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Use: General
Required Resources: SATB choir
Language: English, Latin
Suscipe, Latin for "receive," is the beginning of a prayer found in the Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius of Loyola, where it appears as an appendix to the four weeks of exercises, a "Contemplation to Obtain Love."
The motet opens with a quasi-drone by the tenors and basses on the words, "Suscipe Domine," over which the sopranos and altos sing:
Take, Lord, receive all my liberty, take my memory, take my understanding, take my entire will.
In homophonic then polyphonic texture, the full choir sings:
All that I have and possess Thou hast given to me.
To Thee, O Lord, I return it.
All is Thine,
dispose of it according to Thy will.
The motet closes as it opened, with the men singing, "Dones Domine," over which the ladies sing:
Give me Thy love and Thy grace, this is enough for me.
The difficulty level and vocal ranges are comfortable for a competent parish choir.
The motet was written for the First Mass of Thanksgiving of The Rev. Justin B. Blanc at Saint James Church, Charles Town WV, on June 29, 2014.
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