Qui (bene) cantat, bis orat -- The one who sings well, prays twice.
Popular sources for this quote attribute it to Augustine of Hippo (St. Augustine of Hippo among Roman Catholics, Lutherans, Anglicans, and many others; Blessed Augustine among Orthodox Christians).
Augustine was born in Thagaste (modern-day Algeria) and reposed in Christ in the year 430 in the colonia of Hippo (Hippo Regius -- Annaba. Algeria today), where he served as bishop for a little over 30 years. Hippo today remains a "titular See," which means there is no bishop in office over the diocese and little chance of an appointment anytime soon.
[More information about Annaba, Algeria can be found at: www.algeria.com/blog/annaba-algeria-3000.... Exploring this site will deepen appreciation for urban life among 350,000 city residents today.]
As for the quote--Qui (bene) cantat, bis orat--it is not clear from manuscripts whether Augustine wrote it. I offer a likely alternative to the quote, and then explore a theme of transforming a song, which occurs when a song is directed to the Holy Trinity.
Blessed Augustine actually had this to say in CCL 39:
† Qui enim cantat laudem, non solum laudat, sed etiam hilariter laudat; qui cantat laudem, non solum cantat, sed et amat eum quem cantat. In laude confitentis est praedicatio, in cantico amantis affectio.
[My translation] † The one who sings praise, not only praises, but also praises joyfully; the one who sings praise, not only sings, but also loves Him for whom he sings. In the praise by one who confesses (the Divine Being), praise [actually] is a public profession; and in the song of the lover is affection (for the Beloved) [emphasis mine].
Confession (confitentis) and public profession (praedicatio) each transform praise (egkauksaomai-Greek; laude-Latin) from the sense of one lauding the glory to God, to a mystical union with God in song. Song advances love between the divine Beloved and the singer, such that God sings His praise through us. I reach this conclusion by the progression of the quote from what we might call mere repetition of verse and melody into spiritual song that unites two lovers in mutual affection.
Songs of praise increase desire for union and reunion with the Holy Trinity. Therefore, the one who sings well, prays twice. This is good medicine for the soul, just as we sing together Psalm 98:
- Sing a new song to the LORD, who has done marvelous deeds, Whose right hand and holy arm have won the victory.
- The LORD has made his victory known; has revealed his triumph for the nations to see, has remembered faithful love toward the house of Israel. All the ends of the earth have seen the victory of our God.
- Shout with joy to the LORD, all the earth; break into song; sing praise.
- Sing praise to the LORD with the harp, with the harp and melodious song.
- With trumpets and the sound of the horn shout with joy to the King, the LORD.
- Let the sea and what fills it resound, the world and those who dwell there.
- Let the rivers clap their hands, the mountains shout with them for joy,
- Before the LORD who comes, who comes to govern the earth, To govern the world with justice and the peoples with fairness.
Psalm 98: Viderunt omnes, gradual in mode 5 (Liber Usualis, No.409; GR. 33), Tonus Peregrinus--Naxos recording, sample at "Classical Archives.com" using the following URL: