El día y la noche en los himnos Félix María Arocena Solano part 4

Part 4

«VESPERS - Sundown»

No one raises their eyes on a serene night and sees the starry sky, who does not praise God.  As with the hymns of Lauds, those of Vespers also possess a well-characterized architecture. In this case, half of the hymns of daily Vespers - those corresponding to the first and third weeks - form a series different from the others in regard to their theme, which revolves around the account of the Creation of Genesis . In fact, in the Lucis Creator for the second Vespers on Sunday I and III, we find the first link in a chain of seven hymns, each of which deals with in the first verses the days of Creation.  All of them have been composed by the same pen, which could be that of Gregory the Great (+604). The entire segment may be a single long poem distributed in six parts. Therefore to study the references of evening hymns, we have less  material than in the case of the aurora at Lauds, because stanzas dedicated to observing  the veritas temporis, ie, references to twilight, are taken  up by following  the course of the days of Creation.

Still  we could observe a curiosity in the following stanza:

* Quarto die qui flámmeam solis rotam constítuens, lunæ minístras órdini vagos recúrsus síderum

 (Who on the fourth day created the flaming rotation of the sun, you established the order for the moon, the wandering courses of the stars.) (Cæli Deus sanctíssime, verse 2 Vespers I and III Wednesday)

Here we can appreciate that scientific knowledge at the  disposal of the poet Gregory , perhaps at that time, subordinating the course of the stars to the lunar orbit.

The ancient and venerable custom, still  held in many contemplative communities, to interrupt the course of the night to praise God is a grace of the Christian world for which we should be grateful. Now, what can we say about the night in the series of hymns of the Office of Readings intended to be sung as night?

From a purely external point of view, almost all of these hymns have  allusions to  the fact sleep for the night is disrupted, broken , in order to engage in the celebration of divine glory. This is referred to with expressions like:

spreto cubili: ‘spurning our beds’ (Somno reféctis ártubus, verse 1 Office of Readings (noct.) I and III Monday)

consurgimus lecto ‘we rise from bed ‘(Tu trinitatis, verse 2 Office of Readings (noct.) I and III Friday

excubantes psallimus ‘we sing as we keep vigil’ (Tu trinitatis, verse 1 Office of Readings (noct.) I and III Friday)

procul pulsis torporibus ‘Sloth has been driven far away’  (Primo diérum ómnium, verse 2 Office of Readings (noct.) I and III Sunday)

nocte canendo rumpimus ‘we interrupt the night with our singing’ (Consors patérni lúminis, verse 1 Office of Readings (noct.) I and III Tuesday)

morasque noctis rumpimus ‘breaking the delay of  night’‘(Rerum Creator, verse 2 Office of Readings (noct.) I and III Wednesday)

It is, however, Prudentius who deserves credit for having described the interrupted night's rest with more vivid accents:

"Auferte -clamat- ægros lectulos, soporos, desides; castique, ac recti sobrii vigilate: iam proximus sum. " ( "“Cast away your beds” he cries to the sick, the drowsy, and lazy; “You chaste, upright, and sober watch!  I am near.”) (Ales Diei, verse 2 Office of Readings (noct.) II and IV Thursday)

For a poetic use, which can be seen in even-and Horace and  Homer - Prudentius attributed to material objects (lectulus - small bed) the  qualities of their owners.

Let us now see how in the hymns  morning  is no time to sin, but by compunction and repentance, is suggested the idea that night time is seen as related to the temptations and activity the demons:

* Sol ecce Surgit Igneus: [27] Piget, pudescit, pænitet, nec teste quisquam lumine peccare constanter potest (See the fiery sun arise: it disturbs, shames causes repentance, no one can resolutely sin,in the witness of this light) (SOL ECCE Surgit, verse 1 Vespers II and IV Wednesday)

Therefore, we also see the time to introduce tomorrow as pure, or a return the purity:

* Hæc lux SERENUM conferat purosque we praestet sibi; subdolum loquamur nihil, nihil volvamus obscurum. (That this light bring us a peaceful time and it returns us pure;. That our talking avoid lying and nuetras thoughts are not shady) (ibid)

These last two examples, which correspond to the lyrical work of Prudentius, put on the table the issue of night temptations. This theme  enjoys a great tradition in liturgical hymnody but the Coetus VII of experts created by the Holy See in 1964 for the review and implementation of the new Hymnody of the Liturgy Horarum and chaired by Anselmo Lentini OSB (+1989) considered it appropriate to avoid. In this sense, it is corrections  made in the famous hymn Te lucis Compline are remarkable:

PRIMITIVE TEXT

1 Procul recedant somnia

2 et noctium phantasmata

3 nostrum hostemque compressed,

4 ne polluantur corpora.

CURRENT TEXT

1 Te corda nostra somnient,

2 Te soporem per sentiant,

3 tuamque semper gloriam

4 vicina lluce concinant.

The primitive diameters of the second stanza speak -quoted by Dante in the 'Divine Comedy' – of phantasmata noctium and corpora polluta (night ghosts and stained bodies). Lentini justifies the changes introduced as follows: "Although nocturnal temptations are still here, consider that there are also present no less during the day. Especially today, the first two verses seem controversial and shocking, of excessive harshness in a liturgical hymn. Therefore, we have  requested the deletion of the entire stanza and in the case of such a short anthem, it is replaced by a new one . "

Without entering into the discussion about whether the current anthem hybrid, or the traditional, responds better to the sensitivity of our time, the fact is that the governing criterion coetus VII on the removal of references to the night as a time of temptation, has not been implemented comprehensively. In addition to the examples we have cited, there remain other Carmina Laudum in which appears the same idea, without being affected by the work of revising  specialists. Let 's look at some other examples from everyday hymns ::

The most explicit expression of the nocturnal activity of the Demons found in the Tu Trinitatis:

* Quo, fraude quicquid dæmonum in nóctibus delíquimus, abstérgat illud cælitustuæ potéstas glóriæ (In order that this night whatever wrong we have done through demonic deception the heavenly power of your glory may wash away.) (TU trinitatis, Stanza 3, Office of Readings (noct.) I and III Friday)

the idea that the night brings guilt:

* ... ut culpa, quam nox íntulit, lucis labáscat múnere. (...that the guilt, which night bore, may fall before the gift of light..) (Somno REFECTIS, Stanza 3, Office of Readings (noct.) I and III Monday)

That light which is Christ erases our sins:

* Intende nostris sensibus vitamque totam dispice: quae sunt illite looks fine fucis purgentur tua (Attend to our thoughts and consider our whole life: many things are obscured by appearances, which are purged by your light.) (NOX ET Tenebrae, verse 5, Lauds I and III Wednesday)

having briefly addressed this question, we can approach the study of a particularly significant hymn: Deus Creator of Ambrose. If among the hymns of Lauds, the Aeterne Rerum had proved extremely fruitful in providing ideas that revolve around spirituality of Lauds, it also happens in Vespers, with the Creator Deus, from the pen of the same Ambrose, and it deserves a prominent place in the whole series of the evening. This goes to show that , as already noted on other occasions, both from the point of view of the psalms , with much  less effort, as well as hymns, Sunday is a special day in the Liturgy of the Hours because of the quality of the items that have been selected for the integration of the Office of that day.  Before continuing, we want to draw attention to an interesting aspect. Above we mentioned that a study of the poetry of Anselmo Lentini OSB –an  important hymnographer as the author of 42 hymns of the current repertoire (14% of total) – reveals his  deep knowledge of the hymnological tradition and tha he is a good imitator of the style that characterizes the poetic side of the Latinitas christiana. His  way of conceiving the hymns of Vespers serves to corroborate this same assertion. We will show how the liturgical sense of evensong, which could take form with great success through the poetic genius of Ambrose, are reproduced in the new hymns composed Lentini. Let us begin by analyzing the creator Deus:

* Deus, creátor ómnium

políque rector, véstiens

diem decóro lúmine,

noctem sopóris grátia,

Artus solútos ut quies

reddat labóris úsui

mentésque fessas állevet

luctúsque solvat ánxios,

(O God, Creator of all, Ruler of the sky, vesting the day with beauteous light, night with the grace of rest. That quiet might loosen limbs and restore us for work and relieve weary minds, relax anxious grief. (DEUS CREATOR, verses 1-2 I Vespers I and III Sunday)

Vespers is the hour of sunset, the first verse is dedicated to capturing the veritas temporis, ie the hymn begins dealing with the time of day in which it is sung. But it is also the time when most men suspend their tasks. Although today the sunlight is not as important as it once was,  the same concept is found reflected in the Sol ecce lentus of Lentini.  The first two stanzas describe the time of sunset and the third rest following the fatigue of work:

* Sol, ecce, lentus óccidens

montes et arva et ǽquora

mæstus relínquit, ínnovat

sed lucis omen crástinæ,

Mirántibus mortálibus

sic te, Creátor próvide,

leges vicésque témporum

umbris dedísse et lúmini.

Ac dum, ténebris ǽthera

siléntio preméntibus,

vigor labórum déficit,

quies cupíta quǽritur,

(Behold the sun slowly setting, now sadly abandons mountains, fields and streams but makes anew a sign of tomorrow’s light. To astonished mortals, you, the Creator providentially give the rules and changes of time, shadows and light. And while, the darkness remains in the silent sky, strength for work declines, quiet is desired and sought.) (SOL ECCE lentus, stanzas 1-2-3, Vespers II and IV Wednesday)

With different variations, other hymns reflect the same idea: the rest after the work of the day and dusk:

* Sator princépsque témporum,

clarum diem labóribus

noctémque qui sopóribus

fixo distínguis órdine,

 (O Sower and Ruler of time, in an established order, you designate the bright day for work and the night for sleep.) (SATOR PRINCEPSQUE, verse 1 Vespers II and IV Tuesday)

* Ecce transáctus labor est diéi, ... (See the work of day is done...) (LUMINIS FONS, verse 2 Vespers II and IV Monday)

* labor diurnus transiit ... ( the day’s work has passed, ...) (HORIS PERACTIS, verse 2 Vespers II and IV Friday)

* .. . diúrno lassos ópere ne sinas umbris ópprimi (...we pray that you not permit your servants weary from daily work to be oppressed by the darkness.) (Deus, qui claro lúmine, verse 3b, Vespers II and IV Thursday)

* Solis abscessus tenebras reduxit: ille sun, nobis radiet coruscus lice qui fulva FOVET angelorum agmina sanctum. (The sun’s departure returns the darkness; may that splendid divine Sun sheds its rays upon us with that ruddy light which the holy hosts of angels cherish..) ( LUMINIS FONS, verse 3 Vespers II and IV Monday)

As in Lauds, also at Vespers the eschatological dimension of the sunset could not be lacking. To direct our hope to the light which knows no setting "pray and ask , as Cyprian says, that light comes to us, we implore the coming of Christ who will bring us the grace of eternal life." Deus Creator expresses this aspect of beautiful way:

* Ut cum profúnda cláuserit

diem calígo nóctium,

fides ténebras nésciat

et nox fide relúceat.

(That when the deep darkness of night covers the day, faith may know no darkness and night may sparkle with faith..) (DEUS CREATOR, verse 5, I Vespers I and III Sunday)

This verse, written in a sublime style and, in a way, untranslatable to mold it to our language system, referring to diem noctium , ie the day which always follows night. That night is a pale image of that other eternal -here is the eschatological dimension of Vespers , which will not dawn on any other day. Caligo deep is the image of the impenetrable fog surrounding death. But our faith, adds Ambrose, must not know darkness; itself must contain the strength to turn that night in a shining brightness: tenebras nesciat fides, et nox fide reluceat.

The same idea, with other poetic nuances is found in the Sol  ecce  lentus, of Lentini:

* Hac nos seréna pérpetim

da luce tandem pérfrui,

cum Nato et almo Spíritu

tibi novántes cántica

. (By this peaceful light grant that at last we may enjoy with the Son and Holy Spirit, singing to you anew (SOL ECCE lentus, verses 6 Vespers II and IV Wednesday)

Vespers is time, too, to give thanks to God for the benefits received or good deeds happily done throughout the day, already concluded. Do not miss this aspect Ambrose’s  Deus Creator:  

* Grates perácto iam die

et noctis exórtu preces,

voti reos ut ádiuves,

hymnum canéntes sólvimus.

(Grateful for the day that has passed and urged by the prayers of night, we sing and offer you a hymn that you would us keep our vows.) (DEUS CREATOR, verse 3, I Vespers I and III Sunday)

Elsewhere we find the same idea:

* Ecce transáctus labor est diéi,

teque nos tuti sumus adnuénte;

en tibi grates ágimus libéntes

tempus in omne.

(See the work of day is done and by your promise we are safe; we eagerly give thanks to you at all times.) (LUMINIS FONS, verse 2 Vespers II and IV Monday)

It is the time, too, when the lamps are lit. In the Christian tradition, based on this feature of daily life, is projected the theme of Christ the true light, which already in Cyprian , speaking of the widow Anna, the wonderful hymn "joyful Light" before the fourth century and the office that remains at the highpoint of the Vespers of the Eastern Churches.