Dóminus regit me, et nihil mihi déerit: in loco páscuæ ibi me collocávit: super aquam refectiónis educávit me.
The Lord rules over me, and there is nothing I shall want. In pastures – there – he places me; near restful waters he leads me.
Psalm 23: 1, 2
GT: 365
GN: 354
The plethora of protus communion chants over the past month or so (Aufer a me, Notas mihi fecísti, Lætabimur, to name a few) raises some fascinating questions: were these all composed around the same time in a centonization process? Is there any relationship between the formulas and the text they underline? A cursory glance at their calendar use (via gregorien.info) shows that they were spread throughout the liturgical year prior to Vatican II.
The formulas over regit, déerit, and educávit me are similar to ones we’ve seen in other mode II communion antiphons. I intended to adopt most of the corrections proposed by the editors of BzG1. E 121 clearly shows a singular tractulus over regit me, even though I (accidentally!) sung it according to the Vatican edition. (I can now understand how that mistake passed through generations in diastemetic manuscripts!). There should be two torculi initio debilii over super and educávit. The one over super is a formula, so the initial note is DO. E 121 gives an equaliter before the torculus initio debilis on educávit, so the initial note ought to be at the same pitch level as the final note of refectiónis, RE.
This particular translation of psalm 23 intrigued me because there is no overt reference to the Lord as the Divine Shepherd. As perhaps the most famous of all the psalms, at least to us in the 21st century (did it have such renown in the 7th- and 8th-centuries?), we can essentially assume His implied role. Was this the intention of the cantors? Or rather, because His role as shepherd is clearly articulated by other chants throughout the liturgical year, like Ego sum pastor bonus, is there something else the cantors would like us to recall? I was further reflecting on the shepherd omission as I read found by Sally Lloyd-Jones to my son before bed last night. I must admit, I found it difficult not to approach our Lord as the Good Shepherd. This children’s adaptation of psalm 23 features delightful imagery and a beautiful, approachable translation. I too have cried reading it, trying to imagine myself as a little lamb in the arms of God. In this chant, I heard a similar sweetness over super aquam refectiónis. Perhaps that’s the point: to imagine ourselves as living within the scene, a type of lectio divino.
- Göschl, Johannes Berchmans et al, “Dóminus regit me, ” Beiträge zur Gregorianik, 45 (2008): 30-31.
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