Page 15 - Rizza Ave Generosa

1. Ave generosa gloriosa et intacta puella, tu pupilla castitatis,
tu materia sanctitatis,
que Deo placuit.
2. Nam hec superna infusio in te fuit,
quod supernum Verbum in te carnem induit.
3. Tu candidum lilium quod Deus ante omnem creaturam inspexit.
4. O pulcherrima et dulcissima,
quam valde Deus in te delectabatur,
cum amplexionem caloris sui in te posuit, ita quod Filius eius de te lactatus est.
5. Venter enim tuus gaudium habuit
cum omnis celestis symphonia de te sonuit, quia virgo Filium Dei portasti,
ubi castitas tua in Deo claruit.
6. Viscera tua gaudium habuerunt sicut gramen super quod ros cadit cum ei viriditatem infundit,
ut et in te factum est,
O mater omnis gaudii.
7. Nunc omnis ecclesia in gaudio rutilet ac in symphonia sonet
propter dulcissimam Virginem
et laudabilem Mariam,
Dei Genitricem. Amen.
1. Hail, nobly born, hail, honoured and inviolate, you Maiden are the piercing gaze of chastity, you the material of holiness—
the one who pleasèd God.
2. For heaven’s flood poured into you
as heaven’s Word was clothed in flesh in you.
3. You are the lily, gleaming white, upon which God has fixed his gaze before all else created.
4. O beautiful, O sweet!
How deep is that delight that God received
in you, when ‘round you he enwrapped his warm embrace, so that his Son was suckled at your breast.
5. Your womb rejoiced as from you sounded forth the whole celestial symphony.
For as a virgin you have borne the Son of God— in God your chastity shone bright.
6. Your flesh rejoiced just as a blade of grass on which the dew has fall’n, viridity within it to infuse—just so it happened unto you,
O mother of all joy!
7. So now in joy gleams all the Church like dawn, resounds in symphony
because of you, the Virgin sweet
and worthy of all praise, Maria,
God’s mother. Amen.
Ave Generosa by Margaret Rizza
AVE GENEROSA is a Hymn to the Virgin. Hildegard’s symbolic language is at times extravagant and erotically rich but she always kept in mind ‘chastity’ which was so precious to her. The hymn
is structured so that stanzas honouring the chastity of Mary alternate with those describing her union with God in the conception of the Son. It is Christ himself who is enfolded in Mary so her womb contains in essence the complete Incarnation. Hildegard’s devotion to Mary gives us profound spiritual insights which we find enshrined in her prayers and her poetry.
Words by Hildegard of Bingen