Chants of the Vatican Graduale - MusicaSacra

490 Asperges Me and Vidi Aquam
c-g and bb-/ occur at varying intervals. The third member with its sequence-like
passages is then a quiet thesis after the great arsis. Its closing
cadence was heard a pitch higher over mea. This unusual inception
for a piece of the fifth mode demands clever manipulation on the part
of the organist.
The second phrase has only seconds and thirds; its last member
has the sole fourth. Throughout a preference is shown for the ascending
and descending major chord f-a-c: qui petit, (quae)-rit, inve-(nit), (a)yerie-(tur).
Omnis—"every one" rightly receives a special accent. In the
rendition a slight pause might separate the petition from its fulfillment,
thus: qui petit—dccipit, etc. The second phrase, therefore, explains why
the church is a house of, prayer; it is there, namely, that our prayers are
heard. Would that all the churches of the Catholic world might relate
how much consolation they have dispensed, how many tears they have
dried! Today the words of this Communion have again been realized in
holy Mass. The heavenly Father did not give us stones when we prayed
for our daily bread. We sought mercy and peace and found them. We
knocked, and the gates of heaven opened and rained manna. Indeed, in
the ultimate analysis we were not the ones who asked and sought and
knocked; Christ is our intercessor; He it is who prays for us continually.
This Communion song is at the same time a song of invitation,
calling us to return soon and often to this place of intercession, so that
we also may share in its blessings.
The dedication of the church! Our soul also celebrates the feast of
its dedication which took place at Baptism; this is the secondary thought
that permeates the prayers of the rite of consecration. Just as in the
dedication of the church, so at Baptism the priest commanded the evil
spirit to depart from us; and after the saving waters had been poured
upon our heads, the Holy Ghost with the Father and the Son made our
souls their sanctuaries. And the holy oil and chrism with which we, as
also the church, were anointed, was the pledge of our participation in
the riches of God's infinite grace. We can, therefore, predicate of our
soul the words: This is the house of God. If we make these truths a part
of our everyday life, then our prayers and song will resound with a pure,
full ring in the house of the Lord!
ASPERGES ME and VIDI AQUAM
Singers should make it a duty to consider also these chants as something
sacred. Hence they will not make their appearance in choir during
the time that holy water is being sprinkled or even afterward. Rather
they will be there without exception from the very beginning, and assist