Brébeuf Hymn #464 • “Christ ist erstanden”

HE OLDEST Latin Eucharistic Hymn (“Sancti Venite”), translated into English by Fr. Adrian Fortescue, is #464 in the Brébeuf Hymnal. It is paired with the melody of the Church’s oldest vernacular tune, which originally was inserted into Victimae Paschali Laudes. ¹

You can hear the individual tracks if you visit the Brébeuf website and scroll to #464.

Unlike other translations (such as Dr. John M. Neale), Fortescue’s translation matches the meter of the original, a spectacular feat.

NOTES FROM THIS ARTICLE:

1   That means we have 12th century manuscripts in Latin that suddenly break into German (“Christ ist erstanden”) for this little tune.