| The hymn was well known to all classes by the end of the fourteenth century.
Georgius Stella, Chancellor of Genoa (d. 1420), in his "Annales Genuenses",
speaks of it as in use by the Flagellants in 1388, and other historians
note its use later in the same century. In Provence, about 1399, the "Albati",
or "Bianchi", sang it during their nine days' processions. "The Church did
not receive the hymn from the heretics, but the heretics despoiled the Church
of the Sequence" (Daniel, "Thesaurus Hymnologicus", II, 140). If the very
questionable ascription to Jacopone da Todi be correct, the hymn probably
found its way from Franciscan houses into those of other religious bodies
and into popular use. It is found in several European (but not English)
Missals of the fifteenth century, but was not introduced into the Roman
Breviary and Missal until 1727 (Feast of the Seven Dolours B. V. M., assigned
to Friday after Passion Sunday. The September feast of the same name employs
other hymns in the Breviary Office). In the Breviary it is divided into
three parts: at Vespers, "Stabat Mater dolorosa"; at Matins, "Sancta Mater,
istud agas"; at Lauds, "Virgo virginum praeclara". The authorship of the
hymn has been ascribed to St. Gregory the Great (d. 604), St. Bernard of
Clairvaux (d. 1153), Innocent III (d. 1216), St. Bonaventure (d. 1274),
Jacopone (d. 1306), Pope John XXII (d. 1334), Gregory XI (d. 1378). Of these
ascriptions, the only probable ones are those to Innocent III and Jacopone.
Benedict XIV gives it without question to Innocent, and quotes three authorities;
Mone, in his notes, and Hurter, in his "Life", give it to the same great
pontiff. Duffield, in his "Latin Hymn Writers and their Hymns", rejects
with much positiveness, and Mearns, in Julian, "Dictionary of Hymnology",
questions, the ascription. Gregorovius also denies it to the pope of "the
great and cold intellect"; but for a similar reason he might question the
ascription of the Corpus Christi hymns, redolent of devotional warmth and
sweetness, to the rigorously scholastic mind of St. Thomas Aquinas; he adds,
however, a reference to a fourteenth-century manuscript containing poems
by Jacopone with an ascription to him of the Stabat. The argument for Jacopone
is not satisfactory. While his hymns written in the Umbrian dialect commanded
popularity and deserved respect, some of the Latin hymns ascribed to him
are certainly not his, and it is doubtful if he ever wrote any -- or at
all events anything better than imitations of -- Latin hymns. |
Stabat Mater dolorosa Juxta Crucem lacrimosa, Dum pendebat Filius.
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At the cross her station keeping, Stood the mournful Mother weeping,
Close to Jesus to the last.
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Cujus animam gementem, Contristatam et dolentem, Pertransivit gladius.
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Through her heart, His sorrow sharing, All His bitter anguish bearing,
Now at length the sword had pass'd.
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O quam tristis et afflicta Fuit illa benedicta Mater Unigeniti!
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Oh, how sad and sore distress'd Was that Mother highly blest Of the
sole-begotten One!
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Quem maerebat, et dolebat, Pia Mater, dum videbat Nati paenas inclyti.
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Christ above in torment hangs; She beneath beholds the pangs Of her
dying glorious Son.
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Quis est homo, qui non fleret, Matrem Christi si videret In tanto supplicio?
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Is there one who would not weep, Whelm'd in miseries so deep Christ's
dear Mother to behold ?
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Quis non posset contristari, Christi Matrem contemplari Dolentem cum
Filio?
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Can the human heart refrain From partaking in her pain, In that Mother's
pain untold?
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Pro peccatis suae gentis Vidit Jesum in tormentis, Et flagellis subditum.
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Bruis'd, derided, curs'd, defil'd, She beheld her tender child All with
bloody scourges rent.
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Vidit suum dulcem natum Moriendo desolatum, Dum emisit spiritum.
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For the sins of His own nation, Saw Him hang in desolation, Till His
spirit forth He sent.
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Eia Mater, fons amoris, Me sentire vim doloris Fac, ut tecum lugeam.
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O thou Mother! fount of love! Touch my spirit from above; Make my heart
with thine accord.
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Fac, ut ardeat cor meum In amando Christum Deum, Ut sibi complaceam.
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Make me feel as thou hast felt; Make my soul to glow and melt With the
love of Christ our Lord.
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Sancta Mater, istud agas, Crucifixi fige plagas Cordi meo valide.
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Holy Mother! pierce me through; In my heart each wound renew Of my Saviour
crucified.
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Tui nati vulnerati, Tam dignati pro me pati, Paenas rnecum divide.
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Let me share with thee His pain, Who for all my sins was slain, Who
for me in torments died.
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Fac me tecum pie flere, Crucifixo condolere, Donec ego vixero.
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Let me mingle tears with thee, Mourning Him who mourn'd for me, All
the days that I may live.
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Juxta Crucem tecum stare, Et me tibi sociare In planctu desidero.
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By the cross with thee to stay, There with thee to weep and pray, Is
all I ask of thee to give.
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Virgo virginum praeclara, Mihi jam non sis amara: Fac me tecum plangere.
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Virgin of all virgins best, Listen to my fond request Let me share thy
grief divine.
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Fac, ut portem Christi mortem Passionis fac consortum, Et plagas recolere.
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Let me, to my latest breath, In my body bear the death Of that dying
Son of thine.
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Fac me plagis vulnerari Fac me cruce inebriari, Et cruore Filii.
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Wounded with His every wound, Steep my soul till it hath swoon'd In
His very blood away.
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Flammis ne urar succensus Per te, Virgo, sim defensus In die judicii.
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Be to me, O Virgin, nigh, Lest in flames I burn and die, In His awful
Judgment day.
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Christe, cum sit hinc exire, Da per Matrem me venire, Ad palmam victoriae.
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Christ, when Thou shalt call me hence, Be Thy Mother my defence, Be
Thy cross my victory.
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Quando corpus morietur, Fac, ut animae donetur Paradisi gloria.
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While my body here decays, May my soul Thy goodness praise, Safe in
Paradise with Thee.
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Amen.
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Amen.
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