Latin · Original
O sacrum convivium! in quo Christus sumitur: recolitur memoria passionis eius: mens impletur gratia: et futurae gloriae nobis pignus datur. Alleluia.
O Sacrum Convivium
O Sacred Banquet
1264, by St. Thomas Aquinas — for the office of Corpus Christi
The Eucharistic antiphon of the Vespers of Corpus Christi — composed by St. Thomas Aquinas in 1264 — summarizing the four dimensions of the Eucharist in a single line.
The Prayer · Multiple Versions
English
O sacred banquet! in which Christ is received: the memory of his Passion is renewed: the mind is filled with grace: and a pledge of future glory is given to us. Alleluia.
When the Prayer is Said
Second Vespers of Corpus Christi; before and after Holy Communion as a personal Eucharistic prayer; at Eucharistic adoration and Exposition; on Holy Thursday at the institution of the Eucharist.
History & Background
The O Sacrum Convivium is the antiphon for the Magnificat at the Second Vespers of the feast of Corpus Christi in the Roman Office. It was composed in 1264 by St. Thomas Aquinas, together with the rest of the Corpus Christi liturgical office, at the request of Pope Urban IV — see the entry on Juliana of Liège (13th-c. catalogue) for the foundational vision that led to the institution of the feast.
The text — only six lines long — is regarded by Catholic theologians as one of the most condensed and complete statements of Eucharistic theology in any Catholic source. The antiphon identifies the Eucharist as the simultaneous (1) commemoration of the Passion (recolitur memoria passionis eius), (2) infusion of grace into the soul (mens impletur gratia), (3) pledge of future glory (futurae gloriae nobis pignus datur), and (4) presence of Christ himself (Christus sumitur).
The most famous musical setting is the 1937 setting by Olivier Messiaen for organ — regarded as one of the great 20th-century French Catholic organ works.