O Filii et Filiae

O Filii et Filiae. Jean Tisserand* (d. 1494). This hymn on the events of Easter, with an emphasis on the episode of St Thomas, is found in an untitled booklet printed between 1518 and 1536, probably at Paris. It was a ‘Salut’, a greeting to the Blessed Sacrament on Easter Day. It was entitled ‘L’aleluya du jour de Pasques’, and in translation it is prefaced by the three-fold ‘Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!’ There is some suggestion that the triple ‘Alleluia’ may have been sung between each stanza in some places. John Mason Neale*, who translated the hymn, thought that this would produce a remarkable effect: ‘It seems to speak of the majesty of the event, the smallest portions of which are...