Qua fuit assumpta virgo Maria pia. (A. H. 11. 55)
Hail thee, festival day, blest day that is hallowed forever,
On which the holy Virgin Mary was assumed.
A lengthy hymn of twenty stanzas for the Feast of the Purification which had been observed for so many centuries, appears in a twelfth or thirteenth century manuscript from Kremsmünster, Laetetur omne saeculum (A. H. 4. 54), “Let every age rejoice.” The biblical scene of the Presentation in the Temple is described and reference is made to the carrying of lighted candles.
Later medieval practice perpetuated other earlier customs. From the original station processions at Rome had developed the ceremonies to celebrate the translation of relics of saints in western European lands. Pope Callistus II (d. 1124) wrote a processional hymn honoring St. James of Campostella, Versus Calixti Papae, cantandi ad processionem sancti Jacobi in solemnitate passionis ipsius et translationis ejusdem (A. H. 17. 194), or Versus of Pope Callistus, to be sung at the procession of St. James in the celebration of his passion and translation. A hymn for St. Kyneburga (d. 680) commemorated the restoration of her relics to their original burial place in Peterborough Minster from which they had been removed during the Danish invasions.[31] (A. H. 43. 218)
A procession in which the relics were carried for the veneration of the worshipers was familiar in many places. Records from St. Gall testify that St. Magnus was honored with such a procession and an appropriate hymn of praise (A. H. 50. 261). The relics of saints treasured at Exeter were borne in procession with the singing of a hymn which mentions their miraculous powers. (A. H. 43. 277)
In an era marked by municipal drama and civic display as well as religious festivals, the pageantry of the procession was understandably popular. Rome always had its great processions. Accounts are extant of ceremonies accompanied by hymns, in Tournai, Strasburg, Nuremberg and other medieval towns, aside from those prescribed by episcopal and monastic manuals of the day for the great cathedrals and abbeys.
The music to which the processional hymn was sung is, in some cases, available. The St. Gall manuscripts, as Gautier noted, were furnished with musical notation. This is occasionally true of later manuscripts, especially as we enter the closing medieval centuries. The traditional melodies of certain hymns, like the Salve festa dies and Gloria laus et honor are known to-day. Musicologists and students of liturgical music are currently engaged in bringing this music to present-day knowledge. For example, the hymn used in procession before the reading of the Gospel appears in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries as a conductus or conductum which, in turn, is related to the cantio.[32] A conductus for the festival of St. James of Campostella (A. H. 17. 199), illustrates the evolution of a minor type of processional hymn from Hartmann’s solemn versus, mentioned above, to the festive style of the late medieval period. The recent study of the conductus by Leonard Ellinwood reflects the growing interest of musicians in these forms, both secular and religious, which preceded the Renaissance.[33]
To summarize the characteristic marks of the processional hymn which are constant and quite independent of the date of their appearance, the student must recall the underlying motives: 1) supplication in the litanies, 2) re-enactment of biblical scenes and 3) religious pilgrimage. Respecting usage, the special interest of a ceremony devoted to a particular occasion is present in processional hymns, additional to other rites. Lastly, a group of hymns has come into existence, not to be classified with the more formal categories of the office hymn and the sequence but dedicated to an extra-liturgical purpose.
As a group, the processional hymns are not well-known or frequently used in translation with the exception of the ageless hymns of Theodulphus and especially of Fortunatus whose processionals usurped the medieval field for over one thousand years and are still current to-day.