Chants of the Vatican Graduale - MusicaSacra

232 Corpus Christi
OFFERTORY (Tob. 12: 6)
1. Benedidus sit Deus Pater, 1. Blessed be the Father, and the
unigenitusque (2.) Dei Filius, 2. only-begotten (2.) Son of God 2. and
Sanctus quoque (3.) Spiritus: 3. also (S.)the Holy Spirit: 3. because
quia fecit nobiscum misericordiam he hath shown his mercy towards us.
suam.
The figures in parentheses indicate the fine divisions in the original
melody for the feast of SS. Peter and Paul, and show that our present
Offertory has little regard for the proper phrasing. It is gratifying to
note, however, that the words Benedictus, Pater, unigenitus, Spiritus, and
nobiscum are brought clearly into the foreground. Similarly, the melodic
development over Sanctus quoque may well serve to increase our reverence
for the Holy Ghost and the entire mystery of the triune God.
Let us give thanks! But let us do so mindful of the fact, mentioned
in the today's Secret, that our thanksgiving can be acceptable only if
God's grace is working to make of us an eternal sacrifice to Himself!
COMMUNION (Tob. 12: 6)
1. Benedicimus Deum caeli, 2. 1. We bless the God of heaven, 2.
et coram omnibus viventibus con- and before all living we will praise
fitebimur ei: 3. quia fecit nobiscum him: 3. because he has shown his
misericordiam suam. mercy to us.
The first phrase is very faithful to its original (see p. 229); not so the
second. The melody over qua fecit, which here opens the third phrase,
forms the close of the second phrase in the original. Here again the
phrasing is not entirely happy. Small heterogeneous pieces compose the
last part: nobiscum is like scuto in the Communion for the first Sunday
of Lent; the close is found in a number of chants, for example in the Introit
for the tenth Sunday after Pentecost over in aeternum.
We still are numbered among the living who can praise and thank
God. In each holy Mass the triune God makes holy our sacrificial gifts
and converts them into the sacrifice of Christ, and in the sacrificial Banquet
the Father and the Holy Ghost, together with the Son, join themselves
to us, and thus prove that their life and mercy are truly infinite.
CORPUS CHRISTI
With the words Exsultdte—jubildte of the Introit-verse is announced
the theme of today's feast, of the Mass, and of the procession which