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Above: the Basilica of St. Paul Outside-the-Walls.
Today marks the 170th anniversary of the consecration of the new Basilica of St. Paul Outside-the-Walls, performed by Blessed Pope Pius IX († 1878). The ancient and venerable Ostian Basilica is hailed as a
wonder of value, solemnity, and art, erected in honor of the Apostle, teacher of the Gentiles, a distinguished monument of piety and magnificence of Constantine the Great, by whom it was founded, of the emperors Valentinian, Theodosius, Arcadius, and Honorius, by whom it was enlarged and adorned with new works, and finally of the Roman Pontiffs, by whom it was restored.[1]
On December 10, 1854, the basilica emerged from the ashes of a devastating fire that ravaged it during the night of July 15–16, 1823.
Adjacent to the Basilica of St. Paul, the prestigious Abbey of the Benedictine monks with the same name has stood for thirteen centuries. To these monks,
credit must be given that the venerable majesty of this place shone forth over the course of so many centuries for the beautiful examples of sanctity and doctrine that flourished there in great numbers, no less than for the splendor of artistic beauties.[2]
We will pass over the three organs of this most holy temple and the grand concerts it hosts, recalling the sacred chants that resonate within it. In 1928, the impeccable chants of the Benedictine monks at St. Paul’s Basilica stood in stark contrast to the choral service in the Vatican Basilica. Armando Antonelli († 1960), who served as deputy maestro from 1927 and as maestro of the Cappella Giulia from 1946 until his passing, vividly described this discrepancy:
To get a distant idea of what catastrophic difference exists between how the divine office is sung and how it should be sung, one only needs to go once to the […] Basilica of St. Paul […] and then return to hear the unpleasant howls […]. Those who are most disgusted are the foreigners, who then do not miss the opportunity to express themselves unkindly […].[3]
In the 19th century, the monastic community fervently championed sacred music. Notable among them was Rev. Faustino Altemps († 1855), whose dedication to this noble art was tangible throughout his life. The son of musician Serafino, he was a chorister in the Basilica of the Holy Apostles in Rome. Joining the Benedictine order, he spent years in the monasteries of Monte Cassino and, from 1834, St. Callistus in Rome, before transferring to the Abbey of St. Paul in 1847. His passion for music was palpable, as noted in his obituary, which states that he
clothed the Missal and the Breviary in notes sung alla Paestrina [that is, in the style of Palestrina]. Works of which he made so little account that we must deplore that they were donated by him as things of no importance to those who held them in high esteem. And one of these volumes was received a few years ago as a treasure by the Archive of the Basilica of Assisi. His Stabat Mater elicits tears of compassion for the Great Sorrowful Mother.[4]
Altemps, serving as a penitentiary in the Holy Year of 1825, received praise from Pope Leo XII († 1829), who also considered him a possible founder of a new religious order for the assistance of the sick, a project that premature death prevented him from realizing.
His collection of 18 manuscripts is housed in prestigious German and Italian libraries. In the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek in Munich, in the Monte Cassino collection, the following are preserved: Miserere for 4 voices; Domine probasti me for 3 voices; Magnificat for 3 voices; Salve Regina for 3 voices; Tota pulchra es for 2 tenors; Vidi conjunctos viros for 2 basses; Requiem Mass for 3 voices; Quasi Cedrus for sopranos, bass, and organ; Veni ad liberandum for 2 sopranos, bass, and organ; Assumpta est for soprano, bass, and organ; Paradisi portæ for bass and organ; Alleluia – Beatus vir for 4 voices and organ; Alleluia – Beatus vir for 2 sopranos, tenor, bass, and basso continuo, dated August 24, 1832; and Christus factus est for 2 tenors and bass, composed around 1850.
In the Santini Bibliothek in Munster, there is an O salutaris hostia for 2 sopranos and basso continuo dated August 13, 1835. The Monte Cassino Library preserves Requiem for 2 tenors, bass, and organ (1847); Læta quies magni ducis for 2 tenors and bass (1849); and Miserere for alto, 2 tenors, and bass, dated October 5, 1855.
Another prominent figure in sacred music was Rev. A. Testa († 1866). Coming from the monastery of Subiaco, where his brother Raffaele was the abbot and his sister Placida was the abbess of the nuns, he later moved to the Abbey of San Paolo. His obituary describes him as “highly skilled in music and monastic chants, endowed with a robust and very sweet voice.”[5] He is remembered for “some applauded compositions in monastic chant.”
Rev. Agostino Pucci († 1887), renowned for his mastery of Gregorian chant, played a prominent role in the revision of the Antiphonary and the Missal of Pius V in 1869. Actively involved in the Congress of Arezzo in 1882, he fervently dedicated himself to the restoration of Gregorian chant and contributed to the founding of the “new Liturgical Periodical for Gregorian chant.” Furthermore, Pucci distinguished himself for his skills in illumination, as evidenced by the diurnal, the part of the liturgy of the hours to be recited during the day, which he entirely handwrote.[6]
As the perpetual “Pauline flame” burns with solemn devotion at the tomb of the glorious Apostle to the Gentiles, may the Gregorian chant of the Benedictine monks of the Abbey of St. Paul Outside-the-Walls continue to shine like a candle that gives light.
[1] Leo XII, Ad plurimas, January 25, 1825; our translation.
[2] Pius XII, Letter to Msgr. Ildebrando Vannucci, November 18, 1954, in La Civiltà Cattolica, 1955, I, p. 97; our translation.
[3] In G. Rostirolla, La Cappella Giulia 1513–2013, Bärenreiter, Kassel, 2017, p. 1192; our translation.
[4] Quoted in Revue bénédictine, 83, 1973, p. 101; our translation.
[5] Quoted in Revue bénédictine, ibidem, p. 102.
[6] Cf. Revue bénédictine, ibidem.
