Back

St. Francis Adult Christian Education

Play Fr. Allen's Class (48 min.)

The Great Latin Hymns: Part I

Qui enim cantat laudem, non solum laudat, sed etiam hilariter laudat; qui cantat laudem, non
solum cantat, sed et amat eum quem cantat. In laude confitentis est praedicatio, in cantico
amantis affectio... For he who sings praise, does not only praise, but also praises joyfully; he who
sings praise, not only sings, but also loves Him whom he is singing about/to/for. There is a
praise-filled public proclamation (praedicatio) in the praise of someone who is
confessing/acknowledging (God), in the song of the lover (there is) love.
-- St. Augustine

1. Latin hymns teach the faithful
   
   
   1. Characteristics of Latin hymnody
      1. Dogmatic
      2. Unsentimental, but capable of profound pathos
      
      
   2. In Anglican Hymnals
      1. John Mason Neale
      2. Winfred Douglas


2. English Hymns of Latin origin:
   
   
   • Of the Father's love begotten - Prudentius (348 - 413)
   • The royal banners forward go - Fortunatus (c. 530 - 609)
   • Welcome happy morning - Fortunatus (c. 530 - 609)
   • All glory, laud, and honor - Theodulph of Orleans (c. 760 - 821)
   • Veni, Creator Spiritus - Rabanus Marus (776 - 865)
   • Jesus, Thou joy of loving hearts - Bernard of Clairvaux (1091 - 1153)
   • Jesus, the very thought of Thee - Bernard of Clairvaux (1091 - 1153)
   • Jerusalem the golden - Bernard of Cluny (died c. 1150)
   • Humbly I adore Thee - Thomas Acquinas (c. 1227 - 1274)
   • Come down, O love divine - Jacopone da Todi (1230 - 1306)
   • All creatures of our God and king - Francis of Assis (1182 -1226)
   • O sons and daughters, let us sing - Jean Tisserand (15^th cent.)
   • O come, all ye faithful - John Francis Wade (18^th cent.)
   • The strife is O'er - Anon. (17^th cent.)


3. A Very Brief History of the Early Hymnody of the Western (Latin) Church
   
   
   1. The earliest Christian hymns are of two types:
      1. Certain passages of scripture which are thought by scholars to be liturgical hymns (e.g., Phil 2.1 ff/ Magnificat/Benedictus)
      2. "Extra-Biblical" hymns which have remained in use in either the Eastern or Western church
      
      
   2. The earliest extra-Biblical hymns were in Greek but are known in the West today because they were translated into Latin sometime before c. 300 CE and incorporated into the early Latin (Roman Catholic) liturgy
      • Phos Hilaron O gracious light
      • Trisagion Holy God ...
      • Let all mortal flesh keep silence - Liturgy of St. James 4^th century
      
      
      
   3. Other early Latin hymns (before c. 400 CE) were original to the Western Church and are modeled after the Biblical hymns and early Greek hymns. They are doctrinal and credal in form and content:
      
      • Te Deum Laudamus (Though its authorship is traditionally ascribed to Saints Ambrose and Augustine, on the occasion of the latter's baptism by the former in AD 387, contemporary scholars doubt this attribution, many assigning it to Nicetas, bishop of Remesiana in the late 4^th to early 5^th centuries.)
      • Gloria in excelesis (This hymn was originally in Greek and goes back very far in the history of Christianity. Another form goes back to at least the third century, if not to the first. A longer version dating to the fourth century is still sung in the Greek Orthodox church. The Latin version differs from the present Greek form. They correspond down to the end of the Latin, which however adds: Tu solus altissimus and Cum sancto Spiritu. The Greek then goes on: "Every day I will bless Thee and will glorify Thy name forever, and forever and ever" and continues with ten more verses, chiefly from Psalms to the Trisagion and Gloria Patri.)
      
      
      
   4. The earliest known writer of Latin hymns was Bishop Hilary of Poitiers (c. 310 - 366). (St. Jerome who states that Hilary, Bishop of Poitiers (c. 310 - 366), a noted author of commentaries and theological works, wrote a Liber Hymnorum. This collection has never been recovered in its entirety. Hilary's priority as a hymn writer is attested by Isidore of Seville (d. 636) who says: Hilary, however, Bishop of Poitiers in Gaul, a man of unusual eloquence, was the first prominent hymn writer.)
      1. A weapon against heresy (Arius is said to have popularized his view by writing hymns.)
      2. Three extant hymns:
         1. Ante saecula qui manens. "O Thou who dost exist before time," is a hymn of seventy verses in honor of the Trinity.
         2. Fefellit saevam verbum factum te, caro, "The Incarnate Word hath deceived thee (Death)" is an Easter hymn.
         3. Adae carnis gloriosae, "In the person of the Heavenly Adam" is a hymn on the theme of the temptation of Jesus.