KÅNTAN KUARESMA : DIMUYE MANHENGGE

"Dimuye Manhengge" is another well-known Lenten hymn in all the islands of the Marianas. It is also often sung at a funeral or wake.

Chamorro Lyrics

Dimuye, manhengge, i Såntos Kilu'us;

adora si Yu'us nai måtai guihe.

(Kneel, oh believers, before the Holy Cross;

adore God who has died on it.)

Dichoso i ante ni gaige gi fi'on

i sen gofli'ion na Nana'libre.

(Blessed is the soul who is at the side

of the most lovable Savior.)

Tekune manisao i Såntos Kilu'us,

i mames na Yu'us ma puno' guihe.

(Bow before, o sinner, the Holy Cross,

to the sweet God who was killed there.)

Gi Såntos Kilu'us i pepblen i anti-ho,

yan i ha'ani-ho boi na' linangle'.

(In the Holy Cross is the poverty of my soul,

and I will guard my life in It.)

Ti siña ta yute' ennao na señåt-ta

annai i Tatå-ta umakalaye.

(We cannot abandon this our sign

wherein our Father was hung.)

Interesting Words and Ideas

• "Si Yu'us nai måtai guihe."  God, ofcourse, cannot die; He is immortal.  Jesus, in His human nature, did die a true, human death.  His human soul left His human body.  But Jesus is also true God, as well as true man.  He also rose from the dead when His human soul re-entered His human body, rising in glory.
• "Gi Såntos Kilu'us i pepblen i anti-ho."  How is the poverty of one's soul found in the Cross?  In what way is our soul poor?  Our souls are poor in grace, in merit, in righteousness.  If we look at our souls, the choices we have made and the things we have done, we have more than enough reason to be ashamed, and no reason to boast.  But Jesus dying on the Cross wins for us the pardon of our sins and spiritual poverty.  We cannot boast before God, but we can take shelter in the Cross of Jesus who died for sinners.
• "Annai i Tatå-ta umakalaye."  The song speaks of "Father" (Tåta) but not God the Father.  God the Father was not hung on the Cross; God the Son was.  The song is following a peculiar Spanish custom of calling Jesus "Father."  The prophet Isaiah speaks about the coming Messiah, which Jesus is, as the "Everlasting Father." Jesus tells the Apostles that He will not leave them orphans, as if He were their father. Jesus represents God the Father to us and told the Apostles, "Whoever sees Me sees the Father," because Jesus is the Son and the Son comes from the Father and represents the Father. So, although Jesus is not God the Father but is instead God the Son, for all these reasons and others, we can call Him a Father because He is like a Father to us.

THE SPANISH ORIGINAL

Like many Chamorro hymns, it is based on a Spanish original. You hear some little differences in the music, even between Saipan and Guam. Sometimes a word or two is changed even in the Spanish original. But the Spanish version usually starts with :

Venid, oh cristianos, la cruz adoremos;

la cruz ensalcemos que al mundo salvó.

(Come, oh Christians, let us adore the cross;

let us exalt the cross which redeemed the world.)