Saturday, August 22, 2009

August 22nd: Feast of the Queenship of Mary

This is the International Pilgrim Virgin Statue of Our Lady of Fatima, created in 1947 and blessed by Pope Pius XII. My good friend Jim Nourse took this picture when the statue visited St. John's Cathedral in Boise in May of 2007.

My little chant group is currently studying Tota Pulchra Est, a beautiful hymn appropriate for today. Here is a chorus of men singing the version we are working on. Unfortunately, the quality of the sound is not good, and the words do not match the text, which is reproduced below in Latin and in English; but it's the only version of this particular melody that I could find.



Latin

Tota Pulchra es, O Maria, tota pulchra es,
Et macula non est in te.
Quam speciosa, quam suavis in deliciis
Conceptio illibata!

Chorus:
Veni, veni de Libano, veni, veni de Libano, veni, veni, coronaberis.

Tu progrederis ut aurora valde rutilans,
Affers gaudia salutis.
Per te ortus est Christus Deus, sol justitiae,
O fulgida porta lucis. Chorus

Sicut lilium inter spinas: inter filias
sic tu Virgo benedicta.
Tuum refulget vestimentum ut nix candidum,
Sicut sol facies tua. Chorus

In te spes vitae et virtutis, omnis gratia
Et viae et veritatis.
Post te curremus in odorem suavissimum
Trahentium unguentorum. Chorus

Hortus conclusus, fons signatus, Dei Genitrix,
Et gratiae paradisus;
Imber abiit et recessit, hiems transiit,
Jam flores apparuerunt. Chorus

In terra nostra, vox audita, vox dulcissima:
Vox turturis, vox columbae.
Assume pennas, O Columba formosissima!
Surge, propera et veni. Chorus

English

All fair art thou, O Mary, all fair art thou,
And stain does not exist in thee.
How lovely, how sweet in its delights,
Thy conception unstained.

Chorus:
Come, come from Lebannon,
Come, come from Lebannon,
Come, come, thou shalt be crowned!

Thou goest forth like the dawn exceedingly rose-colored,
Thou bringest the joys of salvation,
Through thee risen is Christ our God, the sun of Justice,
O gleaming portal of light. (Chorus)

Like a lily amidst brambles; among the daughters
So are thou, O Virgin blest.
Thy shining raiment like snow is white,
Even as the sun is the face of thee. (Chorus)

In thee is hope of life and virtue, all the grace
Both of our way and of the truth.
After thee we shall run unto the fragrance most sweet
Of thy attractive ointments. (Chorus)

A garden enclosed, a fountain sealed, God's Mother:
And of grace a paradise;
The rain is over and gone, winter is past,
Now flowers have appeared. (Chorus)

In this land of ours, a voice is heard, a voice most sweet,
The voice of the turtledove, the voice of the dove,
Take flight, O fairest Dove!
Arise in haste and come! (Chorus)

Herewith another, and very beautiful version of Tota Pulchra Est, composed by Ola Gjeilo.

2 comments:

  1. We celebrated the Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary yesterday. Then we had a retreat after. It was a wonderful way to pay homage to the Blessed Virgin on her feast day!

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  2. This statue of Our Lady of Fatima is not the original. The original, made by the Dominican thomas McGlynn was made under the direction of Sister Lucia, herself. In fact, her finger prints are on the veil of the statue--she was annoyed because Father was letting too much hair show, so she pulled at the clay herself.

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