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Ego sum panis vivus – I AM the bread of life

Ego sum panis vivus – I am the bread of life
Ego sum panis vivus – I am the bread of life

“I am the bread of life.
Your fathers did eat manna in the desert, and are dead.
This is the bread which cometh down from heaven; that if any man eat of it, he may not die.
I am the living bread which came down from heaven.
If any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever;
and the bread that I will give, is my flesh, for the life of the world.” — John 6:48-52.

The musical tradition of the Catholic Church knows well many sacred chants in honor of the Eucharist. Palestrina’s four-part motet Ego sum panis vivus is one of the many gems in his repertoire, the text taken from the Gospel of John.

This choral composition is an ideal Eucharistic chant for postcommunion, and the feast of Corpus Christi.

Ego sum panis vivus – I am the bread of life – Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina

Ego sum panis vitae.
I am the bread of life.
Patres vestri manducaverunt manna in deserto, et mortui sunt.
Your fathers did eat manna in the desert, and are dead.
Hic est panis de coelo decendens: ut si quis ex ipso manducent non morietur.
This is the bread which cometh down from heaven; that if any man eat of it, he may not die.
Ego sum panis vivus, qui de coelo descendi.
I am the living bread which came down from heaven.
Si quis manducaverit ex hoc pane, vivet in æternum:
If any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever;
et panis quem ego dabo, caro mea est pro mundi vita.
and the bread that I will give, is my flesh, for the life of the world.
Alleluia. Alleluia.
Sacramentals
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