
Tantum Ergo
by Fr. Gabriel Terrill | 02/01/2025 | Weekly ReflectionDear friends,
This past Tuesday, we celebrated the memorial of Saint Thomas Aquinas, one of the most influential and well-known doctors of the Church. A medieval scholar and Dominican priest, Aquinas is known for many titles, such as the Angelic Doctor, the Dumb Ox, and the Universal Doctor. He is most well known for his compendium of theological teachings known as the Summa Theologica, which can be translated from Latin as the Summary of all Theology. This, along with Aquinas’ other works and prayers, make up a treasure trove of writings that have served as building blocks in defining and understanding Church Dogma, the core teachings of the Catholic faith.
Even today, his teachings benefit those who desire to grow in their understanding of faith. While Aquinas is most well known for his intellectual contributions to the Church, he was also a deeply spiritual theologian who developed and wrote many prayers and reflections that are still used to this day. Some of the most profound and beautiful of these writings are those that deal with the Blessed Sacrament, the Eucharist.
If you have ever been to Benediction, you are familiar with the Eucharistic hymn known as the Tantum Ergo. The Tantum Ergo is actually a part of the larger hymn known as the Pange Lingua, which is typically sung on the feast of Corpus Christi. The Pange Lingua was written by Saint Thomas Aquinas and contains rich insight into Eucharistic theology. Even in the last two stanzas, which make up the Tantum Ergo, there is a profound explanation of Eucharistic adoration. In honor of the Memorial of Saint Thomas Aquinas, I want to take this opportunity to look at this common Latin Hymn, the Tantum Ergo and hopefully exhibit its depth of beauty as a tool for adoring our Lord in the Eucharist.
The Tantum Ergo is composed of two stanzas and is as follows:
Tantum ergo sacramentum
Veneremur cernui,
et antiquum documentum
novo cedat ritui.
Præstet fides supplementum
sensuum defectui.
Genitori genitoque
laus et jubilatio,
Salus, honor, virtus quoque
sit et benedictio!
Procedenti ab utroque
compar sit laudatio!
Amen.
The hymn begins with Tantum ergo sacramentum, which translates directly to “So great therefore a sacrament.” Here, the tantum can be translated to mean great. However, this word is often overused. Great here isn’t referring to the sacrament as better than average like when we say “great job,” but as “the greatest.” In this sense, the Blessed Sacrament is “Tantamount.” Right from the beginning, we begin by adoring the Sacrament, which is this great Sacrament, not just a sign but the presence of the divine. Veneremur cernui follows this and can be translated to mean, let us venerate with bowed heads.” Oftentimes, we lose sight of the profound mystery and gift of our faith, and this can certainly be the case in our relationship with the Eucharist. Here the word Cernui literally means “face turned toward the earth,” and we are reminded that we are in the true presence of our Lord and as such we are called to humble ourselves before Him as He has humbled Himself for us.
The next two lines, et antiquum documentum novo cedat ritui, translate to, “and the ancient document gives way to the new rite.” Here, documentum could mean teaching that the old teaching would give place to the new rite or ritual of our Lord’s passion, death, and resurrection. Perhaps this refers to Jesus’ teaching on the Eucharist in John chapter six, where he emphasizes the need to eat of his flesh and drink of his blood. Many of his disciples left him when he said this and said, “This saying is hard; who can accept it?” (John 6:60)
It is fitting then that the hymn should continue with Praestet fides supplementum Sensuum defectui, which translates to, “may faith supply a supplement for the defect of the senses.” Here is a prayer in answer to the difficult teaching of the Eucharist. While the consecrated Host and Chalice taste, look and smell like bread and wine, they have been changed in their substance into the Body and Blood of Christ. They are no longer just physical food but spiritual, living food. Therefore, where our senses lack an awareness of the true presence of our Lord in the Eucharist, we pray to have eyes of faith that we might recognize by faith our Lord in the Eucharist, which we adore.
In the second stanza, the hymn closes by recognizing and honoring the Trinity as it continues with Genitori genitoque, which translates as “to the one who generates and to the one who is generated.” Here the hymn is referring to God the Father who generates and to God the Son who is generated. This is important as it clarifies the relationship between the Father and the Son, not as creator and created, but as generator and generated; that Jesus was not created but that he is consubstantial, of the same substance/being, as the Father. Next, the hymn praises the Trinity with Laus et jubilatio, Salus, honor, virtus, quoque sit et benedictio which translates to, “be praise and joy, salutation, honor, and virtue, and may there be blessing,”
Finally, the hymn concludes with the lines Procednti ab utroque, Compar sit laudatio which translates as “to the One proceeding from both, may there be equal praise.” Here, we identify the Third Person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit, who is coequal with the Father and the Son and proceeds from both. In this, we recognize the presence of the Triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit before us as we adore Him in the Eucharist. It is for this reason that we sing the Tantum Ergo at the end of Eucharistic Adoration to remember who sits before us and how great a God He is to make Himself accessible to us in the Blessed Sacrament.
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