Gentis Polonae Gloria
GENTIS POLONAE GLORIA
An office hymn formerly sung at Vespers on the feast of john cantius; its division, Corpus domas ieiuniis, is used for Matins. The Te deprecante, corporum used at Lauds is possibly still another division of the hymn. Each division has 5 four-line Ambrosian stanzas. The author is unknown but the text is found as early as 1772, the saint's canonization having taken place in 1767. The hymn—especially in stanzas 1 and 3 of the Corpus section—enumerates John's virtues, i.e., his teaching, his devotion to the divine law, his ascetic practices, and his Christian charity. Three main episodes of the saint's life are recounted: his teaching at the university, his four visits to the tomb of the Apostles in Rome, and his pilgrimage to the Holy Land (cf. the lessons for the feast). The author probably modeled his work on the hymns of St. Dominic, especially Gentis Hispanae decus (1525), and of St. Teresa of Avila (1616). It should be compared also with the Gentis Hispanae pater in honor of Isidore of Seville (1659).
Bibliography: j. connelly, Hymns of the Roman Liturgy (Westminster MD 1957) 240–241. h. lausberg, Lexicon für Theologie und Kirche, ed. j. hofer and k. rahner (Freiburg 1957–65) 4:682.
[j. svÖvÉrffy]