I took the liberty of adding a little filler for this weekend's bulletin, in honor of Christ the King (or formally, "Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe"), a very regal Christ-like crown, with the Latin antiphon: Christus Vincit! Christus Regnat! Christus Imperat! This translates: Christ conquers! Christ reigns! Christ commands!
I'm sure many are familiar with the hymn To Jesus Christ, Our Sov'reign King, our recessional hymn for this weekend, and probably the most popular of Catholic hymns to Christ the King. In writing the hymn text, Msgr. Martin Hellreigel loosely translated the Christus Vincit antiphon for a refrain to fit a tune called Ich Glaub an Gott (the tune we sing), which originated in Mainz, Germany, in 1870. While we have sung over the years, Christ Jesus Victor, Christ Jesus Ruler, Christ Jesus Lord and Redeemer, what many don't know is that Msgr. Hellreigel originally used the word Commander instead of Redeemer. Commander conforms more closesly to the phrase Christus Imperat! or Christ commands!
The last hymnal I remember seeing the word Commander in the hymn (in any hymnal or missalette) was the 1976 edition of the We Celebrate hymnal (it was changed to Redeemer in the 1979 and subsequent edition). St. John Cantius Church in Chicago, Illinois, to this day still sings Commander.
CHRIST JESUS VICTOR! CHRIST JESUS RULER!
CHRIST JESUS LORD AND COMMANDER!
CHRISTUS VINCIT! CHRISTUS REGNAT! CHRISTUS IMPERAT!
Quod scripsi, scripsi!
BMP
