First and foremost, happy and healthy new year to all of you. Known as Marian antiphonies, Tomás Luis de Victoria composed 4 pieces for five or eight voices between 1572 and 1600. These works are highlighted in the January post. The cover features a picture of a replica of the sacred image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, which was revealed in 1531 on an ayate Juan Diego was carrying.
Cover - January 2024
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| Our Lady of Guadalupe |
Tomás Luis de Victoria was one of the most significant composers of the Spanish Renaissance. Just Google his name to get an endless amount of references, articles, or comments. Among these, his fervent devotion in God and his love for the Holy Mother of God are most notable; he even met Saint Teresa of Jesus. His compositions were probably influential to the Catholic Counter-Reformation, and it is likely that he studied under Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina. His chromatic music compositions were also well regarded in Mexico and Peru. Comparable to today's internationally renowned composers, Victoria was one of the most well-known composers in his day.
In 1994, the Westminster Cathedral Choir recorded an album titled Missa Trahe me post te & other sacred music, conducted by James O'Donnell. The lyrics of four pieces from that album are matched in the table below. It is worth noting that Westminster Cathedral streams Holy Mass live on its YouTube channel every day at 12:30 PM.
| Latin | English |
|---|---|
Alma redemptoris mater a 8 Alma redemptoris mater, quae pervia caeli porta manes, et stella maris, succurre cadenti surgere qui curat populo. Tu quae genuisti, natura mirante, tuum sanctum genitorem, virgo prius ac posterius, Gabrielis ab ore sumens illud ‘Ave’, peccatorum miserere. | Alma redemptoris mater a 8 Nourishing mother of the redeemer, you who are the open door to heaven, and the star of the sea, help the falling people who strive to rise. You who gave birth, amidst nature’s wonder, to your holy creator, virgin before and after, receiving that ‘Hail’ from the mouth of Gabriel, look mercifully on our sins. |
Ave regina caelorum a 5 Ave regina caelorum. Ave domina angelorum. Salve, radix sancta, ex qua mundo lux est orta. Gaude, gloriosa, super omnes speciosa: vale, valde decora, et pro nobis semper Christum exora. | Ave regina caelorum a 5 Hail queen of heaven. Hail mistress of the angels. Hail, sacred stem, from which the world’s light has come. Rejoice, glorious one, beautiful above all others: farewell, most gracious one, and always pray to Christ for us. |
Regina caeli a 5 Regina caeli laetare, Alleluia. Quia quem meruisti portare, Alleluia. Resurrexit sicut dixit, Alleluia. Ora pro nobis Deum, Alleluia. | Regina caeli a 5 Queen of heaven rejoice, Alleluia. Because you were worthy to bear him, Alleluia. He has risen as he foretold, Alleluia. Pray to God for us, Alleluia. |
Salve regina a 8 Salve regina, mater misericordiae: vita, dulcedo et spes nostra, salve. Ad te clamamus, exsules, filii Evae. Ad te suspiramus, gementes et flentes in hac lacrimarum valle. Eia ergo, advocata nostra, illos tuos misericordes oculos ad nos converte. Et Jesum, benedictum fructum ventris tui, nobis post hoc exsilium ostende. O clemens, o pia, o dulcis virgo Maria. | Salve regina a 8 Hail queen, mother of mercy: our life, sweetness, and hope, hail. We cry to you, banished ones, children of Eve. We sigh to you, mourning and weeping in this valley of tears. Come then, as our advocate, turn your eyes of mercy towards us. And show us Jesus, blessed fruit of your womb, after this our exile. O kind, O merciful, O sweet virgin Mary. |
Source: Westminster Cathedral Choir, James O'Donnell (1994). Missa Trahe me post te & other sacred music [Album]. Mark Brown
Reflexion
Once upon a time, a Spanish Empire integrated a number of savage peoples—originally known as the Indies—into its culture over the course of several centuries. Unlike "others" European colonizers who killed all the locals, the Spanish colonizers were quite kind and did not kill many of them (saving the lives of those who could submit to them). This is the triumphant, amiable narrative of the Spanish Crown.
But let's be honest and ask ourselves, what is more cruel, enslaving these indigenous people or killing them outright? Chain a bird for its entire life or kill it instantly? Obviously these are absurd questions to answer, because in principle one should never consider murdering or chaining a bird because it is a living being, much less a human being, and even less so when these dilemmas come from Christians. Nevertheless, this amiable narrative does occasionally come back to life, and 2024 is no different. Let us now examine the reasons why ghosts return home.
Simply put, the conquest involved the replacement of an old cosmovision with a new one. A new world imposed by those who had ruled for centuries, to be succeeded by new slavers who discovered a path to subservience previously established by the Spanish Crown. The effect of this new, freedom-oriented ideology was similar to that of delightful candies in the hands of small children. All were well aware that once the Spanish Crown was overthrown, the colonies would collapse like dominoes. It would be what we know as America for Americans. Some argue the new ideology, which has endured to this day, was introduced by the Masonry, the "guardians of morality." To be clear, the colonies are still colonies; they just remain in a perpetual condition of daydreaming about development, which will never come to pass—at least not along Truman's chosen path.
Nevertheless, these colonies' circumstances and position are not uniques; whether we like it or not, all Westerners have benefited in some way from this Pax Americana. Whether we label the world as BRICS or non-BRICS, Westerners or non-Westerners, the fact remains that the globe is rapidly approaching division into two halves. The clock is now showing 90 seconds to midnight. Allies and colonies will fall when the leader crumbles (Texit is only an additional termometer).
The people who regularly go to work, abide by the law, pay their taxes honestly, and, most lately, those who are imprisoned for refusing to fight in a war (or for having to pay to refrain from fighting) are the real victims. Those who support and feed the power of a select few wash their hands, indifferent to the blood shed by others, thinking they have already secured their place in some paradisiacal land. The corona "crisis" is a joke compared to this impudence. Such cynicism is a thing of Hell!
Louder drums announce the arrival of the new dragon-headed Emperor, and some believe that the instability of the old world stems from this struggle for dominance. It goes without saying that I am talking about economic power in a society where economic relations are the foundation and where even water is exchanged like a good on the stock market. It's quite clear.
A legend says that when a ship sinks, rats are the first to get away. Though, in the midst of all this misery, some are beginning to jump from "unity" by establishing themselves in "nationalism" and stare at old homes, their eyes are merely looking for ways out, floats to keep from sinking. Regretfully, they are still unable to acknowledge that the colonies they had ruled are no longer theirs or that they must submit to the same owner. All of us work as slaves for the same owner. This owner is not a nation nor does it make any reference to any specific nationality; rather, it is power, economic power.
The dilemma is no longer in cleaning up the picture, identifying the wolves, and going back home. The colonised pavement's doors have always been open to everyone. It might be really difficult at times to accept oneself on this site. Colonialized peoples know from "history" (or narratives) that resistance to a superpower will, at best, result in a swift death and, at worst, in permanent servitude (and for generations). They also know that war is the worst way to shift ownership. Since they will always have an owner, it is best to adjust peacefully.
Power will control the new world, but it will be a more powerful and advanced sort of power. Is there nothing else to do? How unfortunate that we Christians find ourselves ensnared in the claws of economic power. Liberation is found in ourselves, in the Love to Others, in the Kingdom of God. As Christians we have the answer and the path to truth, to life, to God.
Our susceptibility to the designs of a few, power-hungry individuals will increase with our separation from God. We cannot escape these dangerous paths that violent power struggles have carved out for us; only God can. The Other cannot be defined by a particular nationality; the Other cannot be reduced to a disposable object -or number- or painted as an enemy by war propaganda. The Other is a human being, just like you and me. One of the precepts taught by Jesus of Nazareth is to love others as oneself.
I shall start praying more fervently to the Mother of God, Our Lady of Guadalupe, in the hopes that she intercedes for us before God Our Lord and frees us from the evil that results from the concentration of economic power in the hands of a "select" few.
Ave Maria, gratia plena: Dominus tecum, benedicta tu in mulieribus, et benedictus fructus ventris tui, Iesus. Sancta Maria, Mater Dei, ora pro nobis peccatoribus, nunc et in hora mortis nostrae. Amen.
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