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Sacris solemniis

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"Sacris solemniis" is a hymn written by St. Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) for the feast of Corpus Christi (also known as the Solemnity of the Holy Body and Blood of Christ). The strophe of Sacris solemniis that begins with the words "Panis angelicus" (bread of angels) has often been set to music separately from the rest of the hymn. It appears about 1768 in the iberian musical form Vilancete/Villancico at Francesc Morera's "Si el grano divino".[1] Most famously, in 1872 César Franck set this strophe for voice (tenor), harp, cello, and organ, and incorporated it into his Messe à trois voix Opus 12. The hymn expresses the doctrine that the bread and wine are changed into the Body and Blood of Christ. In the Roman Catholic tradition the concept of transubstantiation is presented as an explanation of how this change happens.

The phenomenon whereby the strophe of Sacris solemniis that begins with the words "Panis angelicus" is often treated as a separate hymn has occurred also with other hymns that Thomas Aquinas wrote for Corpus Christi: Verbum supernum prodiens (the last two strophes beginning with "O salutaris hostia"), Adoro te devote (the strophe beginning with "Pie pelicane, Jesu Domine"), and Pange lingua gloriosi corporis mysterium (the last two strophes beginning with "Tantum ergo").

Latin text and English version

The Latin text below is from the Liturgy of the Hours. The English translation is a cento based upon a translation by John David Chambers (1805–1893).[2]

In the 4th episode of the first season of the 2022 television show Night Sky, the character Jude sings the first verse of Sacris solemniis at a karaoke bar.

Text

Latin text An English translation
Sacris solemniis iuncta sint gaudia,
et ex præcordiis sonent præconia;
recedant vetera, nova sint omnia,
corda, voces et opera.
Noctis recolitur cena novissima,
qua Christus creditur agnum et azyma
dedisse fratribus, iuxta legitima
priscis indulta patribus.
Post agnum typicum, expletis epulis,
Corpus Dominicum datum discipulis,
sic totum omnibus, quod totum singulis,
eius fatemur manibus.
Dedit fragilibus corporis ferculum,
dedit et tristibus sanguinis poculum,
dicens: Accipite quod trado vasculum;
omnes ex eo bibite.
Sic sacrificium istud instituit,
cuius officium committi voluit
solis presbyteris, quibus sic congruit,
ut sumant, et dent ceteris.
Panis angelicus fit panis hominum;
dat panis cælicus figuris terminum;
O res mirabilis!
Manducat Dominum pauper, servus et humilis.
Te, trina Deitas unaque, poscimus,
sic nos tu visita, sicut te colimus;
per tuas semitas duc nos quo tendimus,
ad lucem quam inhabitas. 		At this our solemn feast let holy joys abound,
and from the inmost breast let songs of praise resound;
let ancient rites depart, and all be new around,
in every act, and voice, and heart.
Remember we that eve, when, the Last Supper spread,
Christ, as we all believe, the Lamb, with leavenless bread,
among His brethren shared, and thus the Law obeyed,
of all unto their sire declared.
The typic Lamb consumed, the legal Feast complete,
the Lord unto the Twelve His Body gave to eat;
the whole to all, no less
the whole to each did mete
with His own hands, as we confess.
He gave them, weak and frail, His Flesh, their Food to be;
on them, downcast and sad, His Blood bestowed He:
and thus to them He spake: "Receive this Cup from Me,
and all of you of this partake."
So He this Sacrifice to institute did will,
and charged His priests alone that office to fulfill:
to them He did confide:to whom it pertains still
to take, and the rest divide.
Thus Angels' Bread is made the Bread of man today:
the Living Bread from heaven with figures dost away:
O miraculous gift indeed!
the poor and lowly may upon their Lord and Master feed.
Thee, therefore, we implore, O Godhead, One in Three,
so may Thou visit us as we now worship Thee;
and lead us on Thy way, That we at last may see
the light wherein Thou dwellest aye.

See also

From the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia

Sacris Solemniis — The opening words of the hymn for Matins of Corpus Christi and of the Votive Office of the Most Blessed Sacrament, composed by St. Thomas Aquinas. The rhythmic stanza imitates the classical measures found in Horace and in several hymns of the Roman Breviary (see SANCTORUM MERITIS); but for whatever excellence the hymn lacks in respect of classical prosody it compensates in the interesting and intricate rhymic scheme. This may be illustrated by breaking up the stanza of four lines into seven. The sixth stanza, which is sometimes employed as a separate hymn at Benediction will serve to illustrate:

Panis angelicus

Fit panis hominum:

Dat Panis coelicus

Figuris terminum:

O res mirabilis!

Manducat Dominum

Pauper, servus et humilis.

The incisio (i.e. the coincidence of the end of a word with the end of a foot) is perfect throughout all the stanzas. With what rhythm should the hymn be recited? Translators vary much in their conception of an appropriate English equivalent. The first words suggest by the tonic accents English dactylics:

Lo! the Angelic Bread

Feedeth the sons of men:

Figures and types are fled

Never to come again.

O what a wondrous thing!

Lowly and poor are fed,

Banqueting on their Lord and King.

The felicitous Anglican translator, the Rev. Dr. J.M. Neale, used iambic metre:

He ordered in the wine

Our Holy Offering,

To be the Sacrifice

Which Priests along should bring;

For whom is meet and fit

That they should eat of it,

And in their turn to others give.

This fifth stanza is interesting for its own sake, as it calls attention to the plan of the Eucharistic sacrifice. Dr. Neale's translation does not follow strictly the rhymic scheme, which is better observed in a translation given in "Sursum Corda" (1908, p. 6). Shipley "Annus Sanctus", London, 1874, p. 192) gives Wallace's translation, the first stanza of which illustrates another metric form:

"Sing of that solemn eve

When, as true hearts believe,

Christ gave the lamb and the paschal bread

Unto the chosen band

Met for the high command

God had of old on the fathers laid."

Caswall (Lyra Catholica, 1849) gave a condensed translation:

"Let us with hearts renewed,

Our grateful homage pay;

And welcome the triumphant songs

This ever blessed day."

In his "Hymns and Poems" (1873) it appears revised as:

"Let old things pass away

Let all be fresh and bright;

And welcome we with hearts renewed

This feast of new delight."

The revision (which also includes the change of "night" into "eve", and changes in the third and fourth lines of the sixth stanza) appears in the "Lyra" of 1884, in Shipley's Annus Sanctus", and in the Marquess of Bute's translation of the Roman Breviary; the revision is interesting as illustrating Caswall's zeal for literal betterment of the translation. Wagner ("Origine et developpement du chant liturgique", translation of Bour, Tournai, 1904, p. 169) speaks of the gradual substitution of rhythm for metre in the hymns and refers to the "Sacris solemniis" as illustrative of "the two conceptions of verse... where the old verse and the rhythmic disposition of syllables meet peaceably together. Rhyme, also, was gradually introduced; this same hymn offers very instructive examples of it. It is a device of punctuation for the ear." Birkle ("Vatican Chant", translation of Lemaistre, New York, 1904, p. 103) says: "The first three lines have three accents each - a weak accent upon the second and seventh syllable and the chief accent upon the tenth. The first half of the line concludes with the sixth syllable, which must be noticeable in the chanting. In the last verse the chief accent must be placed upon the sixth syllable" (but in the illustration he places an accent also upon the third syllable).

Consult Pimont, Les hymnes du breviaire romain, II (Paris, 1884), 177-88, for text and extensive comment; Hymnarium Sarisburiense (London, 1851), 119 for text, variant readings, and very simple plainsong. The text and official plainsong melodies are given in the Vatican Graduale (Ad processionem Coporis Christi). Cf. also JULIAN, Dict. Of Hymnology (2nd ed., London, 1907; HENRY in Sursum Corda (1908), 6, translation and comment; DREVES Analecta hymnica, XVI (Leipzig), p. 38 (In dedicatione urbis Granatae), 75 (De Angelo Custode), 103 (De S. Disma), for fifteenth-sixteenth-century imitations of the hymn. See also bibliography to SANCTUS MERITIS.

References

  1. Back to citation Si el grano divino (in Spanish). December 10, 2022. Retrieved December 13, 2022. at 'Eucharistic celebration because the beginning of a new bishop ministry'
  2. Back to citation Thesaurus Precum Latinarum, "Sacris Solemniis"
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