Chants of the Vatican Graduale - MusicaSacra

116 Ash Wednesday
propter gloriam nominis tui, Do- liver us: t and forgive us our sins
mine, libera nos: f et propitius esto for thy name's sake,
peccatis nostris, propter nomen
tnum.
This tract is not found in the oldest manuscripts. It would seem that
it received its present form no earlier than the twelfth century. The
similar middle cadences are indicated above by the mark f, and the
caesura (—). In the first verse the phrasing of the text and the melodic
phrasing are not quite parallel. The second and third verses have much
in common. In the third verse, the introductory notes and the prolonged
clinging to a reveal the underlying emotion of the soul; it is a suppliant
call, heartfelt and urgent. It presents one of the more dramatic moments
of the liturgy, the kneeling of all the faithful to the accompaniment of
this chant. We cry to the Lord: Thy Being and the glory of Thy Name
demand that Thou enter the lists for us and grant us Thy lasting help.
OFFERTORY (Ps. 29: 2,3)
1. Exaltabo te Domine, quoniam 1. / will extol thee, O Lord, for
suscepisti me, 2. nee delectasti ini- thou hast upheld me: 2. and hast
micos meos super me: 3. Domine not made mine enemies to rejoice
clamavi ad te, et sanasti me. over me: 3. O Lord, I have cried to
thee, and thou hast healed me.
How can this text belong here, at this solemn opening of Lent? On
Easter Day we should readily understand it as the victorious song of the
Risen One, as a second stanza to the Easter Introit with its tecum sum,
as a song of victory, or as the glorified Saviour's song of exultation after
all the wounds that had been inflicted upon Him. But today it seems out
of place. We must not forget, however, that the Lenten season which
we are now ushering in is but the great preparation for Easter. Moreover,
the melody itself does not course upward in extraordinarily bright
and jubilant tones, but adapts itself, more than does the text itself, to
the prevailing spirit of the day.
This was the day on which public sinners were thrust out of the
church to do public penance. Not till Maundy Thursday were they
again permitted to participate in the divine service. This must have
reminded the faithful in a most vivid manner of what they themselves
owed to the grace of God, to that divine help which ever led them on,
which protected them against the allurements of the enemy and the
contagion of sin. The same grace makes them participants today in the
blessings flowing from the Eucharistic Sacrifice.