Commentary of Fr. Aquinas Byrnes, O.P. on Holy Week Hymns

AQUINAS BYRNES, O.P., THE HYMNS OF THE DOMINICAN MISSAL AND BREVIARY

Although the Dominican Office maintained the older versions of the hymns and so is closer to the Liturgica Horarum,  these Dominican hymns differ at several point from the modern office. I have tried to edit out most of  differences but some may remain. In any case this commentary continues to be useful.

Pange, lingua, gloriósi

Author: Fortunatus. Meter: trochaic tetrameter catalectic. Metrical: Use: ferial Matins during Passiontide. "Sing, 0 tongue, the strife of the glorious conflict. And over the trophy of the Cross. sing a noble triumph: how the Redeemer of the world, when immolated. conquered. Pange (literally, to frame) is commonly used in the sense of "sing," or "celebrate in song." Dic of line 4 has· about the same sense. Certaminis, i.e., the titanic contest between Christ and the devil for the possession of the human race (cf. Gen. 3: 15). Super is used in the sense of location.  Trophaeum, sign, token, symbol of  victory. "For the word of the Cross to them indeed that perish, is foolishness; but to them that 'are saved, that is, to us, it is the power of God" (1 Cor. I: 18).

"Grieving over the infidelity of the first-created parent. when by his eating of the fatal fruit he rushed headlong to death, the Creator Himself then designated the tree that it might undo the damage of the tree." Fraude, "For in whatsoever day. thou sha1t eat of it, thou shalt die the death" (Gen. 2:17). Lignum (literally, wood) is used frequently with the meaning of "tree." Tunc notauit. There is an ancient legend that the Cross of Christ (lignum) sprang from a seed or bough of the tree of life (ligni).

"This work the plan of our salvation demanded, that art might outwit the art of the multiform deceiver, and thence bring the remedy whence the enemy had wrought the injury." Opus, the use of the Cross in the plan (ordo) of salvation. Ars refers to the wisdom of God, artem to the cunning of Satan. Multiiormis. Satan has appeared under various forms: to Eve as a serpent (Gen. 3:1); to Christ in the desert perhaps as a man (Matt. 4: I); to saints in divers forms. He may appear as an angel of light (2 Cor. II: 14). Inde, unde. This thought is beautifully expressed in the Preface of the Cross: "Who hast appointed the salvation of mankind to be wrought on the wood of the Cross, that from whence (unde) death came, thence (inde) life might arise, and that he (the serpent) who overcame

by the tree, might also by the Tree be overcome."

"When therefore the fullness of the sacred time was come, the Son, the Creator of the world, was sent from His Father's home, and came forth, made flesh, from the virginal womb." Plenitude temporis. "But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent His Son, made of a woman" (Gal. 1:4). Arce,

i.e., heaven, the mind of the eternal Father. Natus, i.e., Filius.

“And when thirty years had already passed. completing His earthly time. willingly being born for this, He is delivered to His Passion: the Lamb is lifted on the tree of the Cross to be immolated." The lustrum is a space of five years. Hence the (6 X 5) thirty years. Tempus corporis, i.e.  the span of His mortal, earthly life. Se uolente. "He was offered because It was his own will" (Isa. 53:7). Agnus. The paschal lamb of the Old Testament was a most striking figure of Christ, the "Lamb of God"
(John 1:36).

En acétum, fel, arúndo,

"The vinegar, the gall. the reed. the thorn, the nails, the lance: His tender body is pierced, and forth flows blood, and water; by which stream are cleansed the earth. the sea. the stars, the world." The first two lines are made dramatic by the poet's omission of all but essential words, as though he would

call to mind by each word a vivid incident in the Passion. Acetum. Cf. Matt. 27:48. Fel. Cf. Matt. 27:34.  It was customary in ancient times to offer the one crucified a drink to deaden his sensibilities. Hence there is deep meaning in the fact that Christ. "when He had tasted. would not drink." Arundo, spina. Cf. Matt. 27:29. Lancea, sanguis. Cf. John 19:34 . Lavantur, The cleansing power of the precious blood is sung by St . "Thomas: "Whereof one only drop in Thy sweet mercy spilt, would have the power to cleanse the world from all its guilt."

"O faithful Cross; the one noble tree among all (trees)! No forest yields thy like in foliage, flower and fruit. 0 sweet nails! 0 sweet wood! it bears a burden sweet." Fidelis, The tree of Eden (Gen. 3: 1-7) was perfidious. but the tree of Calvary has become the very symbol of Christian faith. What other tree can ever hope to bear foliage. flowers, and fruit of infinite worth and beauty? (Britt. p. 131.) Lignum and clavos may be taken as accusatives of exclamation; the unexpressed subject of sustinet is lignum or crux.

"Bend thy limbs. 0 lofty Tree; relax thy tense fibers; and let that hardness which nature gave thee become soft, so that thou mayst stretch the members of the heavenly King on thy

soft trunk." Nativitas is used as natura.

"Thou alone wast counted worthy to bear the ransom of the world. and as a mariner  to provide for the shipwrecked world a haven, which (haven) the precious blood poured forth from the body. of the Lamb, hath anointed." Pretium, "For you are bought with a great price" (I Cor. 6:20). Atque porlum,

etc. By a figure. which is difficult to explain, the Cross is regarded as a mariner (nauta) who provides for the human race shipwrecked by sin (mundo naufrago)  a haven (portum) which has been anointed (perunxit). i.e .. made calm, safe, peaceful by the precious  blood {cruor Agni). "Making peace through the blood of his Cross" (Col. 1:20). Portum, "And He brought them to the haven which they wished for" (Ps. 106:30).

Vexílla regis pródeunt

Author: Fortunatus. Meter: iambic dirneter. Metrical: Use: ferial Vespers in Passion tide. "The banners of the King come forth; brightly gleams the mystery of the Cross, on which gibbet was suspended in the flesh the Creator of flesh:' To rightly understand this hymn, it should be kept in mind that it was originally intended as a processional hymn, and it is still so used on Good Friday when the Blessed Sacrament is returned from the repository to the high altar. It was composed on the occasion of St. Radegunde's reception of a relic of the true Cross sent t0 her by Emperor Justin II. The splendor and triumph suggested in the first stanza can be appreciated only by visualizing the grand procession bearing the relic from the walls of Poitiers to the monastery with all the pomp of ceremonial: banners fluttering in the air, rich vestments reflecting the rays of the sun, bishops, priests, and princes in attendance, while high above all gleams a gilded cross- Fulget crucis myst erium. The Cross, then, is the theme and explanation of the hymn (Henry, in American Ecclesiastical

Review, IV, 190). Vexilla. After Constantine, the standard (vexilium) of the Roman cavalry bore at its top a cross instead of the traditional eagle. Mysterium, the mystery our Redemption through the Cross.

"On which (gibbet) He was, moreover, wounded by the cruel point of the spear, and there issued forth water with blood to cleanse us from sin." Quo refers to patibulo of the preceding stanza. Unda "But one of the soldiers with a spear opened His side, and immediately there came out blood and water" (John 19:34). Sanguine may be explained as an ablative of accompaniment without cum.

"O beautiful and resplendent tree, adorned with the purple of the King, chosen to bear on thy worthy trunk limbs so holy." Purpura, i.e., the blood of Christ. Tangere (literally, to touch) is used like ferre.

"O blessed (tree), on whose branches did hang the ransom of the world; it was made the balance of the body and snatched away the prey of hell." Pretium. "For you are bought with a great price" (I Cor. 6:20). Statera (a steelyard), a balance, scales, beam. Supply est with facta. The general meaning would be that the tree of the Cross was the scales on which the weight of human sin on one side was counterbalanced by the weight of Christ's body on the other side, i.e., the Passion of Christ restored the balance between God and man. "We were reconciled to God by the death of His Son" (Rom. 5: 10). Praedam, The human race would have been the prey of hell (tartari), except for the Redemption "despoiling the principalities and powers" (Col. 2:15).

"Hail, 0 Cross. our only hope! In this time of the Passion, increase grace in the just and grant pardon to sinners." These two final stanzas are not by Fortunatus but by some unknown author. Spes, "Neither is there salvation in any other" (Acts 4:12). Tempore passionis, Passiontide.