The Hymn of the Sacrament

Pange Lingua

Sing, my tongue, the mystery of the Body — the great Eucharistic hymn ascribed to Aquinas.

LatineThe Latin text

Pange, lingua, gloriósi
Córporis mystérium,
Sanguinísque pretiósi,
quem in mundi prétium
fructus ventris generósi
Rex effúdit géntium.

Nobis datus, nobis natus
ex intácta Vírgine,
et in mundo conversátus,
sparso verbi sémine,
sui moras incolátus
miro clausit órdine.

In suprémæ nocte cœnæ
recúmbens cum frátribus,
observáta lege plene
cibis in legálibus,
cibum turbæ duodénæ
se dat suis mánibus.

Verbum caro, panem verum
verbo carnem éfficit:
fitque sanguis Christi merum,
et si sensus déficit,
ad firmándum cor sincérum
sola fides súfficit.

Tantum ergo Sacraméntum
venerémur cérnui:
et antíquum documéntum
novo cedat rítui:
præstet fides suppleméntum
sénsuum deféctui.

Genitóri, Genitóque
laus et jubilátio,
salus, honor, virtus quoque
sit et benedíctio:
procedénti ab utróque
compar sit laudátio. Amen.

EnglishTranslation

Sing, my tongue, the mystery of the glorious Body, and of the precious Blood which, for the ransom of the world, the King of the nations, fruit of a noble womb, poured out.

Given to us, and born for us of a stainless Virgin, He dwelt on earth sowing the seed of the word, and closed in a wondrous manner the days of His earthly sojourning.

On the night of the Last Supper, reclining with His brethren — the Law having been fully complied with in regard to legal meats — with His own hands, He gives Himself as Food to the assembled twelve.

The Word-made-Flesh changes by His word true bread into His Flesh; and wine becomes the Blood of Christ; and if the intellect does not grasp this, faith alone suffices to make sure the sincere heart.

Therefore, so great a Sacrament let us venerate with bowed heads; and let the old covenant give way to the new rite; let faith supply for the failure of the senses.

To the Father and the Son be praise and jubilation, salvation, honour, power and blessing; and to the One who proceeds from both let there be equal praise. Amen.

Attr. St Thomas Aquinas, c. 1264 — the complete hymn · English partly after M. Britt, O.S.B. (1922)

What Pange Lingua is

Pange Lingua Gloriosi Corporis Mysterium is the great Eucharistic hymn ascribed by long tradition to St Thomas Aquinas, written for the feast of Corpus Christi, which Pope Urban IV established in 1264. Its six stanzas carry the whole doctrine of the Blessed Sacrament in verse: the Word made flesh, the Last Supper, the change of bread and wine, and the adoration owed to Christ truly present.

The hymn is unusual for uniting the intellect of the Church's greatest theologian with a melody of the plainest beauty. Aquinas, who could argue the Eucharist in the tightest scholastic Latin, chose instead to hand the mystery to the singing tongue — pange, lingua, 'sing, my tongue' — trusting that the faithful would carry in song what argument alone could not reach.

The Tantum Ergo

The last two stanzas — Tantum Ergo Sacramentum — have a life of their own. They are sung at Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament, at the moment the priest incenses the monstrance and the people kneel before the exposed Host. For countless Catholics these are the most familiar Latin lines they know, bound to the memory of quiet evenings and the smell of incense.

The theology is exact: the 'old document' of the Passover and the Law gives way to the 'new rite' of the altar, and where the senses fail — for the eyes see only bread — faith supplies what they cannot grasp. It is a hymn built to be knelt to.

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When it is sung

Pange Lingua in full belongs to Corpus Christi and to the procession of the Blessed Sacrament on Holy Thursday, when the Eucharist is carried to the altar of repose. The Tantum Ergo is sung wherever there is Benediction or Exposition, throughout the year.

Sung slowly, in its ancient Phrygian-tinged mode, the hymn is meant less to be listened to than prayed — a text to kneel inside of while the Sacrament is adored.

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Questions

On the Pange Lingua.

Who wrote Pange Lingua?

By long tradition it is the work of St Thomas Aquinas, composed around 1264 for the new feast of Corpus Christi at the request of Pope Urban IV. (An earlier, different Pange Lingua by Venantius Fortunatus honours the Cross.)

What is the Tantum Ergo?

It is the final two stanzas of Pange Lingua, sung at Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament when the Host is incensed and adored. They are among the most widely known Latin verses in the Church.

What does 'let faith supply for the failure of the senses' mean?

At the altar the eyes see only bread and taste only bread; faith, not the senses, grasps that Christ is truly present. The line asks faith to make up for what sight and taste cannot perceive.

Repertorium

The other chants.

All chants →

The Penitential CryKyrie EleisonThe Cry for Mercy The Antiphon of MortalityMedia VitaIn the Midst of Life The Hymn of InvocationVeni Creator SpiritusThe Invocation of the Spirit The Marian AntiphonSalve ReginaThe Evening Antiphon The Sequence of JudgmentDies IraeThe Day of Wrath The Cry of AdventRorate CaeliThe Cry of Advent A Child Is BornPuer Natus EstA Child Is Born The Lenten PleaAttende DomineThe Lenten Plea The Easter AntiphonRegina CaeliThe Easter Antiphon The Golden SequenceVeni Sancte SpiritusThe Golden Sequence The Hidden GodheadAdoro Te DevoteThe Hidden Godhead Hail, True BodyAve Verum CorpusHail, True Body Star of the SeaAve Maris StellaStar of the Sea The Great ThanksgivingTe DeumThe Great Thanksgiving