Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 10.djvu/459

* HYMNOLOGY. 397 HYMNOLOGY. (Luke i. 42-45), sometimes called the lesser Benedict us, and the song of Zaeharias ( Luke i. C8-79I, the Benedicius, were in use in the Churcii as early as the time of Saint Augustine. The -YuMC Dimittis of Simeon (Luke ii. 29-32) was used in Christian worship as early as the sixth century. The Gloria in Excelsis of the angels (Luke ii. 14) in its present form appears in the Codex Alexandrinus of the fourth century, thus proving its early use. The Epistles of Paul con- tain hymns. In Colossians iii. 16 we have a reference to the use of Psalms in public worship. Other h^Tims are found in Ephesians v. 14 : 1. Timothy iii. 16; vi. 15-16; IL Timothy ii. 11-13; the parallelism of this last passage is very marked. In the Apocalypse the language is nat- urally poetic, and there are several passages which might have been hvmns; i. 4-8: v. 9-10, 32-14; xi. 15, 17, 18; xv. 3,"4; xxi. 10-14; xxii. 17. One of the earliest references to be found in regard to the worship of the early Church is in the famous letter of Pliny to Trajan (a.d. 103,i in tliese words: "They [the Christian;,] had been accustomed to come together on a hxed day be- fore daylight, and to sing responsively a song to Christ as God." What this song was we do not know. Unfortunately, the first hymn-book of the Church is lost. This book was compiled and largely written by Justin Martyr. It was en- titled Psaltes, and is mentioned by Eusebius, .Jerome, and Gennadius. The Ante-Xicene Fa- thers bear testimony that hynms were used by the Church. We have one hymn entire appended to The Instructor of Clement of Alexandria (c.200 A.O.). It is the earliest Christian hymn extant, and may be Clement's, though by some sup- posed to be earlier than his time. It is entitled A Hymn to Christ the Saviour. The best transla- tion is by Dean Plumptre, but the most common one is by Henry JI. Dexter, beginning "Shepherd of tender youth." The next hvmn is that men- tioned by Saint Basil (c.330-379) in his treatise On the Spirit, and sometimes called the Candle- lir/ht Hymn, because sung in church at the lighting of the lamps. It begins "Joyful light of the holy glory." It has been translated many times. The best known translations are those of John Kehle and Henry W. Longfellow. The chief Eastern liturgies contain the well-known Cheru- lic Hymn, beginning "Let us who mystically represent the Cherubim." dating from the time of Justinian (527-555). ^Methodius, who suffered martyrdom in the year 312, composed a hymn which is found in the Banquet of the Ten Virgins (Discourse xi. ch. 2). beginning "Up, maidens, the sound of the cry that raiseth the dead." The Gnostics composed many hymns to further the spread of their doctrines. Valentinus (d. 160) wrote many of the most profound. Bardesanes (d. 223) is said to have composed one hundred and fifty hymns. His son. Harmonius, was also a writer of hymns. They are sometimes called the fathers of Syrian hymnology. But that honor really belongs to Ephraem Syrus (d. 378), a poet of no mean order, who wrote to counteract the work of the Gnostics, as a little later Chrysostom (d. 407) did to counteract the work of Arius. With -Ambrose (d. 397) begins a great uplift of the art of hymn-writing. To him is attributed the hymn Te Dcum Inudnmus. though probably writ- ten in part at least at a much hiter date. There are ninety-two of the liymns of the Ambrr ian school vet in existence. Ambrose also reformed the music of the Ciiurch, and his form rf chant was used until the introduction by Gregorj' the Great (d. 604) of the Gregorian chant. Both Greek and Latin hymnologists were active during the Middle Ages. In the Greek Church Saint Andrew of Crete (660-732), Saint .John of Damascus ( d. 787 ), and his foster-brother Cosmas (d. 760), were followed by the poets of the Studium, Saint Theodore (d. 826), Saint Theophanes (c.800-850), and Saint Joeph (c. 840), the most prolific of them all. The Church is greatlj- indebted to John ilason Xeale (1818- 66) for his translations from Greek sources, which however, were by no means close ; indeed, he great- ly improved upon his originals. In the Latin Church Aurelius Clemens Prudentius (d. c.413) was a prolific writer of hymns. Ctelius Scdulius (fl. 450) was the next writer of note. Ennodius (c.473-521) composed a few hjTnns. Vcnantius Fortunatus (d. 600) was a writer of much power. He is best known to us by his passiontide hymn Vexillii rcffis prodcunt, which in the translation of John Chandler begins, "The royal banner is un- furled." We are under obligation to Kobcrt 11., King of France ( d.l031 ), for Vriii, Sancie Spirilus ("Come, Holy Spirit"), and three other liymns^ The great hymn I eni, Creator Spiritus ("Come, Creator Spirit") is sometimes attributed to Char- lemagne, to Ambrose, Gregory the Great, or , Rabanus Maurus. The last-named writer did compose hymns of merit, but this is not to be in- eluded. Saint Bernard of Clairvaux (d. 1153) is a name that belongs to the whole Church. He con- tributed a long poem on the "Name of .Jesus." This contains several pa-«sages that have been used for hj-nms. Saint Bernard of Cluny ( d. 1 156 ) is not so well known personally, yet we can never sing of heaven in the highest strain without using .John Mason Neale's translation of a part of his De contempt u mundi. which he called Bernard's Bhythm on the Celestial Country, especially the verses beginning ".Jerusalem the golden." Thomas of Celano ( fl. 1220). the friend of Saint Francis of Assisi. has given us the niar-elous judgment hymn Dies Irw ( "Day of Wrath" ). Saint Thomas Aquinas the Schoolman (d. 1274) wrote Pange, lingun, gloriosi corporis niystcrium ("Sing, tongue, tiie mystery of the glorious body"). To Jacopone. the Italian Franciscan monk, we owe the Stabat Mater ("The ilother [i.e. the Virgin Marj-] stood" ). These hymns were the principal great hymns before the time of the Reformation. One of the great results of the Reformation was the use of the vernacular in Church worship. Luther was the first hymn-writer of the German Church, enriching its worship with no less than thirty-seven hynms. The best known is Bin' fcste Burg ist unser Gott ("A ilighty Fortress is our God"). The first evangelical hymn-book of 1524 contained eight hj-mns. Subsequent edi- tions contained more and more until that of 1553 contains one hundred and thirty-one. Co-workers with Luther added much to the hymnologj- of the Church. .Justus .Jonas (1493-1.5.55): Paul Eber (1511-15G9) : Erasmus Alber (d. 15.53) : Lazarus Spenglerl 1479-1534) : Hans Sachs, the shoemaker poet of Nuremberg (1494-1576): Paul Spcratus (1484-1551): and others among the early Re- formers published hymns of value. The Bohe- mian Brethren, notably Michael Weisseld. 1534), furnished a number "of hymns in this period. Their hvmns breathed a deep spiritual atmo- sphere. The French Refonuation produced ths