"PANGE LINGUA, GLORIOSI." - Hymn of Vespers for the feast of Corpus Christi, composed by

(per cortesia di mon. d. P. Frutas)

PAMPHILUS, CEMETERY OF - Cinghiale infisso in un loculo come segno di riconoscimento - Roma, cimitero di Panfilo.

s. Tommaso d'Aquino. Il metro è quello usato da Venanzio Fortunato nel P. L. della Passione.

This first Eucharistic hymn invites us to celebrate the great mystery of the glorious Body and the precious Blood of Christ shed for the redemption of the world. In the contemplation of this mystery of love, one has before one's eyes the scene of the Last Supper in which Jesus institutes the Eucharist, hiding himself under the species of bread and wine in order to remain among us as a pledge of love: hidden from the eyes of the body, but visible to those of faith. The hymn closes with an invitation to adore the mystery and with a doxology that is the echo of the eternal canticle to the glory of God. In this, as in the other hymns of the Office, St. Thomas knows how to unite wonderfully the profound lucidity of dogma with a marvelous melodiousness. The Tantum ergo and the final stanza are sung at the exposition of the Most Blessed Sacrament, and the entire hymn in Eucharistic processions.

Bibliography6 works

BIBL.: H. Daniel, Thesaurus hymnologicus, I, Lipsia 1841, p. 252 sgg.; W. Faber, Le St Sacrement, Parigi 1857, p. 2 sgg.; S. G. Pimont, Les hymnes du Bréviaire romain, II, ivi 1884, pp. 164-76; R. Louis, St Thomas liturgiste, in Revue des jeunes, 2 (1920), p. 192 sgg.; V. Angiletti, L'Eucaristia nella poesia, Milano 1939; Eucharistia, Encyclopédie populaire sur l'Eucharistie, Parigi 1947, pp. 310-20.

Silverio Mattei

"PANGE LINGUA GLORIOSI... LAUREAM." - Hymn of Matins for the season of Passion and on the feasts of the Cross, written by Venantius Fortunatus.

The hymn, one of the most beautiful in the Breviary for the solemnity of its triumphant song and for its harmonious rhythmic movement, exalts the victory of the Cross, the wood of life, against the wood of death, that is, the tree of the temptation of Adam and Eve in Eden. The struggle between Christ and Satan, begun in the earthly Paradise, was fought during Jesus' earthly life and concluded with the solemn triumph on Calvary, where the Cross ceased to be the disgrace of the condemned in order to rise to become the sign of Redemption.

Bibliography4 works

BIBL.: G. G. Belli, Gli inni del Breviario tradotti, Roma 1856, p. 146; S. G. Pimont, Les hymnes du Bréviaire romain, III, Parigi 1884, pp. 47-76; C. Albin, La poésie du Bréviaire, Lione s. a., pp. 161-65; A. Mirra, Gli inni del Breviario romano, Napoli 1947, p. 109-11.

Silverio Mattei

@incollection{ec9_pange_lingua_gloriosi, author = {Mattei, Silverio}, title = {Pange Lingua, gloriosi}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {IX}, pages = {678--679}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1952}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/pange-lingua-gloriosi} }

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Pange Lingua, Glorious

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