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Benedictus (Song of Zechariah)

 

 
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Benedictus (Song of Zechariah)
 
 
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The Benedictus (also Song of Zechariah or Canticle of Zachary), given in Gospel of
Gospel of Luke

The Gospel of Luke is a Synoptic Gospels, and is the third and longest of the four Biblical canonical Gospels of the New Testament. The text narrates the life of Jesus of Nazareth....
 , is one of the three canticle
Canticle

A canticle is a hymn taken from the Bible. The term is often expanded to include ancient non-biblical hymns such as the Te Deum and certain psalms used liturgy....
s in the opening chapters of this Gospel. The Benedictus was the song of thanksgiving uttered by Zechariah on the occasion of the birth of his son, John the Baptist
John the Baptist

John the Baptist was a mission preacher and a major religious figure who led a movement of baptism at the Jordan River in expectation of a divine apocalypse that would restore occupied Israel....
. It is Jewish in form, but Christian
Christian

A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism#Christian view religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus and interpreted by Christians to have been prophesied in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament....
 in sentiment.

The whole canticle naturally falls into two parts. The first (verses 68-75) is a song of thanksgiving for the realization of the Messianic
Messiah

Messiah literally means "anointed ".In Jewish messiah tradition and Jewish eschatology, messiah refers to a future monarch of United Monarchy from the Davidic line, who will rule the people of Israelite#The Twelve Tribes, and herald the Messianic Age of global peace....
 hopes of the Jew
Jew

A Jew is a member of the Jewish people, an ethnoreligious group that traces its ancestry to the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East....
ish nation; but to such realization is given a characteristically Christian tone.






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The Benedictus (also Song of Zechariah or Canticle of Zachary), given in Gospel of
Gospel of Luke

The Gospel of Luke is a Synoptic Gospels, and is the third and longest of the four Biblical canonical Gospels of the New Testament. The text narrates the life of Jesus of Nazareth....
 , is one of the three canticle
Canticle

A canticle is a hymn taken from the Bible. The term is often expanded to include ancient non-biblical hymns such as the Te Deum and certain psalms used liturgy....
s in the opening chapters of this Gospel. The Benedictus was the song of thanksgiving uttered by Zechariah on the occasion of the birth of his son, John the Baptist
John the Baptist

John the Baptist was a mission preacher and a major religious figure who led a movement of baptism at the Jordan River in expectation of a divine apocalypse that would restore occupied Israel....
. It is Jewish in form, but Christian
Christian

A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism#Christian view religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus and interpreted by Christians to have been prophesied in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament....
 in sentiment.

The whole canticle naturally falls into two parts. The first (verses 68-75) is a song of thanksgiving for the realization of the Messianic
Messiah

Messiah literally means "anointed ".In Jewish messiah tradition and Jewish eschatology, messiah refers to a future monarch of United Monarchy from the Davidic line, who will rule the people of Israelite#The Twelve Tribes, and herald the Messianic Age of global peace....
 hopes of the Jew
Jew

A Jew is a member of the Jewish people, an ethnoreligious group that traces its ancestry to the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East....
ish nation; but to such realization is given a characteristically Christian tone. As of old, in the family of David, there was power to defend the nation against their enemies, now again that of which they had been so long deprived, and for which they had been yearning, was to be restored to them, but in a higher and spiritual sense. The horn is a sign of power, and the "horn of salvation" signified the power of delivering or "a mighty deliverance". While the Jews had impatiently borne the yoke of the Romans
Roman Empire

The Roman Empire was the Roman Republic phase of the Ancient Rome, characterised by an autocracy form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
, they had continually sighed for the time when the House of David
Davidic line

The Davidic line refers to the tracing of lineage to the King David referred to in the Hebrew Bible, as well as the New Testament. Though this is especially relevant to kings claiming royal lineage and to major leaders in Jewish history, it is also relevant in a general sense to anyone who claims descent from King David....
 was to be their deliverer. The deliverance was now at hand, and was pointed to by Zechariah as the fulfilment of God's oath to Abraham
Abraham

Abraham is a man featured in the Book of Genesis and an important figure in several monotheistic religions. Judaism, Christianity and Islam traditions regard him as the founding Patriarchs of the Israelites, Ishmaelites and Edomite peoples....
; but the fulfilment is described as a deliverance not for the sake of worldly power, but that "we may serve him without fear, in holiness and justice all our days".

The second part of the canticle is an address by Zechariah to his own son, who was to take so important a part in the scheme of the Redemption; for he was to be a prophet, and to preach the remission of sins before the coming or the Dawn from on high. The prophecy that he was to "go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways" (v. 76) was of course an allusion to the well-known words of which John himself afterwards applied to his own mission , and which all three Synoptic Gospels
Synoptic Gospels

The synoptic gospels are three gospels in the New Testament the Gospel of Matthew, the Gospel of Mark, and the Gospel of Luke, that display a high degree of similarity in content, narrative arrangement, language, and sentence and paragraph structures....
 adopt (; ; ).

The Benedictus is part of Lauds
Lauds

Lauds is one of the two "major hours" in the Roman Catholic Liturgy of the Hours. It is to be recited in the early morning hours, preferably near dawn....
, probably because of the song of thanksgiving for the coming of the Redeemer in the first part of the canticle. It is believed to have been first introduced by Benedict of Nursia
Benedict of Nursia

Saint Benedict of Nursia was a saint from Italy, the founder of Western Christian monasticism communities, and a rule-giver for cenobite monks....
. According to Durandus, the allusion to Christ
Christ

Christ is the English language term for the Greek meaning "the anointing", which is a title given to the Reigning Messiah in the given age of the Zodiac....
's coming under the figure of the rising sun had also some influence on its adoption. It is also used in various other liturgical offices, notably at a funeral, at the moment of interment, when words of thanksgiving for the Redemption are specially in place as an expression of Christian hope.

Text


Latin
Latin

Latin is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Military history of the Roman Empire, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe....
: Ordinary of the Catholic Office of Lauds (prior 1985)

Latin: Ordinary of the Catholic Office of Lauds (as printed in the 1985 editio typica altera of Liturgia Horarum)
Divine Office

Divine Office may refer to:* Liturgy of the Hours, the recitation of certain Christian prayers at fixed hours according to the discipline of the Roman Catholic Church...
:

From the Douay-Rheims Bible (1582):

From the Book of Common Prayer
Book of Common Prayer

The Book of Common Prayer is the common title of a number of prayer books of the Church of England and used throughout the Anglican Communion. The first book, published in 1549 , in the reign of Edward VI of England, was a product of the English Reformation following the break with Roman Catholic Church....
 (1662):

From The Divine Office (1974, Grail translation)
Divine Office

Divine Office may refer to:* Liturgy of the Hours, the recitation of certain Christian prayers at fixed hours according to the discipline of the Roman Catholic Church...
:

From Common Worship
Common Worship

Common Worship is the name given to the series of services authorised by the General Synod of the Church of England and launched on the first Sunday of Advent in 2000....
 (2000):

External links

  • in Catholic Encyclopedia
  • in the Book of Common Prayer