  VEXILLA REGIS PRODEUNTBy Venantius Fortunatus. Born in the district of Treviso, Italy, about 530. In 565 he made a pilgrimage to the shrine of St. Martin at Tours, and spent the remainder of his years in Gaul. Through the influence of his friend Queen Rhadegunda, Fortunatus became Bishop of Poitiers in 597. Some place his death in the year 609. Fortunatus must have been an author of great industry and versatility. He wrote the life of St. Martin in four books, containing 2245 hexameter lines; he threw off in profusion vers de societÉ when wandering from castle to cloister in Gaul; and he composed a volume of hymns for all the festivals of the Christian year, which is now unhappily lost. This is his best known hymn, Dr. Neale’s translation of which is inserted for the Fifth Sunday in Lent, otherwise called Palm Sunday, in “Hymns Ancient and Modern” (No. 84). ISee the Royal banners Wave across the sky, Bright the mystic radiance, For the Cross is nigh; And He who came our flesh to wear, The Christ of God, was wounded there. IIDeep the cruel spear thrust, By the soldier given; Blood and water mingle, Where the flesh is riven; To cleanse our souls the crimson tide Leapt from the Saviour’s riven side. IIIIn the distant ages Zion’s harp was strung, And the faithful saw Him, While the prophet sung; Now Israel’s Hope the nations see, For Christ is reigning from the tree. IVTree of wondrous beauty, Tree of grace and light, Royal throne to rest on, Decked with purple bright; The choice of God, this royal throne Whence Christ, the King, should rule His own. VSee the branches drooping! Laden, see they sway! For the price of heaven On those branches lay; Ah! great the price, that price was paid, By Him on whom the debt was laid. PANGE, LINGUA, GLORIOSI, PRŒLIUM CERTAMINISThis, “one of the first of the Latin mediÆval hymns,” has been credited to St. Hilary. It has also been ascribed to Claudianus Mamertus, who died in 474. But by the majority of authorities it is regarded as the composition of Fortunatus, and ranks next to the Vexilla Regis prodeunt in their estimate. A rendering of it by Keble will be found in his “Miscellaneous Poems,” beginning, “Sing, my tongue, of glorious warfare,” which is Dr. Neale’s “Sing, my tongue, the glorious battle,” in a somewhat altered form. ITell, my tongue, the glorious conflict, Crowned with victory nobly won;— More than all the spoil of battle, Praise the triumph of God’s Son; How by death the crown of conquest Graced Him when the strife was done. IIGrieving sore o’er Eden’s sorrow When our race in Adam fell; And the fatal fruit he tasted, Welcomed sin, and death, and hell; God ordained a tree in Zion, Eden’s poison to dispel. IIIIn the work of our Redemption Wisdom met the tempter’s foils;— On the ground he claimed, the Victor Fought, and bore away the spoils; And the bane became the blessing, Freedom sprang amid his toils. IVFrom the bosom of the Father, Where He shared the regal crown, At the time by God appointed, Came the world’s Creator down— God incarnate, born of Virgin, Shorn of glory and renown. VList! the voice of infant weeping, Cradled where the oxen stand, And the Virgin mother watches, Tending Him with loving hand,— Hands and feet of God she bindeth, Folding them in swaddling band. VIBlessing, blessing everlasting, To the glorious Trinity; To the Father, Son, and Spirit, Equal glory let there be; Universal praise be given, To the Blessed One in Three. LUSTRA SEX QUI JAM PEREGITBy some attributed to St. Ambrose, but generally and with greater probability to Fortunatus. There is an imitation of this hymn in English by Bishop Mant, beginning, “See the destined day arise!” one of the Passion hymns in “Hymns Ancient and Modern” (No. 99). IThirty years by God appointed, And there dawns the woeful day, When the great Redeemer girds Him For the tumult of the fray; And upon the cross uplifted, Bears our load of guilt away. IIAh! ’tis bitter gall He drinketh, When His heart in anguish fails;— From the thorns His life-blood trickles, From the spear wound and the nails; But that crimson stream for cleansing, O’er creation wide prevails. IIIFaithful Cross! in all the woodland, Standeth not a nobler tree; In thy leaf, and flower, and fruitage, None can e’er thy equal be; Sweet the wood, and sweet the iron, Sweet the load that hung on thee. IVNoble tree! unbend thy branches, Let thy stubborn fibres bend, Cast thy native rigour from thee, Be a gentle, loving friend; Bear Him in thine arms, and softly, Christ, the King eternal, tend. VOnly thou could’st bear the burden Of the ransom of our race; Only thou could’st be a refuge, Like the ark, a hiding-place, By the sacred blood anointed, Of the Covenant of Grace. VIBlessing, blessing everlasting, To the glorious Trinity; To the Father, Son, and Spirit, Equal glory let there be; Universal praise be given, To the Blessed One in Three. CRUX AVE BENEDICTAThis little poem, which he pronounces “perfect in its kind,” is taken by Trench from Daniel’s Thesaurus, without any note of author or of date. IHail, thou Blessed Cross, all hail! Death no longer can prevail. On those arms extended high, Did my King and Saviour die. IIQueen of all the trees that grow, Medicine when health is low, Solace to the cumbered heart, Comfort thou when sorrows smart. IIIO! most sacred wood, the sign That eternal life is mine; On the fruit thy branches give, Feeds the human heart to live. IVWhen, around the Judgment-seat, Friends of thine and foes shall meet, Be my prayer, O Christ, to Thee, And in love remember me. HORÆ DE PASSIONE D. N. JESU CHRISTIFrom a fourteenth-century MS., where it bears the title, “Hours of the Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ, compiled from the Prophets and the New Testament by the Blessed Pope Urban” (b. 1302, d. 1370). (AD PRIMAM) |
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