Chants of the Vatican Graduale - MusicaSacra

Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost 299
Violent emotions stir the heart of the singer today. Apprehension
that God may turn away forever His face from His wayward people
seizes it; fear that He may break the covenant, mankind's only hope,
because so many have become unfaithful to it. Hence this violent, almost
passionate, clamoring, especially in the second part over exsurge
Domine. "Perhaps it was the dire distress, caused by the migration of
Nations, that forced this lamentation from the Church; we might now
substitute as her reason the sinfulness of so many of her children"
(K. L.). The singer knows, however, that he can pray in the name of
the whole Church: we are Thy people, Thy poor, the lambs of Thy pasture,
this matter is Thy concern. And that consoles him for God will
not abandon His Church to any hostile power, and no malice or evil
scheming can ever prevail against her.
Today's Gospel tells the story of the lepers' cleansing. With what
loud voices did they not cry: "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!" But
even more urgent than this will be the plea of him who has experienced
what is the leprosy of the soul, what a shameful thing sin is, how it impoverishes
man utterly, and what a terrible thing it is to desert one's
Creator and to break the covenant so solemnly ratified. Our present
song is born out of this bitter realization. But there is confidence in it
also: The divine Shepherd of souls does not forget us, He does not forsake
us, for behold, in the holy Sacrifice He comes down upon the altar
and gives Himself as food to His poor sheep!
The melody will gain in lucidity if we consider the pause after
causam tuam the same as that after testamentum tuum. Thus are formed
two parts; the first half dramatically enlivened by the imperatives Respice,
exsurge, and judica; while the second half with ne derelinquas, ne
obliviscdris, and the emphasis on the dominant c, is considerably more
quiet. Toward the end the chant again becomes more insistent by reason
of the pressus over derelinquas and quaerentium.
The first half of the phrase forcefully presents the three most important
words; the second half avoids all larger intervals. It is the suppliant
petition of the "poor." The final cadence is borrowed from the
fourth mode. After the turbulent exsurge Domine, et judica sets in on
the dominant, just as in testamentum after Domine above; tuam is an
abridgment of tuum; ne obliviscdris harks back to et judica; voces closes
on c, like tuorum above.
GRADUAL (Ps. 73: 20, 19, 22)
1. Respice, Domine, in testa- 1. Have regard, 0 Lord, to thy
mentum tuum: 2. et animas pau- covenant, and forsake not to the