Chants of the Vatican Graduale - MusicaSacra

348 Twenty-Third Sunday after Pentecost
The second phrase is restricted to a fifth. A contrast is formed by
the b in the first phrase and 6t» in the second. There is a certain unrest
in invocdbitis ("y° u shall call upon me") which soon is eased by the
dominant-like fivefold b\? which seems to say: Be comforted, the Lord
will grant your prayer; you have, it is true, often forgotten Him, have
despised and deserted Him, but He thinks only of your peace.
In the third phrase, with its range of an octave, the tonic / plays a
prominent part. Perhaps this is to indicate the oppression of captivity,
just as is done with the same word in the Offertory for the third Sunday
of Advent by lingering on the dominant. In the second half of the phrase,
however, de cunctis rises with such firm assurance that neither men nor
circumstances can weaken it. Even to those who have gone farthest
astray, the road to their fatherland, to reconciliation, to peace, will not
be closed. Indeed, the Lord Himself proffers His guiding and protecting
hand (reducam); He Himself wishes to lead them home (cf. Reck, II
378). Happy he who grasps this hand!
First the Lord says: "I will hear; I will bring back." With the abandon
of faith the congregation immediately responds with words which
assume that the promise is already fulfilled: "Lord, Thou hast blessed
the land: Thou hast turned away the captivity of Jacob." The church
into which we are now filing is already heaven for the community; the
processional entrance itself becomes in a certain sense an anticipation
of the procession of the just, when, after the Last Day, they will follow
Christ into full glory. The house of God, into which we enter now for
the celebration of the sacred Mysteries, is heaven upon earth. We are
coming closer to the Parousia: though it is still sacramentally veiled, it
is already pre-realized in the Eucharist (Jahrbuch fuer Liturgiewissenschaft,
IV, 148 f.).
This is the Lord's promise: "I will hear; I will bring back." And in
the regions of bliss—for it is November, the month of All Saints—thousands
of the blessed make joyous melody, because He has led them to
eternal peace, to freedom, and to the glory of the children of God.
GRADUAL (Ps. 43:8,9)
1. Liberasti nos, Domine, ex 1. Thou hast delivered us, O Lord,
affligentibus nos: 2. et eos qui nos from them that afflict us: 2. and
oderunt, confudisti. $". 1. In Deo hast put them to shame that hate
laudabimur tota die, 2. et nomini us. f. 1. In God we will glory all
tuo confitebimur in saecula. the day, 2. and in thy name we will
give praise for ever.