Empty Cathedral, Full Hearts

The scene: glowing stained-glass windows, an intricate marble floor, soaring columns, sculptures, carved wood, and rows and rows of empty chairs. Lit candles on an altar table, the organist at his instrument, and Andrea Bocelli before a microphone, the only human standing in that vast, beautiful space. On Easter Sunday from the Duomo Cathedral of Milan, the Italian tenor sang five selections, four of which were in Latin, in a solo performance with organ accompaniment. A hymn sheet of the lyrics gives viewers on youtube.com the ability to follow along. 

The first selection, Panis Angelicus, is from the sixth stanza of a seven-stanza hymn, Sacris Sollemniis written by Thomas Aquinas in 1264.

The hymn sheet needs different punctuation to reveal its meaning:

Panis angelicus                 Bread of angels/heavenly bread

fit panis hominum;             becomes the bread of humans;

dat panis coelicus              heavenly bread gives

figuris terminum.               an end to forms/shapes.

O res mirabilis,                  O marvelous thing,

manducat dominum            the poor, the slave and lowly,

pauper, servus et humilis.  chews the master.

The Latin words sound heavenly and mysterious; the English words reveal the Catholic doctrine. Almost eight hundred years of scholarship exist since Aquinas wrote these words; one could spend many hours reading Latin texts to learn more about this doctor and this sacrament (Eucharist) of the Roman Catholic church.

In the future we will remember the emptiness of the streets and cathedrals and all public buildings around the world because of Covid-19, the contagious disease caused by a novel coronavirus in late 2019. This performance, called by Bocelli Music for Hope, reminds us of the promise of Easter. In the magnificence of the empty Duomo Cathedral on Easter Sunday, Bocelli, singing of the poor, the slave, the lowly feeding on the bread of heaven, fills our hearts with good things.