A Sequence for the Holy Cross
One of the treasures of our monastery is a Graduale from 1818 containing the chants of the Mass used in the church of Lyons in the early 19th century. This is an example of the ‘neo-Gallican’ liturgical books which were composed in France in the early modern period. While they eventually gave way to the use of the more authentic liturgical books of the Roman Rite–thanks in large part to the determined efforts of Dom Prosper Guéranger, founder of the Abbey of Solesmes–nonetheless there are many fascinating gems of piety and devotion in these books.
One feature of the Graduale of Lyons is its multiplicity of Sequences to be sung before the Gospel on feasts. Sequences abounded in the Middle Ages, but were greatly reduced in the Roman Rite by the reforms after the Council of Trent. The neo-Gallican books, however, maintained the use of many sequences, which can be fruitful for personal devotion.
Today, the traditional feast of the Finding of the Holy Cross, has a Sequence of its own, rich with Scriptural allusions, which is to be sung to the tune of the Sequence for Corpus Christ, Lauda Sion Salvatorem. The opening verses of this Sequence, Crucifixum adoremus, use the same melody as the opening verses of Lauda Sion; since, however, it is not as long as its model, its skips in the last four verses (marked here by an asterisk) to the tune of the last four verses of the Corpus Christi Sequence, Ecce Panis Angelorum. Below is the text of the Sequence with a translation.
| Crucifixum adoremus: Christi crucem praedicemus, Salvi per quam vivimus. Portae tremant infernales, Ligno serpens nos peremit, Lege factus maledictus, Lectus Dei morientis Ut, pro vobis qui precatur, Crucifixus voluntate, Passus nobis, nobis surget; *O fons omnis Crux virtutis! Die tua ne damnemur; Tuae Cruci nos confige; Vetus homo perimatur; |
Let us adore the Crucified: Let us preach the Cross of Christ, By which we are saved and live. Let the gates of Hell tremble, By the wood the serpent slew us, Made accursed under the Law, The bed of God as He dies That the voice of the Blood might be heard, Crucified by His own will, Having suffered for us, for us He will rise; *O Cross, fount of every virtue! That we may not be condemned on Thy day, Fasten us to Thy Cross; Let the old man be slain; |
