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Views from the Choir Loft

“Adoro te devote” (SATB) • Rehearsal Videos

Jeff Ostrowski · March 31, 2017

285 Thomas Aquinas OMETIMES PROTESTANTS accuse Catholics of an “abuse” regarding hymns, saying whenever we sing hymns during Mass we should sing all the verses. This sounds like a powerful, self-evident truth—just like when somebody says “peace” and “piece” couldn’t possibly be pronounced the same way because they’re spelled differently.

Those who carefully study hymns know better. Consider Tantum Ergo; which is not the complete hymn. Consider O Salutaris, Hostis Herodes, A solis ortus, and Angularis fundamentum; none of which is the complete hymn. For that matter, look at the ancient verses of the Offertories, which omit and combine verses constantly. Indeed, sections are sometimes omitted from Sequences (e.g. Credendum est from “Victimae Paschali”). 1

I’m teaching a hymn to our children’s choir, but we only do four verses:

    * *  PDF Download • “Adoro te devote” (SATB)

The melody is very “nineteenth-century”—and I’ll be curious to read the Facebook comments regarding this tune. The children like it.

The SATB section begins at the 0:37 marker:

REHEARSAL VIDEOS for each individual voice—along with PDF score—await you at #5855. If you like them, please consider donating $5.00 per month.


The English translation is by Fr. Adrian Fortescue (d. 1923):

1. Humbly I adore Thee, hidden Godhead,
veiled truly under these figures.
All my heart I give to Thee,
for it all fails in contemplating Thee.

1. Adóro te devóte, látens Déitas,
Quae sub his figúris vére látitas:
Tíbi se cor méum tótum súbjicit,
Quia te contémplans tótum déficit.

2. Sight, touch and taste tell me nothing
of Thy presence; yet safely I trust what I hear.
I believe whatever the Son of God has said;
nothing can be more true than the word of Truth itself.

2. Vísus, táctus, gústus in te fállitur,
Sed audítu sólo túto créditur:
Crédo, quídquid díxit Déi Fílius:
Nil hoc vérbo Veritátis vérius.

3. On the cross Thy Godhead was hidden;
here is hidden Thy manhood too.
Yet I believe and confess both,
praying as prayed the good thief.

3. In crúce latébat sóla Déitas,
At hic látet símul et humánitas:
Ámbo támen crédens átque cónfitens,
Péto quod petívit látro paénitens.

4. I do not see Thy wounds like Thomas;
yet I confess Thee my God.
Grant that I may ever more and more
believe in Thee, hope in Thee, love Thee.

4. Plágas, sícut Thómas, non intúeor:
Déum támen méum te confíteor:
Fac me tíbi sémper mágis crédere,
In te spem habére, te dilígere.



NOTES FROM THIS ARTICLE:

1   For the record, even melodies are sometimes added or torn out, which made a big difference in Gloria IX. This is simply what happens with a Faith as ancient as ours.

Opinions by blog authors do not necessarily represent the views of Corpus Christi Watershed.

Filed Under: Articles Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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Jeff Ostrowski

About Jeff Ostrowski

Jeff Ostrowski holds his B.M. in Music Theory from the University of Kansas (2004). He resides with his wife and children in Los Angeles.—(Read full biography).

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Surprising Popularity!

One of our most popular downloads has proven to be the organ accompaniment to “The Monastery Hymnal” (131 pages). This book was compiled, arranged, and edited by Achille P. Bragers, who studied at the Lemmensinstituut (Belgium) about thirty years before that school produced the NOH. Bragers might be considered an example of Belgium “Stile Antico” whereas Flor Peeters and Jules Van Nuffel represented Belgium “Prima Pratica.” You can download the hymnal by Bragers at this link.

—Jeff Ostrowski
15 February 2021 • To Capitalize…?

In the Introit for the 6th Sunday after Pentecost, there is a question regarding whether to capitalize the word “christi.” The Vulgata does not, because Psalm 27 is not specifically referring to Our Lord, but rather to God’s “anointed one.” However, Missals tend to capitalize it, such as the official 1962 Missal and also a book from 1777 called Missel de Paris. Something tells me Monsignor Knox would not capitalize it.

—Jeff Ostrowski
15 February 2021 • “Sung vs. Spoken”

We have spoken quite a bit about “sung vs. spoken” antiphons. We have also noted that the texts of the Graduale Romanum sometimes don’t match the Missal texts (in the Extraordinary Form) because the Mass Propers are older than Saint Jerome’s Vulgate, and sometimes came from the ITALA versions of Sacred Scripture. On occasion, the Missal itself doesn’t match the Vulgate—cf. the Introit “Esto Mihi.” The Vulgate has: “Esto mihi in Deum protectórem et in domum refúgii…” but the Missal and Graduale Romanum use “Esto mihi in Deum protectórem et in locum refúgii…” The 1970s “spoken propers” use the traditional version, as you can see.

—Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“I vividly remember going to church with him in Bournemouth. He was a devout Roman Catholic and it was soon after the Church had changed the liturgy (from Latin to English). My grandfather obviously didn’t agree with this and made all the responses very loudly in Latin while the rest of the congregation answered in English. I found the whole experience quite excruciating, but my grandfather was oblivious. He simply had to do what he believed to be right.”

— Simon Tolkien (2003)

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