Ubi caritas

Ubi caritas et amor

Ubi caritas ( lat. , Where love ') is an antiphon from the liturgy of Holy Thursday . The text by an unknown author is based on the 1st letter of John and is handed down in a manuscript from the St. Gallen monastery from the 8th century.

The antiphon was sung together with the associated hymn Congregavit nos, whose author is believed to be Paulinus of Aquileia († 802/04), during the washing of the feet in the Middle Ages until the liturgical reform of the 20th century . Today the antiphon and five stanzas of the hymn in the mass of the Last Supper are planned for the preparation of the offering . In the currently valid translation of the missal, however, the metric of the hymn was not taken into account. In liturgical practice, therefore, the hymn is either sung in the Latin version or replaced. The German partial translation below relates to the stanzas planned for Maundy Thursday, the entire hymn was translated by H. Brosseder (in the songbook Bis he wiederkommt… , Munich 1965). The last two translations mentioned are metric and can be sung on the Gregorian melody.

In a simple but moving Latin, the text of the hymn calls for the two forms of Christian caritas: love of God and love of neighbor. Without it one is in darkness, it is the highest gift, it fulfills the old and new law (i.e. the old and the new testament). Love connects where it is not, there is separation. The hymn also alludes to Mt 18:20 in a language close to the Bible. This hymn underlines in ever new poetic expressions that in love of God and neighbor both the perfected and the perfected life consist, yes, that love is the decisive point at which God and man become one. Adolf Adam notes that Ubi Caritas can also be seen as a “Caritas song” at a meal donated by princes in the monastery dining room, but that the washing of the feet (the mandatum ) on Maundy Thursday is assumed to be a seat in the life of poetry.

The first line is either Ubi caritas et amor ('where goodness and love') or Ubi caritas est vera ('where goodness is real'). The latter version is preferred by the current Missale Romanum and Graduale Romanum .

Through settings from Taizé , Ubi caritas has also become popular beyond liturgical use. There are two versions from Taizé, of which the one by Jacques Berthier can be found both in the trunk of the Praise of God 2013 (No. 445) and in many regional parts of the Evangelical Hymnal . The other is by Joseph Gelineau and is called Ubi caritas Deus ibi est for distinction . Some divine praise diocesan parts also contain an older German translation by Johannes van Acken (1937) Where there is goodness and love, there is God with a melody by Heinrich Rohr (1940). The new Gotteslob (2013) contains the Latin Kehrvers (285), the simplified German Kehrvers (305.5), three stanzas of the hymn in German translation with the Kehrvers (442) and a polyphonic movement by Berthier (445).

Ubi caritas was also often set to music in other ways; The best known are the motet by Maurice Duruflé from his Four Motets op. 10 as well as more recent versions by Morten Lauridsen , Ola Gjeilo and Rihards Dubra . The Welsh composer Paul Mealor composed a choral setting commissioned for the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton on April 29, 2011.

The text says:

Latin	German
Ubi caritas et amor Deus ibi est.	Where there is love and goodness, there is God.
Of the 12 stanzas of 4 verses each, only the first stanza is usually used:
Latin	German
Congregavit nos in unum Christi amor exsultemus et in ipso iucundemur. timeamus et amemus Deum vivum et ex corde diligamus nos sincero. Qui non habet caritatem, nihil habet, sed in tenebris et umbra mortis manet; nos alterutrum amemus et in the sicut decet ambulemus lucis filii. Caritas est summum bonum et amplum donum, in qua pendet totus ordo praeceptorum, per quam vetus atque nova lex impletur, quae ad caeli celsa mittit se repletos. Nam ut caritas coniungit et absentes, sic discordia disiungit et praesentes, unum omnes indivise sentiamus, nec ut simul adgregati dividamur. Simul ergo cum in unum congregamur: ne nos mente dividamur caveamus. Cessent iurgia maligna, cessent lites. Et in medio nostri sit Christ Deus. Clamat Dominus et dicit clara voce: ubi fuerint in unum congregati meum propter nomen simul tres vel duo, et in medio eorum ego ero. Haec per coccum priscae legis figuratur, qui bis rubeo colore tingebatur, quia caritas praeceptis in duobus constat, quis Deus amatur atque homo. Ardua et arta via ducit sursum, ampla est atque devexa, quae deorsum, sed perennem dat fraternus amor vitam, et perpetuam malignis lis dat poenam. Tota ergo mente Deum diligamus et illius nil amori praeponamus, inde proximos in Deo ut nos ipsos, diligamus propter Deum inimicos. Unanimiter excelsum imploremus, ut det pacem clemens nostris in diebus, iungant fidei speique opus bonum, ut consortium captemus supernorum. Gloriam aeterno regi decantemus et pro vita dominorum exoremus, multos ut cum ipsis annos gaudeamus, propter quorum hic amore congregamur. Similis et quo beatis videamus glorianter vultum tuum, Christe Deus, gaudium, quod es immensum atque probum, saecula per infinita saeculorum. Amen.	Christ's love united us. Let us rejoice and rejoice in him! We want to fear and love the living God and love one another with a pure heart. He who does not have love has nothing. No, he remains in the dark and [in] the shadow of death. We [want] to love one another and walk around in daylight as it should be [as] children of light. Love is the greatest good and a great gift. Everything that exists in terms of regulations depends on it. (w: the whole canon) Through them the old and the new law are fulfilled. She sends them to high places because they [have] fulfilled them. For just as love unites those [who are] not there at all, so discord brings apart those [who] stand together. We all [want] to carry the one [in our hearts] together so that we don't part [again] like an accidental gathering. Since we have now all become one, we guard ourselves against being separated in spirit. Let the quarrel flee, let evil quarrels escape: In our midst, the Lord Christ dwell. The Lord tells us and promises us from far and wide: Where at the same time two or three gather in my name of one heart and in unity, I will also be among them. So let us cling to God with all our souls and nothing should stand before his love. Let us be good in God to our neighbor as ourselves and, because of God, love our enemy too. With the blessed let us look one day in glory, Christ, your face. Oh, what immeasurable joy through the boundless expanse of eternity. Amen.

In contrast to this, the text of the last stanza is in many common, especially older versions, as can be seen in the illustration, but also e.g. B. in the Graduale Romanum (Editio Vaticana):

Latin	German
Simul quoque cum beátis videámus. Gloriánter vultum tuum, Christe Deus. Gáudium, quod est imménsum, atque probum: Saécula per infiníta saeculórum. Amen.	At the same time with the saints we glorify Your face, Christ our God. Oh joy that is measurable and immeasurably great: for all eternity. Amen.

literature

• Adolf Adam (ed.): Te Deum laudamus. Great prayers of the Latin-German Church . Herder, Freiburg i. Br. 1987. New edition 2001, ISBN 3-451-27359-4 , pp. 114-117.

Web links

Commons : Ubi caritas et amor  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Notes in the public domain by Ubi caritas in the Choral Public Domain Library - ChoralWiki (English)
• Ubi caritas - Taizé (Berthier)
• Ubi caritas - Taizé (Gelineau)
• Maundy Thursday: "Where there is goodness and love ..." Liturgical Institute of Switzerland

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} cf. Adolf Adam (ed.): Te Deum laudamus. Great prayers of the Latin-German Church . Herder, Freiburg i. Br. 1987. New edition 2001, ISBN 3-451-27359-4 , p. 220.
2. ↑ ^{a b} Cf. The celebration of Holy Mass. Missal . For the dioceses of the German-speaking area. Authentic edition for liturgical use. Part I: Sundays and public holidays in German and Latin. Holy Week German. Einsiedeln et al. 1975, p. [24] f. or the celebration of Holy Mass. Missal . For the dioceses of the German-speaking area. Authentic edition for liturgical use. Holy Week and Easter Octave. Supplemented by the celebration of baptism and confirmation as well as the consecration of the oils. Solothurn et al. 1996, p. [28] as well as Schott-Messbuch for the Sundays and holidays of the reading year A. Herder, Freiburg i. Br. 1983, ISBN 3-451-19231-4 , p. 171 f. ( online ).
3. ↑ This translation is by Michael Hauber.
4. ↑ quoted from: Adolf Adam (ed.): Te Deum laudamus. Great prayers of the Latin-German Church . Herder, Freiburg i. Br. 1987. New edition 2001, ISBN 3-451-27359-4 , p. 220; the translation is found in Adam on pages 115–117.
5. ↑ ZB No. 811 in the edition for the (ore) dioceses of Berlin, Dresden-Meißen, Erfurt, Görlitz and Magdeburg
6. ↑ Melissa Lesnie: New British compositions a gift for the Royal Wedding ( English ) In: Limelight Magazine . Australian Broadcasting Company / Haymarket Media. April 29, 2011. Retrieved April 29, 2011.
7. ^ Paul Mealor: Ubi Caritas et Amor. ( Memento of the original from September 28, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. University of York Music Press (catalog entry) 
8. ↑ quoted from: Adolf Adam (ed.): Te Deum laudamus. Great prayers of the Latin-German Church . Herder, Freiburg i. Br. 1987. New edition 2001, ISBN 3-451-27359-4 , pp. 114-117.
9. ↑ Pope Pius IX. : GRADUALE DE TEMPORE ET DE SANCTIS. 1871, Retrieved October 8, 2017 (Latin). 
10. ↑ Pope Pius X : GRADUALE DE TEMPORE ET DE SANCTIS. 1908, Retrieved July 30, 2017 (Latin).