5-6 and 10-11, if the words are phrased properly, the music is ruined; if the music is given first place, the sense has gone. 8. medela, healing, cure; cf. confer medelam languidis, 49, 12. 9-12. The revisers changed the main idea from sponsus to victima, though sponsus is connected with the motif of the heavenly bodies through the sol of Ps. 18, 6. They also took out the reference to Vespers contained in the original line 9, Vergente mundi vespere. This mundi vespere is balanced by labente cursu temporis, 35, 4, itself a variant of the original cursu declivi temporis. II. sacrario, sacred womb; lit. shrine, sacristy, secret place. 13-14. Cujus cujusmodi; supply est. Nomenque; the que joins 13 and 14, both leading to 15. In 15 the first et, strictly, should be ut. 15. caelites, especially with the capital normally printed in Breviaries, must mean those in heaven. But the original is caelestia, terrestria, where caelestia means the sun, moon, etc. thus keeping the unity of siderum of line 1. Some MSS have an extra verse after 16 which explains caelestia as: Occasum sol custodiens,/Luna pallorem retinens,/Candor in astris relucens/Certos observans limites. Revisers and editors are fond of changing stars into angels and saints; cf. e.g. 14, 15. Notes on Hymn 35 Author. Unknown. Variously dated as fifth, seventh, eighth and even eleventh century. The last one is certainly wrong. Use. Matins of Advent. 1. supernum, heavenly; cf. Ego de supernis sum, John 8, 23. Prodiens... sinu of the eternal generation of the Son. In the original, the comma must come after prodiens, the line then being the equivalent of O drawing to its close. Shine Your light into our hearts now and inflame them with Your love so that heavenly desire and joy may take possession of a heart emptied of earth's fleeting desires. And thus, when the Judge on His throne sentences sinners to hell and a welcoming voice calls the saints to the heaven promised them, may it be that we are not cast into the black whirlpool as food for the flames but that we be granted the vision of God and possess the joys of heaven. Hymn 36 The Baptist's message of rebuke rings loud and clear through all the world of darkness: Away with dreams of darkness. Jesus, the light, is shining in the sky. Let the slothful soul now arise and no longer lie earth-bound, for a new sun is now shining, Christ, Who will take away every sin. Behold the Lamb is sent to us to pay freely the debt we owe. Therefore let all of us together, with tears of sorrow, ask for His pardon so that when He comes in glory at the end of time and causes fear in all hearts, He will not then punish us, as our sins deserve, but in His pity be our protector. 2. THE CHRISTMAS SEASON Jam lucis orto sidere we sing at Prime, and the same words could well be used to describe the feast of Christmas. The Light of the world has appeared, the Redeemer has come. The two themes of redemption and light are found right through the Sapientia, quae ex ore Altissimi prodiisti; cf. 73, 1, note. 4. labente, drawing to its close; not, as B, fleeting. It is a revision of cursu declivi (sloping) temporis, as if time were falling, setting, towards its evening-the Incarnation being thought of as coming in the evening of the world's history; cf. 34, 9, note. 6. concrema, inflame, B and W. But W also suggests that it may mean 'and in thy love burn them up', which better suits the usual meaning of con cremare. The hymn is one long sentence, illumina and concrema being the main verbs. 11. amica, welcoming; debitum, due, because promised by Christ, to those who use His grace well, Mt. 25, 34. 13. esca flammarum, predicate after volvamur. 15. compotes, having gained, having been granted, the vision, vultu, of God. Compotes usually governs a genitive, as in vultus compotes, 62, 15, but here it has an ablative-classical, but rare. Notes on Hymn 36 Author. Unknown. Probably of the fifth century. Use. Lauds of Advent. 1. clara. If vox refers to the Baptist's message, clara means unambiguous, forthright, loud. But if vox be taken as referring to the person of the Baptist of the Baptist as in Ego vox clamantis in deserto, John 1, 23, clara would refer to a personal quality, e.g. the famous Baptist. The unrevised line Vox clara ecce intonat could easily mean that. redarguit, contradicts, refutes, rebukes. 2. Some make obscura quaeque the object of redarguit, personans then meaning loudly resounding, filling the world with the message. Others interpret redarguit absolutely, obscura quaeque then being taken after personans. Quaeque, everything; cf. 2, 13. Personans; cf. 19, 6, note. The rest of the hymn is the Baptist's message. 5-6. Some take torpida with jacens, prostrate in sloth; others take it with mens, the slothful soul, the soul that once was slothful. 7. sidus may refer to the star of Jacob, Num. 24, 17, to the sun of justice, Mal. 4, 2 or to the stella splendida et matutina of Apoc. 22, 16. 8. This line and the next refer to John 1, 29. 10. laxare=solvere, pay our debt. Gratis, freely; cf. justificati gratis per gratiam ipsius, Rom. 3, 24. 13. secundo fulserit in contrast with refulget of line 7. Fulserit, shine or, if the equivalent of fulgens advenerit, comes in glory. 14. cinxerit, girdles the world with fear. Unrevised: mundumque horror cinxerit. 15. pro reatu, in proportion to, according to, our guilt; cf. 29, 3. Christmas liturgy, and no full appreciation of these hymns is possible except against the background of the Missal as well as of the Breviary, for the hymns are rather reticent, especially on the theme of light. The feast of the birth and the feast of the Epiphany stand at either end of this season; the former thinks more of God becoming man and the latter of the God who became man. The Epiphany is the inevitable climax of the season, not a pale reflection of the feast of the birth. 'And the Word was made flesh.' The Babe is the lumen et splendor Patris, 37, 5, the equal of the Father in glory, 37, 3 and the rerum conditor, 37, 9. Such is He who took our flesh, 37, 10-12, and we praise Him natalis ob diem tui, 37, 23. Likewise in 38, He is God the creator, 5, 8, 24 and 28; but He is also man, newly-born and helpless, 4 and 23. There is, however, a great difference in the approach of the writers of 37 and 38. The heavenly Father and the divinity of the Son who became man are to the fore in 37, while the Mother of the God-man and the helplessness of the new-born Child inspired Sedulius in 38. Jesu redemptor omnium, 5 Tu lumen et splendor Patris, Hunc astra, tellus, aequora, 20 Novo salutat cantico. Hymn 37 Jesus, redeemer of all men, You were begotten by the mighty Father, before light was created, as His equal in glory. Do You, the Father's light and radiance and man's unfailing hope, accept the prayers of Your servants the world over. Remember, creator of the world, that long ago, at Your birth, You took our body's form from the Virgin's holy womb. The present day, as it comes round every year, bears witness to this-that You, the only-begotten of the Father, have come to be man's salvation. The heavens, the earth, the sea and every creature under heaven greet Him with a new song as the author of new salvation. And we too, cleansed by the redeeming stream of Your holy blood, make this gift of a hymn of praise on Your birthday. |