Jesu nostra redemptio

The office of Compline, the last of the daily services to be recited before
retiring to bed,  had a quite small range of office hymns.  Through the year
the "Te lucis ante terminum" (Before the ending of the day) was sung, every
day of the week.  In Lent the "Christe qui lux es et dies" (O Christ, who
art the Light and Day) was substituted;  in Passiontide the "Cultor Dei,
memento" (Servant of God, remember) of Prudentius;  and at the Ascension,
"Jesu nostra redemptio" (O Christ, our hope, our heart's desire).

Jesu, nostra redemptio		O Christ, our hope, our hearts' desire
amor et desiderium,		        Redemption's only spring:
Deus creator omnium,		Creator of the world art thou,
homo in fine temporum:		        Its Saviour and its King.

Quae te vicit clementia		How vast the mercy and the love
ut ferres nostra crimina,		Which laid our sins on thee,
crudelem mortem patiens		And led thee to a cruel death
ut nos a morte tolleres,		To set they people free.

Inferni claustra penetrans, 	But now the bonds of death are burst,
tuos captivos redimens,			The ransom has been paid;
victor triumpho nobili		And thou art on thy Father's throne
ad dextram patris residens?		In glorious robes arrayed.

Ipsa te cogat pietas		O may thy mighty love prevail
ut mala nostra superes			Our sinful souls to spare;
parcendo, et voti compotes	O may we come before thy throne,
nos tuo vultu saties.			And find acceptance there.

tu esto nostrum gaudium,	O Christ, be thou our present joy,
qui es futurum praemium,		Our future great reward;
sit nostra in te gloria		Our only glory may it be
per cuncta semper saecula.		To glory in the Lord.

Our translation, by J. Chandler, is fairly free, and we can supply a more
literal rendition as we go along.  "Jesus, our redemption, love and longing,
God the creator of all, Man at the end of time" - quite a lot of doctrine
here.  The poet identifies Jesus as our redemption, a commonplace in the New
Testament;  cf. Ephesians 1:7 "In quo habemus redemptionem per sanguinem
eius" and the same words at Colossians 1:14;  similar statemtents are made
many times in the New Testament.

Furthermore, the hymn acknowledges Jesus as God, the creator of the
universe, following John 1:1-3  ". . . And the Word was God.  He was with
God in the beginning.  Through him all things came to be, not one thing had
its being but through him . . ."  The Word was however, not always a man;
this event took place in time:  "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt
among us" (John 1:14);  and so the hymn says "Homo in fine temporum" - Man
at the end of time, in these last days.  This alludes to Hebrews 1:2,
"Novissime, diebus istis", to 1 Peter 1:5 "in tempore novissimo", 1 John
2:18 "novissima hora est" - this is the last hour.  The early Christians
regarded their era as the end of time.  That last quotation gave Bernard of
Cluny the first line for his exceedingly long poem:  Hora novissima, tempora
pessima sunt, vigilemus.

"What mercy conquered you, that you should bear our sins" - alluding to
Isaiah 53:4 "Vere languores nostros ipse tulit, et dolores nostros ipse
portavit" - "suffering cruel death, that you might carry us out of death."

"You have entered the gates of hell" (cf. 1 Peter 3:19), "redeeming your
captives".  This alludes to Ephesians 4:8, itself quoting Psalm 67 68):19,
"Ascendens in altum captivam duxit captivitatem".  This is an appropriate
text to celebrate the Ascension.

"Victor in a noble triumph, sitting down again at the Father's right hand"
This alludes to Hebrews 1:3.  It may be helpful to quote the first three
verses of Hebrews, of which our hymn so far is almost a paraphrase:

"At various times in the past and in various different ways, God spoke to
our ancestors through the prophets;  but in our own time, the last days, he
has spoken to us through his Son, the Son that he has appointed to inherit
everything and through whom he made everything there is.  He is the radiant
light of God's glory and the perfect copy of his nature, sustaining the
universe by his powerful command:  and now that he has destroyed the
defilement of sin, he has gone to take his place in heaven at the right hand
of divine Majesty."

Again, this is an Ascension text.

Ipsa te cogat pietas			
ut mala nostra superes				
parcendo, 

"Pity itself urges you as you rise above our evils by sparing us,"

et voti compotes		
nos tuo vultu saties.	

"and you will satisfy us, who are absorbed in prayer, with your face."

(I find those last two lines a bit difficult - perhaps a better Latinist can
improve on my translation?)

tu esto nostrum gaudium,		
qui es futurum praemium,			
sit nostra in te gloria			
per cuncta semper saecula.			

"Be thou our joy, who art our future reward;  may our glory be in thee
forever, throughout all ages."

It is a New Testament commonplace that our glory is in Christ;  cf. 1 Cor.
1:31, "Qui gloriatur, in Domino glorietur" - and many similar expressions of
St Paul.

So ends our hymn for Compline on the feast of the Ascension;  those who wish
may use it tonight.  It's not one of the best-known, and perhaps not one of
the best, of the the old Latin hymns, but as so often with these hymns it is
sprinkled with allusions to the Bible which are rather lost in Mr Chandler's
translation.

The Supple Doctor.



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