The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1903-04-25
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"STABAT MATER. "
Sketch of the Author Who Wrote the
Sublime Words.

The "Stabat Mater so freouaptIv
heard throughout the Catholic and
nigh church services during Lent is
Wei known, whether sung in the SOL
emn Gregorian chant or the more elab-
crate dressing given by so many of the
worlds great musicians. But of all
VINO listen to the soulful strains of that
exquisite hymn, how few have ever
given thought to the author who wrote
the sublime words, or when. or where
or now he worked, saws a writer in the
Chlcago Record-Herald. After an early
ana ronahtlc career Jacque Benedetti
al Todi became lay brother and voiced
ms plous emotions in the simple STA
] pdt Mater Dolorosa." He was the most
popular and inspired poet of the Fran
rlScan order in the thirteenth century.
In ms youth he was rather dissolute
ana extravaganza of dress and living
we're among his highest ambitions. He
.hought to attain the summit of his
happiness in his marriage with a Iadv
OF beauty and high rank. The rnsr-
rage proved happy one Jacoue idol
Ized ms wife and revered in her the
oHrlstlan virtue which made her life
more beautiful than that of other wo-
men. ABOUT this time Benedetti was
Aldue Juflsconsult of Umbria, and was
oblged to entertain a great deal He
loved pleasure, and breathe freely on1y
When in an atmosphere of CAV. sfirring
ne ana surrounded by everything that
could charm the sense or delight the
taste. one day Benedetti came home in
nlgh spirits, saying to his wife: Great
news, dear one. We are to have tho
games once more at Todi: the theatre
snail no longer be oyergrown with moss |
and weeds" His wife, who was at heart |
an escetic, listened, but was not |
pleased. She loved and appreciated her
husbands generous qualities. but she |
also recognized the fact that he set his
heart too much upon the things of this
world. To please him she promised TO
array herself in costly silks and filmlv
Venetian lace for the occasion. The
games, the Egyptian dancing girls, and
the music all proved a success, but lust
IN the midst of the merriment there +
came a sudden cracking sound. shrieks
1lled the air, the grand porch with its
freight of life and beauty fell a heapeds
up ruin into the arena. With a pierc-
ing cry Benedetti struggled to reach
his wife. She still breathed, and he
carried her to a place of safety. her
mead reposing on his shoulder. He cut
open her bodice that the heart might
have no pressure upon it.
To his astonishment he saw she wore
! rough hair shirt beneath her fine
inen- cry escaped him and. bend
ng down his ear, he heard her whisper.
With white, dying lips: 1T was for
nee, dear one! Penance! Penancei" and
expired in his arms.
This misfortune changed the whole
current of his life His next sten was
o resign his civic dignitaries and ia
ne amazement of his old friends. he
'old his goods and distributed his nos
sessions to the poor. then dressed in
ags. This was considered by MANY as
IN evidence of insanity. His feet were !
'are, often bleeding from the sbsrn
Uneven stones; he looked neither to the
lght nor to the left; he haunted the !
hurches and was absorbed in devotion {
he boys in the streets nicknamed him
Jocopone," mad Jacque. AT last he
that the continuance of this +
ort of penance might prove danger I
us, and he felt that he needed the
urer guide of obedience to some car- 7
am rule. he affiliated with the Third q
'rder of Francfscans. He lived long 4
ears, abating nothing of his austerie p
les, and shortly before his death. from ]
is prison at Collazone, he gave the !
'orld his matchless hymn, the "Stabat q
later, whose mournful strains are il
nown and loved by all musicians. so a
weet that the sorrow it evokes might p
in the soace of angels. The inscrin- :
on on Jacopone's tomb at Todi reads t;
lis way; Ii
Here lies the remains of Jaconone 4; F
enedetti of the Order of Friars Minor "
no was ignorant for Christ's sake de, =
oised and yet enriched the world hv d,
new art, and made heaven his own ;, el
There are various translations of tbe 2
Stabat Mater but this one is com I
only in use: n
AT THE CROSS HER STATION +,
KEEPING. Of
the cross her station keeping pc
-ood the mournful Mother weeping. Re