is a short

Eucharist The Eucharist ( ; from , ), also called Holy Communion, the Blessed Sacrament or the Lord's Supper, is a Christianity, Christian Rite (Christianity), rite, considered a sacrament in most churches and an Ordinance (Christianity), ordinance in ...

ic chant that has been set to music by many composers. It dates to the 13th century, first recorded in a central Italian Franciscan manuscript (Chicago, Newberry Library, 24). A Reichenau manuscript of the 14th century attributes it to Pope Innocent (variously identified as

Innocent III Pope Innocent III (; born Lotario dei Conti di Segni; 22 February 1161 – 16 July 1216) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 8 January 1198 until his death on 16 July 1216. Pope Innocent was one of the most power ...

Innocent IV Pope Innocent IV (; – 7 December 1254), born Sinibaldo Fieschi, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 25 June 1243 to his death in 1254. Fieschi was born in Genoa and studied at the universities of Parma and Bolo ...

, Innocent V, or Innocent VI) During the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

, it was sung at the

elevation The elevation of a geographic location (geography), ''location'' is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational equipotenti ...

of the

during the

consecration Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspires awe or reverence among believers. The property is often ascribed to objects ( ...

Mass Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...

. It was also used frequently during

Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament, also called Benediction with the Blessed Sacrament or the Rite of Eucharistic Exposition and Benediction, is a devotional ceremony, celebrated especially in the Roman Catholic Church, but also in some other C ...

. The prayer is a meditation on

Jesus Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

Real Presence The real presence of Christ in the Eucharist, sometimes shortened Real Presence'','' is the Christian doctrine that Jesus Christ is present in the Eucharist, not merely symbolically or metaphorically, but in a true, real and substantial way. Th ...

in the Blessed Sacrament, and ties it to the redemptive meaning of suffering in the life of all believers.

Text

Latin Ave verum corpus, natum de Maria Virgine, vere passum, immolatum in cruce pro homine cuius latus perforatum fluxit aqua et sanguine: esto nobis prægustatum in mortis examine. O Iesu dulcis, O Iesu pie, O Iesu, fili Mariae. Miserere mei. Amen. Hail, true Body, born of the Virgin Mary, truly suffered, sacrificed on the cross for mankind, from whose pierced side flowed water and blood: Be for us a foretaste f the Heavenly banquetin the trial of death! O sweet Jesus, O holy Jesus, O Jesus, son of Mary, have mercy on me. Amen.

Musical settings

Musical settings include

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...

motet In Western classical music, a motet is mainly a vocal musical composition, of highly diverse form and style, from high medieval music to the present. The motet was one of the preeminent polyphonic forms of Renaissance music. According to the Eng ...

'' Ave verum corpus'' ( K. 618), as well as settings by

William Byrd William Byrd (; 4 July 1623) was an English Renaissance composer. Considered among the greatest composers of the Renaissance, he had a profound influence on composers both from his native country and on the Continental Europe, Continent. He i ...

and Sir Edward Elgar. Not all composers set the whole text. For example, Mozart's setting finishes with "in mortis examine", Elgar's with "fili Mariae". Marc-Antoine Charpentier composed three versions: H.233, H.266, H.329. There is a version by

Franz Liszt Franz Liszt (22 October 1811 – 31 July 1886) was a Hungarian composer, virtuoso pianist, conductor and teacher of the Romantic music, Romantic period. With a diverse List of compositions by Franz Liszt, body of work spanning more than six ...

earle 44 There are also versions by

Camille Saint-Saëns Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns (, , 9October 183516 December 1921) was a French composer, organist, conductor and pianist of the Romantic music, Romantic era. His best-known works include Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso (1863), the Piano ...

, Orlande de Lassus, Imant Raminsh, Alexandre Guilmant, William Mathias, Colin Mawby, Malcolm Archer and Jack Gibbons. Liszt also composed a fantasy on Mozart's work, preceded by a version of Allegri's celebrated '' Miserere'', under the title ' earle 461 – two versions Versions of this fantasy for orchestra earle 360and piano four-hands earle 633follow closely the second version for piano. There is also a version for organ earle 658with the title '. The chant is included Poulenc's opera '' Dialogues of the Carmelites''. The composer wrote a different "Ave verum corpus" in 1952. Mozart's version, with instruments only, was adapted by

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer during the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music made a lasting impression internationally. Tchaikovsky wrote some of the most popula ...

as one of the sections of his '' Mozartiana'', a tribute to Mozart. Colin Mawby has done a setting in the 20th century; from the 21st century, there are settings by the Swedish composer Fredrik Sixten and the English composer Philip Stopford.

References

* ''Ave verum corpus natum.'' The Canterbury Dictionary of Hymnology. Canterbury Press (2013). * Guido Maria Dreves: '' Analecta Hymnica Medii Aevi'' (1886), 54.257.

External links

* *Mozart'
"Ave verum corpus"
at

ChoralWiki The Choral Public Domain Library (CPDL), also known as the ChoralWiki, is an online database for choir, choral and vocal music. Its contents primarily include sheet music in the public domain or otherwise freely available for printing and perfor ...

*Elgar'
"Ave verum"
at ChoralWiki *William Byrd'
"Ave verum corpus"
at ChoralWiki *William Byrd'

as interactive hypermedia at the BinAural Collaborative Hypertext site

in

Gregorian chant Gregorian chant is the central tradition of Western plainsong, plainchant, a form of monophony, monophonic, unaccompanied sacred song in Latin (and occasionally Greek language, Greek) of the Roman Catholic Church. Gregorian chant developed main ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ave Verum Corpus Christian hymns in Latin