Something for the weekend. O Sacred Head Now Wounded. The lyrics of this hymn derive from the latin poem Salve Mundi Salutare. The authorship is open to doubt although I agree with those who attribute at least part of the poem to Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, based upon stylistic similarities with portions of his other writings.   The sanctity and eloquence of Saint Bernard alloyed with the musical genius of Johann Sebastian Bach makes a potent combination indeed.
On a personal note this hymn has always moved me as no other does. I had it played at my son’s funeral and when I depart this Vale of Tears I have requested that it be played at mine. It reminds me that God died for me, something I find absolutely stunning. Love and sacrifice begin and end with God, who regards each man as if there were no other.
I don’t want to go off on an “I hate new hymns” rant, but…yeah. Today we sang Jesus Christ is Risen Today: But the pains which he endured / Our salvation have procured. Do kids growing up listening to contemporary hymns get exposed to theology like that? It’s unequivocal. A friend of mine who grew up secular once told me that with his conversion to Catholicism, all the Christmas songs he knew now made sense. There’s a richness of teaching that people my age have absorbed without realizing it.
Digression time: you’re a science fiction fan, right, Don? I remember a ST Next Generation episode where Worf found himself in a prison colony of Klingons who had forgotten their beliefs. He taught them their legends, explained to them the meaning of the songs they’d handed down and the trinkets they played with. I’m convinced the episode must have been written by a traditional (or traditionalist) Catholic. Do you know the one? It’s fascinating to watch and think about as a VII / ecumenism analogy.
Birthright-a two parter:
We’re forgetting the things that made us different, the things worth defending. Peace is a valuable goal, but at what price? We’re a shrinking population, content to fade away. But there’s something else out there: the Borg. They can use our technology against us, and they don’t recognize the value of freedom and love. They’ll overrun us if we don’t remember who we are. All that we’ve worked to create will be lost, our inner rot leaving us unable to stand against the wind. If we did somehow manage to withstand the onslaught, do we still have the thing about us that’s worth protecting?