The communion chant for year B for next week tells the story of Christ's miracle of healing the masses who gather before him, as told in St. Luke, 6:17-19.
Now, many people are under the impression that all of Gregorian chant is spooky and ominous, and this just isn't true. Many chants are ebulliently joyful and celebratory.
This one, however, is indeed ominous, for it tells of diseased multitudes gathered, people who then healed in one breath by Our Lord.
See how the monk interprets the story in song.
It is set in the minor mode of II, and it contains an unusual number of expressive neumes that requires some discipline and subtlety. It begins with the description of the sad scene and the mood is reflected in the music. "A multitude with diseases, and they that were troubled with unclean spirits, came unto him."
The chant is long and detailed here.
The mood and range change at the full bar with "quia virtus" and it reaches its highest point. Then we encounter the feeling of exhaling with "exibat" and the effects with "et sanabat omnes."
"For virtue went out from him and healed all."
It is fitting that we sing and hear this as we stand for procession to communion, for it us who stand as that diseased multitude seeking healing from the virtue of grace in the sacrament. We come to him and we are healed.
Indeed, it is the sacraments that will heal a diseased world. And so this song inspires us to reflect on the meaning of the action and the privilege of being in the presence of our Lord.
See the Psalms with this antiphon from this sheet. Our you can have the entire book of communion chants and Psalm in the choir loft.
Monday, February 02, 2009
Then went virtue out from him
Unknown
More recent articles:
The Feast and Sunday of St John ClimacusGregory DiPippo
In the Byzantine liturgy, each of the Sundays of Lent has a special commemoration attached to it. The first Sunday is known as the Sunday of Orthodoxy, because it commemorates the defeat of iconoclasm and the restoration of the orthodox belief in the use of icons; many churches have a procession in which the clergy and faithful carry the icons, as...
The Story of Susanna in the Liturgy of LentGregory DiPippo
In the Roman Rite, the story of Susanna is read as the epistle of Saturday of the third week of Lent, the longest epistle of the entire year. This episode is not in the Hebrew text of Daniel, but in the manuscripts of the Septuagint, it appears as the beginning of the book, probably because in verse 45 Daniel is called a “younger man”, whic...
A New Edition of the Monastic Breviary Available SoonGregory DiPippo
The printing house of the Monastère Saint-Benoît in Brignole, France, Éditions Pax inter Spinas, is pleased to announce the re-publication of the two volumes of the last edition (1963) of the traditional Latin Monastic Breviary.The Breviary contains all that is necessary to pray the complete Monastic Divine Office of Matins, Lauds, Prime, Terce, S...
A Mid-Western Saint from Rome: Guest Article by Mr Sean PilcherGregory DiPippo
Thanks once again to our friend Mr Sean Pilcher, this time for sharing with us this account of the relics of a Saint from the Roman catacombs, which were brought to the cathedral of Dubuque, Iowa, in the 19th century. Mr Pilcher is the director of Sacra: Relics of the Saints (sacrarelics.org), an apostolate that promotes education about relics, and...
Fons et Culmen Sacred Liturgy Summit - July 1–4, Menlo Park, CaliforniaJennifer Donelson-Nowicka
You are cordially invited to the Fons et Culmen Sacred Liturgy Summit, which will be held from July 1-4, in Menlo Park, California!Fons et Culmen Sacred Liturgy Summit gathers together Catholics who love Christ, the Church, and the Church’s sacred liturgical tradition for: - the solemn celebration of the Mass and Vespers; - insightful talks on...
A Lenten Station Mass in the Roman ForumGregory DiPippo
Today’s Mass is one of the series instituted by Pope St Gregory II (715-31) when he abolished the older custom of the Roman Rite, by which the Thursdays of Lent were “aliturgical” days on which no Mass was celebrated. The station appointed for the day is at the basilica of Ss Cosmas and Damian, which was constructed by Pope St Felix IV (526-30) in ...
Do Priests or Religious Need Special Permission to Pray a Pre-55 Breviary?Peter Kwasniewski
On occasion, I receive an email like the following (in this case, from a seminarian): “Do you happen to know of any sources/authoritative references which you could point me to that explain why praying the Pre-55 Breviary definitely satisfies the canonical obligation for clerics or religious? As I am strongly desirous of the Pre-55 Liturgy, I ...
Early Bird Registration Discount for CMAA Colloquium Ends March 31st!Jennifer Donelson-Nowicka
Join us this summer for world-class training in the Church’s treasury of sacred music.Early bird registration discount ($50 for colloquium, $50 for Vocal Intensive course, $150 off for Chant Intensive) ends March 31st!Here’s a special invitation from our new president, Fr. Robert Pasley.The Church Music Association of America is pleased to announc...
The Annunciation 2025: Dante and the Virgin MaryGregory DiPippo
The specific date of birth of the great poet Dante Alighieri (1265-1321) is unknown, but this Thursday, March 27th, is the anniversary of his baptism, which took place during the Easter vigil of 1266. The language which we call “Italian” today originated as the dialect of his native region of Tuscany (more specifically, of the city of Florence, but...
The Messenger AngelMichael P. Foley
Anonymous, the Archangel Gabriel, depicted on the predella of the high altar at the subsidiary church of Pesenbach, Upper Austria, 1495In the traditional Roman calendar, the feast days of saints are sometimes clustered together to form archipelagos of holiness that allow the faithful to meditate longer on a sacred mystery. These archipelagos do not...
