Posted on 12/09/2016 8:07:41 AM PST by Salvation
For my money, the best Advent hymn ever is Veni Redemptor Gentium (Come Redeemer of the Nations), written by St. Ambrose in the 4th century. It is more widely known by the title “Come Thou Redeemer of the Earth.” Sadly, it is not often sung in Catholic parishes today. Most Catholics I’ve asked have never even heard of it.
One of the beautiful things about the ancient Latin hymns is how richly theological they are. Not content to merely describe an event, they give sweeping theological vision and delve into its more hidden mysteries.
Here we are in Advent and Jesus is coming. Get ready! Well, yes, but He’s not just coming; He’s redeeming, dying, rising, ascending, and reigning at the Father’s right hand! But how can you squeeze all of that into an Advent hymn? Well, just below you can read the text and see.
Full vision – For now, ponder the theological point that hymns like this make: no act of God can be reduced merely to the act in itself. Everything God does is part of His sweeping master plan to restore all things in Christ, to take back what the devil stole from us. Too often we see the events of our redemption in a disconnected sort of way. But it is all really one thing and the best theology connects the dots. It is not wrong for us to focus on one thing or another, but we must not forget that it is all one thing in the end.
Without this reminder, we can easily develop a kind of myopia that overemphasizes one aspect of redemption at the expense of others. In the 1970s and 1980s it was “all resurrection all the time,” but no passion or death.
Christmas, too, has its hazards. We get rather sentimental about the “baby Jesus” but miss other important aspects of his incarnation. The passion and death are present in His birth into homeless poverty, the swaddling clothes, the flight into Egypt, and so forth. The Eucharist is evident in His birth at Bethlehem (House of Bread) and His being laid in a manger (a feed box for animals). His glory as God and His ultimate triumph are manifested in the star overhead and the angels’ declaration of glory! You see, it is all tied together, and the best theology connects the dots.
With that in mind, I present this wonderful Advent hymn, so seldom sung in our Catholic parishes. It can be sung to any Long Meter (LM) tune but is usually sung to its own melody (“Puer Natus”). You can find this melody in the index of most hymnals. I provide below only the English translation, but both the Latin and the English are available in this document: Veni Redemptor Gentium. I think the poetic translation reprinted below is a minor masterpiece of English literature and hope that you’ll agree. Enjoy this sweeping theological vision of the mystery of Advent caught up into the grand and fuller vision of redemption.
Among the theological truths treated in this brief hymn are these: His title as Redeemer, His birth to a virgin, His inclusion of the Gentiles, His sinlessness, His two natures in one person, His incarnation at conception, His passion, His death, His descent into Hell, His ascension, His seat at the Father’s right hand, His divinity and equality with the Father, His healing and sanctification of our humanity so wounded by sin, His granting us freedom and eternal life, His renewing of our minds through the light of faith, and His opening of Heaven to us.
Not bad for a mere seven verses! St. Ambrose, pray for us!
Come, thou Redeemer of the earth,
Come manifest thy virgin birth:
All lands admire, all times applaud:
Such is the birth that fits our God.
Forth from his chamber goeth he,
That royal home of purity,
A giant in twofold substance one,
Rejoicing now his course to run.
The Virgin’s womb that glory gained,
Its virgin honor is still unstained.
The banners there of virtue glow;
God in his temple dwells below.
From God the Father he proceeds,
To God the Father back he speeds;
Runs out his course to death and hell,
Returns on God’s high throne to dwell.
O Equal to thy Father, thou!
Gird on thy fleshly mantle now;
The weakness of our mortal state
With deathless might invigorate.
Thy cradle here shall glitter bright,
And darkness breathe a newer light,
Where endless faith shall shine serene,
And twilight never intervene.
All laud, eternal Son, to thee
Whose advent sets thy people free,
Whom with the Father we adore,
And Holy Ghost, for evermore.
This video below gives you an idea of what the tune for Veni Redemptor Gentium sounds like. The words in this version are slightly different from what is shown above, but the tune is perfect. Just try not to dance as it is sung!
Monsignor Pope Ping!
A blessing to see the generations in praise to the LORD.
It was Ambrose who provided a musical compromise, after Constantine made Christianity the state religion. Some Christians wanted to ban music completely, because music during the Roman Empire was associated with the arena, the (anti-Christian) theater, and with parties/orgies, so those who wanted it banned thought it would be irredeemable. (Sounds like today’s situation, but I digress.) Other Christians wanted music to be part of the church experience, because of all the references to praising God in music throughout the Bible. Ambrose’s compromise was to allow sung music, but ban musical instruments, so that there would be music, but it would not sound like secular music. As a result, instruments were rare to nonexistent in Europe (except for Muslim Spain) for over five centuries, and all church music was a cappella until at least the 1100s, when Leonin began the Ars Antigua movement with 2 or 3 simultaneous voice lines. Here endeth the music history lesson :-)
One more thing: singing Ambrose alongside, say, Mark Lowry (”Mary did you know?”) in a Christmas Eve service is what Jesus described as being like a man bringing out of his storehouse treasures both new and old (Matt. 13:52).
From many a choral Advent past....
Thanks for posting.
Great post. I wonder where one may be able to purchase these CDs from?
I do love that song, Mary did you know. I love Gregorian chant music as well. The band Enigma from the 90’s, played lot of Gregorian chant music.
+1
Thank you very much for that information. I learned something.
That is beautiful and I’ve never heard it, much less sung it. Thanks for posting.
Interesting. Thanks. I suppose that is where some of today’s sects get the idea that instruments should be banned.
Another Advent beauty: “O Come, O Come Emanuel...” (15th century)
The “o Antiphons” start on December 17th and end at Christmas with “O Come, O Come Emmanuel....”
http://www.lutheran-hymnal.com/folk/c97-095.mid
The tune was used by various Baroque composers including Johann Pachelebel and J.S. Bach.
For my money, the best advent hymn ever prsented to mankind is the one sang by the Redeemer at His Birth, given in Hebrews 10:5-10 and 16-18.
Babies coo, do they sing too?
The Scripture:
διο εισερχομενος εις τον κοσμον λεγει θυσιαν και προσφοραν ουκ ηθελησας σωμα δε κατηρτισω μοι (Hebrews 10:5 TR).
Translated:
Wherefore as He is entering into the world system, He says, "Thou didst not determinedly require a slain sacrifice or an oblation-gift, but (rather) you fashioned a body (of flesh) for me."
This may be taken quite literally, given the grammar context.
This bespeaks of Him leaving the protective womb of His mother to become a separate person in the world, but not of it. Obviously, this carol was sung to The Father, of Whom He was The Only Begotten-in-the-flesh Son, a Unique-for-all-time Person at a never-to-be-repeated Occasion.
But thanks for your question.
Could it be that Phil 2:6-11 which is read on Palm Sunday and since Paul’s letter were older than than the NT letter to the Hebrews “ corrected “ that passage from Hebrews?
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