Stabat Mater

Stabat Mater is a Roman Catholic hymn of the 13th century, attributed to Jacopone da Todi, that meditates on the suffering of Mary, mother of Jesus during his crucifixion. The title is an abbreviation of the first line, Stabat mater dolorosa ("The sorrowful mother was standing"). Stabat mater remains perhaps the most powerful and immediate medieval Latin poem, the classic expression of a newly internalized piety that involved— to an unprecedented degree— sentiment, personal imagination and a new empathy in the individual' Christian's relation to the Passion.

It has been put to music by many composers, among them Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, Gioacchino Rossini, Antonín Dvořák, Krzysztof Penderecki and Karol Szymanowski. Stabat mater was one of Giuseppe Verdi's last compositions, his Quattro Pezzi Sacri ("Four Sacred Pieces"), 1898.

Words and translation

Stabat mater dolorosa

iuxta Crucem lacrimosa,

dum pendebat Filius.

At the Cross her station keeping,

stood the mournful Mother weeping,

close to Jesus to the last.

Cuius animam gementem,

contristatam et dolentem

pertransivit gladius.

Through her heart, His sorrow sharing,

all His bitter anguish bearing,

now at length the sword has passed.

O quam tristis et afflicta

fuit illa benedicta,

mater Unigeniti!

O how sad and sore distressed

was that Mother, highly blest,

of the sole-begotten One.

Quae maerebat et dolebat,

pia Mater, dum videbat

nati poenas inclyti.

Christ above in torment hangs,

she beneath beholds the pangs

of her dying glorious Son.

Quis est homo qui non fleret,

matrem Christi si videret

in tanto supplicio?

Is there one who would not weep,

whelmed in miseries so deep,

Christ's dear Mother to behold?

Quis non posset contristari

Christi Matrem contemplari

dolentem cum Filio?

Can the human heart refrain

from partaking in her pain,

in that Mother's pain untold?

Pro peccatis suae gentis

vidit Iesum in tormentis,

et flagellis subditum.

Bruised, derided, cursed, defiled,

she beheld her tender Child

All with scourges rent:

Vidit suum dulcem Natum

moriendo desolatum,

dum emisit spiritum.

For the sins of His own nation,

saw Him hang in desolation,

Till His spirit forth He sent.

Eia, Mater, fons amoris

me sentire vim doloris

fac, ut tecum lugeam.

O thou Mother! fount of love!

Touch my spirit from above,

make my heart with thine accord:

Fac, ut ardeat cor meum

in amando Christum Deum

ut sibi complaceam.

Make me feel as thou hast felt;

make my soul to glow and melt

with the love of Christ my Lord.

Sancta Mater, istud agas,

crucifixi fige plagas

cordi meo valide.

Holy Mother! pierce me through,

in my heart each wound renew

of my Savior crucified:

Tui Nati vulnerati,

tam dignati pro me pati,

poenas mecum divide.

Let me share with thee His pain,

who for all my sins was slain,

who for me in torments died.

Fac me tecum pie flere,

crucifixo condolere,

donec ego vixero.

Let me mingle tears with thee,

mourning Him who mourned for me,

all the days that I may live:

Iuxta Crucem tecum stare,

et me tibi sociare

in planctu desidero.

By the Cross with thee to stay,

there with thee to weep and pray,

is all I ask of thee to give.

Virgo virginum praeclara,

mihi iam non sis amara,

fac me tecum plangere.

Virgin of all virgins blest!,

Listen to my fond request:

let me share thy grief divine;

Fac, ut portem Christi mortem,

passionis fac consortem,

et plagas recolere.

Let me, to my latest breath,

in my body bear the death

of that dying Son of thine.

Fac me plagis vulnerari,

fac me Cruce inebriari,

et cruore Filii.

Wounded with His every wound,

steep my soul till it hath swooned,

in His very Blood away;

Flammis ne urar succensus,

per te, Virgo, sim defensus

in die iudicii.

Be to me, O Virgin, nigh,

lest in flames I burn and die,

in His awful Judgment Day.

Christe, cum sit hinc exire,

da per Matrem me venire

ad palmam victoriae.

Christ, when Thou shalt call me hence,

by Thy Mother my defense,

by Thy Cross my victory;

Quando corpus morietur,

fac, ut animae donetur

paradisi gloria. Amen.

When my body dies,

let my soul be granted

the glory of Paradise. Amen.

References

This article incorporates text from the public domain Catholic Encyclopedia.

External link

• http://www.stabatmater.dds.nl/ More than 400 Stabat Mater

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