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PDF Download • “O Sacred Head Surrounded” … placed into Gregorian Chant!

Jeff Ostrowski · February 17, 2021

HE GREAT Fulton J. Sheen gave excellent advice to teachers: “tear up your notes at the end of each semester.” That is: never stop learning. When I served as a member of the committee producing the Brébeuf hymnal, we learned something incredible: nobody has ever taken the trouble to name the Gregorian hymn melodies! (Somebody should write a dissertation addressing this problem.) We have spoken quite a bit about a certain ancient hymn which has no name. It could legitimately be called:

(1) Jam Christus Astra Ascenderat;
(2) Aurora Lucis Rutilat;
(3) Ad Coenam Agni Providi;
(4) Lucis Creator Optime;
(5) Vexilla Regis Inclyta;
(6) Te Lucis Ante Terminum;
(7) Te Saeculorum Principem;
(8) Sermone Blando Angelus;

…And so forth 1 and so on.

Whatever you call it, the melody for this Lenten hymn is quite ancient:

*  PDF Download • ORGAN ACCOMPANIMENT
—This organ accompaniment was written by Jeff Ostrowski.

*  PDF Download • SINGER’S SCORE
—“Jam Christe Sol Justitiæ” (changed in 1631AD to “O Sol Salutis Intimis”).

O Sacred Head Surrounded

So “Jam Christe Sol Justitiæ” is an ancient Catholic hymn, and (above) it has been set to an ancient Catholic hymn melody which has no name. However, “O Sacred Head Surrounded”—O Caput Cruentatum—is a much more recent Catholic hymn. The history is rather complicated, so if you’re interested please consult the Brébeuf hymnal. The melody was originally a secular Waltz tune in 3/4 until it was adopted for Christian services. A Benedictine monk named Father Beatus Reiser published a plainsong arrangement in his 1940 publication: Laudes festivae: Lectionarium et Cantarium pro diversitate temporum et festorum. We will be singing this during Lent without accompaniment:

*  PDF Download • O SACRED HEAD SURROUNDED (Latin)
—Edition: Father Beatus Reiser, Benedictine College of Sant’Anselmo (Rome).

*  Mp3 Download • * Live Recording
—Recorded live at Saint Vitus Church (FSSP) in Los Angeles.

1. O Caput cruentátum, Spinárum ácie
Conspútum, verberátum, Orbátum spécie:
Fac meam serta spissa Cervícem quátiant,
Ut húmiles de missa Jam sensus nútriant.

2. O caro trita nodis Immánis mílitis:
Ignára licet fraudis Pungéndi fómitis:
Fac mea, labe tersa, Quæ sordent fúgiat,
Ac sánguine conspérsa Quæ nitent sápiat.

3. O pulchræ clavis palmæ Præfíxæ stípiti,
Dispensatríces almæ Amóris ínclyti:
Confígite me cruci Ut mihi móriar
Et mundo vivens luci Supérna lárgiar.

4. O Pedes perforáti Furóre nímio,
Per vias fatigáti In pacis núntio,
Fons scatens nostros pedes Ad opus fóveat,
Labórum tot hærédes Nos zelus úrgeat.

5. O cor transverberátum Longíni cúspide,
Quin flammæ conquassátum Ardóre válidæ,
In te da penetráre Cor meum pénitus
Tuósque respiráre Per sacros hálitus.

Father Beatus Reiser famously wrote to Pope Pius XI asking about instruments in Church, and he got an answer from the pontiff.

If you desire more Lenten hymns, please check out my 2018 article:

*  2018 • Rare Lenten Hymns You’ve Not Sung


NOTES FROM THIS ARTICLE:

1   The special booklet given to the participants of the 2019 Sacred Music Symposium contained many pages explaining all those different hymn tune names, plus many more!

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

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Filed Under: Articles, PDF Download Tagged With: Ad Coenam Agni Providi, Aurora Lucis Rutilat, Jam Christe Sol Justitiae, Jam Christus Astra Ascenderat, Lucis Creator Optime, O Sol Salutis Intimis, Salve caput cruentatum, Te Lucis Ante Terminum, Vexilla Regis Inclyta Last Updated: February 19, 2021

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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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Corpus Christi Watershed

Quick Thoughts

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

When Christ gave the bread, he did not say, “This is the symbol of my body,” but, “This is my body.” In the same way, when he gave the cup of his blood he did not say, “This is the symbol of my blood,” but, “This is my blood.”

— Theodore, Bishop of Mopsuestia, writing in the 5th Century

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