O holy crosses

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O holy Creütze , print version Munich 1631

O thou most holy crosses is a Catholic spiritual song for the veneration of the cross . Text and melody have been handed down without an indication of the author; since the earliest surviving print - Constance 1600 - both have seen countless changes. The Praise to God contains a ten-verse version (No. 294).

Form and content

The text is assigned to the efforts of the Jesuits in particular to revive popular piety in the age of the Counter Reformation and the Tridentine renewal. That served u. a. Pilgrimages and processions , and as a pilgrimage and processional song for the Holy Cross , not for the actual liturgy , O du hochheilig Kreuzer was created . The simplicity and brevity of the only three-line stanzas and the repetition of the last line ( deleted in the praise of God in 1975 , restored in 2013) are reminiscent of the originally responsory song .

The seven stanzas of 1600 had already become 18 in 1631. The first three - which also open up the praise of God - remember, in addressing the cross, the Passion of Jesus and, in the form of a rhetorical question, confess the impossibility of “praising enough” the salvific meaning of the cross. This is followed by a series of images for this meaning of salvation that cannot be closed in principle (stanzas 4–10): “You are” a ladder, bridge, victory sign, heavenly key, helmet and shield, pilgrim's staff, sweet bed. After another greeting to the cross and a request for help in the hour of death (verse 11), a prayer addressed to Jesus himself for protection in life and in death with intercession for the poor and - as a reflection of the Turkish wars  - for the persecuted Christians (verses 12 -17). The last two stanzas of this Jesus prayer can also be found in the praise of God, but here they are still addressed to the cross.

Today the song is regularly sung in many places to worship the cross in the Good Friday liturgy .

Text in use today

1. O you most holy cross,
on which my Lord hung
|: in pain and agony. : |

6. You are the sign of victory,
 before which the enemy is frightened,
|: if he only looks at it. : |

2. There
the limbs are pierced with spears and nails ,
|: hands, feet and sides pierced. : |

7. You are the staff of the pilgrims,
on which we surely
waver |: do not stagger and do not fall. : |

3. Who can praise you enough,
since you enclosed all good
|: that ever flowed to us. : |

8. You are the key of heaven,
you infer the life
|: that has been given to us through you. : |

4. You are the sure ladder
on which one climbs to life,
|: that God wants to give forever. : |

9. Show your power and strength,
protect us all together
|: by your holy name,: |

5. You are the strong bridge
over which all the pious
|: can get through the floods. : |

10. That we, God's children,
may die in peace
|: as heirs of his kingdom. : |

melody

The melody, originally hypomixolydic , became popular in a major and 6/4 time version (Erfurt 1630, Cologne 1638) and was sung until the 20th century. This version ? / i was also chosen for the Praise of God 2013, while for the Praise of God 1975 a straight-bar melody version ? / i (Straubing 1607) had been used. Audio file / audio sample Audio file / audio sample

literature

  • O holy crosses . In: Geistliches Wunderhorn. Great German hymns . Ed., Presented and explained by Hansjakob Becker u. a. Munich 2001, pp. 167-180

Web links

Commons : O you most holy crosses  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e omitted in the praise of God
  2. ↑ which makes it unclear what “holy name” is actually meant