Chants of the Vatican Graduale - MusicaSacra

St. Joachim, Father of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Confessor 431
The highest good which we can choose on earth is Holy Communion:
therein is contained heaven with its eternal happiness. "He that
eateth this bread shall live forever."
ST. JOACHIM, FATHER OF THE BLESSED
VIRGIN MARY, CONFESSOR
(August 16)
This feast, introduced into the Roman liturgy under Julius II
(1503-13), is now invariably celebrated on the day following the Assumption.
Thus also in the liturgy, father and child stand in close relationship
to one another.
INTROIT (Ps. 111:9)
1. Dispersit, dedit pauperibus: i. He hath distributed, he hath
2. justitia eius manet in saeculum given to the poor: 2. his justice resaeculi:
3. cornu eius exaltabitur maineth forever and ever: 3. his
in gloria. Ps. Beatus vir qui timet horn sha.ll be exalted in glory. Ps.
Dominum:* in mandatis eius cupit Blessed is the man that feareth the
nimis. Lord: * he shall delight exceedingly
in his commandments.
The Introit is taken from the vigil of St. Lawrence, where the text
is descriptive of the great exertions of that saint, of his self-sacrificing
service to others, and of his paternal devotion to the poor of Rome.
While tradition also extols the tender and self-sacrificing love of St.
Joachim, we can readily picture to ourselves the contemporaneous
poverty in which he lived. Without doubt, he sheltered in the person
of the Virgin Mother the greatest riches this world possessed; in fact,
he himself was a model of justice (Introit). On the other hand, the home
he provided was evidently poor in the goods of this world, as is evidenced
by the poverty which accompanied Mary and Joseph to Bethlethem on
the first Christmas. St. Joachim was therefore always solicitous to provide
by the labor of his hands the necessaries of life for his own, these
truly poor in Christ. Now he is exalted in glory, and his justice endures
as a shining model for us.
The melody has a brisk and joyful swing; this is already exemplified
in the use of numerous fourths. Each phrase also gives melodic prominence
to high e. Beyond this, however, the phrases do not vary greatly.