VERBUM
348
VERCELU
maliqu£s celte annee 1669 (MS. Archives of the state, at Brussels;
,/esm'(«, no. 1427), 173-192; Astronomia Europaea sub imperalore
ToTtaro-Sinico Cam-Hy appetlato ex umbra in lucem revocata a R. P.
Ferdinando Verbiesl (Dilhngen, 1687); Ada SS.. XIII, Parali-
pomena dissert. 48 and 49; Le Comte, Nouveaux mem. sur I'elat
present de la Chine, I (Paris, 1696), 139-49, describing and illus-
trating Verbiest's instruments; D£l.\mbbe, Hist, de Vastronomie
du moyen-age (Paris, 1819), 213; Lettre ecrile de la Chine cm Von
voit I'etal present du chrislianisme dans cet em-pire, et les biens qu'on
y peut Saire (Paris, 1682), containing Verbiest's letter to the
Society, the Brief of Innocent XI to Verbiest, etc.; Lettre du P. de
Fonlaney au P. de la Chaise (Tcheou-chan, 15 Feb., 1903) in
Lettres edtfiantes el curieuses, VII (Paris, 1707), 61: Lettre du P.
AnSoine Thomas, S.J., datee de Pekin 8 Septembre, 1688, published
by BosMANS in Archiv fiir die Gesch. der Naturvrissenschaften und
der Technik, I (Leipzig, 1909); Bosmans, Ferdinand Verbiest in
Revue des Quest. Scientif. (1912).
Joseph Brucker.
VerbumSupernumProdiens, the first line of two hymns celebrating respectively the Nativity of Christ and the Institution of the Holy Eucharist. The hymnologist Daniel remarks on the obvious relation between the Nativity and the Eucharist "by which through all ages the Word made Flesh wfll dwell among us" as justifying the similar forms of the two hymns (Thesaurus, I, 254).
I. The N.\tivity Hymn. — In its unrevised form the second line was: "A Patre olim e.xiens". The cor- rectors of the Breviary under Urban VIII changed it into its present Breviary form: "E Patris a'terni sinu". Sometimes ascribed to St. Ambrose or to St. Ciregory the Great, its authorship is unknowii. Mone supposed it to be of the second half of the fifth cen- tury; but although Advent may possibly date back that far, the hymn is probably much later. From the tenth century it has been the usual hjTnn for Matins, although given in a few manuscripts to Lauds. Originally the hymn was rhj'med through- out in couplets (with one exception). The revision under Urban VIII left not a single strophe unchanged, in the removal of its many unclassical prosodic fea- tures.
II. The Eucharist Hymn. — Its second line is; "Nee Patris linquens dexteram". Left untouched by the revisers of L^rban VIII, it lacks classical jjros- ody, is in accentual rhythm, and rhymes alternately:
Verbum supernum prodiens
Nee Patris linquens dexteram, Ad opus suum e.xiens
Venit ad vitse vesperam.
The Word of God proceeding forth Yet leaving not the Father's side,
And going to His work on earth.
Had reached at length hfe's eventide.
The hymn is assigned to Lauds of Corpus Christ i (q. V.) and is commonly ascribed to St. Thomas Aqui- nas. Dom Morin (Revue Benedictine, April, 1910, 236-46) compares the Office of Corpus Christi with that of the older Cistercian breviaries (1484-1674), and shows that St. Thomas probably borrowed (while revising) seven of the responsories of Matins from it, and also probably the hymn "Verbum Supernum". In the Cistercian Office the hymn comprised nine stanzas divided into two hymns (for Matins and Lauds respectively), whereas now the hymn has only six stanzas. The Cistercian hymn was sung to the the melody of the Advent hymn, "Verbum Super- num", whereas we now sing the Eucharist ic hymn to the different melody of the Ascensiontide hymn, "Sterne Rex Altissime". "It is very natural to sup- po.se that this choice (a common melody, as in the Cis- tercian Office, for both of the Verbum Supernum hvmns) was the primitive one" (Morin).
"I. Julian. Diet, of HymnolootI (2nd cd., London, 1907). 1217, 1721, gives twenty-five references to trs.; to his list add: Baq- 8HAWE, Breviary Hymns and Missal Sequenres (London, s. d.), no. 41: "Kternal Word who dost proceed": Donaiioe. Karly Christian Hymns (New York, 1908), 49: "O Word of Might that springing forth". SniPLEr, Annus Sanctus (London, 1874),
gives trs. of Newman, Caswall, Earle, and Primer of 1706 (which
8hiplpv thinks is probably by Drvden). Pimont, Les Hymnes du
Breriaire Romain. II (Paris, 1878), 29-38, old and revised texts,
comment.; Mone, Lateinische Hymen des Miltelalters, I (Frei-
burg, lSo3), no. 33, 48; Daniel, Thesaurus Hymnologicus, I, no.
74, 77; IV, 144.
II. JuUA.v (op. cit.), 1218, 1721, gives references to twenty-one trs.; to his list add: Bagshawe (op. cit.), no. 87: "The Heavenly Word proceeding forth"; Donahoe (op. cit.), 185: "The Word at God's right hand came forth"; Henry. iSursum Corda (1910), 5. Shipley (op. cit.) gives trs. by Kent, .^ylward, Campbell, Primer of 1706 ("probably by Dryden"). Pimont (op. cit.). Ill (Paris, 1884), 189-97, speaks enthusiastically of the stanza "Se nascens dedit socium", whose single rhymic scheme suggests that the writer, "borne on the wings of enthusiasm, breaks through his self-imposed limitations of form and seeks to emphasize )iis thought by a uniform rhyme". The thought seems to be bor- rowed from St. Bernard (De diligendo Deo): "Se dedit in meri- tum; se dedit in pr^Emium; se apponit in refectione animarum .sanctarum: se in redemptione distrahit captivarum". But the writer of the hymn put the thoughts "in a style, a bre\nty, a col- location, which we cannot too much admire and to which the movement so magisterially cadenced and the highly felicitous rhyme give an inexpressible charm" (Pimont). Hymns .4n- eient and Modern (hist, ed., London, 1909). for Latin tests, Eng. trs., harmonized plainsong and modern setting of both hymns, nos. 44 and 261; Blume, Thomas von Aquin u. das Frohnleichnams- offizium etc. in Theologie u. Claube (1911), no. 5, 358-72.
H. T. Henry.
Vercelli, Archdiocese of (Vercellensis), in the Province of Novara, Piedmont, Italy. The city of Vercelli is an important commercial centre for agri- cultural produce. The cathedral, erected and en- larged by St. Eusebius, formerly adorned with pre- cious pillars and mosaics, was remodelled in the ninth century, and radically changed in the sixteenth by Count Alfieri. Like the other churches of the city it contains valuable paintings, epecially those of Gau- denzio Ferrari, Giovenone, and Lanino, who were na- tives of Vercelli. Noteworthy also are Sta. Maria Maggiore and Sant' Andrea. The latter was erected by Cardinal Guala Bicchieri (1219) together with the old Cistercian monastery, one of the most beautiful and best preserved Romanesque monuments in Italy. There is an Institute of the Beaux-Arts, containing ]).aintings by Vercellese artists. There are many reUcs of the Roman period, e. g. an amphitheatre, hippo- drome, sarcophagi, many important inscriptions, some of which are Christian. There are old charitable insti- tutions, like the hospital founded by Cardinal Guala Bicchieri (1224), which has an annual revenue of more than 600,000 lire (.SI 17,000); the hospices for orphan girls (1.5.53), and for boys (1.542), and mendi- cant homes. The archives of the metropolitan chap- ter contain valuable MSS., including an evangelarium of the fourth century, the "Novels" of Justinian, the "Leges Langobardorum", the "Capitulare regum Francorum", also hagiographical MSS. not all of which have been critically examined, and a very old copy of the "Imitation of Christ", which is relied upon as an argument for attributing the authorship of the work to John Gersen. The civil archives are not less important, and contain documents dating from 882. The extensive seminary contains a large library.
Vercellae (Vercellum) was a city of the Libici, or Lebecii, a Ligurian tribe; it became an important muniriinum, near which in 101 B. c. Marius defeated the Cimbri and the Teutones, and Stilicho annihi- lated the Goths .500 years later. It was half ruined in St. Jerome's time. After the Lombard invasion it belonged to the Duchy of Ivrea. From 88,5 it was under the jurisdiction of the bishop, who was a count of the emiiire. It became an independent commune in 1120, and joined the first and second Lombard leagues. Its statutes are among the most interesting of those of the medieval republics. In 1197 they abolished the servitude of the glebe. In 1228 the University of Pavia was Ininsferred to \'ercelli, where it remained till the fourteenth century, but without gaining much prominence. Only :i university school of law has been niaint:uned. During the troubles of the thirtccntii century it fell into tlie power of the
