'And we have seen his glory'—the glory of the divinity, 44, 1-2 and 8; 45, 8 and 13, and the glory of the miracles which pointed to the divinity for the Magi, 44, 5–8, and at the beginning of the public life, 44, 9–16. Between Christmas and the Epiphany come the hymns for the Holy Innocents and the Holy Name. Of these, the Salvete flores martyrum, 40, is famous for its artless simplicity, and the hymn for the Holy Name is important enough in the history of hymns to have a special introduction. Finally, in the Octave of the Epiphany comes the feast of the Holy Family with an office which betrays its modern origins at every turn. The hymn for Matins, 47, is rather unlike a hymn and not too easy, but the hymns for Vespers and Lauds, 46 and 48, are better suited to their purpose in form and words. Notes on Hymn 37 Author. Unknown. Probably of the sixth century. Use. At Vespers and Matins of Christmas. In some other Breviaries, St Ambrose's Veni redemptor gentium is used at Vespers. 3. parem, agreeing with quem; both accusative after edidit. Paternae gloriae; for this and splendor Patris in line 5, cf. 12, I, note. 9. conditor; cf. resurgens conditor, 2, 3. Original: Memento, salutis auctor-the writer wishing to stress the birth of the Redeemer, as the opening words show. Salutis auctor; Decebat enim eum ... auctorem salutis eorum per passionem consummare, Heb. 2, 10. Cf. note on line 17. 10. quod . . . sumpseris=te sumpsisse; likewise quod ... adveneris in 15-16=te advenisse. Olim, once, formerly; or, perhaps, long ago, in contrast with the date of its annual celebration; cf. prisca, 121, 15. 11. alvo, from alvus, -i, fem; hence sacrata. Some make this line dependent on nascendo, others on formam sumpseris; the latter seems more probable. 12. formam, as in formam servi accipiens, Phil. 2, 7. 13. Hoc explained by quod ... adveneris. Other MSS readings are sic or hic; if the latter, the present day (Christmas), recurring, currens, in the year's cycle, W. 15. quod; cf. note on 10. Solus; some take this to mean that only the Second Person became man, and others that it is a poetical version of Et non est in alio aliquo salus, Acts 4, 12. 17. Hunc, in the Breviary text, must refer to our Lord whom the stars, etc. greet as their creator. In the original it must refer to the day of Christmasthe witness of praesens dies in verse 4, creation praising the day in verse 5 and the redeemed, Et nos, in verse 6; so W. The text seems always to have caused trouble, and the number of variants is large. The revisers made things no better by substituting here salutis auctorem (novae) from 9 in place of auctoris adventu sui (i.e. at the coming of their creator). Moreover the change from the second person, adveneris, to the third, hunc, and back to the second, tui, is awkward. 24 hymni; original, hymnum novum, probably with reference to the new canticle already mentioned in 20. The repetition of ideas here and in lines 3 and 5 is not found in the unrevised text. A solis ortus cardine 5 Beatus auctor saeculi Ut carne carnem liberans, Castae parentis viscera 10 Caelestis intrat gratia; Venter puellae bajulat Secreta quae non noverat. Domus pudici pectoris Templum repente fit Dei; Is Intacta nesciens virum Concepit alvo Filium. Enititur puerpera, Quem Gabriel praedixerat, Quem ventre matris gestiens 20 Baptista clausum senserat. Foeno jacere pertulit, Praesepe non abhorruit, Et lacte modico pastus est Per quem nec ales esurit. 25 Gaudet chorus caelestium Et angeli canunt Deo, Palamque fit pastoribus Pastor, creator omnium. Hymn 38 Let all the world, from East to West, sing of Christ the King, the virgin Mary's Son. The blessed maker of the world assumed a servant's form so as to free man by becoming man and not to lose those whom He had created. Heavenly grace enters the chaste mother and a virgin's womb carries a secret of which she had no previous knowledge. The home of her pure womb instantly becomes the temple of God, and she, undefiled and not knowing man, conceived a son. In childbirth she brought forth the one that Gabriel had foretold and that the Baptist, jumping with joy in his mother's womb, had recognized as being in Mary's womb. He deigned to have hay for a bed, and did not refuse the shelter of a manger. He does not suffer even a bird to hunger, and yet He was fed with a little milk. The heavenly choir rejoices and angels sing to the glory of God, and the Shepherd, the creator of all, is made known to the shepherds. Notes on Hymn 38 Author. Caelius Sedulius. This poet is not to be confused with the Irish poet of the ninth century, known as Sedulius Scotus or Sedulius of Liége, of whom it has been said that 'he combined a lively humour with an adequate amount of piety', Raby, p. 193. Caelius Sedulius lived in the fifth century, probably being born at Rome, and taught philosophy at Rome and in Achaia. It seems that he was converted by a certain Macedonius and that he then turned his talents to the cause of Christianity. Some state that he was always a layman, while others think that he was ordained priest. But if little is known of his life, his writings have always been very well known and popular. His greatest work, the Carmen Paschale, was intended to replace to some extent the old classics and their mythology. For this purpose he gathered together the miraculous events of the Bible and presented them with much allegory and symbolism. His language is predominantly didactic, without much striving after effect, though at times it rises to great heights. Nothing of the Carmen Paschale has passed into the liturgy, except five lines in honour of our Lady, namely: Salve, sancta parens, enixa puerpera regem Of these quotations, the first is used, with slight verbal changes, as the Introit for the Common of feasts of our Lady. The first two lines of the second are part of the second antiphon of Christmas Lauds, and the third line is part of the Magnificat antiphon on the feast of the Presentation of our Lady. Besides the Carmen Paschale only two of his hymns survive, of which one is the A solis ortus cardine. This hymn is quantitative, though it tends sometimes to be accentual. It also uses rhyme, though not consistently. These two tendencies foreshadow what the Latin hymn was to become in later centuries. It is also an acrostic or alphabetical hymn, each verse beginning with the next letter, while 16 is alphabetical by lines. Verses A to G make up the present hymn, and verses H, I, L and N are used for Vespers of the Epiphany. For an alphabetical translation, see Westminster Hymnal, 8 and 9. Use. At Lauds of Christmas. 1-2. From the point of sunrise to the boundary of the earth, i.e. from East to West, W. Ortus is a genitive and, with solis, may be thought of as a compound noun like the English 'sunrise'; cf. a solis ortu usque ad occasum, Ps. 112, 3. Cardo, pivot, 'pole' on which the earth turns. 3. principem. Princeps or Rex is often used of Christ by Fortunatus and Prudentius; cf. e.g. 39, 2. 6. servile; cf. formam servi accipiens, Phil. 2, 7. 7. ut... ne; the ut is redundant. The other reading is ut... non. Carne carnem, freeing flesh by flesh, i.e. freeing man by becoming man; cf. the use of caro in 63, 15-16. 11. II. bajulat, carries. Bajulare quis dicitur quae suo corpore fert, says the grammarian Festus. The word is formed from bajulus, porter, labourer, an equivalent of operarius; cf. 95, 4. 12. noverat, which she knew not; i.e. the full significance of which she knew not, W; or, which she had not thought of, B. The next verse continues the thought. 14. templum, because it is the presence of God which makes a temple. 13-16 are part of the fifth and eighth responsories of the Circumcision, the fourth line being the unrevised Verbo concepit Filium. Verbo refers to the angel's message at the Incarnation and to Mary's acceptance of it; cf. 95, 9–12. MSS vary between concepit and creavit, the latter being preferable. Such a use of creare is rare, but is found in Virgil and elsewhere in Sedulius. Either form is preferable to the revised one. 17. Enititur; an emendation of the rather uncouth enixa est; cf. enixa puerpera, Carm. Pasch. 2, 63. 19. Gestiens; contrast gestit, 6, 11. 22. abhorruit, did not shrink from; cf. horruisti, 9, 15. 24. Nec not even, as in nec Salomon, Mt. 6, 29. 26. Deo, sing to (the glory of) God. Other MSS have Deum, sing of (the birth of) God. 27. palamque fit; and to the shepherds the Shepherd is displayed, palam fit. The two words are almost a compound verb. F Audit tyrannus anxius 5 Exclamat amens nuntio: Quid proficit tantum nefas? Hymn 39 The uneasy tyrant is told of the coming of the King of Kings to rule over the people of Israel and to ascend the throne of David. Beside himself at the news, he cries out: 'He is here to take my place. I am dethroned. Guards, go, sword in hand, and drench the cradles with the babies' blood.' Of what avail is so great an outrage? How does this monstrous wickedness benefit Herod? Though so many were put to death, yet one, Christ, escapes unharmed. Salvete, flores martyrum, 5 Vos prima Christi victima, Hymn 40 Hail, martyr flowers. On the very threshold of your life Christ's persecutor destroyed you, as a whirlwind does the budding roses. You, Christ's first fruits, a flock of tender sacrificial victims, now play with your palms and crowns right up by the very altar. HYMNS 41-43 The Dulcis Jesu Memoria The Dulcis Jesu memoria, to give it its correct title, is the subject of an enormous literature. This introduction pretends to be no more than a mere summary of some of the main conclusions of scholars and is, in particular, indebted to the article of nearly three hundred pages by Dom Wilmart in the Ephemerides Liturgicae of 1943. Author. Prudentius; cf. 13. Notes on Hymn 39 This hymn and the next, for the feast of the Innocents, are from the twelfth hymn of the Cathemerinon, called the Hymnus Epiphaniae. The section for Matins, 39, consists of lines 93-100 and 133-6 of the original, and the Lauds section, 40, of lines 125-132. The order of thought in Prudentius is: Herod receives the news, 93-6; his rage and his orders, 97–108—reduced in the Breviary to the verse Exclamat; the carrying out of the orders omitted in the Breviary; the poet's salute to the Martyrs, 125-132-Lauds hymn; and the poet's reflection on Herod's act, 133-140-reduced in the Breviary to the verse Quid proficit. The original has gained rather than lost by the abbreviation, though perhaps the Matins section may seem to come to its last part rather abruptly. Use. Hymn for Matins of the Holy Innocents. 3. nomen, i.e. the people of Israel. 4. regiam, sc. sedem; cf. Et dabit illi Dominus Deus sedem David, Lk. 1, 32. 5. amens, mad with rage at the news, nuntio. Amens, insanus etc. are often applied by early writers to the persecutors; cf. 85, 16. 6. instat, is upon (us); cf. instet, 21, 8. 7. satelles; sing. for plur. Satelles is a guardsman, an officer attached to the personal service of a prince. II. unus=solus, alone. Notes on Hymn 40 Author. Prudentius. See introduction to previous hymn. 2. lucis ... limine, on the very threshold of life, lucis. Cf. infantumque animae flentes in limine primo, Use. Hymn for Lauds and Vespers of the Holy Virg. Aen. VI, 427; in limine vitae, Lucan, II, 106. Innocents. 1. flores martyrum, flowers of the martyr band, W, martyrum being a partitive genitive. Qui jure dicuntur flores martyrum, quos in medio frigore infidelitatis exortos, velut primas erumpentes Ecclesiae gemmas, quaedam persecutionis pruina decoxit (End of sixth lesson of Matins, in a sermon ascribed to St Augustine). 5. victima; this and grex are in apposition with vos. 7. sub; original, ante. Under the very altar, or, at the side of. 8. palma. The palm and the crown, tokens of victory among the pagans, were adopted by the Christians as tokens of the martyrs' triumphs. Author It seems unlikely that St Bernard, who died in 1153, was the author since (1) the earliest MSS are early thirteenth century and one perhaps of the end of the twelfth, so that the date of composition is probably 1170/80-1200; (2) the hymns to St Victor and St Malachy are the only ones which can be positively ascribed to St Bernard; and (3) the name of St Bernard is not found in the MSS until the fifteenth century. As the first and most reliable MSS are English and as the use of the poem spread |