This setting of the Stabat Mater was composed by Peter Kwasniewski and premiered by His Majesty's Men on Saturday, August 12, 2023 at St John Cantius Church, Chicago.

His Majesty's Men:
Richard Childress, countertenor
Matthew Dean, tenor
Joe Labozetta, baritone
Nathaniel Adams, baritone
Ian Prichard, bass

LITERAL TRANSLATION:

The grieving Mother stood weeping
beside the cross
where her Son was hanging.

Through her weeping soul,
compassionate and grieving,
a sword passed.

O how sad and afflicted
was that blessed Mother
of the Only-begotten!

Who mourned and grieved,
the merciful Mother, looking at
the torment of her glorious Child.

Who is the man who would not weep,
seeing the Mother of Christ
in such agony?

Who would not be able to feel compassion
on beholding Christ’s Mother
suffering with her Son?

For the sins of his people
she saw Jesus in torment
and subjected to the scourge.

She saw her sweet offspring
dying, forsaken,
while He gave up his spirit.

O Mother, fountain of love,
make me feel the power of sorrow,
that I may grieve with you.

Grant that my heart may burn
with the love of Christ-God,
that I may be pleasing to Him.

Holy Mother, do this thing for me:
firmly fix in my heart
the wounds of the Crucified:

That I may share the pain
of your wounded Son,
who deigned to suffer so for me.

Make me sincerely to weep with you,
bemoan the Crucified,
for as long as I live.

To stand beside the cross with you,
and to join you in your weeping—
this I desire.

Resplendent Virgin of virgins,
be not harsh to me:
make me weep with thee.

Make it so that I bear the death of Christ,
the fate of his Passion,
and meditate on His wounds.

Make me to be wounded with His wounds,
make me inebriated by the Cross
and by your Son’s Blood.

Lest I burn, set afire by flames,
O Virgin, may I be defended by you
on the Day of Judgment.

O Christ, when it is time to pass away,
grant that through your Mother I may come
to the palm of victory.

When my body dies,
grant that my soul be given
the glory of paradise. Amen.

ABOUT THE COMPOSER

Dr. Peter Kwasniewski studied composition and conducting with Roy Horton and voice with Carol Horton at Delbarton School in Morristown, New Jersey. He earned a B.A. in Liberal Arts from Thomas Aquinas College in California and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Philosophy from The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. In addition to teaching at the graduate and undergraduate levels, he continued to sing in, direct, and compose for choirs over a 30-year period at such institutions as Thomas Aquinas College; Old St. John’s Catholic Church in Silver Spring, Maryland; the International Theological Institute in Gaming, Austria; and Wyoming Catholic College.

Kwasniewski’s Mass settings, motets, hymns, and carols have received numerous performances from 1990 to the present. Kwasniewski has also written a three-movement wind quintet "Fire and Flame," a violin sonata, organ accompaniments for plainchant, and pieces for brass quartet.

Alongside scholarly publications in theology, he has published extensively on music, especially on the recovery and renewal of sacred music in the Catholic Church. In 2023, TAN Books released his book "Good Music, Sacred Music, and Silence: Three Gifts of God for Liturgy and for Life."

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He runs a website where his compositions may be viewed and listened to, and scores purchased: [ Ссылка ]

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Dr. Kwasniewski's Substack "Tradition & Sanity"
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Dr. K's personal website
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Dr. K on X (Twitter)
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Dr. K's publishing house Os Justi Press
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