O adiutor omnium seculorum

The YouTube page says that this is "medieval chant from Codex Calixtinus," and offers also the following information:

Title: "Graduale" (codex calixtinus f. 110v, 217-217v)
Service: Missa Sancti Iacobi
Performers: Grupo de Musica Alfonso X el Sabio, Director: Luis Lozano Virumbrales

If, though, the folio number there is right, this comes from Matins and not the Mass; I've also seen it listed elsewhere as a "Responsory."    It's from Book I, the "Book of Liturgies."  To me, the interesting part here is the section that begins "Portum in ultimo";  it seems to play the part of a doxology, but sort of acts like trope material too.    I'm not sure where it comes from, since it's not included in other recordings of this material - but it is a beautiful text.  The content itself seems a bit over-the-top even for the celebration of an Apostle's feast day; perhaps the fact that this was a pilgrimage/festival (St. James was celebrated, apparently, twice a year:  July 25 and December 30) explains that.

O adiutor omnium seculorum.
O decus apostolorum.
O lux Clara Gallecianorum.
O advocate peregrinorum.
Iacobe, supplantator viciorum.
Solve nostrorum catenas delictorum,
et duc nos ad salutis portum.

Qui subvenis periclitantibus ad te clamantibus
tam in mare quam in terra.
Sccurre nobis nunc et in periculo mortis.
Et duc nos ad salutis portum.

Portum in ultimo
Da nobis iudicio.

Ita ut cum Deo
Carenti principio.

Et cum eius Nato
Qui est sine termino

Et cum Paraclito
Ab utroque edito

Expulsi a tetro
Tartareo puteo

Angelorum choro
Coniuncti sanctissimo

Purgati vico,
Potiti gaudio,
Cum vite premio,

Te duce patrano,
Intremus cum pio
Paradici voto Ortum.



Oh helper throughout the ages.
Oh glory of the apostles.
Oh shining light to those who dwell in Galicia.
Oh you who aid the pilgrims.
James, remover of hardships,
take off the chains of our sins and lead us to safe harbors.

You who come to the aid of those who call to you in their perils
both at sea and on land,
help us now and when we face the danger of death.
And lead us to the door of salvation.

Grant us a safe harbor
On the day of Judgement

So that with God
Who had no beginning

And with his son
Who is without end

And with the Paraclete
Issuance of both

Saved from the black
Cavern of Hell

And admitted into the
holy choir of angels

Purged of all sin,
Filled with joy
With the reward of life

And, with you as our leader and protector
We may enter with pious sing
Into the garden of Paradise.

You may be interested in reading this online Pilgrim's Guide.  It's apparently a complete English translation of Book V of the Codex Calixtinus; the Latin is taken, says the translator, in great part from the 1882 Le codex de saint-Jacques-de-Compostelle.

The Book opens this way:

Quatuor viae sunt quae ad sanctum Jacobum tendentes, in unum, ad Pontem Regine , in oris Hispanise coadunantur.

(Four roads meet at Puente la Reina in Spain and become one route to Santiago.)

Here's a shorter version of the same chant, which does not include the doxological material above - but does include its own fantastic doxology!



Here are the notes from that YouTube page:

"A certain priest, who was saved by St. James
from shipwreck as he was returning from Jerusalem,
wrote this song, which is in the fist mode."


Help of the ages, Glory of the apostles,
Light of the Galicians,
Protector of pilgrims, Oh St James,
who removes our sins:

Break the chains of our vice and lead us to the port
of salvation.

You who sustain those in peril, those who cry out to you on land and on sea,
Help us now and at the hour of death.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

Performers: Coro de Monjes del Monasterio de Santo Domingo de Silos

Recorded live at the church of the Monastery of Santo Domingo de Silos (1969)

The cost of human shortcomings - and the basic evangelical mission

From "Wonderfully Created, Wonderfully Restored," originally a quote from Sarah Ruden (a Quaker, apparently): at ‘Instead, Joy’.  My bold.

The problem Judaeo-Christianity is supposed to address is human shortcomings, the cost of which becomes more horrifying by the decade. But how can a privileged, self-satisfied American (say, a Yale professional student—or, um, me, writing books for publishers in Manhattan, New Haven, and Boston), without special intervention, grasp the life-giving idea of sin, in a modern culture designed to hide even basic cause and effect? Isn’t the task, then, to shock that person out of his complacency, not with stories of hell (which he’ll sneer at as mere stories), but just by inducing him to look around and persuading him that he, like everyone else, is a sinner, but could bear to acknowledge it because he also has hope? That’s the basic evangelical mission.

This realization is, to me anyway, a source of great joy: I think our new Great Awakening will be from a deep and deadening sleep. Technology makes previously laborious, choice-heavy acts quick and easy and concentrates our minds simply on doing more of them. Highly automated, super-convoluted marketplaces hide what goods and services cost, in every sense of that word. The media’s presentation of things going wrong normally stimulates no responses but Schadenfreude and the impression that experts are fixing whatever fragmentary, temporary difficulties—and these must comprise all difficulties, right?—they notice between commercials. Politicians and pundits fast-talk past how our functionaries actually do things like “securing our borders”—and past every other big question. And work is so complex and rushed and competitive that a pompous busy-ness fights against any curiosity about the generality of current sin, which is that other people’s distant, disregarded agony gives us huge benefits, so that we can effortlessly do evil and yet feel good.

To my mind, the fundamentally alarming thing isn’t that someone trained to face the suggestion of his own and his society’s sinfulness with disbelief or indignation doesn’t understand or accept a metaphysical principle. It’s that he doesn’t even have a grip on physical reality.

That's a wonderful phrase: "grasping the life-giving idea of sin."   And the fact that "other people’s distant, disregarded agony gives us huge benefits, so that we can effortlessly do evil and yet feel good" hits especially close to American home, I'd say.

"The New Jerusalem"

I mentioned one of Derek's old articles in a previous post; reading it again, I realized I wanted to  post it here, too.  (And, as mentioned in that post, the Revelation passage that introduces the ones cited hare is the New Testament Daily Office reading for today, Independence Day in the United States.)

It's a beautiful piece - so here it is, in full.  (This way, I'll always know where to find it, and will always have it - at least, until Google discontinues Blogger.)  I added the image.

The New Jerusalem

It’s the Easter season and we bask in the newly recaptured glow of the resurrection. Our services reflect the glow with mystical musings from the Gospel of John, dramatic stories of the earliest church from the Acts of the Apostles and—the Book of Revelation.

Wait a minute, how’d that get in there?!

Quite naturally, actually… Remember that we didn’t always have books with the really thin paper in today’s Bibles. Furthermore, getting a big stack of paper in the ancient world wasn’t quite as easy as it is today. Costs were literally calculated in the cows or sheep whose skins provided the pages. One complete Bible would require an entire flock! To keep the page counts and costs down, the biblical books were split up over a number of volumes: the four gospels were bound together, as were the epistles of Paul, and—according to some of the most common reckonings—Acts and Revelation were bound in a volume. In the monastic Night Office lectionary dating back to the eight century, Acts and Revelation were read together during the Easter season. The great lectionary revisions following Vatican II that resulted in the Revised Common Lectionary honored this ancient tradition by selecting the first reading during Easter from Acts and the second from Revelation.

And that couldn’t make me happier; Revelation is one of my favorite books. Yes, it can be strange and difficult; yes, it has provided fodder for some of the worst impulses of religion and yet—I find its poetry and cadences compelling. One image from the book that I find myself returning to again and again this Easter shines from its closing pages: Revelation 21:9–22:5, the vision of the New Jerusalem.

I love the detail and the dazzling description, the whirl of odd images joined together. I love that—but what draws me back is the glitter of light through stone. It’s the image of the city, the New Jerusalem, built of gemstones one to another, cleaving in a clash of light, colored and reflected as it plays through crystal. Truly, St. John has given us an image of rare beauty—but to what end?

Scholars of Classical Greek tend to turn up their noses at the prose of the New Testament—it’s a low-brow dialect, removed from the diction and rhythm of Golden Age Athens—but when they come to the Greek of Revelation, they throw up their hands in horror. The Greek of John’s Gospel, simple as the vocabulary might be, at least conforms to the basic rules of grammar and can contribute an interesting turn of phrase—but this? This is down right barbaric… It reads like a rude translation by someone for whom Greek was a second language. It reads like a work written by someone not steeped in the proper exempla of fine Greek prose. Or, perhaps, it reads like a work written by someone steeped in a rude translation…and so it is. For the language of Revelation, the terms, the turns of phrase, the images are not new—just newly recombinated. The language echoes, nay, inhabits the tongue of the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament, produced in the last few centuries before Christ, the translation that was the first Bible of the early church. This is not Classical Greek, nor is it trying to be; rather it is Bible Language, a dialect we recognize deep in our bones when a preacher suddenly lapses from words of cell phones and cell structures to thees, thous, forthwiths, and forsooths. The language of the book is our chief lead. Its meaning is indistinguishable, inextricable from, incomprehensible without the Old Testament.

The chief artform of jewel and light is the mosaic, where thousands of tiny bits of glass and gold and jewel called tesserae combine to form glittering vistas, haunting visages of emperors, kings, clergy, or Christ. This bejeweled city is nothing less than a myriad of scintillating fragments of Old Testament prophecy and praise forming a portrait writ in three dimensions of one indistinguishable, inextricable from and incomprehensible without the breath of the Spirit speaking through the prophets. The tesserae glisten and play: the liturgical garment of the Aaronic high priest, the city of hope for an exile people, the vision of a temple rising from desolation, the garden of God, the peerless bride of the great king, even the slain beloved of the Lord. And together they form an image where these fragments are bound and transformed, set one with another until their individual hues blend and blind and form a new image wrought of the old. It is truly a paradise, truly a city, truly a temple, truly a people. Composed of a myriad jewels, the city rests upon its twelve great foundations: jasper and emerald, diamond and chysolite, topaz and amethyst and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

Lean close and I will tell you a mystery. This is the mystery of the gleaming city, the New Jerusalem. The twelve great foundation stones, they do not represent the apostles. They do not stand for the apostles. Rather, they are the apostles. And the soaring pinnacles of rubies, the windows of agates, the pavers of gold, who are these, you ask, who are these—but you and me? Lain with fair colors, living stones, builded one with another, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. The company of all the faithful people—do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you? For God's temple is holy, and you—all of you—are that temple.

At the center of the city, at the heart of the New Jerusalem, lies the Bridegroom’s bower, the throne of God and of the Lamb and the city has no need of light for the glory of God is its light and its lamp is the Lamb. The light shines forth in the darkness and the darkness cannot overcome it. And our calling, our spiritual worship, is nothing less than to reflect and to refract. Our role is to allow the light to splash and play, to illumine and be illumined, to catch fire and be cast by our facets into the darkness. The light of the resurrected Lord blazes in and through us. We—we—are to spread that light into a dark world as it filters and shines and is hued by who and what we are and what we do. We are the people; we are the city. We are the beacons to spread the light of the dayspring who has visited us to shine upon them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death and to guide our feet into the way of peace.

If you conquer, I will make you a pillar in the temple of my God; you will never go out of it. I will write on you the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem that comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name. (Rev 3:12). Amen; Come, Lord Jesus.

Derek Olsen is completing a Ph.D. in New Testament (with a healthy side of Homiletics) at Emory University. He keeps the blog Haligweorc.

"And I saw a New Heaven"

Edward Bainton's composition is sung here by the choir of King's College Cambridge.  This passage from Revelation is one of the Daily Office readings for today, Independence Day in the United States.

And I saw a new Heaven and a new earth
For the first heaven and the first earth were passed away
and there was no more sea, And I John saw the holy city,
Jerusalem coming down from God out of heaven,
prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
And I heard a great? voice out of heaven, saying,
Behold the tabernacle of God is with men
and he will dwell with them and they shall be his people,
and God himself shall be with them and be their God
And God shall wipe away all tears? from their eyes
And there shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying
neither shall there be any more pain for the former things are passed away.

"2013 July 3: Another brutal murder of a lesbian"

At inkanyiso.org:

As the LGBTI community in South Africa on the 1^st July 2013, we were woken up by news of the brutal murder of one of our own; Duduzile Zozo, a 26 year old lesbian from Thokoza, East of Johannesburg.

Daily Sun, a local tabloid newspaper reported that, “The 26-year-old’s half-naked body was found in her kasi in Thokoza, Ekurhuleni yesterday morning (30 June 2013).”

The newspaper further stated that, “a toilet brush was rammed into the deceased vagina.”

Captain Godfrey Maditsi who was also interviewed by the paper, confirmed the news and told daily sun that “A murder case has been opened and we ask the community to come forward with any information that could help put those responsible behind bars.”


However, Maditsi said that, “the cops couldn’t confirm whether Duduzile Zozo was raped or not. They could only confirm that a toilet brush was rammed into her vagina as they found it still inside.”

Her mother, Thuziwe Zozo, told the paper that she suspected that her daughter was killed because of her sexuality: “She was a lesbian but never had any problems before. People loved and appreciated her.”

The case of Duduzile Zozo, like many other lesbian cases caught the attention of the media, as most of local and international media ran with the story.

Since reports of the gruesome murder made headlines locally and internationally, we have since seen political parties and other civil society organisations releasing statements condemning the brutal murder of the young lesbian.

COSATU’s Patrick Craven said in a statement, “COSATU is outraged at the continuing high level of violence against women and girls, and demands that no effort be spared to arrest whoever was responsible for this despicable murder, and that the courts impose an exemplary sentence.”

The Democratic Alliance Shadow Deputy Minister of Women, Youth, Children and People with Disabilities (DWYCPD), Helen Lamoela also released a statement expressing The DA’s is shock and sadness by reports of the brutal rape and murder of Duduzile Zozo.

DA stated that, “Government is not doing nearly enough to eradicate the scourge of violence against women and children in South Africa.”

The DA went further on to criticize the progress of the National Council Against Gender-Based Violence based within the DWYCPD formed over six months ago and the silence of the LGBTI National Task Team which was formed two years ago by the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development.

Helen Lamoela said, “DA will submit parliamentary questions to the Department of Justice to query the progress of this task team. We will also request that the National Council Against Gender-Based Violence be summoned to Parliament to present progress made on its plans and programmes to curb violence against women and children in South Africa.”

The murder of Duduzile happens just a week after Amnesty International released a report called ‘Making Love a Crime: Criminalisation of Same-sex conduct in Sub Saharan Africa’.

The report highlighting violence, homophobia and laws targeting LGBTI people in Sub Saharan Africa, with particular focus on Kenya, Uganda, Cameroon and South Africa.

Amnesty International reported on the plight of black lesbians in South Africa.

The report stated that, “Taunts, insults and threats are a constant reality and are in fact so common that many LGBTI people do not even recognize them as a form of violence. Sexual assault and other physical attacks against LGBTI people are also all too common. Lesbians, and LGBTI people who do not conform to culturally approved models of femininity and masculinity live in fear of being assaulted, raped and murdered by men”.

Amnesty International over the past few months have partnered with Ekhuruleni Pride Organising Committee (EPOC) an LGBTI organization based in Ekhuruleni, a township which now known to the lesbian community as a hot spot for lesbian rape and murder.

Both organisations have been working together in making sure that the case of Noxolo Nogwaza, a 24 year old lesbian activist who was brutally murdered in Kwa-Thema two years ago, is investigated and perpetrators brought to book.

According to Bontle Khalo of EPOC, “Amnesty International has been campaigning to ensure that Noxolo’s murder is investigated thoroughly and effectively, so that those found to be responsible may be brought to justice.”

Furthermore, Amnesty International has been running a campaign locally and internationally calling for Justice for Noxolo. These campaigns have been running since May 2012, and they have targeted local and provincial police authorities, as well as the Gauteng Premier.

In recent developments of the campaign, Amnesty International has been lobbying for legislation to combat hate crime, legislations that would compel the police to compile statistics of lesbian and gay murders and rapes.

“Hate-crime laws would improve the policing and judicial response to such crimes and help develop effective mechanisms to monitor such crimes”, stated the report.

The case of Noxolo Magwaza that Amnesty International is working on is one of many murder cases that have been under-investigated in Ekhuruleni.

There’s the case of Girly Nkosi who was murdered in 2009, Nokuthula Radebe murdered in 2011, and Patricia Mashigo murdered 2013 and many others which were not reported or are unknown to me.

The aforementioned cases, represent only those murdered in Ekhuruleni alone, South Africa has many more neglected cases of LGBTI people who were murdered for being homosexuals.

The fraction of statistic mentioned shows how little the police authorities are working on making sure that the cases are diligently investigated and perpetrators arrested.

It took the South African Justice System six years and 30 court appearances, for 19 year old Zoliswa Nkonyana’s 2006 murder case to be concluded and her killers sentenced.

The brutal killing of vulnerable LGBTI individuals is extreme, merely releasing a statement condemning the act is not enough; the LGBTI community needs actions, Interventions, and legislations to be put in place in order to combat these barbaric acts.

There is an urgent need for educational programmes and awareness campaigns to address the attitudes and biases that lead to these hateful crimes.

South African townships are no longer safe for lesbians, every day a black lesbian wonders if they are NEXT?.

O Sacrum Convivium VI: Tomás Luis de Victoria

O sacrum convivium is the Antiphon upon Magnificat at Second Vespers of Corpus Christi; it's a beautiful, mystical hymn in praise of the Blessed Sacrament.  St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) wrote the text, which has been set by many composers.  The Gregorian melody is particularly lovely; listen to it in the 2nd video below.

Here's a wonderful O Sacrum Convivium for 6 voices, by Tomás Luis de Victoria:

 

O sacrum convivium!
in quo Christus sumitur:
recolitur memoria passionis ejus:
mens impletur gratia:
et futurae gloriae nobis pignus datur.
Alleluia.

O sacred banquet!
in which Christ is received,
the memory of his Passion is renewed,
the mind is filled with grace,
and a pledge of future glory to us is given.
Alleluia.

Here, the Belgian chant group Psallentes sings the splendid Gregorian antiphon - no less beautiful than any polyphonic setting!  They include this note: "The antiphon O sacrum convivium, from a sixteenth century Turnhout processionale (Flanders, ca. 1550)."




HT Luis Henriques.