Ave vivens hostia
Ave vivens hostia (Latin for "Greetings, living host") is a Eucharistic hymn from the 13th century attributed to Johannes Peckham . The text, written in vagabond lines , comprises 15 stanzas , which can be divided into three sections: The first six stanzas open the hymn with an invocation of Christ in the consecrated host , followed by four stanzas of dogmatic content, which in addition to transubstantiation also include the two-natures Teaching include. The third part contains requests from believers to Jesus.
If the hymn is on the one hand subject to the influence of Franciscan piety , Peckham binds it simultaneously with the Thomistic understanding of the Eucharist and Wilhelm von Auvergne and Alexander von Hale's ideas of divine omnipotence . In the late Middle Ages the hymn was translated into German, so u. a. from the monk of Salzburg .
Historical context
The Latin Corpus Christi hymn Ave vivens hostia was written by Johannes Peckham (d. 1292), an English Franciscan, rector of the University of Paris and later Archbishop of Canterbury . Another wafer song, the Hostia viva, vale, is ascribed to him, but it has been handed down much less often .
According to Wilhelm Breuer, the Eucharistic poem was probably created for the veneration of the sacrament outside of mass . The host venerated in the hymn , as an offering at the time the hymn was written, forms the centerpiece of the Eucharist together with the wine , since it is transformed into the body of Jesus Christ through the consecration by the priest (and the wine into the blood of Jesus Christ). While in the early Christian church the Eucharist sacrifice was a spiritual and spiritual one, the question of the real presence of Jesus in the host was raised with the 1st Lord Supper Controversy in the 9th century and the 2nd Lord Supper Controversy in the 11th century. The actual presence of the flesh of the historical person of Jesus in the host was a main subject of theological debates, especially the problem of multilocation - like Jesus Christ enthroned at the same time on God's right hand in heaven and in the respective consecrated host and also in several hosts in different places at the same time - could be. The approach of transubstantiation prominently represented by Thomas Aquinas was raised to dogma in 1215 at the IV Lateran Council and confirmed in 1551 at the Tridentinum . In the doctrine of transubstantion, the accidents, i.e. properties of the host bread such as appearance and taste, remain the same during consecration, while the substance changes from bread to the flesh of Christ. This official but controversial theological teaching is the main theme of the Ave viviens hostia with the “living” oblate. Peckham does not orient himself on the transubstantiation arguments of Thomas Aquinas and Bonaventura , but on those of Wilhelm von Auvergne and Alexander von Hales , who emphasize the omnipotence of God. In the stanzas of the hymn, which are not exclusively dogmatic, the influence of the mystical piety of the Franciscans , to which Peckham belongs, becomes noticeable.
In the course of the high and especially late medieval mysticism, the rapidly increasing penitential and intercessory character of the mass as well as the reading of private masses, lay piety, the need to see and spiritual games , the piety of the Eucharist flourished in the 13th century. As early as the beginning of the 13th century, the hosts that were not used up in mass were venerated on or next to the altar. In addition to the elevation of the transformed host in the mass, which enabled the faithful to see the flesh of Christ in a salutary way, reports of wonders of the wafers are increasing. Personal piety of worship is reflected in the poetry of the time. The Feast of Corpus Christi , which Pope Urban IV raised to the feast of the universal church in 1264, also celebrates the institution of the Eucharist by Jesus Christ at the Lord's Supper , with the converted host being venerated in a procession . The dogmatic part of the Ave vivens hostia takes up traits of the sequence Lauda Sion belonging to the newly created chants of the Corpus Christi liturgy . The hymn Ave vivens hostia could accordingly belong in the context of the Corpus Christi celebrations.
text
| Latin text | translation |
|---|---|
|
1. Ave, vivens hostia, |
1. Greetings, living offering, |
Content analysis
The hymn consists of 15 vagant stanzas of eight verses each. In terms of content, the hymn can be divided into three parts: The host is addressed in the first six stanzas. From the seventh stanza the dogmatic part begins, which represents the doctrine of transubstantiation . The last three stanzas contain petitions.
In the beginning the host is always personified and in its function it replaces the animal sacrifice ("In qua sacrificia | Cuncta sunt finita" v. 2f.). The first two verses of the hymn refer to a self-statement of Jesus from the Gospel of John: "I am the way and the truth and the life" (Jn 14: 6). The first stanza emphasizes the unifying function of the host in the religious community. In the second stanza the body of Christ is referred to as "Scrinium dulcoris" (Shrine of Sweetness). In the third stanza the host is addressed as “manna caelicum” (bread of heaven). The host is assigned the status of a mysterious remedy ("Medicamen mysticum" v. 21). The fourth stanza contains the idea that the host is the earthly representation of Jesus. Heavenly paradise is a comforting promise for the poor who take the host (5th stanza). Apotropaic, ie averting damage, the host provides a protective shield against enemies (6th stanza).
The explanation of the doctrine of transubstantiation begins with the seventh stanza , which is continued in the eighth stanza. It is postulated that Christ is in heaven and in the host at the same time. The 9th and 10th stanzas describe the reception, not the consumption (“Sumptum non consumitur”) of the host in the body of the believer and emphasize that Christ does not suffer during the loving eating (“Christ nihil patitur”). By taking the host, believers adopt Christ's virtues such as love and moderation (11th stanza) and charity (12th stanza). The last three stanzas are petitions to Jesus asking for help in difficult situations, forgiveness, and righteousness. Christ, the defender (“propugnator”, 15th stanza), should help the victory of faith.
use
The Ave vivens hostia was probably sung as a communion song during mass and in the context of the feast of Corpus Christi. The hymn itself is represented in the Analecta Hymnica (AH 31, pp. 111–114, no. 105) with over 60 references. The hymn is listed here in the category of a “pium dictamen”, which means that it can also be used as a silent prayer. This is also supported by the current sources. Karlheinz Schlager refers to the rubrications with which the poem is provided. These are often provided with “meditatio”, sometimes with the addition “devota”.
German broadcasts
The author's lexicon lists four transmissions into the German language: The first group consists of transmissions that can be traced back to the monk of Salzburg , which includes at least six manuscripts . The monk of Salzburg tried to find a translation of the Latin hymn that was as accurate as possible in terms of form and content. The metric, the cross rhyme and the number of syllables have been retained in its German translation. The monk also adds an additional stanza for which there are templates in the Latin original. A second translation can be found in the context of the Tegernsee hymns . A Latin manuscript from Ebersberg, dated to the 15th century, provides a third German version, which found its way into later hymn books (especially from the 16th century). The fourth transfer group relates to a print from 1497 in Basel. The version printed there presumably comes from Ludwig Moser . In addition to the versions classified in this group, many more have been preserved, for which transfer groups still have to be found. Text witnesses of further transmissions will be recorded in the database of the DFG project “Berliner Repertorium” in the future.
The German transmissions of the Ave vivens hostia are usually in stanzas, similar to the Latin original. Some transmissions also attempt to imitate rhyme, others are prose. The German, i.e. vernacular, versions of the hymn Ave vivens hostia could, for example, have served as the non-liturgical song of the mass. They would thus represent a predecessor of the hymn. But it can also be assumed that they were on Corpus Christi z. B. were sung during the procession . In addition, they could also have served the private use of the faithful outside the church, for example as a (indulgence) prayer or to be able to understand the Latin (liturgical) hymn. Research on this and other Latin hymns and their German translations attempt to fathom the relationship between liturgy or sacred language and vernacular language (cf. Andreas Kraß: Mittit ad virginem).
literature
- Arnold Angenendt: History of Religiosity in the Middle Ages. 4th edition. Darmstadt 2009.
- Wilhelm Breuer: The Latin Eucharistic poem of the Middle Ages from its beginnings to the end of the 13th century. An example of religious speech. Wuppertal 1970.
- Berta Gillitzer: The Tegernsee hymns of the Cgm. 858. Contributions to knowledge of Bavarian and to the poetry of hymns of the 15th century. Munich 1942 (Research on Bavarian Dialectology 2), pp. 48–50 u. 131f.
- Johannes Janota: Studies on the function and type of the spiritual song in the Middle Ages. Munich 1968 (MTU 23).
- Andreas Kraß: Mittit ad virginem. The arrangements of the Mary sequence by the monk of Salzburg, Oswald von Wolkenstein and Heinrich Laufenberg. In: Mary in hymn and sequence. Interdisciplinary Medieval Perspectives. Edited by Eva Rothenberger and Lydia Wegener. Berlin, Boston 2017.
- Karlheinz Schlager: Ave vivens hostia. From meditation to processional song. In: Kirchenmusikalisches Jahrbuch 85 (2001), pp. 127-134.
- Franz Viktor Spechtler: Ave vivens hostia. In: The German literature of the Middle Ages. Author's Lexicon Vol. 1. Ed. By Kurt Ruh. 2. completely rework. Output. Berlin, New York 1978, Sp. 571f.
- Rudolf Stephan: The songs of the Ebersberger manuscript, now Clm 6043. In: Yearbook for Liturgy and Hymnology 2 (1956), pp. 98-104.
