ATHER VALENTINE YOUNG had a (gentle) criticism of some newly-ordained priests. He said: “They feel compelled to recite everything they’ve ever learned during their sermons.” I face a real dilemma today, because my subject is the EPIPHANY. Like those newly-ordained priests, I run the risk of typing “everything I know.” In other words, the topic of the EPIPHANY is so vast … where should I begin? And how can I limit my words? For instance, the EPIPHANY commemorates our Lord’s first public miracle, which took place at the Wedding of Cana.1 When the wine ran out, Mary said to Jesus: “They have no wine.” Our Lord responded: “Woman, what is that to Me and to thee? My hour is not yet come.” Fulton J. Sheen explains this as follows:
“His mother was asking for a miracle; He was implying that a miracle worked as a sign of His Divinity would be the beginning of His Death. […] He was telling His mother that she was virtually pronouncing a sentence of death over Him.”
Going Deeper • The EPIPHANY, then, is related to our Lord’s crucifixion and death. But it’s deeper than that. Our Lord’s first public miracle changed the nature of water into wine. The miracles—as Fulton J. Sheen explained—would eventually lead to His death. The night before His passion, our Savior would change wine into his very Blood. In a moment, we will discuss the ABECEDARIUS of Sedulius (an alphabetical hymn about Christ’s life). Taken from the Brébeuf Hymnal, below is how Monsignor Ronald Knox translates the “N” verse, which speaks of the miracle at Cana:
New evidence of wondrous pow’r
Behold in Cana’s marriage-dow’r;
Swift its own nature to resign,
The water blushes into wine.
Knox Had A Knack For This • Every verse of the ABECEDARIUS by Sedulius (who lived in the 5th century) starts with a successive letter of the alphabet. When Monsignor Knox translated it into English, he did something really wonderful: viz. he started each verse with the same letter as its Latin original. I’ve notated the first few letters, so you can better understand:
More On Alphabets • Since we’re discussing alphabets, I’d like to share this brief film with you. It talks about whether it makes sense to organize hymnals alphabetically:
Continuing With “H” • The Brébeuf Hymnal contains a literal translation of the complete ABECEDARIUS, even the verses that start with “X” and “Z.” Like so many other ancient hymns, it goes through the entire life of our Lord: His dealings with Peter, Lazarus, and the Centurion; His betrayal by Judas; His unjust scourging by Pilate; His crucifixion next to thieves; and even His resurrection. The following is the “H” verses, which are generally associated with the EPIPHANY. For the record, Pope Urban VIII in 1632AD changed the “H” verse to “Crudelis Herodes.” When he did that, the whole structure of the ABECEDARIUS was destroyed. We don’t have time to discuss the Urbanite “correction” of all the ancient hymns—but Father Fortescue summed it up rather nicely:
“In the seventeenth century came the crushing blow which destroyed the beauty of all breviary hymns. […] He appointed four Jesuits to reform the hymns, so that they should no longer offend Renaissance ears. The four Jesuits were Famiano Strada, Tarquinio Galluzzi, Mathias Sarbiewski, Girolamo Petrucci. These four, in that faithful obedience to the Holy See which is the glory of their Society, with a patient care that one cannot help admiring, set to work to destroy every hymn in the office. They had no concept of the fact that many of these hymns were written in metre by accent; their lack of understanding those venerable types of Christian poetry is astounding. They could conceive no ideal but that of a school grammar of Augustan Latin. Wherever a line was not as Horace would have written it, it had to go. The period was hopelessly bad for any poetry; these pious Jesuits were true children of their time. So they embarked on that fatal reform whose effect was the ruin of our hymns. They slashed and tinkered, they re-wrote lines and altered words, they changed the sense and finally produced the poor imitations that we still have, in the place of the hymns our fathers sang for over a thousand years. Indeed their confidence in themselves is amazing. They were not ashamed to lay their hands on Sedulius, on Prudentius, on St. Ambrose himself!”
Below is a ‘live’ recording of my volunteer choir singing this hymn—which was called “Hostis Herodes Impie” until Pope Urban VII changed it to “Crudelis Herodes” in 1632AD—last Sunday, which was the 2nd Sunday after Epiphany:
Too Much! • As I mentioned already, much more could be said about the EPIPHANY. (Originally, the feast of the Epiphany included the Nativity of our Savior.) Generally speaking, the feasts after Christmas commemorate the events of our Lord’s early life. One such event is the “naming” of Jesus. Specifically, in Luke 2:21 we read: And after eight days were accomplished, that the child should be circumcised, his name was called JESUS, which was called by the angel, before he was conceived in the womb. That’s why hymns in honor of the Holy Name are also appropriate—and my choir sang one last Sunday. I’m always amazed to hear the beautiful sounds these volunteer singers create:
Which Hymns Are Appropriate? • We’ve already discussed how the feast of the EPIPHANY is closely tied to the Holy Eucharist and Calvary. On the other hand, there are certain ‘themes’ which—in spite of what certain misguided people claim—are always appropriate at the Holy Mass. For example, each and every Sunday is a “little Easter,” meaning the Resurrection of our Lord is never out of place. Furthermore, every Mass contains the following prayer:
Receive, O holy Trinity, this oblation which we make to Thee, in memory of the Passion, Resurrection, and Ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ, and in honor of Blessed Mary, ever Virgin, blessed John the Baptist, the holy Apostles Peter and Paul, and of all the Saints, that it may avail unto their honor and our salvation, and may they vouchsafe to intercede for us in heaven, whose memory we celebrate on earth.
And every Mass has the following prayer:
Unforgotten, Lord, by us Thy ministers, by these Thy faithful people, how He, Thy Son, Christ our Lord, underwent His most blessed passion; how He rose again from the dead, and ascended into heaven in glory. And still, out of the gifts Thou hast bestowed on us, to Thy surpassing majesty we offer it, a victim most ✚ pure, a victim most ✚ holy, a victim ✚ without spot; bread so ✚ holy, it brings eternal life, healing ✚ draught that shall preserve us evermore.
A Tune Called “St Mark” • By this we can see that all prayers which speak of the Lord’s Passion, Resurrection, and Ascension—or which honor His mother—are always suitable for Mass. Nevertheless, I try my best to choose music reflective of the season. For example, last Sunday (which was the 2nd Sunday after Epiphany) my volunteer choir sang the seasonal Vespers hymn, O Sola Magnarum Urbium, translated into English by the marvelous Father Fitzpatrick. This hymn melody (ST MARK) is one we’d never sung before. I’d be curious to know what readers think of it:
Unfair Criticism • The editors of the Brébeuf Catholic Hymnal have sometimes been criticized for emphasizing our ancient Roman Catholic tradition of hymnody rather than the Protestant tradition. But if folks would take the time to examine our Catholic patrimony, I’m sure they would be converted! (Pardon the pun.) Consider, for example, the following Roman Catholic hymn, as shown in an eleventh-century manuscript with an Anglo-Saxon (“Old English”) gloss:
It’s a beautiful hymn called Ad Cenam Agni Providi. It’s at least 1,700 years old. Hymns like that are “featured” or “emphasized” or “given pride of place” in the Brébeuf Hymnal. Who could argue with that?
1 Only Saint John records this, which is interesting because he was the one who took our blessed mother into his home after the crucifixion. Specifically, I’m talking about the following verses: When Jesus therefore had seen his mother and the disciple standing whom he loved, he saith to his mother: Woman, behold thy son. After that, he saith to the disciple: Behold thy mother. And from that hour, the disciple took her to his own.
