Lauda Sion Salvatorem

Praise, O Sion, praise thy Saviour

The Hymns of the Breviary and Missal

Lauda Sion Salvatorem,
Lauda ducem et pastorem,
In hymnis et canticis.
Quantum potes, tantum aude:
Quia major omni laude,
Nec laudare sufficis.
Laudis thema specialis,
Panis vivus et vitalis
Hodie proponitur.
Quem in sacræ mensa cœnæ,
Turbæ fratrum duodenæ
Datum non ambigitur.
Sit laus plena, sit sonora,
Sit jucunda, sit decora
Mentis jubilatio.
Dies enim solemnis agitur,
In qua mensæ prima recolitur
Hujus institutio.
In hac mensa novi Regis,
Novum Pascha novæ legis,
Phase vetus terminat.
Vetustatem novitas,
Umbram fugat veritas,
Noctem lux eliminat.
Quod in cœna Christus gessit,
Faciendum hoc expressit
In sui memoriam.
Docti sacris institutis,
Panem, vinum in salutis
Consecramus hostiam.
Dogma datur Christianis,
Quod in carnem transit panis,
Et vinum in sanguinem.
Quod non capis, quod non vides,
Animosa firmat fides,
Præter rerum ordinem.
Sub diversis speciebus,
Signis tantum, et non rebus,
Latent res eximiæ.
Caro cibus, sanguis potus:
Manet tamen Christus totus
Sub utraque specie.
A sumente non concisus,
Non confractus, non divisus:
Integer accipitur.
Sumit unus, sumunt mille:
Quantum isti, tantum ille:
Nec sumptus consumitur.
Sumunt boni, sumunt mali:
Sorte tamen inæquali,
Vitæ vel interitus.
Mors est malis, vita bonis:
Vide paris sumptionis
Quam sit dispar exitus.
Fracto demum Sacramento,
Ne vacilles, sed memento
Tantum esse sub fragmento,
Quantum toto tegitur.
Nulla rei fit scissura:
Signi tantum fit fractura,
Qua nec status, nec statura
Signati minuitur.
Ecce Panis angelorum,
Factus cibus viatorum:
Vere panis filiorum,
Non mittendus canibus.
In figuris præsignatur,
Cum Isaac immolatur,
Agnus Paschæ deputatur,
Datur manna patribus.
Bone pastor, panis vere,
Jesu, nostri miserere:
Tu nos pasce, nos tuere,
Tu nos bona fac videre
In terra viventium.
Tui qui cuncta scis et vales,
Qui nos pascis hic mortales:
Tuos ibi commensales,
Cohæredes et sodales
Fac sanctorum civium.

Praise, O Sion, praise thy Saviour,
Shepherd, Prince, with glad behavior,
Praise in hymn and canticle:
Sing His glory without measure,
For the merit of your Treasure
Never shall your praises fill.
Wondrous theme of mortal singing,
Living Bread and Bread life-bringing.
Sing we on this joyful day:
At the Lord’s own table given
To the twelve as Bread from Heaven,
Doubting not we firmly say.
Sing His praise with voice sonorous;
Every heart shall hear the chorus
Swell in melody sublime:
For this day the Shepherd gave us
Flesh and blood to feed and save us,
Lasting to the end of time.
At the new King’s sacred table,
The new Law’s new Pasch is able
To succeed the ancient Rite:
Old to new its place hath given,
Truth has far the shadows driven,
Darkness flees before the Light.
And as He hath done and planned it–
“Do this”–hear His love command it,
“For a memory of me.”
Learned, Lord in Thy own science,
Bread and wine, in sweet compliance,
As a Host we offer Thee.
Thus in faith the Christian heareth:
That Christ’s Flesh as bread appeareth,
And as wine His Precious Blood:
Though we feel it not nor see it,
Living Faith that doth decree it
All defects of sense makes good.
Lo! beneath the species dual
(Signs not things), is hid a jewel
Far beyond creation’s reach!
Though His Flesh as food abideth,
And His Blood as drink–He hideth
Undivided under each.
Whoso eateth It can never
Break the Body, rend or sever;
Christ entire our hearts doth fill:
Thousands eat the Bread of Heaven,
Yet as much to one is given:
Christ, though eaten, bideth still.
God and bad, they come to greet Him:
Unto life the former eat Him,
And the latter unto death;
These find death and those find heaven;
See, from the same life-seed given,
How the harvest differeth!
When at last the Bread is broken,
Doubt not what the Lord hath spoken:
In each part the same love token,
The same Christ, our hearts adore:
For no power the Thing divideth–
‘Tis the symbols He provideth,
While the Saviour still abideth
Undimished as before.
Hail, angelic Bread of Heaven,
Now the pilgrim’s hoping-leaven,
Yea, the Bread to children given
That to dogs must not be thrown:
In the figures contemplated,
‘Twas with Issac immolated,
By the Lamb ‘twas antedated,
In the Manna it was known.
O Good Shepherd, still confessing
Love, in spite of our transgressing,—
Here Thy blessed Food possessing,
Make us share Thine every blessing
In the land of life and love:
Thou, whose power hath all completed
And Thy Flesh as Food hath meted,
Make us, at Thy table seated,
By Thy Saints, as friends be greeted,
In Thy paradise above.

See “Preliminary Observations” above. Meter: Trochaic dimeter, in great part. Translation by Monsignor Henry. There are about twenty translations, two of which are in the Annus Sanctus. Liturgical Use: Sequence for the Feast of Corpus Christi, and throughout the octave.

“Praise, O Sion, thy Saviour, praise thy Leader and thy Shepherd in hymns and canticles. As much as thou canst, so much darest thou, for He is above all praise, nor art thou able to praise Him enough.” Sion: the faithful, the Church, see Glossary. Major: Benedicentes Dominum, exaltate illum quantum potestis: major enim est omni laude (cf. Ecclus. 43, 32-34).
“To-day there is given us a special theme of praise, the Bread both living and life-giving, which, it is not to be doubted, was given to the assembly of the brethren, twelve in number, at the table of the holy Supper.” Quem ... datum esse. For duodenæ see denus in the Glossary.
“Let our praise be full and sounding; let the jubilations of the soul be joyous and becoming; for that solemn day is now being celebrated, on which is commemorated the first institution of this table.” Mensæ, table, the Holy Eucharist.
“At this table of the new King, the new Pasch of the New Law puts an end to the ancient Pasch. The new supplants the old, truth puts to flight the shadow, day banishes night.” Pascha: the Pasch, Passover (cf. Exod. 12-13). Phase: This is another form of Pascha and has the same meaning (cf. Exod. 12, 21; 34, 25; Num. 9, 4). The English word Phase occurs only in the Douay Bible. The expressions “The new supplants the old,” etc., refer to the institution of the New Sacrifice foretold by Malachias (1, 10-11), of which the sacrifices of the Old Law were but shadows, types, and figures.
“What Christ did at that Supper, the same He commanded to be done in remembrance of Him. Taught by His sacred precepts, we consecrate bread and wine into the Victim of salvation.”
“This is the dogma given to Christians, that bread is changed into Flesh and wine into Blood. What thou dost not understand, what thou dost not see, a lively faith confirms in a supernatural manner.” Præter rerum ordinem: In an extraordinary manner, transcending the evidence of the senses and of the intellect.
“Under different species (different) in externals (signis) only, and not in reality (rebus), wondrous substances lie hidden. Flesh is food, Blood is drink: nevertheless Christ remains entire under each species.” The species of bread and wine differ in their external appearances, in taste, color, form, etc., but under each species there is one and the same divine substance, “Christus totus.”
“By the recipient the whole (Christ) is received; He is neither cut, broken, nor divided. One receives Him; a thousand receive Him: as much as the thousand receive, so much does the one receive; though eaten He is not diminished.”
“The good receive Him, the bad receive Him, but with what unequal consequences of life or death. It is death to the unworthy, life to the worthy: behold then of a like reception, how unlike may be the result!”
“When the Sacrament is broken, doubt not, but remember, that there is just as much hidden in a fragment, as there is in the whole. There is no division of the substance, only a breaking of the species takes place, by which neither the state nor stature of the substance signified is diminished.”
“Lo, the Bread of Angels is made the food of earthly pilgrims: truly it is the Bread of children, let it not be cast to dogs. It was prefigured in types,—when Isaac was immolated, when the Paschal Lamb was sacrificed, when Mann was given to the fathers.” Filiorum ... canibus: The children are the worthy; the dogs are the unworthy. Non est bonum sumere panem filiorum et mittere canibus (Matt. 15, 26). These words were addressed by Our Lord to the Chanaanite woman; the children alluded to by Christ are the Jews, the seed of Abraham; the dogs are the Gentiles who were so designated on account of their idolatry and other sinful practices.
“O Good Shepherd, True Bread, O Jesus, have mercy on us: feed us and protect us: make us see good things in the land of the living. Thou who knowest all things and canst do all things, who here feedest us mortals, make us there be Thy guests, the co-heirs, and companions of the heavenly citizens.” Terra viventium: Credo videre bona Domini in terra viventium (Ps. 26, 13).