O Sanctissima
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"O Sanctissima" is a Roman Catholic hymn in Latin to the Blessed Virgin Mary, first published in 1792, and often sung on Marian feast days. It is claimed that the tune of the hymn is Sicilian. The tune is sometimes called "Sicilian Mariners Hymn" or "Mariners Hymn".
O sanctissima, o piissima |
O most holy, o most loving, |
It has also been made into a Christmas carol with English words not relating to the Blessed Virgin Mary, but rather to Jesus himself and his day of birth:
O thou happy, O thou holy
Glorious peace bringing Christmas time
Angel throngs to meet thee
On Thy birth we greet Thee
Hail to Christ, the Son of God, our newborn king
Or, in another English-language rendition:
Oh, how joyfully; Oh, how merrily
Christmas comes with its grace divine
Grace again is beaming
Christ the world redeeming;
Hail, ye Christians,
Hail the joyous Christmas time
Ludwig van Beethoven arranged it as No. 4 in his "Verschiedene Volkslieder" (various folksongs), WoO 157. The German version ("O du fröhliche") is a well-known Christmas carol.
This tune is also used for the hymn "Lord, Dismiss Us With Thy Blessing", and it appears to have influenced the melody of "We Shall Overcome", with a close match between the first half of both tunes.[1][2][3]
References
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External links
- "O Sanctissima" on YouTube, The Cathedral Singers, Richard Proulx