Ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est.
Ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est.
Congregavit nos in unum Christi amor.
Exultemus, et in ipso iucundemur.
Temeamus, et amemus Deum vivum.
Et ex corde diligamus nos sincero.
Ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est.
Simul ergo cum in unum congregamur:
Ne nos mente dividamur caveamus.
Cessent iurgia maligna, cessent lites.
Et in medio nostri sit Christus Deus.
Ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est.
Simul quoque cum beatis videamus,
Glorianter vultum tuum, Christe Deus.
Gaudium quod est immensum, atque probum:
Saecula per infinita saeculorum. Amen.
Where charity and love are, there God is.
The love of Christ has gathered us into one flock.
Let us exult, and in Him be joyful.
Let us fear and let us love the living God.
And from a sincere heart let us love each other (and Him).
Where charity and love are, there God is.
Therefore, whensoever we are gathered as one:
Lest we in mind be divided, let us beware.
Let cease malicious quarrels, let strife give way.
And in the midst of us be Christ our God.
Where charity and love are, there God is.
Together also with the blessed may we see,
Gloriously, Thy countenance, O Christ our God:
A joy which is immense, and also approved:
Through infinite ages of ages.
Amen.
This is the antiphon traditionally sung during the washing of the feet on Holy Thursday (Maundy Thursday). The custom reminds us that Our Lord’s love for us is humble and servicing. On the eve of His Passion, as the Scriptures tell us, he took water in a basin and washed the feet of his twelve Apostles, including Judas. This is a very ancient ceremony, and a very moving one. It is still performed to this day in many monasteries and seminaries, and has been revived with less ritual and intense spirituality in some Protestant settings. Dom Marmion, the famous Benedictine writer, recalled in his youth being highly moved by watching the bishop wash the feet of the 12 youngest monks, which included himself. He pictured Christ doing so, and it touched him deeply.
Fittingly, the antiphon speaks of Christ’s deep love for us, and how we should love one another as He has loved us. Where Christ is, there is Charity – because God is Love. He loves us deeply; enough to shed His blood for each one of us. Those who scorn His infinite mercy, dying unrepentant, will face His equally infinite Justice. We all receive so many graces from Him every day, only by our fault can we be lost. All the damned will admit that it is by their fault they lost their souls.
As the Apostle says: anyone who says they love God, but hates their neighbor, does not belong to God. If you are in union with Christ, you will have the mind of Christ, who loves all men and wants them to be saved.
Themocracy
I especially love the Durufle setting of the Ubi Caritas. This piece has been a continual comfort to me in grief, and even before. My church (high Anglican) does the Ubi Caritas foot washing on Maundy Thursday, and the last Easter week M was alive I was chosen as one of the 12. To have my foot washed and kissed, so gently and tenderly by the bishop, while seated within the choir as it sang the Ubi Caritas was a trembling and tear-inducing experience I will never forget.
Thank you for recalling it.
† cdm
I think … that I will reply by e-mail to this.
Oh Serenity – thanks for reminding me of this text.
We chose a setting of Ubi Caritas by Bob Hurd during communion at our wedding; it is one of my very favorite texts.
I’m not entirely certain what is sung during the Mass of the Lord’s Supper, though I remember the wrangling in our former parish over whether it should be 12 men, 12 men and women, or an exchange by the entire church. The bickering over this service is frustrating to say the least – that we are fighting over who should be excluded from such an example of love surely breaks the heart of the one who laid down his life for us.