Brébeuf Hymn #554 • “Victis Sibi” in English

Jeff Ostrowski · April 9, 2020

UNDREDS AND HUNDREDS of rehearsal videos have been posted at the Saint Jean de Brébeuf website, and we are just getting started. The fourth verse says: Sacro pati pro Nómine, | Summi sit instar múneris: | Amára non mors ámplius, | Fit mors per hoc amábilis. Translated into English, that means:

“To suffer for the holy name,
let it be worth the highest gift:
bitter no more is death,
by it death becomes lovable.”

Corrinne and Veronica helped record this rehearsal video:

Rehearsal videos for each individual voice await you at #554.

The Brébeuf pew edition provides a literal English translation of Victis Sibi Cognomina, which is quite a beautiful hymn. The translation was done by an FSSP priest. This hymn is often used for the Feast of the Most Holy Name of Jesus. Better late than never, right?

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

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).

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

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About Jeff Ostrowski