Did you know that “Composed litanies to this saint [Francis Xavier] were particular to the royal court in Dresden where he was honoured as patron Saint”? That fascinating Catholic fun fact is one I just learned myself because I bothered to read the blurb under a YouTube video of the wonderful music I was listening to as I was working on our website! I’ve heard this piece by one of my favorite composers multiple times, but had never read the short description, which I will reproduce below. Below is also embedded the YouTube video.
Beautiful music, beautiful devotion: they are not incompatible!
Here is the blurb, with some bold emphasis on my part:
This is a Litany to St. Xavier composed by the Czech [Bohemian] master in December 1727. Composed litanies to this saint were particular to the royal court in Dresden where he was honoured as patron Saint. Johann David Heinichen (himself a Lutheran), Giovanni Alberto Ristori and Tobias Butz all did their own Xaverian litany compositions during the 1720s; only Zelenka did as many as 3.
This piece shows the great extent to which Zelenka is able to reflect deeply the feeling and the meanings of the text. The phrase ‘Ora pro nobis’ (pray for us), is placed at key concluding moments of sections, to keep an overall structure and direction to what can be seen as a sprawling list of evocations. Zelenka’s musical creativity and technicality is also clear, and governs the spirit of the piece.
The glorification of Saint Xavier in Dresden was due to the Jesuit presence and influence there since the Catholic conversion of Frederick August I/Augustus II and the Saxon family in 1697. Saint Xavier is the missionary saint of the order; Saxony was staunchly Lutheran, so the connotations of emphasising his patronage were therefore certainly clear.
Here are my translations of the invocations of the text of the Litaniae Xaverianae, each line beginning with the YouTube time stamp:
- 00:00 – Kyrie [Lord Have Mercy]
- 03:54 – Sancte Francisce I [Saint Francis]
- 07:12 – Firmamentum [Our Strength and Support]
- 08:59 – Fidelis Imitator [Faithful Imitator (of Christ)]
- 11:21 – Salus aegrotorum [Health of the Sick]
- 12:05 – Fugator daemonum [Expeller (“chaser away”) of Demons]
- 14:14 – Gloria societatis Jesu [Glory of the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits)]
- 14:48 – Pauperime, castissime Xaveri [O, Poorest, and Most Chaste Xavier]
- 18:03 – Sancte Francisce II [Saint Francis]
- 23:10 – In quo uno omnium [In Whom All Hope (loose translation; it’s tricky!)]
- 25:05 – Agnus Dei I [Lamb of God]
- 27:28 – Agnus Dei II [Lamb of God]
By the way, a longer “Litany of Saint Francis Xavier” may be found on the Catholic Tradition site.
Enjoy!
