O Salutaris Hostia is one of the Eucharistic hymns composed by St. Thomas Aquinas. Another well known of his Eucharistic hymns is the Pange Lingua (which contains the Tantum Ergo).
O Salutaris Hostia is one of my favorite chants. There are many musical settings of it in addition to the Gregorian chant. I recently learned an interesting fact about the hymn from a student here named Nathan who is majoring in Latin and Greek. He says the phrase da robur literally means "give me an oak" or "give me an oak tree." It's a Latin idiom which means "give me strength."
O salutaris Hostia,
Quae caeli pandis ostium:
Bella premunt hostilia,
Da robur, fer auxilium.
Uni trinoque Domino
Sit sempiterna gloria,
Qui vitam sine termino
Nobis donet in patria.
Here's a literal translation, which differs a bit from the verse translation one often sees.
O saving Victim
who openeth the gates of heaven
hostile wars press
give strength, bear aid.
To the one and threefold Lord
may there be everlasting glory
who life without end
may (he) grant to us in the Fatherland.
Here's a setting I really like, though the video quality is lacking, from a Solemn Mass in Notre Dame in Paris.
They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. Going their way they went and wept: scattering their seed. But returning, they shall come with joyfulness: bringing their sheaves with them.
1 comment:
What an interesting post. I too enjoy this chant, though I am still learning it here in Nashville.
I love the interesting fact about "da robur". I had no idea what that or any of the chant meant, for that matter, but I love the expression.
Here at Vanderbilt there is a class being offered called College Catholicism and our instructor used an oak, in the act of an acorn, to describe act and potential. I was really taken with the example as he compared our potential as humans to that of an acorn, ours being, naturally much much more. The image is even cooler now that I know it's part of O Salutaris Hostia. Thanks for sharing.
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