Tantum ergo

Ceiling of the Cathedral of San Rufino, Assisi, Italy with the inscription "tantum ergo sacramentum veneremur"

"Tantum ergo" is the incipit of the last two verses of Pange lingua, a Medieval Latin hymn composed by St. Thomas Aquinas circa A.D. 1264. The "Genitori genitoque" and "Procedenti ab utroque" portions are adapted from Adam of Saint Victor's sequence for Pentecost. The hymn's Latin incipit literally translates to "Therefore so great".

The singing of the Tantum ergo occurs during adoration and benediction of the Blessed Sacrament in the Catholic Church and other denominations that have this devotion. It is usually sung, though solemn recitation is sometimes done, and permitted.

Tantum ergo lyrics

Latin

℣. Panem de cælis præstitisti eis (in Paschaltide and on Corpus Christi, 'Alleluia' is added).

℟. Omne delectamentum in se habentem^{[Wis 16:20]} (in Paschaltide and on Corpus Christi, 'Alleluia' is added).

℣. Oremus: Deus, qui nobis sub sacramento mirabili passionis tuæ memoriam reliquisti: tribue, quæsumus, ita nos corporis et sanguinis tui sacra mysteria venerari, ut redemptionis tuæ fructum in nobis jugiter sentiamus. Qui vivis et regnas in saecula saeculorum.

℟. Amen.

Literal translation

Therefore, so great a Sacrament

Let us venerate with heads bowed [cernui]

And let the old practice [documentum]

Give way to the new rite;

Let faith provide a supplement

For the failure of the senses.

To the Begetter and the Begotten [both masculine gender],

Be praise and jubilation,

Hail, honour, virtue also,

And blessing too:

To the One proceeding from Both

Let there be equal praise.

Amen.

℣. You have provided them bread from heaven.

℟. Having in itself [in se] all delight [delectamentum].

℣. Let us pray: O God, who to us in this wonderful Sacrament, bequeathed a memorial of Your Passion: grant, we beseech, that we, in worshipping [venerari; in addition to simple worship, may also mean worshipping in order to receive favour] the Holy Mysteries of Your Body and Blood, may within ourselves continually [iugiter], sensibly perceive [sentiamus] the fruit of Your redemption. You who live and reign into ages of ages.

℟. Amen.

English translation

A century-old translation, still used in Catholic churches liturgically, renders the hymn in a form which can be sung to the same tune as the Latin:

Down in adoration falling,

Lo! the Sacred Host we hail,

Lo! o'er ancient forms departing

Newer rites of grace prevail;

Faith for all defects supplying,

Where the feeble senses fail.

To the Everlasting Father,

And the Son Who reigns on high

With the Holy Ghost proceeding

Forth from Each eternally,

Be salvation, honour, blessing,

Might, and endless majesty. Amen.

℣. Thou hast given them bread from heaven.

℟. Having within it all sweetness.

℣. Let us pray: O God, who in this wonderful Sacrament left us a memorial of Thy Passion: grant, we implore Thee, that we may so venerate the Sacred Mysteries of Thy Body and Blood, as always to be conscious of the fruit of Thy Redemption. Thou who livest and reignest forever and ever.

℟. Amen.

ICEL translation

The following is found in the latest edition of the Holy Communion and Worship of the Eucharistic Mystery outside Mass (2024):

Let us, therefore, bow and worship,

Such a wondrous Sacrament;

Let the ancient law and custom

To a newer rite now yield;

Let our faith supply conviction

Where the senses tire and fail.

To the Father, unbegotten,

And the Sole-begotten Son,

Be salvation, blessing, honor,

Jubilation, power, and praise;

To the One from both proceeding,

Equal glory and renown. Amen.

However, the following verse-response You have given them bread from heaven, etc. is not included in the said revised edition, as reflective of the original Latin typical edition.

℣. Let us pray. O God, who in this wonderful Sacrament

have left us a memorial of your Passion,

grant us, we pray,

so to revere the sacred mysteries of your Body and Blood

that we may always experience in ourselves

the fruits of your redemption.

Who live and reign for ever and ever.

℟. Amen.

Other, more modern, English translations exist and are also used in Catholic churches liturgically.

Theological aspects

The words "procedenti ab utroque / compar sit laudatio"—literally, "May equal praise be to the One proceeding from both"—refer to the Holy Spirit, which according to version of the Nicene Creed used in Western Christianity proceeds from both the Father and the Son.

A partial indulgence is granted to the faithful who devoutly recite the Tantum ergo. But a plenary indulgence is granted on Holy Thursday and on the feast of Corpus Christi, if it is recited in a solemn manner.

Musical settings

The basic text has been set by numerous composers: from the Classical period John Francis Wade, the Renaissance (Palestrina), the Romantic period (Anton Bruckner, Hector Berlioz (H142), Gabriel Fauré, Franz Schubert, Louis Vierne), and modern composers (Maurice Duruflé, David Conte, Crys Armbrust).

Déodat de Séverac composed a motet set to the text.

Bruckner wrote eight settings of the text: WAB 32, WAB 43, WAB 41 (Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4), WAB 42, and WAB 44. Fauré wrote two settings: Op. 55, and Op. 62 No. 2. Schubert wrote six settings: D. 460, D. 461, D. 730, D. 739 (Op. 45), D. 750, and D. 962. Vierne's treatment of it is his Opus 2. Duruflé's setting is contained as No. 4 of his Op. 10, Quatre Motets sur des thèmes grégoriens, published in 1960, and uses the plainchant melody.

Samuel Webbe composed a motet in 87 87 meter, widely used in the English and American Catholic churches.

Former Austria-Hungary (incl. South Tyrol)

In the areas of the former Austria-Hungary monarchy the Tantum Ergo for eucharistic benedictions is frequently set to the tune of the Kaiserhymne (Gott erhalte, Gott beschütze), however not always repeating the refrain as in the anthems. This can be confirmed in Vienna and South Tyrol at the least.

Philippine use

The Church in the Philippines uses a separate hymn tune ^{[another video]} from the Pange lingua, whose first three strophes are otherwise sung to the original tune. This particular setting, which is of Spanish origin, is credited to a José Rafael Carreras y Bulbena and was originally published with a time signature of ³
₄ but is now sung in quadruple metre in Luzon and in quadruple then triple metre in the Visayas.

Let Us Raise Our Voice

This tune is also used to sing "Let Us Raise Our Voice", a loose English adaptation of the Tantum ergo. This is borne out of a commission on revising the Novena by the Redemptorists of the Manila and Cebu Vice-Provinces in the early 1970s, in the wake of liturgical reforms. The hymn, whose lyrics paraphrase the first two forms of the Memorial Acclamation of the Mass, is sung during the Wednesday Novena Service to Our Lady of Perpetual Help and Benediction at Baclaran Church (the icon's principal shrine in the country).

Let us raise our voice to proclaim our Faith:

Christ the Lord, for us has died;

Dying, He destroyed our death,

Rising, He restored our life.

O Lord Jesus, we await

Your last return in glory.

When we eat the bread and we drink the cup

In the blessed Eucharist

We meet You, our Risen Saviour,

Giving life to us anew.

Through life’s journey be with us,

To strengthen us forever.

Amen, Amen.

℣. You have given them bread from heaven [Alleluia].

℟. The source of all happiness [Alleluia].

℣. Let us pray: Lord God, by the Paschal Mystery of the Death and Resurrection of Your only Son, You accomplish the work of man’s redemption. Full of trust, we proclaim the Paschal Mystery in the sacramental signs of the Eucharist. Help us to see ever growing in us the fruits of Your saving work; through Christ Our Lord.

℟. Amen.

From the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia

Tantum Ergo — The opening words of the penultimate stanza of the Vesper hymn (see PANGE LINGUA GLORIOSI, II) of Corpus Christi. This stanza and the closing one, or doxology ("Genitori" etc.), form a separate hymn which is prescribed for Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament (q.v.).

In private exposition, where permission has been obtained to give benediction with the pyx, the two stanzas are recited by the priest (or sung by a choir, if this is feasible: "si fieri potest, optandum est", says Van der Stappen). In other expositions they must always be sung. Customs vary in respect of the method of singing. In some places the choir sings the two stanzas; in others, the celebrant sings the opening words of each stanza, the choir continuing. The Ritual (Tit. IX, c.5) speaks of all the clergy present singing the stanzas, and Scholber (Caeremoniae missarum solemnium et pontificalium), commenting on this, suggests that either the celebrant and assisting clergy should intone the first line of the stanza, or the choir alone should sing both stanzas. A profound inclination of the head is made at the words "veneremur cernui" (Wapelhorst). The "American Ecclesiastical Review" (XXI, 1889, 644) points out that the rubrics do not prescribe an inclination of the head at the words "veneremur cernui", although the practice is frequent. Gardelllini, in his "Commentary on the Clementine Instruction" (XXIV, 9-10), cites the custom of the churches of Rome; and the Rituals before his day make mention of the profound inclination at the Tantum ergo down to the word "cernui": "nam in verbo cernui completur dictionis sensus, qui inclinationem postulat". Authorities differ as to the time for incensing. Martinucci directs the placing of incense in the thurible before "Tantum ergo" and the incensing after "veneremur cernui". De Carpo suggests both either before "Tantum ergo" or after "veneremur cernui", according to the custom of the particular church. Wapelhorst, following De Herdt, directs that both take place with "Genitori" is intoned.

The "magnificent doxology" (W. A. Shoults in Julian, "Dict. Of Hymnol.") is a fitting climax to the great hymn. It borrows, however, the expressions "Genitori Genitoque" — "Procedenti ab utroque, Compar" from a Pentecost sequence by Adam of St. Victor. Dreves, "Analecta hymnica", IV, 70, gives a sequence in honour of St. Agnes, in which occurs the stanza:

Genitori Genitoque,

Psallat nostra concio;

Procendenti ab utroque

Compar sit laudatio;

Virginalis ipsum quoque

Laudet benedictio.

Of the musical settings, which are very abundant, the appropriate word must be one of caution in view of the direction of Pius X in his Instruction on Sacred Music (22 Nov., 1903, IV: "In the hymns of the Church the traditional form of the hymn is to be preserved. It is not lawful, therefore, to compose for instance, a Tantum ergo in such wise that the first trophe presents a romanza, a cavatina, an adagio, and the Genitori an allegro." Singenberger, "Guide to Catholic Church Music" (St. Francis, Wisconsin, 1905), gives grade, voices, composer, etc., of more than six hundred setting of the "Tantum ergo" and the "Pange lingua", almost wholly of the German Cecilian School. Since 1903 many settings, also liturgically correct, have appeared by composers of other nationalities. The Vatican Graduale (1908) gives two plainchant melodies, or rather two forms of the same melody. Neale, "Mediaeval Hymns and Sequences" (3rd ed., London, 1867, 178-81), discusses translations of the "Pange lingua", and speaking of the penultimate stanza, remarks that the lines: "Praestet fides supplementum Sensuum defectui" are "avoided by all" the four authors he mentions, and notes that "Caswall's translation, unshackled by rhyme, is nearest" to the original Latin: "Faith for all defects supplying, Where the feeble senses fail". Neale's own translation of this stanza is given, with slight alterations, in "Hymns Ancient and Modern" in the (Baltimore) "Manual of Prayers", and in the "English Hymnal". Some of the earliest translations of the two lines are: "And where our sense is seen to fail, There must faith supply restore" (Primer, 1604); "And faith with all, those wants supply Wherein the senses feel defect" (Primer, 1619); "Let faith in Jesus Christ supply, The senses' insufficiency" (Primer, 1685); "And faith for all defects supply, Whilst sense is lost in mystery all defects supply, Whilst sense is lost in mystery" (Primer, 1706). One of the most recent translations is that of the revised Husenbeth, "The Missal for the Use of the Laity" (London, 1903, 286): "Let us profoundly bend before This awful mystery, and adore; Let types of former days give way, Like darkness at the blaze of day; And sense's failure be supplied By faith, our firm support and guide."

External links

• Latin Wikisource provides original source text: Tantum Ergo
• "Musical executions of the Tantum Ergo". Youtube.