PANGE LINGUA

My favorite Eucharistic Hymn is Pange Linqua (Sing My Tongue). It has a lot of meaning for me. 1st of all, it reminds me of when I made my 1st Holy Comunion when I was in 1st grade. Back then, at my hometown parish, those of us attending the Catholic School made our 1st Holy Communion at the Mass on Holy Thursday. (Everyone was given a Rosary that night. I still have mine & want to be buried with it.) That was the 1st time I saw the procession moving the Eucharist to the Altar of Reposition. The hymn used was Pange Lingua.

The last 2 verses also bring back memories of 1 of my favorite Lenten devotions. On Sunday afternoons my parish had The Way of the Cross using a version put out by Liturgical Press. (& yes, I do have a copy of that version I still use. It has since been updated with a more modern English, but my copy is the original language. The newer is dull & flat.) At the end was Eucharistic Exposition & Benediction. & the last 2 verses (aka Tantum Ergo) were sung as a part of it.

Besides all the memories the tune (chant) & the lyrics are both deeply moving in their beauty as well as their devotion to the reality of the Sacrament. The song was composed circa 1264 by St. Thomas Aquinas for the new Corpus Christi liturgy. In it he captures the heart of the Catholic belief about the Eucharist. The term used for the belief is transubstantiation. Basically, it boils down to the fact that the Catholic Church takes seriously & literally what Jesus said about eating His Body & drinking His Blood. When Jesus said "This is My Body!" & "This is My Blood!" at the Last Supper, the bread & wine literally became the Body & Blood of Christ. (Only the outward accidentals, ie color, taste etc, remain the same. The substance has changed & does at every Mass.)

In 2 days the Church will again celebrate God's ultimate sign of His Love & Mercy, the institution of the Eucharist. A good way to prepare to celebrate that gift that is "the source and summit of the Christian life" would be to read the section of the Catechism on THE SACRAMENT OF THE EUCHARIST.

Here are the lyrics for you to meditate on as a part of the preperation for Thursday night. I'm not sure who the Cardinal is that is in the video.

PANGE LINGUA

Pange, lingua, gloriosi
Corporis mysterium,
Sanguinisque pretiosi,
quem in mundi pretium
fructus ventris generosi
Rex effudit Gentium.

Nobis datus, nobis natus
ex intacta Virgine,
et in mundo conversatus,
sparso verbi semine,
sui moras incolatus
miro clausit ordine.

In supremae nocte coenae
recumbens cum fratribus
observata lege plene
cibis in legalibus,
cibum turbae duodenae
se dat suis manibus.

Verbum caro, panem verum
verbo carnem efficit:
fitque sanguis Christi merum,
et si sensus deficit,
ad firmandum cor sincerum
sola fides sufficit.

Tantum ergo Sacramentum
veneremur cernui:
et antiquum documentum
novo cedat ritui:
praestet fides supplementum
sensuum defectui.

Genitori, Genitoque
laus et jubilatio,
salus, honor, virtus quoque
sit et benedictio:
procedenti ab utroque
compar sit laudatio.
Amen.



English Translation

Sing, my tongue, the Savior's glory,
of His flesh the mystery sing;
of the Blood, all price exceeding,
shed by our immortal King,
destined, for the world's redemption,
from a noble womb to spring.

Of a pure and spotless Virgin
born for us on earth below,
He, as Man, with man conversing,
stayed, the seeds of truth to sow;
then He closed in solemn order
wondrously His life of woe.

On the night of that Last Supper,
seated with His chosen band,
He the Pascal victim eating,
first fulfills the Law's command;
then as Food to His Apostles
gives Himself with His own hand.

Word-made-Flesh, the bread of nature
by His word to Flesh He turns;
wine into His Blood He changes;
what though sense no change discerns?
Only be the heart in earnest,
faith her lesson quickly learns.

Down in adoration falling,
Lo! the sacred Host we hail;
Lo! o'er ancient forms departing,
newer rites of grace prevail;
faith for all defects supplying,
where the feeble senses fail.

To the everlasting Father,
and the Son who reigns on high,
with the Holy Ghost proceeding
forth from Each eternally,
be salvation, honor, blessing,
might and endless majesty.
Amen.