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You will be my leader

This week’s Introit (i.e. Entrance Antiphon) is presents us with lovely images of God – protector, refuge, saviour, support. It is taken from Psalm 30: 3, 4.

Esto mihi in Deum protectorem, et in locum refugii, ut salvum me facias :
quoniam firmamentum meum, et refugium meum es tu :
et propter nomen tuum dux mihi eris, et enutries me.

(Be to me a protecting God, and a place of refuge, to save me;
for you are my support and my refuge;
and for the sake of your name, you will be a leader for me and feed me.)

We can quickly see why this text has been chosen as an entrance chant for the Mass. Christ leads us. He is our “dux”, as the processional cross borne aloft reminds us. He is our crucified leader who leads by his example of love and he feeds us with his body at Mass. This is underlined by the musical interpretation that the anonymous composer has given to this text. It mostly remains in the line of FA. But at the words “et propter nomen tuum”, the melody surges from an octave from DO, leading to “dux” and a triple repercussion on “mihi”, before a swift descent to “enutries” with a delightful ornament that allows us to savour the word and prolong it on our lips. We say emphatically to our Lord, “You will be a leader for me and will feed me!”

Do we follow the leader?