Chants of the Vatican Graduale - MusicaSacra

Passion Sunday 143
lowing days until Holy Saturday exclusive, this psalm is not said at the
foot of the altar lest it be said twice—by the priest and choir.
If we permit the melody to work on us, or even if we merely glance
at the notation, one phrase immediately draws our attention. It is eripe
me—•''deliver me!" It is the cry of a heavily oppressed heart. How effective
must it have been formerly, when after each verse of the psalm,
the antiphon and with it this cry of affliction was heard. Along with it,
the second thought of this Introit was stressed, the thought of trust:
"For Thou art my God and my strength." But the entire melodic development
works up to a climax with eripe me.
Who is it that prays thus? Since today is Passion Sunday, our first
thought is that it is Christ Himself. Today's Epistle tells of Him that
He offered Himself as a spotless victim to the Father by the Holy Ghost.
No doubt, the words or thoughts of this Introit belonged to that Introit,
that introductory prayer, with which our dear Lord and Saviour began
His Passion on Mount Olivet. He sees Himself betrayed by Judas, "the
unjust and deceitful man;" he sees Himself before a tribunal, verily
before a "nation that is not holy." How must His inner Self have cried
to the Father: Judica me—-"Judge me, O God, and distinguish my cause:"
eripe me—"deliver me!" Apparently this appeal is not heard, nor the
prayer: emitte lucem tuam—"Send forth Thy light," for darkness covered
the face of the earth when the Jews crucified the Lord. He prays:
"Send forth . . .Thy truth;" but will have to cry: "My God, My God,
why hast Thou forsaken Me?" And yet God was His God and His
strength. The Easter sun will come to dispel the darkness of Calvary.
And Golgotha, in spite of its tragedy, was a holy mount and the anteroom
to the sublime tabernacle of glory. And the first song of the risen
Christ is a song of praise to the Father for His fidelity: "I arose, and
am still with Thee."
As Christ prays so the Church prays, for she is one with Him. Thus
also does the individual Christian soul pray. Only too frequently we
perceive ourselves to be an unholy nation, an unjust and deceitful man
that would delude us, deceive us, and turn us away from truth and
fidelity. The more we enter into ourselves by a searching self-examination,
the more fervently shall we cry to our God and our strength: eripe
me—"deliver me!"
But we also know that in the mystery of the holy Mass God's light
shines before our eyes and His fidelity reveals itself. Here we are upon
His holy mountain, in His tabernacle; we approach closely to Him. He
enters into our soul with His light and His truth.
The first and third phrases have the same ending, while the second
has a similar close a fifth higher over (eri)-pe me. Thus the whole is varied