The thirteenth century was marked by the rise of hymn writing in the new religious orders founded by St. Francis of Assisi and St. Dominic. The Franciscan Bonaventura (1221-74), wrote _Recordare sanctae crucis_, “Be mindful of the Holy Cross,” on the theme of the Cross. To read this hymn side by side with the _Vexilla regis prodeunt_ of Fortunatus, is to apprehend more fully the increasing subjectivity of the Latin hymn in 500 years of its history. The passion of Christ is, moreover, a favorite theme and object of devotion of the friars, ever present to their thinking. Thomas Aquinas, (1227-74), greatest of the Dominicans, wrote the hymns for the Feast of Corpus Christi, established by Pope Urban IV in 1265. Of these, _Pange lingua, gloriosi corporis mysterium_, “Sing my tongue, the Saviour’s glory,”[7] modeled after the form of the _Pange lingua_ of Fortunatus, is in its subject matter a poetic version of the mystical subtleties implicit in the dogma of the feast. John Peckham, Archbishop of Canterbury, (1240-92), wrote _Ave vivens hostia_, “Hail, true Victim,” a fine hymn upon the same theme which suggests the inspiration of Aquinas. III. Later Sequences From the sequences of the later Middle Ages only a few have gained eminence but in certain cases as high a place as any in the whole range of their composition. Thomas Aquinas shows himself master of the sequence as well as the hymn in his _Lauda Sion Salvatorem_, “Praise, O Sion, praise thy Saviour,” a model of the Victorine technique. (See Illustrative Hymns, XV. _Lauda Sion Salvatorem_, “Praise, O Sion, praise thy Saviour.”) _Dies irae_, “Day of wrath,” most majestic of all sequences, universally acknowledged as the greatest achievement of Latin hymnology, was probably written by the Franciscan Thomas of Celano. It was originally used at Advent, later for All Souls’ Day and for requiem masses. The Judgment theme is obviously inspired by the words of the Prophet Zephaniah (1:15) from which the opening line _Dies irae, dies illa_ is taken. A special literature, together with a multitude of translations, has grown up around this hymn which deserves consideration impossible here. It should be read not only with reference to its biblical sources but with the great Judgment portals of the medieval cathedrals in mind, since the sculpture and literature of the age here find a meeting place.[8] No less significant for its interpretation is the prevalence of the Black Death in the ages which produced it.[9] The thought of a period in which pain and death were so tragically familiar and before which the medieval man stood helpless, is faithfully reflected in contemporary hymns. The lament in its poetic form is associated with the Marian hymnology of the fourteenth century. The _Stabat mater dolorosa_, “By the Cross her vigil keeping,”[10] its finest expression, like the _Dies irae_, needs little comment in these pages.