Tantum ergo

The Latin text of "Tantum Ergo" sung to its traditional melody, which is a mode I Gregorian chant.

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"Tantum ergo" is the incipit of the last two verses of Pange lingua, a Medieval Latin hymn generally attributed to St Thomas Aquinas c. 1264, but based upon various earlier fragments. The "Genitori genitoque" and "Procedenti ab utroque" portions are adapted from Adam of Saint Victor's sequence for Pentecost.^[1] The hymn's Latin incipit literally translates to "Therefore so great".

The singing of the Tantum ergo occurs during adoration and benediction of the Blessed Sacrament in the Catholic Church and other denominations that have this devotion.^[2] It is usually sung, though solemn recitation is sometimes done, and permitted.^[3]

^ Jeffers, Ron. Translations and Annotations of Choral Repertoire.Corvallis: Earthsongs. 1988.
^ See, e.g., benediction in English at St. John's Episcopal Church of Detroit, Benediction @ St. John's Church, Detroit - Part 2, at about 1:30, for an example of benediction in the Episcopal Church USA. For an example in the Roman Catholic Church, in Latin, see Benediction May 2, 2010: Fr. Miguel Marie.
^ "Tantum Ergo". Catholic Encyclopedia. This citation refers only to the practice of the Catholic Church prior to the liturgical changes of Vatican II.

[1] Jeffers, Ron. Translations and Annotations of Choral Repertoire.Corvallis: Earthsongs. 1988.

[2] See, e.g., benediction in English at St. John's Episcopal Church of Detroit, Benediction @ St. John's Church, Detroit - Part 2, at about 1:30, for an example of benediction in the Episcopal Church USA. For an example in the Roman Catholic Church, in Latin, see Benediction May 2, 2010: Fr. Miguel Marie.

[3] "Tantum Ergo". Catholic Encyclopedia. This citation refers only to the practice of the Catholic Church prior to the liturgical changes of Vatican II.

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