Chants of the Vatican Graduale - MusicaSacra

The Most Sacred Heart of Jesus 251
COMMUNION (John 19: 34)
1. Unus militum lancea latus 1. One of the soldiers with a spear
eius aperuit, et continuo exivit opened his side, and immediately
sanguis et aqua. there came out blood and water.
Like the Offertory, the Communion emphasizes the thought of
Christ's sufferings. The soldier who opened the side of Christ certainly
had no premonition of the blessings his action presaged. The Heart of
Jesus is opened and will remain open forevermore, "a rest for the pious
and a refuge of salvation for the penitent" (Preface). The water and
blood which flowed from His side are symbols of the graces bestowed in
Baptism and in the Holy Eucharist.
The melody resembles that of the feast of St. Boniface (June 5).
The adaptation of the text on that feast is more happy and more fluent.
The melody over militum Idncea la- corresponds to that over sdnguis et
a-(qua).
COMMUNION for Votive Masses during Paschal
Time (John 7: 37)
1. Si quis sitit, veniat ad me et 1. If any man thirst, let him come
bibat, alleluia, alleluia. to me and drink, alleluia, alleluia.
There are many voices to entice the one who is seeking happiness,
but these voices, as a rule, lead only to disillusionment and bitter disappointment.
One alone has the right to call us who at the same time
has the power to satisfy our desires, and that one is our divine Saviour,
whose Sacred Heart embodies within itself the plenitude of all happiness.
He gives us a foretaste of this happiness in Holy Communion,
which in turn prepares us for an eternal happiness where in unending
joy and gratefulness we shall sing: Alleluia, alleluia.
The strikingly simple and concise melody models itself on the Communion
of Low Sunday, as comparison of the following will show: quis
sitis and Mitte... tuam, veniat ad me and et (cla)-maverunt, et Mbit all.
all. and sed fidelis all. all. The word me is emphasized to good advantage
and has the effect of a leitmotif. It recalls to mind the goodness and love
with which the Sacred Heart received the doubting Thomas, who was
permitted to lay his hand in the side of the Saviour and feel the pulsing
of His Sacred Heart. Filled with faith and happiness let us exclaim with
him: "My Lord and my God!" Would that we might sing the praises of
the Sacred Heart with that feeling, yes, if possible with that perfection,
with which the Saviour sang the praises of God while on earth.