Pascha nostrum immolátus est Christus, allelúja: itaque epulémur in ázymis sinceritátis et veritátis, allelúja, allelúja, allelúja...

Deus, qui hodiérna die per Unigénitum tuum æternitátis nobis áditum, devícta morte, reserásti: vota nostra, quæ præveniéndo aspíras, étiam adjuvándo proséquere. Per eúndem Dóminum.

Hac die, quam fecit Dominus, Solemnitas solemnitatum, et Pascha nostrum: Resurrectio Salvatoris nostri Jesu Christi secundum carnem.

Today is Easter Sunday, Solemnitas solemnitatum et Pascha nostrum: we worship and celebrate the glorious Resurrection of Our Blessed Lord and Savior, to Whom be glory and honor everlasting, in saecula saeculorum.

The Schola Sainte-Cécile's page for today is here. The libellum for Holy Mass is here, and that for Stational Vespers is here.

The Roman Martyrology today, for tomorrow the 8th day before the Ides of April.

Statio ad Sanctam Mariam majorem

The Introit is introduced at Saint-Eugène by the 10th century trope taken from the 13th century antiphonarium of Notre-Dame de Paris; the setting is by Claudin de Sermisy (1490-1562), sous-maître of the Chapel Royal and canon of the Sainte Chapelle.

Angelus: Quem quæritis in sepulchro o christicole?

Mulieres: Jesum Nazarenum crucifixum, o cœlicole.

Angelus: Non est hic; surréxit sicut prædíxerat. Ite nunciáte, quia surréxit.

Introitus. Ps. 1 38, 18 et 5-6. Resurréxi, et adhuc tecum sum, allelúja: posuísti super me manum tuam, allelúja: mirábilis facta est sciéntia tua, allelúja, allelúja. Ps. ibid., 1-2. Dómine, probásti me et cognovísti me: tu cognovísti sessiónem meam et resurrectiónem meam. ℣. Glória Patri.

Kyrie, Gloria.

Oratio. Deus, qui hodiérna die per Unigénitum tuum æternitátis nobis áditum, devícta morte, reserásti: vota nostra, quæ præveniéndo aspíras, étiam adjuvándo proséquere. Per eúndem Dóminum.

Léctio Epístolæ beáti Pauli Apóstoli ad Corinthios.
1. Cor. 5, 7-8.
Fratres: Expurgáte vetus ferméntum, ut sitis nova conspérsio, sicut estis ázymi. Etenim Pascha nostrum immolátus est Christus. Itaque epulémur: non in ferménto véteri, neque in ferménto malítiae et nequitiæ: sed in ázymis sinceritátis et veritátis.

Graduale. Ps. 117, 24 et 1. Hæc dies, quam fecit Dóminus: exsultémus et lætémur in ea. ℣. Confitémini Dómino, quóniam bonus: quóniam in sǽculum misericórdia ejus.

Allelúja, allelúja. ℣. 1. Cor. 5, 7. Pascha nostrum immolátus est Christus.

Sequéntia.

Víctimæ pascháli laudes ímmolent Christiáni.

Agnus rédemit oves: Christus ínnocens Patri reconciliávit peccatóres.

Mors et vita duéllo conflixére mirándo: dux vitæ mórtuus

regnat vivus.

Dic nobis, María, quid vidísti in via?

Sepúlcrum Christi vivéntis et glóriam vidi resurgéntis.

Angélicos testes, sudárium et vestes.

Surréxit Christus, spes mea: præcédet vos in Galilǽam.

Scimus Christum surrexísse a mórtuis vere: tu nobis, victor

Rex, miserére.

Amen. Allelúja.

✠ Sequéntia sancti Evangélii secúndum Marcum.
Marc. 16, 1-7.
In illo témpore: María Magdaléne et María Jacóbi et Salóme emérunt arómata, ut venientes úngerent Jesum. Et valde mane una sabbatórum, veniunt ad monuméntum, orto jam sole. Et dicébant ad ínvicem: Quis revólvet nobis lápidem ab óstio monuménti? Et respiciéntes vidérunt revolútum lápidem. Erat quippe magnus valde. Et introëúntes in monuméntum vidérunt júvenem sedéntem in dextris coopértum stola cándida, et obstupuérunt. Qui dicit illis: Nolíte expavéscere: Jesum quǽritis Nazarénum, crucifíxum: surréxit, non est hic, ecce locus, ubi posuérunt eum. Sed ite, dícite discípulis ejus et Petro, quia præcédit vos in Galilǽam: ibi eum vidébitis, sicut dixit vobis.

Credo.

Offertorium. Ps. 75, 9-10. Terra trémuit, et quiévit, dum resúrgeret in judício Deus, allelúja.

Secreta. Súscipe, quǽsumus, Dómine, preces pópuli tui cum oblatiónibus hostiárum: ut, paschálibus initiáta mystériis, ad æternitátis nobis medélam, te operánte, profíciant. Per Dóminum.

Præfatio Paschalis.

Vere dignum et justum est, æquum et salutáre: Te quidem, Dómine, omni témpore, sed in hac potíssimum die gloriósius prædicáre, cum Pascha nostrum immolátus est Christus. Ipse enim verus est Agnus, qui ábstulit peccáta mundi. Qui mortem nostram moriéndo destrúxit, et vitam resurgéndo reparávit. Et ideo cum Angelis et Archángelis, cum Thronis et Dominatiónibus, cumque omni milítia cæléstis exércitus, hymnum glóriae tuæ cánimus, sine fine dicéntes:

Sanctus, Benedictus, Agnus Dei.

Communio. 1. Cor. 5, 7-8. Pascha nostrum immolátus est Christus, allelúja: itaque epulémur in ázymis sinceritátis et veritátis, allelúja, allelúja, allelúja.

Postcommunio. Spíritum nobis, Dómine, tuæ caritátis infúnde: ut, quos sacraméntis paschálibus satiásti, tua fácias pietáte concordes. Per Dóminum... in unitáte ejusdem.

Diaconus: Ite, Missa est, allelúja, allelúja.
℞. Deo grátias, allelúja, allelúja.

The Neumz commentary for today, on the Communio Pascha nostrum immolatus est Christum.

Surrexit Christus vere, alleluja! The feast of Easter is, first of all, the representation of the key event of humanity, the Resurrection of Jesus after his death consented by Him for the rescue and redemption of fallen man. Easter is victory, man being called to his highest dignity. How can one not rejoice for the victory of Him, who was so unjustly condemned to the most terrible Passion and death on the Cross, for the victory of who was previously scourged, slapped, dirtied by spit, with so much inhumane cruelty?

This is the day of universal hope, redemption, and liberation from humanity’s sin by the Son of God. This is the day when all human sufferings, disappointments, humiliations, crosses, violations of human dignity, and disrespect to human life are united and associated with the Risen One. The Resurrection reveals to us our Christian vocation and mission: bringing it closer to all men and women. Man can never lose hope in the victory of good over evil.

On such an important date, we have chosen in Neumz the communion chant Pascha nostrum. The text is taken from the First Epistle of St. Paul to the Corinthians 5, verses 7 and 8. The composer has made a magnificent selection in the text of these two verses, choosing the end of verse 7 and the beginning and end of verse 8: Pascha nostrum immolátus est Christus, ítaque epulémur in ázymis sinceritátis et veritátis, Christ, our Paschal Lamb, has been slain. Therefore, let us celebrate the Passover with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. Under the symbol of unleavened bread, that is, without yeast, the Eternal Father teaches us that, before receiving it, we must renounce the past life, whose imperfections were represented by the leaven. Now we receive the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth and not that of the old leaven, the leaven of malice and wickedness, as the omitted passage of verse 8 indicates (non in fermento veteri neque in fermento malitiae et nequitiae). Indeed, we Christians, who are led by Christ to this new life, to which he opened the way with his resurrection, must be disposed only to pure works, to holy, unleavened actions, destined to accompany our divine Paschal lamb, which becomes our food today. Let us note that Christ is not simply called Pascha, but Pascha nostrum, because if his death and resurrection do not become intimately ours, if we do not relieve him, if we do not appropriate his mysteries in our spiritual life, then his pains and his glories will not benefit us. This is why we Christians must forever reject the leaven of sin.

At the moment of communion, this text takes on a different character than the Alleluia hymn with which the first phrase is shared. At least it is not the burst of the irrepressible joy of the Alleluia, but rather a more interior joy, more of the heart. Indeed, this chant is like a kind of refrain that the faithful sing in the joy of their souls united to Christ in sincerity and truth, for while on the Paschal feast the sacred food is distributed, the Church celebrates with this communion chant the true Paschal Lamb, whose mystical immolation has taken place on the altar and who asks those who feed on him for purity of heart.

As for the melody, it is composed in mode VI, the mode of piety, of devotion as the ancients called it. It is very conducive to this atmosphere of inner joy, contemplative at the moment of receiving the Paschal Lamb in us. The melody is intimate, it develops between the two modal poles, and only on one occasion the dominant, the La, is surpassed.

Pascha nostrum, our Passover, the melodic movement begins in the fundamental, the Fa, true axis of the whole piece, then rises with joyful enthusiasm towards the dominant, La-Sol-La, helped by the impulse of the initial neumatic cut in the posttonic syllable. As we will see this joyful and luminous porrectus, La-Sol-La, in the high range of the mode, will reappear in a very significant way. In nostrum, the melody returns to the range of the Fa with a beautiful quilismatic turn that emphasizes the possessive, it becomes more contemplative: it is our Easter, the death and resurrection of the Lord must become intimately ours, as we pointed out. Contributing to this intimacy is the use of the semitonal interval, Mi-Fa, which is chanted twice in this word (and a third time if we follow the restituted version of the Graduale Novum, Fa Mi, which would be the first two notes). Thus, as we can see, from the very beginning of the piece, that intimacy, that delicate tenderness, that closeness with our Lord is evident.

In the following incise, immolatus est Christus, Christ has been immolated, the semitonal interval at the beginning is resumed, and again with vivacity the melody rises joyfully to the La, a pes quadratus makes the accent of the word immolatus shine, Sol-La. The word closes with great solemnity around the Fa, the rhythm widens, the quilismatic movement magnifies this passage, and the price paid in the immolation of the Paschal Lamb, Christ, is sung (note the reverent climacus, elongated Sol-Fa-Mi preceding the quilisma). But without delay in Christus, the melodic movement recovers the restrained jubilation that animates this piece in an agile, lively porrectus flexus resupinus, Fa Fa-Mi-Fa-Re-Fa, which spreads joy to the first alleluia of the piece (note again the touch of the semitonal interval, Fa-Mi, but above all, let’s not lose sight of this melodic turn that will resound again).

In the second phrase, itaque epulemur, therefore, let us keep the feast, the attention is clearly drawn to the verb epulemur. The magnificent melisma of itaque, more typical of an ornamented piece, masterfully prepares that celebration that resounds in the verb that follows it. It is worth noting the strength of the Fa in the melisma, firmly pointing with two bivirga, the corresponding melodic developments that it gravitates around, one in the low range, Fa-Re-Do-Re-Fa, and the other in the high range, La-Sol-La-Fa: By any chance, is the composer symbolically not inviting us to celebrate the Easter joy, both, in our interior (low range) as well as in our exterior (high range)? What is a fact is the similarity between the melodic turn of the incipit in Pascha and the end of the melisma of itaque, an evident echo of that Easter. There are no coincidences in the Gregorian repertoire, the same happens in epulemur, because melodically the proximity with the turn of Christus, Fa-Mi-Fa-Re-Fa, is evident: Fa Fa-Mi-Fa Fa-Re-Mi-Do Do. Practically the same motive with a coda in the low range that incites us at the moment of communion to feel the joy of the mystical union with Christ, Paschal Lamb, in the depths of our being.

In the following incise, in azymis sinceritatis et veritatis, with the unleavened bread of uprightness and truth, the Easter joy that permeates this entire chant continues. In the accent of the word azymis, from an initial neumatic cut in the Sol, the melodic movement is propelled with vivacity, verve, and great joy, undoubtedly, another echo in the piece. Indeed, the joyful and luminous porrectus of Pascha, La-Sol-La, sounds again, doubly amplified, to which is added another graceful porrectus, Sol-Fa-Sol. The vivacity and festive enthusiasm extend to sinceritatis et veritatis, the melodic line on the Fa rising here and there delicately brightens the text. A magnificent melodic arch adorns the word sinceritatis, with a beautiful ascent to the Sol in the accent. The semitonal interval, Fa-Mi, reappears twice (the Graduale Novum also restores it in the conjunction et) conferring a sincere closeness, an authentic union between the prayerful one and the Lord. A leap of a third momentarily raises the melody above the Fa, in a symmetrical Sol-La movement (salicus Sol-Sol-La in the Graduale Novum), Sol-La that brilliantly prepares the cadential torculus in the accent of veritatis. From this Sol-La or La-Sol turn, we cannot fail to note the echoes of the paschal joy with pascha, azymis, the accent of immolatus, of the penultimate alleluia.

As for the three alleluias that joyfully conclude this canticle, they sublimely materialize that crescendo from inner joy to the outburst of external joy in the prayerful one. Indeed, in the first alleluia, we find a beautiful musical synthesis of the turn of Christus and the quilisma of nostrum. It concludes on the Do, in one of the very rare intervals of fourths of the piece. In the second alleluia, this interval of a fourth, Do-Fa, appears again, the melody with a majestic quilismatic movement rises with solemn joy towards the heights of the mode, resounding the Paschal joy of the La-Sol Sol-La turn mentioned above. The melody is suspended in the La, full of jubilation ready to burst forth, which occurs in the third and final alleluia: from the Sol of the initial neumatic cut on the pretonic syllable, the B-flat bursts forth as an ornament of the La, for the first and only time in the piece, conferring a special splendor of jubilation to this last alleluia that finishes blooming in the accent with a beautiful turn, La-Sol-Sol-Fa-Sol, before settling on the final Fa, and thus, concluding this great little gem of the Gregorian repertoire.

✠ ✠ ✠

Concéde, miséricors Deus, fragilitáti nostræ præsídium; ut, qui sanctæ Dei Genitrícis memóriam ágimus; intercessiónis ejus auxílio, a nostris iniquitátibus resurgámus. Per Christum Dóminum nóstrum.

Deus, a quo sancta desidéria, recta consília, et justa sunt ópera: da servis tuis illam, quam mundus dare non potest, pacem; ut et corda nostra mandátis tuis dédita, et hóstium subláta formídine, témpora sint tua protectióne tranquílla. Per Dóminum.

Deus, qui caritátis dona per grátiam Sancti Spíritus tuórum fidélium córdibus infudísti: da fámulis et famulábus tuis, pro quibus tuam deprecámur cleméntiam, salútem mentis et córporis; ut te tota virtúte díligant, et quæ tibi plácita sunt, tota dilectióne perfíciant. Per Dóminum.

Laus Deo Virginique Matri

Claudin de Sermisy, François Giroust, Ludovico Grossi da Viadana, Mgr Jehan Revert, César Franck, Dmitri Stephanovich Bortniansky, Michel-Richard de Lalande, Marc-Antoine Charpentier, Henri de Villiers