Firstpublished:1519 Description: Motet in honour of St Bartholomew. Source: Motetti de la Corona libro quarto, Petrucci, 1519 (and published by Valerio Dorico, Rome, 1526)
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Original text and translations
Latin text
Gloriosus Dei apostolus Bartholomeus vere est honorificandus,
qui in numero duodecim apostolorum judiciarium sortitus est thronum.
Clamabat plebi apostolus: audite verum Deum creatorem vestrum,
qui in caelis habitat, et nolite in lapidibus credere vanis.
Postquam Licaoniam praedicavit, beatus Bartholomeus ad Indos veniens
convertit eos ad Christum et per martyrium penetravit caelos.
Ibi lux sine fine manet, requies sine labore, sacietas absque fastidio. (better: satietas)
Ipse salutis nostrae ante Dominum sit intercessor/impetrator, (equivalent in this frame)
qui Indorum egregius extitit praedicator, nostraeque fiat substentator fragilitatis, (better: sustentator)
qui fervide/servande/conservande fulget auctor religionis. Amen.
English translation
Batholomew, the glorious apostle of God, is truly worthy to be honoured,
who, as one of the twelve apostles, is among those who will weigh people’s souls (at the Last Judgment).
The apostle appealed to the people: I bring you the gospel of the one true God, your creator,
who is in Heaven: do not put your faith in vain stones (statues of heathen gods).
After Saint Bartholomew had preached in Lycaonia (a region of Anatolia),
he went on to the people of India, converted them to Christ and was received into Heaven thanks to his martyrdom.
There, what awaited him was endless light, rest without effort, satiety without surfeit.
Such an eminent preacher he was to the Indians: may he intercede to the Lord for us and stand by us in our weakness, who shines out as the source of the faith that must be kept.
German translation
Der ruhmreiche Apostel Gottes Bartholomäus muss wahrhaft verehrt werden,
welcher in der Zahl der zwölf Apostel einen Richterstuhl (beim Jüngsten Gericht) erlangt hat.
Der Apostel rief dem Volk zu: hört den wahren Gott, Euren Schöpfer,
der im Himmel wohnt, und glaubt nicht an eitle Steine (Statuen heidnischer Götter).
Nachdem der selige Bartholomäus vor Lykaonien (region Landschaft in Anatolien) predigte,
kommt er zu den Indern, bekehrt sie zu Christus und erlangt den Himmel durch sein Martyrium.
Dort wartet Licht ohne Ende, Erholung ohne Mühe, Sättigung ohne Überdruss.
Er selbst, der als hervorragender Prediger der Inder auftrat, sei vor dem Herren Fürbitter für unser Heil,
und er sei Stützer unserer Gebrechlichkeit,
welcher erstrahlt als Schöpfer des zu bewahrenden Glaubens.
Latin text
English translation
German translation