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 the differences but some
may remain. In any case this commentary continues to be useful.
Pange,
lingua, gloriósi
"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.
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