Holy Cross Day: Upon a Cross the Victim Vanquished
This day, Sept. 14, is observed in both Western and Eastern churches as the Festival of the Holy Cross. It was on this day, in 335, that what was said to be a portion of the true cross upon which Christ was crucified, was brought outside of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher so clergy and laity alike could venerate it. Sept. 14 was the second day of a two-day celebratory dedication of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, which was built on the site where, in 326, Helena, mother of Constantine, discovered the true cross. Obviously, the origin of the Festival of the Holy Cross is shrouded in uncertain historical assumptions, but it is a wonderful festival in the Church, and provides a great opportunity to shine a bright light on the instrument by which the world’s salvation was purchased and won by our dear Lord Christ.
Venantius Fortunatus‘ glorious hymn, “Sing My Tongue” is sung at this festival, and I can’t think of a more perfect hymn to set next to Cranach the Younger’s magnificent painting for the St. Peter and Paul Church in Weimar. I was reminded of the painting in church today as the Old Testament lesson was read, the account of the bronze serpent. And then the Epistle lesson in which Paul asserts what the Church’s proclamation is always to be all about: Christ and Him crucified!
A blessed Holy Cross day to all. May the blessings and grace that flow from the atonement won on the cross for you and the whole world fill you with joy and peace, as you live in the promises of your Crucified Lord, raised victorious over sin, death and hell. All glory to our Holy Triune God. Amen.
SING, my tongue,
the Savior’s glory;
tell His triumph far and wide;
tell aloud the famous story
of His body crucified;
how upon the cross a victim,
vanquishing in death, He died.
Eating of the tree forbidden,
man had sunk in Satan’s snare,
when our pitying Creator did
this second tree prepare;
destined, many ages later,
that first evil to repair.
Such the order God appointed
when for sin He would atone;
to the serpent thus opposing
schemes yet deeper than his own;
thence the remedy procuring,
whence the fatal wound had come.
So when now at length the fullness
of the sacred time drew nigh,
then the Son, the world’s Creator,
left his Father’s throne on high;
from a virgin’s womb appearing,
clothed in our mortality.
All within a lowly manger,
lo, a tender babe He lies!
see his gentle Virgin Mother
lull to sleep his infant cries!
while the limbs of God incarnate
round with swathing bands she ties.
THUS did Christ to perfect manhood
in our mortal flesh attain:
then of His free choice He goeth
to a death of bitter pain;
and as a lamb, upon the altar of the cross,
for us is slain.
Lo, with gall His thirst He quenches!
see the thorns upon His brow!
nails His tender flesh are rending!
see His side is opened now!
whence, to cleanse the whole creation,
streams of blood and water flow.
FAITHFUL Cross!
above all other,
one and only noble Tree!
None in foliage, none in blossom,
none in fruit thy peers may be;
sweetest wood and sweetest iron!
Sweetest Weight is hung on thee!
Lofty tree, bend down thy branches,
to embrace thy sacred load;
oh, relax the native tension
of that all too rigid wood;
gently, gently bear the members
of thy dying King and God.
Tree, which solely wast found worthy
the world’s Victim to sustain.
harbor from the raging tempest!
ark, that saved the world again!
Tree, with sacred blood anointed
of the Lamb for sinners slain.
Blessing, honor, everlasting,
to the immortal Trinity;
to the Father, Son, and Spirit,
equal praises ever be;
glory through the earth and heaven
to Trinity in Unity. Amen.
Holy Cross Day was not even mentioned yesterday at the Lutheran church that i attend
The seamless transition from the profane to the sacred is what gave me no peace until I got this out of my system. Many people believe that there are no two people who have done as much damage to the Christian church as Helena and her son, Constantine. To say that the discovery of the True Cross is “shrouded in uncertain historical assumptions,” is to sweep the entire horror of this episode under a rug. I mean “horror” not even because of the murders and torture that were part of this quest, but because it is, in its entirety, a denial of the Gospel of the Kingdom. To those who want to look beyond the “truth” piously promoted by those who want us to have “things” to adore, I would suggest the following two web sites as a start:
http://www.thecross-photo.com/The_True_Cross_by_Ron_Loeffler.htm
and
http://books.google.com/books?id=FewzTELynqUC&pg=PA199&lpg=PA199&dq=the+sword+of+Constantine,+true+cross&source=web&ots=_cciukQ8_m&sig=5jhrdBZxd_I05sU7TkhS_-QxhsQ&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=8&ct=result
“Sing My Tongue” is beautiful, inspired poetry and music that does honor to the Gospel. It gives all glory to our Lord and what He did for us. Those who tried to find “the True Cross” wanted to possess an amulet that would bring them victory in battle, good health, and success without any regard for the Gospel. When we ally ourselves with them, the world sees us as being no different from those who used the name of our Lord for centuries to spread unspeakable suffering in both East and West. Thus the Gospel becomes a “skandalon” for the Church itself.
Please do not think that I am criticizing anyone for advocating observance of the Day of the Holy Cross. T.S. Eliot has a wonderful quote in “Murder in the Cathedral,” “’tis the highest treason to do the right thing for the wrong reason.” We simply need to look at everything through the filter of the Gospel of the Kingdom to know what is sacred, and what profane.
What is the tune or meter to the hymn “Sing My Tongue?”
@Raymond Coffey
I don’t know about LSB (haven’t yet sprung for a copy), but in Christian Worship (the WELS hymnal), the hymn is set to a stirring tune, “Fortunatus New”, by Carl F. Schalk that I think really matches the text beautifully. (Sadly, CW only includes 5 verses.)
(FYI – the 2008 Christian Worship: Supplement includes a new hymn for St. Michael and All Angels, “Christ, the Lord of Hosts, Unshaken” by Peter M. Prange, using the same tune. I even used the tune for a hymn text I wrote (unpublished) because it made such an impression.)
@George A. Marquart
Constantine and Helena certainly wouldn’t pass as orthodox Lutherans today, but neither was Constantine’s desire to commemorate the life and works of Christ with new church buildings a “denial of the Gospel” and I certainly wouldn’t feel safe saying that their errors about relics meant they had “no regard for the Gospel.” I would strongly encourage you to look at some different historical works on the period. The piece cited by James Carroll is very poor history and primarily a propaganda piece written by a bitter ex-priest.
Bethany Kilcrease
I will completely pass over any urge I might have to respond to Herr Marquart’s comment with expressions like “Right on!” or “Rock on!” to merely supply some facts re the chant.
Pange lingua gloriosi proelium certaminis is ascribed to Fortunatus (530 to 609, or so), Bishop of Potiers, and he is best known for it. However its use was not for Holy Cross Day but Matins and Lauds during Passiontide, which is now dropped by the RCC’s novus ordo. There are ten stanzas; the first five are sung at Matins and the last five at Lauds. And, the entire sequence hymn is sung during the Adoration of the Cross on Karfr, oops, Good Friday.
The piece was also the inspiration for Aquinas’ later hymn Pange lingua gloriosi corporis mysterium for the feast of Corpus Christi.
Unfortunately, Fortunatus cannot be dissociated with relic idolatry. He also wrote Vexilla regis prodeunt, which is sung at Vespers during Holy Week, so far so good, but, it was written in honour of a big chunk of the supposed True Cross that Eastern Roman Emperor Justin II sent to Queen Radegund of the Franks, who had founded a monastery in Potiers after her husband died, and this piece DID become associated with Exaltatio Sanctae Crucis, the Exaltation (as in lifting up, as in not the Crucifixion but the bringing out for adoration of the “true cross” 14 September 335) of the Holy Cross.