Ave Verum Corpus (Pearsall)

Choral

Composer:		Robert Lucas de Pearsall
Voicing:		SATB
Words:		14th century attributed to Pope Innocent VI

Version 1

Ave verum corpus natum ex Maria Virgine,
vere passum, immolatum in cruce pro homine,
cujus latus perforatum vero fluxit et sanguine,
esto nobis praegustatum mortis in examine.
O clemens, O pie, O dulcis Jesu, Fili Mariae.

Version 2

Jesu, Word of God Incarnate, of the virgin Mary born,
On the cross thy sacred body for us men with nails was torn
Cleanse us, by thy blood and water Streaming from thy pierced side;
Feed us with thy body broken, Now in death's agony!
O Jesu, hear us Son of Mary

Version 3

Jesu, Lamb of God, Redeemer, born the virgin Mary's Son,
who upon the cross a victim hast man's salvation won.
From whose side, which man had pierced flow'd the water and the blood,
by thy sacred body broken, Be in life and death our food.
O Jesu, be in life and death our food

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Ave verum corpus is a short Eucharistic hymn dating from the 14th century and attributed to Pope Innocent VI (d. 1362), which has been set to music by various composers. During the Middle Ages it was sung at the elevation of the host during the consecration. It was also used frequently during Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament.

The hymn's title means "Hail, true body", and is based on a poem deriving from a 14th-century manuscript from the Abbey of Reichenau, Lake Constance. The poem is a meditation on the Catholic belief in Jesus's Real Presence in the sacrament of the Eucharist, and ties it to Catholic ideas on the redemptive meaning of suffering in the life of all believers.

One text is in Latin, and reads:

Ave verum corpus natum

de Maria Virgine,

vere passum, immolatum

in cruce pro homine,

cuius latus perforatum

unda fluxit et sanguine,

esto nobis praegustatum

in mortis examine.

A translation into English is:

Hail the true body,

Born of the Virgin Mary,

Truly suffered, sacrificed

On the Cross for mankind,

Whose pierced side

Flowed with water and blood,

Let it be for us, in consideration,

A foretaste of death.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Metasyntactic variable".

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