Hymn of the Week: ‘Amén. El Cuerpo de Cristo’

This is another perennial that pops up around Corpus Christi Sunday—and it’s an unusual amalgam of English and Spanish: 

Lyrics (Some of this is sung in Spanish and the English translation follows in brackets) :

Refrain: Amén. El Cuerpo de Cristo. [Amen. The body of Christ.] Amén. La Sangre del Señor. [Amen. The blood of the Lord.] Eating your body, drinking your blood, we become what we receive. Amén. Amén.

1. Amén. We remember your dying and your rising. Amén. Y contigo, Señor, resucitamos. [And with you, Lord, we rise.] Amén.

2. Amén. Now we offer the sacrifice you gave us. Amén. Te ofrecemos, Señor, todo loque somos. [We offer you, Lord, all that we are.] Amén.

3. Amén. Lord, you make us one body and one spirit. Amén. En tu cuerpo, Señor, un pueblo santo. [In your body, Lord, a holy people.] Amén.

4. Amén. We find you when we serve the poor and lowly. Amén. A ti mismo servimos en los pobres. [You yourself we serve in the poor.] Amén.

5. Amén. We look forward to your return in glory. Amén. Esperamos el día de tu venida. [We hope for the day of your coming.] Amén.

The composer, Fr. John Schiavone, is a priest for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles:

His collection of liturgical music, We Adore You, O Christ, contains choral anthems, processional songs, responsorial psalms, Mass parts and bilingual settings. His psalm settings from A Lectionary Psalter were used in the second edition of OCP’s Journeysongs hymnal. He builds his melodies along the lines and modes of Gregorian chant. “I want to keep that ‘church’ sound in my music and, at the same time make it accessible to the average worshiper,” he says. His bilingual English-Spanish pieces are often used at diocesan celebrations across the country, especially the Communion hymn “Amén. El Cuerpo de Cristo,” which was used in the Mass celebrated by Pope Benedict XVI at Yankee Stadium in 2008.