The Mount of Olives Witnesseth

[Dawn Marie]

The Mount of Olives Witnesseth

THE Mount of Olives witnesseth
the awful agony of God:
His soul is sorrowful to death,
His sweat of blood bedews the sod.


And now the traitor's work is done:
the clamorous crowds around Him surge;
Bound to pillar, God the Son
quivers beneath the blood-red scourge.


Lo! clad in purple soiled and worn,
meekly the Savior waiteth now
while wretches plait the cruel thorn
To crown with shame His royal brow.

Sweating and sighing, faint with loss
of what hath flowed from life's red fount,
He bears the exceeding heavy Cross
up the verge of Calvary's mount.

Nailed to the wood of ancient curse,
between two thieves the Sinless One
still praying for His murderers,
breathes forth His soul, and all is done!

All honor, laud, and glory be,
o Jesu, Virgin-born to Thee;
all glory, as is ever meet,
to Father and to Paraclete.

 

Composed by Fr. Augustine Thomas Ricchini (1695-1779) in 1757, this hymn is used at Matins in the Roman Breviary for the Feast of the Most Holy Rosary (Oct. 7). It is the second of a series of four hymns for the feast. See Caelestis aulae Nuntius for historical details. The subject of this hymn is the Sorrowful Mysteries: The Agony in the Garden, the Scourging at the Pillar, the Crowning with Thorns, the Carrying of the Cross, and the Crucifixion. The events surrounding the Passion of our Lord are recorded in all four Gospels: Matthew 26-27, Mark 14-15, Luke 22-23, and John 18-19, and thus form the basis for this set of mysteries.