O Virtus refulgens (O resplendent Virtue)

[LithiumSedai 5750]

 

Written and composed by Sister Calliope Renata (Saint Calliope of Merryweather), 1908

Published by the House of Alstreim on the centenary of Saint Calliope’s death, 2014

 

 

Saint Calliope’s reliquary at the Oratory of the Intercession of the Maiden, Calliopeburg, 1988

((Ruined Chapel, Hermann Dyck))

 

 

Throughout her life, Saint Calliope of Merryweather was known as a productive poetess. Although most of her contemporary publications of poetry were of a secular nature, mainly concerning Waldenian history and culture, Saint Calliope also authored several hymns, chants and antiphons for Church use, specifically for daily service in the Chapel of Saint Ottomar of Merryweather under her care, in Corwinsburg upon Almaris.

 

The majority of these works were written in Flexio and translated to Common by Saint Calliope, with a small number of chants written in Fausteni Akritian. These three languages were learned by her to some degree of proficiency only after she had reached the age of fourteen - this included the Common tongue, as she had initially been strictly educated in Aesterwalder Waldenian. She received the instructions necessary to employ Flexio only upon taking her monastic vows.

 

Very few of Saint Calliope’s religious pieces have survived the Adrian Rebellion and the Disaster at Calliopeburg fully intact, outside of the Salvian archives. Pages containing a chant dedicated to the subject of Virtue and the Exalted Prophets, including its accompanying notation, scribed by Saint Calliope herself, were recovered by the House of Alstreim in 2012 and restored for wider publication for the centenary of her repose.

 

 

Page 334 of the recovered Codex Corvinopolitani, containing the chant O Virtus refulgens (O resplendent Virtue). Its direct Common translation by the author was found in accompanying notes.

 

 

O Virtus refulgens, vis aeterna Ordinis, Verbum tuum cor Mortalis implevit, abundantia munere Patroni effusum, Ei tres Filios Spiritus donasti: Unus igne Justitiae purificantis est flammatus, Alter Gloria redemptiva perfusus, Tertius Sapientia servatrice illuminatus. Benedicta es, sicut te decet,  O Virtus.	O resplendent Virtue, eternal force of Order, whose Word filled the heart of Man given in its abundance by his Patron, to him you have given three Sons of Spirit: one is aflame with purifying Justice, another is awash in redeeming Glory, and the third is enlightened by preserving Wisdom. Blessed are you, as is your due, O Virtue.

 

 

Spoiler

I would be remiss not to post a single religious piece credited to Saint Calliope. This specific chant, heavily inspired by the works of Saint Hildegard of Bingen, has been in the works for a while; the text was first conceived and authored in English and then translated to Latin with my limited knowledge of the language and with machine assistance. The composition, rendered in neumatic notation, is also authentic and should be performable, though it's not a particularly great piece of music - I am no composer either! To my knowledge, however, the notation should be accurate and readable to a point.