St. Thomas Aquinas & Pange Lingua

     When we think of St. Thomas Aquinas, we most likely remember him as the greatest of Catholic theologians, and perhaps also as one of the most important philosophers in human history.  We appreciate his ability to apply reason in a rigorous examination of every facet of Church teaching, and we find his arguments still apply in our controversies today (as I do here).
     In spite of his very "left brain" reputation for rationality, St. Thomas was also an accomplished composer of hymns, some of which we still use almost 800 years later.  Here, for instance, is Pange Lingua, which we sing during the Transfer of the Holy Sacrament after the Mass of the Lord's Supper on Holy Thursday; its last two verses are often sung as the Tantum Ergo during Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament.  It is highly appropriate to both occasions because St. Thomas the hymn-writer was still St. Thomas the theologian: he uses the poetic language of the hymn to teach about the theology of the Incarnation and the Eucharist (see text below).  And he does it beautifully.

1. Pange lingua gloriosi

Corporis mysterium,

Sanguinisque pretiosi,

Quem in mundi pretium

Fructus ventris generosi,

Rex effudit gentium. 

2. Nobis datus, nobis natus

Ex intacta Virgine

Et in mundo conversatus,

Sparso verbi semine,

Sui moras incolatus

Miro clausit ordine. 

3. In supremae nocte coenae

Recumbens cum fratribus,

Observata lege plene

Cibis in legalibus,

Cibum turbae duodenae

 Se dat suis manibus 

4. Verbum caro, panem verum

Verbo carnem efficit:

Fitque sanguis Christi merum,

Et si sensus deficit,

Ad firmandum cor sincerum

Sola fides sufficit. 

5. Tantum ergo Sacramentum

Veneremur cernui:

Et antiquum documentum

 Novo cedat ritui:

Praestet fides supplementum

 Sensuum defectui. 

6. Genitori, Genitoque

Laus et iubilatio,

Salus, honor, virtus quoque

Sit et benedictio:

Procedenti ab utroque

Compar sit laudatio. Amen.  

Of the glorious Body telling, 

O my tongue, its mysteries sing, 

And the Blood, all price excelling, 

Which the world's eternal King, 

In a noble womb once dwelling 

Shed for the world's ransoming.  

Given for us, descending, 

Of a Virgin to proceed, 

Man with man in converse blending, 

Scattered he the Gospel seed, 

Till his sojourn drew to ending, 

Which he closed in wondrous deed.  

At the last great Supper lying 

Circled by his brethren's band, 

Meekly with the law complying, 

First he finished its command 

Then, immortal Food supplying, 

Gave himself with his own hand.  

Word made Flesh, by word he maketh

Very bread his Flesh to be; 

Man in wine Christ's Blood partaketh: 

And if senses fail to see, 

Faith alone the true heart waketh 

To behold the mystery.  

Therefore we, before him bending, 

This great Sacrament revere; 

Types and shadows have their ending,

For the newer rite is here; 

Faith, our outward sense befriending, 

Makes the inward vision clear.  

Glory let us give, and blessing 

To the Father and the Son; 

Honour, might, and praise addressing, 

While eternal ages run; 

ver too his love confessing, 

Who, from both, with both is one.  Amen

(from http://www.chantcd.com/lyrics/glorious_body.htm)

Passion Sunday: Pick Up Your Cross . . .

Passion Sunday     

Today’s liturgical observance is officially called “Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord.”  The name reflects the dual nature of the liturgy, as the Mass is preceded by a procession with palms in commemoration of Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem, but the readings include one of the Gospel accounts (this year St. Mark’s) of his arrest, trial, and crucifixion.

     My “inner Pharisee” is sometimes tempted to think that this pre-figuring of Good Friday before the fact  is much like the practice of moving Ascension Thursday to a Sunday in order to catch people who can’t be bothered to show up in church on a week day, but that is not the case.  Even if there weren't many people who have jobs that won’t allow participation in the Good Friday liturgy, or are kept away for other reasonable causes, there are good reasons to turn to the events of the Passion before the Triduum, and the practice goes back further than one might think.  Prior to Vatican II the second Sunday before Easter was known as Passion Sunday (as is still the case, of course, in the Extraordinary Rite), which introduced the Passiontide, a two week period of more intense focus on the suffering and death of Jesus; in combining it with Palm Sunday, we have actually moved Passion Sunday a week closer to Good Friday. Christ’s self-sacrifice at Calvary is one of the most important events in the Liturgical Year, and really one of the most significant events in all of human history, so it is fitting that we don't just pass over it in a day or two. Placing the Passion at the center of this Sunday’s liturgy gives the direction for the rest of Holy Week, so that we’re already in the proper frame of mind before we reach the culminating events of Holy Thursday and Good Friday

     Combining Passion Sunday with Palm Sunday also gives us an interesting and, I think, fruitful perspective on the events leading up to the Crucifixion.  Very many, at least, of the people singing “hosanna” as Jesus rode into Jerusalem were not cheering for the real Jesus but for a fantasy Messiah who, they thought, would be a very worldly savior.   Many of these same people, most likely, were calling for his crucifixion a few days later.  Moving from the Palms to the Passion in the same liturgy helps drive home that reality for us, and our participation in both ends of the process reminds us (or should, at least) of our own complicity in the Crucifixion of Jesus (for more on this point, see my post “Palm Sunday: Who Are Those Cheering People?”).

     Too often we try to take shortcuts to rewards of various kinds without doing the hard work that those rewards require; today we are reminded that if we want Christ as our King, we need to pick up our cross and follow him.

Week Links

     Shortly after I started blogging, I was invited by RAnn of This That and the Other Thing to participate in Sunday Snippets, a weekly Catholic link-swapping sort of thing.  RAnn has recently hung up her snippetting hat after long and faithful service (thanks again, RAnn), but old habits die hard, and I’ve grown accustomed to compiling a Sunday Summary of the week’s bloggery.  So, please feel free take a scroll through the links below: who knows? You might find something worth reading.

Tuesday – “Sins of the Fathers . . . And of Kings” The Christian burial (530 years late) of England’s Richard III got me thinking: how different would the past half-millenium have been if a couple of his fellow monarchs were less prone to sins of the flesh?  

Wednesday – “Let It Be Done To Me According ToThy Word”  The Annunciation Big things come from small beginnings.

Thursday – “History, Culture, and Narcissism” According to Albert Einstein, “God does not place dice with the World”. Nor does he with History: the Greco-Roman roots of Christendom are no accident. 

Friday – “Abortion Myth #7” It’s easy to throw words around, but whose choice and whose body are questions the pro-abortion people would rather we didn’t ask. 

Saturday -  My penultimate music clip for Lent is “So Now My Jesus Is Taken Prisoner” from Bach’s  St. Matthew Passion, 

and -  My final music clip for Lent is “O Sacred Head Sore Wounded” from Bach’s St. Matthew Passion  

"So Now My Jesus Has Been Taken Prisoner" - Bach, St. Matthew Passion

Tomorrow is Palm Sunday, and Passion Sunday, the beginning of Holy week.  Now we start to focus more directly on the suffering and death of Jesus, as in this clip from Bach's St. Matthew Passion: "So now my Jesus has been taken prisoner . . . "

Dirck van Baburen, The Arrest of Christ

(My final music clip for Lent is “O Sacred Head SoreWounded” from Bach’s St. Matthew Passion, on the Nisi Dominus blog)