The text of this piece is Isaiah 64:10, translated:
"Thy holy cities have become a wilderness, Zion has become a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation."
But to put Civitas Sancti Tui in context, let’s look at the verses immediately preceding this:
“Yet, O Lord, thou art our Father; We are the clay, and thou art our potter; We are all the work of thy hand. Be not exceedingly angry, O Lord, and remember not iniquity forever. Behold, consider, we are all thy people.” Isaiah 64:8-9
And so we see that the words of today’s meditation piece follow a cry for mercy; they lend emphasis to the appeal by illustrating the tragic condition that has resulted from sin, symbolized by the destruction of Jerusalem. What gives this piece even greater poignancy is the context of its composition. The man who wrote this music was an English Catholic named William Byrd, and when he composed Civitas Sancti Tui in 1589, the practice of Catholicism was illegal in England and punishable by fines, imprisonment, torture, or even death. Byrd composed this piece in defiance of this persecution, and through it expresses the suffering of the English Catholic community who have lost their local “Jerusalem:” their churches and priests, the outward practice of their Faith. Civitas Sancti Tui would have been originally sung by people for whom the image was a reality.
There is certainly a gravity about this piece, which makes it appropriate for Lenten meditation; it reminds us that sin is indeed a tragic destruction of what God created us to be. But Isaiah’s prophecy also reminds us that we have reason to hope: the cry of “Jerusalem, Jersualem” which echoes through the end of this piece will be heard by a merciful Father. At the end of Lenten repentance there is an Easter of renewal through the Paschal sacrifice of Christ.