Lenten Musical Meditation: 'Ubi Caritas'
Friends, on this Maundy Thursday, I offer you my original setting of the Ubi Caritas, written for last year's Holy Week at my church here in St Andrews, and sung by myself and the enormously talented Joy Clarkson. The Ubi Caritas is most fundamentally associated with Jesus washing His disciples' feet, and commanding them to love one another. "Maundy" comes from the latin "mandatum," meaning "commandment," referring to Jesus' final instruction to his disciples. On Maundy Thursday, we remember that the last act of Jesus was to take the role of the servant, to give himself, in the washing of feet, and in the institution of the Eucharist. On Maundy Thursday, we are called to remember this spirit of self-giving. We are reminded that to be like Christ is to lay down our own lives for the sake of others, in service, and in love.
The words of the Ubi Caritas bring this to life in a vivid, arresting way, and in my setting, I wanted to capture that sense of how what seems to us to be the simplest acts of service for others can often shine out with the illumination of a heavenly love; the actions of self-giving we take on behalf of each other and the world are icons of Jesus' love for the world. On this Maundy Thursday, even as we wait in the uncertainty of our homes for what comes next, we have these bright and shining lights all around us, in those putting their lives on the line to heal, to protect, to assist. They show us how at the very heart of human existence is the call to love one another, to lay our lives down for each other, and to serve others. Their actions reveal God's hand at work in the world redeeming even in the midst of the darkness.
Their witness is also a clarion call to us, to ask ourselves daily how we might give our own selves for the sake of those around us. Whether this is calling someone who may be lonely, making one more meal for our families, self-isolating out of love for others, or simply saying a prayer for those in need, everyday, we are given the opportunity to participate in acts of love, both great and small. And it is in those acts of love that God draws near to us, that He makes Himself known to us and those around us. "Where charity and love are, God is there."
May each of you have a blessed Triduum, and know my prayers are with you all!
Latin:
Ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est.
Congregavit nos in unum Christi amor.
Exsultemus, et in ipso jucundemur.
Timeamus, 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.
English:
Where charity and love are, God is there.
Christ's love has gathered us into one.
Let us rejoice and be pleased in Him.
Let us fear, and let us love the living God.
And may we love each other with a sincere heart.
Where charity and love are, God is there.
As we are gathered into one body,
Beware, lest we be divided in mind.
Let evil impulses stop, let controversy cease,
And may Christ our God be in our midst.
WHERE charity and love are, God is there.
And may we with the saints also,
See Thy face in glory, O Christ our God:
The joy that is immense and good,
Unto the ages through infinite ages. Amen.