O Virgo Virginum (December 23)

The final Great "O" Antiphon, O Virgo Virginum ("O Virgin of Virgins") is, in the Anglican world, sung tonight at Evensong, before and after the Magnificat.

O Virgin of Virgins, how shall this be? For neither before thee was any like thee, nor shall there be after. Daughters of Jerusalem, why marvel ye at me? That which ye behold is a divine mystery.

Below is a Latin version of the Magnificat:




Here are the Latin and modern English (US BCP 1979) versions of the beautiful Magnificat, so that you can sing along if you wish.

Magnificat: anima mea Dominum.
Et exultavit spiritus meus: in Deo salutari meo.
Quia respexit humilitatem ancillae suae:
ecce enim ex hoc beatam me dicent omnes generationes.
Quia fecit mihi magna, qui potens est:
et sanctum nomen eius.
Et misericordia eius, a progenie et progenies:
timentibus eum.
Fecit potentiam in brachio suo:
dispersit superbos mente cordis sui.
Deposuit potentes de sede:
et exaltavit humiles.
Esurientes implevit bonis:
et divites dimisit inanes.
Suscepit Israel puerum suum:
recordatus misericordiae suae.
Sicut locutus est ad patres nostros:
Abraham, et semini eius in saecula.

Gloria Patri, et Filio, et Spiritui Sancto,
Sicut erat in principio, et nunc, et semper, et in saecula saeculorum. Amen.

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
my spirit rejoices in God my Savior; *
for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.
From this day all generations will call me blessed: *
the Almighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his Name.
He has mercy on those who fear him *
in every generation.
He has shown the strength of his arm, *
he has scattered the proud in their conceit.
He has cast down the mighty from their thrones, *
and has lifted up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things, *
and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has come to the help of his servant Israel, *
for he has remembered his promise of mercy,
The promise he made to our fathers, *
to Abraham and his children for ever.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: *
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.

If you'd like to pray the whole office of Vespers, you can do it at St. Bede's Breviary; choose "Amplified Prayer Book" under "Style" to get the "O's".

Blessed Christmas to all.

O Emmanuel (December 22)

O Emmanuel is the Antiphon upon Magnificat for tonight at Vespers:

O Emmanuel, our King and Lawgiver, Desire of all nations and their Salvation: Come and save us, O Lord our God.

Here's a video of the antiphon sung in English, from the Society of St. John the Evangelist, an Episcopal monastic order in Cambridge, MA; there's a discussion of the antiphon after it's sung.




Below is a Latin version of the Magnificat:




Here are the Latin and modern English (US BCP 1979) versions of the beautiful Magnificat, so that you can sing along if you wish.

Magnificat: anima mea Dominum.
Et exultavit spiritus meus: in Deo salutari meo.
Quia respexit humilitatem ancillae suae:
ecce enim ex hoc beatam me dicent omnes generationes.
Quia fecit mihi magna, qui potens est:
et sanctum nomen eius.
Et misericordia eius, a progenie et progenies:
timentibus eum.
Fecit potentiam in brachio suo:
dispersit superbos mente cordis sui.
Deposuit potentes de sede:
et exaltavit humiles.
Esurientes implevit bonis:
et divites dimisit inanes.
Suscepit Israel puerum suum:
recordatus misericordiae suae.
Sicut locutus est ad patres nostros:
Abraham, et semini eius in saecula.

Gloria Patri, et Filio, et Spiritui Sancto,
Sicut erat in principio, et nunc, et semper, et in saecula saeculorum. Amen.

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
my spirit rejoices in God my Savior; *
for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.
From this day all generations will call me blessed: *
the Almighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his Name.
He has mercy on those who fear him *
in every generation.
He has shown the strength of his arm, *
he has scattered the proud in their conceit.
He has cast down the mighty from their thrones, *
and has lifted up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things, *
and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has come to the help of his servant Israel, *
for he has remembered his promise of mercy,
The promise he made to our fathers, *
to Abraham and his children for ever.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: *
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.

If you'd like to pray the whole office of Vespers, you can do it at St. Bede's Breviary; choose "Amplified Prayer Book" under "Style" to get the "O's".

Here's Zoltán Kodály's gorgeous "Veni, veni, Emmanuel," sung here by L'Accorche-Choeur, Ensemble vocal Fribourg:

Veni, Veni Emmanuel is a synthesis of the great "O Antiphons" that are used for Vespers during the octave before Christmas (Dec. 17-23). These antiphons are of ancient origin and date back to at least the ninth century.

O Rex Gentium (December 21)

Anglicans sing O Rex Gentium ("O King of the Nations") tonight at Vespers as the Antiphon upon Magnificat.  (If they're not singing an Antiphon in the honor of St. Thomas, whose feast day it is today, that is.)

O King of Nations, and their Desire; the Cornerstone, who makest both one: Come and save mankind, whom thou formedst of clay.

Here's a video of the antiphon sung in English, from the Society of St. John the Evangelist, an Episcopal monastic order in Cambridge, MA; there's a discussion of the antiphon after it's sung.




Interesting, I think, that Christ's title here is at once "King of Nations," and also "their Desire" - and that he is the cornerstone who integrates them into one thing.   This is the same idea you find in Psalm 119: "O Lord, how I love Thy Law!"  It says that the ultimate of end of faith is to love and desire God's Rule; this King does not lay burdens on His people, but comes to heal and to fulfill.  A small phrase that does a lot of work; it's really a succinct statement of the belief that Creation is good - but fallen.  

The "cornerstone" referred to here has many Scriptural sources. Likely the first, and very influential, mention is found in Psalm 118:22:

The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief corner stone.

Isaiah 28:6 talks, too, of a "cornerstone":

Therefore thus says the Lord GOD, “Behold, I am the one who has laid as a foundation in Zion, a stone, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, of a sure foundation: ‘Whoever believes will not be in haste.’

Matthew 21:42 refers back to the Psalm (as do Mark and Luke in their Gospels):

Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: “‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?

The same reference to the Psalm is found in Acts 4:11, as Peter and John talk to the Sanhedrin:

This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone.

And Paul harkens back to the Isaiah - but with a Pauline twist, adding in a bit of text from Isaiah 8:14! - in Romans 9:33:

As it is written, “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense; and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”

Below is a Latin version of the Magnificat itself:




Here are the Latin and modern English (US BCP 1979) versions of the beautiful Magnificat, so that you can sing along if you wish.

Magnificat: anima mea Dominum.
Et exultavit spiritus meus: in Deo salutari meo.
Quia respexit humilitatem ancillae suae:
ecce enim ex hoc beatam me dicent omnes generationes.
Quia fecit mihi magna, qui potens est:
et sanctum nomen eius.
Et misericordia eius, a progenie et progenies:
timentibus eum.
Fecit potentiam in brachio suo:
dispersit superbos mente cordis sui.
Deposuit potentes de sede:
et exaltavit humiles.
Esurientes implevit bonis:
et divites dimisit inanes.
Suscepit Israel puerum suum:
recordatus misericordiae suae.
Sicut locutus est ad patres nostros:
Abraham, et semini eius in saecula.

Gloria Patri, et Filio, et Spiritui Sancto,
Sicut erat in principio, et nunc, et semper, et in saecula saeculorum. Amen.

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
my spirit rejoices in God my Savior; *
for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.
From this day all generations will call me blessed: *
the Almighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his Name.
He has mercy on those who fear him *
in every generation.
He has shown the strength of his arm, *
he has scattered the proud in their conceit.
He has cast down the mighty from their thrones, *
and has lifted up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things, *
and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has come to the help of his servant Israel, *
for he has remembered his promise of mercy,
The promise he made to our fathers, *
to Abraham and his children for ever.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: *
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.

If you'd like to pray the whole office of Vespers, you can do it at St. Bede's Breviary; choose "Amplified Prayer Book" under "Style" to get the "O's".

O Oriens (December 20)

The Great "O" Antiphon O Oriens ("O Dayspring") is sung tonight at Vespers as the Antiphon upon Magnificat.

O Day-Spring, Brightness of the Light everlasting, and Sun of righteousness: Come and enlighten them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death.

Here's a video of the antiphon sung in English, from the Society of St. John the Evangelist, an Episcopal monastic order in Cambridge, MA; there's a discussion of the antiphon after it's sung.




Oriens is Latin for "East" - and also refers to "the Morning Star" (either Venus, or perhaps the sun). The text most likely comes from Revelation 22:16, part of the "epilogue" of the book and one of the very last verses in the Bible:

12 “Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done. 13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.

14 “Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city. 15 Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.

16 “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star.”

17 The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let the one who hears say, “Come!” Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life.

18 I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this scroll: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to that person the plagues described in this scroll. 19 And if anyone takes words away from this scroll of prophecy, God will take away from that person any share in the tree of life and in the Holy City, which are described in this scroll.

20 He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon.”

Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.

21 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s people. Amen.

Below is a Latin version of the Magnificat itself.




Here are the Latin and modern English (US BCP 1979) versions of the beautiful Magnificat, so that you can sing along if you wish.

Magnificat: anima mea Dominum.
Et exultavit spiritus meus: in Deo salutari meo.
Quia respexit humilitatem ancillae suae:
ecce enim ex hoc beatam me dicent omnes generationes.
Quia fecit mihi magna, qui potens est:
et sanctum nomen eius.
Et misericordia eius, a progenie et progenies:
timentibus eum.
Fecit potentiam in brachio suo:
dispersit superbos mente cordis sui.
Deposuit potentes de sede:
et exaltavit humiles.
Esurientes implevit bonis:
et divites dimisit inanes.
Suscepit Israel puerum suum:
recordatus misericordiae suae.
Sicut locutus est ad patres nostros:
Abraham, et semini eius in saecula.

Gloria Patri, et Filio, et Spiritui Sancto,
Sicut erat in principio, et nunc, et semper, et in saecula saeculorum. Amen.

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
my spirit rejoices in God my Savior; *
for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.
From this day all generations will call me blessed: *
the Almighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his Name.
He has mercy on those who fear him *
in every generation.
He has shown the strength of his arm, *
he has scattered the proud in their conceit.
He has cast down the mighty from their thrones, *
and has lifted up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things, *
and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has come to the help of his servant Israel, *
for he has remembered his promise of mercy,
The promise he made to our fathers, *
to Abraham and his children for ever.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: *
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.

If you'd like to pray the whole office of Vespers, you can do it at St. Bede's Breviary; choose "Amplified Prayer Book" under "Style" to get the "O's".

Here's something about the Great "O" Antiphons from the website "The Hymns and Carols of Christmas":

The antiphons date back at least to the reign of Charlemagne (771-814), and the 439 lines of the English poem Christ, by Cynewulf (c. 800), are described as a loose translation and elaboration of the Antiphons.  One source stated that Boethius (c. 480-524) made a slight reference to them, thereby suggesting their presence at that time.  Julian reports that two 11^th century copies can be found in manuscripts in the British Museum and the Bodleian. The usage of the "O Antiphons" was so prevalent in monasteries that the phrases, "Keep your O" and "The Great O Antiphons" were common parlance.

At least two — and up to five — additional verses were later added to the original seven.   However, it is clear that these seven were designed as a group, since their initial letters (ignoring the 'O' that precedes each line) spell out the reverse acrostic 'SARCORE' — 'ero cras', that is, "I shall be [with you] tomorrow."

According to some sources, by the 12th or 13^th century, but no later than the eighteenth century, five of the verses had been put together to form the verses of a single hymn, with the refrain "Gaude, gaude, Emmanuel nascetur pro te, Israel" ("Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel; Shall come to thee, O Israel") (there was no refrain in the original Latin chant). The earliest known metrical form of the "O" Antiphons was a Latin version in an Appendix of Psalteriolum Cantionum Catholicarum, (Cologne, 1710, from the Tridentine rite).

In 1851, it was translated by and published in Rev. John Mason Neale’s Medieval Hymns. The original title was "Draw nigh, draw nigh! Immanuel." It was revised and published in 1854 in Neale and Thomas Helmore’s second edition of Hymnal Noted with the more familiar "O Come, O Come Emmanuel." "Emmanuel" (or "Immanuel") is the name of the Messiah as prophesied by the Old Testament prophet, Isaiah (see Isaiah 7:14, quoted in Matthew 1:23). There have been numerous other translations, notably by Thomas Alexander Lacey and Henry Sloane Coffin.

English prose translations are by Cardinal John Henry Newman from Tracts for the Times, No. 75 (Vol.3), pp. 183, 206-207, as quoted by Alfred S. Cook, The Christ Of Cynewulf, pp. 71-72. "Alternate Prose Translations" are also provided; translator unknown.

Scriptural citations from Fr. William Saunders, "What Are the ’O Antiphons’?" (and also under the title "A Seven-Fold Announcement"), and Cook, The Christ of Cynewulf, pp. 72-114.

O Clavis David (December 19)

O Clavis David ("O Key of David") gets sung tonight at Vespers as the Antiphon upon Magnificat.

O Key of David, and Scepter of the house of Israel; that openeth and no man shutteth, and shutteth, and no man openeth: come, and bring forth from the prisionhouse the captive, who sitteth in darkness and in the shadow of death.

Here's a video of the antiphon sung in English, from the Society of St. John the Evangelist, an Episcopal monastic order in Cambridge, MA; there's a discussion of the antiphon after it's sung.




The text for this antiphon is found in two places in the Scriptures: Isaiah 22 and Revelation 3:

Isaiah 22:22: And the Key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder; so he shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open.

Revelation 3:7: And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth....

Clearly, the Revelation passage is directly quoting the Isaiah; I still am not  certain of the significance of the phrase in either case, however, or whether this alludes to some earlier text or idea.  (Actually, I've been meaning to look into this for year now!)

This, though, comes from Hymns and Carols of Christmas; it's from Prosper Guéranger's The Liturgical Year, Vol. 1, Advent.

O Jesus, Son of David! heir to his throne and his power! Thou art now passing over, in Thy way to Bethlehem, the land that once was the kingdom of Thy ancestor, but now is tributary to the Gentiles. Scarce an inch of this ground which has not witnessed the miracles of the justice and mercy of Jehovah, Thy Father, to the people of the old Covenant, which is so soon to end. Before long, when Thou hast come from beneath the virginal cloud which now hides Thee, Thou wilt pass along this same road doing good, ¹ healing all manner of sickness and every infirmity, ² and yet having not where to lay Thy head. ³ Now, at least, Thy Mother’s womb affords Thee the sweetest rest, and Thou receivest from her the profoundest adoration and the tenderest love. But, dear Jesus, it is Thine own blessed will that Thou leave this loved abode. Thou hast, O eternal Light, to shine in the midst of this world’s darkness, this prison where the captive, whom Thou hast come to deliver, sits in the shadow of death. Open his prison-gates by Thy all-powerful key. And who is this captive, but the human race, the slave of error and vice? Who is this captive, but the heart of man, which is thrall to the very passions it blushes to obey? Oh! come and set at liberty the world Thou hast enriched by Thy grace, and the creatures whom Thou hast made to be Thine own brethren.

ANTIPHON TO THE ANGEL GABRIEL

O Gabriel! nuntius cœlorum, qui januis clausis ad me intrasti, et Verbum nunciasti: Concipies et paries: Emmanuel vocabitur.

O Gabriel! the messenger of heaven, who camest unto me through the closed doors, and didst announce the Word unto me : Thou shalt conceive and bear a Son, and he shall be called Emmanuel.

Notes from Dom Guéranger:

1. Acts x. 38.
2. St. Matt. iv. 23.
3. St. Luke ix. 58. 

These are certainly beautiful metaphors, in any case.


Below is a Latin version of the Magnificat itself.




Here are the Latin and modern English (US BCP 1979) versions of the beautiful Magnificat, so that you can sing along if you wish.

Magnificat: anima mea Dominum.
Et exultavit spiritus meus: in Deo salutari meo.
Quia respexit humilitatem ancillae suae:
ecce enim ex hoc beatam me dicent omnes generationes.
Quia fecit mihi magna, qui potens est:
et sanctum nomen eius.
Et misericordia eius, a progenie et progenies:
timentibus eum.
Fecit potentiam in brachio suo:
dispersit superbos mente cordis sui.
Deposuit potentes de sede:
et exaltavit humiles.
Esurientes implevit bonis:
et divites dimisit inanes.
Suscepit Israel puerum suum:
recordatus misericordiae suae.
Sicut locutus est ad patres nostros:
Abraham, et semini eius in saecula.

Gloria Patri, et Filio, et Spiritui Sancto,
Sicut erat in principio, et nunc, et semper, et in saecula saeculorum. Amen.

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
my spirit rejoices in God my Savior; *
for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.
From this day all generations will call me blessed: *
the Almighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his Name.
He has mercy on those who fear him *
in every generation.
He has shown the strength of his arm, *
he has scattered the proud in their conceit.
He has cast down the mighty from their thrones, *
and has lifted up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things, *
and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has come to the help of his servant Israel, *
for he has remembered his promise of mercy,
The promise he made to our fathers, *
to Abraham and his children for ever.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: *
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.

If you'd like to pray the whole office of Vespers, you can do it at St. Bede's Breviary; choose "Amplified Prayer Book" under "Style" to get the "O's".

O Radix Jesse (December 18)

Tonight's Great "O" Antiphon sung before and after the Magnificat is O Radix Jesse (O Root of Jesse).

O Root of Jesse, which standest for an ensign of the people, at whom kings shall stop their mouths, whom the Gentiles shall seek: Come and deliver us, and tarry not.

Here's a video of the antiphon sung in English, from the Society of St. John the Evangelist, an Episcopal monastic order in Cambridge, MA; there's a discussion of the antiphon after it's sung.




The text for this Antiphon comes primarily from Isaiah. The "root of Jesse" is a reference to Isaiah 11 - and the wonderful "kings shall shut their mouths" comes from the haunting "Suffering Servant" passages in Isaiah 52-53:

Behold, my servant shall act wisely;
he shall be high and lifted up,
and shall be exalted.
As many were astonished at you—
his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance,
and his form beyond that of the children of mankind—
so shall he startle many nations;
kings shall shut their mouths because of him;
for that which has not been told them they see,
and that which they have not heard they understand.

Below is a Latin version of the Magnificat itself.




The text of the Magnificat comes from Luke 1;  here are the words to the original Latin and the modern English (US BCP 1979) versions of this beautiful canticle, so that you can sing along if you wish.

Magnificat: anima mea Dominum.
Et exultavit spiritus meus: in Deo salutari meo.
Quia respexit humilitatem ancillae suae:
ecce enim ex hoc beatam me dicent omnes generationes.
Quia fecit mihi magna, qui potens est:
et sanctum nomen eius.
Et misericordia eius, a progenie et progenies:
timentibus eum.
Fecit potentiam in brachio suo:
dispersit superbos mente cordis sui.
Deposuit potentes de sede:
et exaltavit humiles.
Esurientes implevit bonis:
et divites dimisit inanes.
Suscepit Israel puerum suum:
recordatus misericordiae suae.
Sicut locutus est ad patres nostros:
Abraham, et semini eius in saecula.

Gloria Patri, et Filio, et Spiritui Sancto,
Sicut erat in principio, et nunc, et semper, et in saecula saeculorum. Amen.

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
my spirit rejoices in God my Savior; *
for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.
From this day all generations will call me blessed: *
the Almighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his Name.
He has mercy on those who fear him *
in every generation.
He has shown the strength of his arm, *
he has scattered the proud in their conceit.
He has cast down the mighty from their thrones, *
and has lifted up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things, *
and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has come to the help of his servant Israel, *
for he has remembered his promise of mercy,
The promise he made to our fathers, *
to Abraham and his children for ever.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: *
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.

If you'd like to pray the whole office of Vespers, you can do it at St. Bede's Breviary; choose "Amplified Prayer Book" under "Style" to get the "O's".

This article, written in around 1914 by A.C.A. Hall, the Episcopal Bishop of Vermont, contains quite a bit more about the Great "O"s.

This is an "O Antiphon" page from the Poissy Antiphonal (1335-45);  it's got "O Sapientia," "O Adonai," and "O Radix Jesse" - the first three "O"s:

O Adonai (December 17)

Tonight, the Great "O" Antiphon sung at Vespers before and after the Magnificat is O Adonai:

O Adonai and Leader of the house of Israel, who appearedst in the Bush of Moses in a flame of fire, and gavest him the law in Sinai: Come and deliver us with an outstretched arm.

Here's a video of the antiphon sung in English, from the Society of St. John the Evangelist, an Episcopal monastic order in Cambridge, MA; there's a discussion of the antiphon after it's sung.



Below is a Latin version of the Magnificat itself:



The text of the Magnificat comes from Luke 1;  here are the words to the original Latin and the modern English (US BCP 1979) versions of this beautiful canticle, so that you can sing along if you wish.

Magnificat: anima mea Dominum.
Et exultavit spiritus meus: in Deo salutari meo.
Quia respexit humilitatem ancillae suae:
ecce enim ex hoc beatam me dicent omnes generationes.
Quia fecit mihi magna, qui potens est:
et sanctum nomen eius.
Et misericordia eius, a progenie et progenies:
timentibus eum.
Fecit potentiam in brachio suo:
dispersit superbos mente cordis sui.
Deposuit potentes de sede:
et exaltavit humiles.
Esurientes implevit bonis:
et divites dimisit inanes.
Suscepit Israel puerum suum:
recordatus misericordiae suae.
Sicut locutus est ad patres nostros:
Abraham, et semini eius in saecula.

Gloria Patri, et Filio, et Spiritui Sancto,
Sicut erat in principio, et nunc, et semper, et in saecula saeculorum. Amen.

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
my spirit rejoices in God my Savior; *
for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.
From this day all generations will call me blessed: *
the Almighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his Name.
He has mercy on those who fear him *
in every generation.
He has shown the strength of his arm, *
he has scattered the proud in their conceit.
He has cast down the mighty from their thrones, *
and has lifted up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things, *
and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has come to the help of his servant Israel, *
for he has remembered his promise of mercy,
The promise he made to our fathers, *
to Abraham and his children for ever.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: *
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.

If you'd like to pray the whole office of Vespers, you can do it at St. Bede's Breviary; choose "Amplified Prayer Book" under "Style" to get the "O's".

Here is is a good longish article about these antiphons, and some other related ones.

About the word Adonai ('literally "my Lord," the plural form of Adon, that is, "Lord" or "Lordship"'), from the Jewish Encyclopedia:

This word occurs in the Masoretic text 315 times by the side of the Tetragram YHWH (310 times preceding and five times succeeding it) and 134 times without it. Originally an appellation of God, the word became a definite title, and when the Tetragram became too holy for utterance Adonai was substituted for it, so that, as a rule, the name written YHWH receives the points of Adonai and is read Adonai, except in cases where Adonai precedes or succeeds it in the text, when it is read Elohim....The translation of YHWH by the word Lord in the King James's and in other versions is due to the traditional reading of the Tetragrammaton as Adonai, and this can be traced to the oldest translation of the Bible, the Septuagint. About the pronunciation of the Shem ha-Meforash, the "distinctive name" YHWH, there is no authentic information. In the early period of the Second Temple the Name was still in common use, as may be learned from such proper names as Jehohanan, or from liturgical formulas, such as Halelu-Yah. At the beginning of the Hellenistic era, however, the use of the Name was reserved for the Temple.

....

Pronunciation of the Name by the Temple priests also gradually fell into disuse. Tosef., Soṭah, xiii. 8, quoted Menaḥot, 109b, and Yoma, 39b, relates that "from the time Simon the Just died [this is the traditional expression for the beginning of the Hellenistic period], the priests refrained from blessing the people with the Name"—in other words, they pronounced it indistinctly, or they mouthed or mumbled it. Thus says Tosef., Ber. vi. 23: Formerly they used to greet each other with the Ineffable Name; when the time of the decline of the study of the Law came, the elders mumbled the Name. Subsequently also the solemn utterance of the Name by the high priest on the Day of Atonement, that ought to have been heard by the priests and the people, according to the Mishnah Yoma, vi. 2, became inaudible or indistinct.

....the Greek translators of the Bible, even though some scribe might now and then write the Tetragrammaton in the archaic Hebrew form on the margin, Π I Π I, as found by Origen (see facsimile attached to article Aquila), took great care to render the name Π I Π I regularly Κυριός, Lord, as if they knew of no other reading but Adonai. Translations dependent upon the Septuagint have the same reading of the Name. Not from "superstitious fear" or misapplication of the third command of the Decalogue or of Lev. xxiv. 11, but from a reverential feeling that the Name ought not to be pronounced except with consecrated lips and to consecrated ears, the substitute "Lord" came into use. Yet this simple measure, introduced to guard the Name against profane use, formed one of the most powerful means of securing to the Biblical God the universal character with which He is invested as the Lord of Hosts and the Ruler of men and nations. YHWH, as the God of Israel, might still be taken as a tribal God; The Lord is no longer the God of one people; He is Lord of all the world, the Only One. Compare Name of God, Shem ha-Meforash, and Tetragrammaton.

This is an "O Antiphon" page from the Poissy Antiphonal (1335-45); it's got "O Sapientia," "O Adonai," and "O Radix Jesse" - the first three "O"s:

O Sapientia (December 16)

Tonight we enter that beautiful time of year, Sapientia-tide, once again.  December 16 has been designated "O Sapientia" in the Church Calendar of the 1662 Book of Common Prayer for 350 years now - but the antiphons themselves are much older.  They originated during a period no later the 8th Century, and have been sung in monasteries and convents during these days before Christmas since those very early times.

"O Sapientia" ("O Wisdom") is the Antiphon Upon Magnificat at Vespers for the 16th - and the first of 8 "Great 'O' Antiphons" for this octave before Christmas.  (Roman Catholics begin on December 17; they use one fewer antiphon. The last is sung, in each church, on the 23rd, "Christmas Eve Eve.")

The texts for the Great "O"s are taken in great part from the Prophets and from the Wisdom literature, and become mystical  proclamations, made daily during those eight days, of the imminent coming of Christ "in great humility." 

Here's O Sapientia; the English translation - in the old language - is below the video.

O Wisdom, which camest out of the mouth of the most High, and reachest from one end to another, mightily and sweetly ordering all things: Come and teach us the way of prudence.

And here, at last, is a video of the antiphon sung in English!  It comes from the Society of St. John Evangelist - an Anglican monastic order in Cambridge, MA. There is also some discussion of the antiphon after, after it's sung:




The text of O Sapientia is drawn in great part from Sirach 24.  I'm including the whole chapter here because it deserves to be read in its entirety, I think:

¹ Wisdom shall praise her own self, and shall be honoured in God, and shall glory in the midst of her people,
 ² And shall open her mouth in the churches of the most High, and shall glorify herself in the sight of his power,
 ³ And in the midst of her own people she shall be exalted, and shall be ad- mired in the holy assembly.
 ⁴ And in the multitude of the elect she shall have praise, and among the blessed she shall be blessed, saying:
 ⁵ I came out of the mouth of the most High, the firstborn before all creatures:
 ⁶ I made that in the heavens there should rise light that never faileth, and as a cloud I covered all the earth:
 ⁷ I dwelt in the highest places, and my throne is in a pillar of a cloud.
 ⁸ I alone have compassed the circuit of heaven, and have penetrated into the bottom of the deep, and have walked in the waves of the sea,
 ⁹ And have stood in all the earth: and in every people,
 ¹⁰ And in every nation I have had the chief rule:
 ¹¹ And by my power I have trodden under my feet the hearts of all the high and low: and in all these I sought rest, and I shall abide in the inheritance of the Lord.
 ¹² Then the creator of all things commanded, and said to me: and he that made me, rested in my tabernacle,
 ¹³ And he said to me: Let thy dwelling be in Jacob, and thy inheritance in Israel, and take root in my elect.
 ¹⁴ From the beginning, and before the world, was I created, and unto the world to come I shall not cease to be, and in the holy dwelling place I have ministered before him.
 ¹⁵ And so was I established in Sion, and in the holy city likewise I rested, and my power was in Jerusalem.
 ¹⁶ And I took root in an honourable people, and in the portion of mg God his inheritance, and my abode is in the full assembly of saints.
 ¹⁷ I was exalted like a cedar in Libanus, and as a cypress tree on mount Sion.
 ¹⁸ I was exalted like a palm tree in Cades, and as a rose plant in Jericho:
 ¹⁹ As a fair olive tree in the plains, and as a plane tree by the water in the streets, was I exalted.
 ²⁰ I gave a sweet smell like cinnamon. and aromatical balm: I yielded a sweet odour like the best myrrh:
 ²¹ And I perfumed my dwelling as storax, and galbanum, and onyx, and aloes, and as the frankincense not cut, and my odour is as the purest balm.
 ²² I have stretched out my branches as the turpentine tree, and my branches are of honour and grace.
 ²³ As the vine I have brought forth a pleasant odour: and my flowers are the fruit of honour and riches.
 ²⁴ I am the mother of fair love, and of fear, and of knowledge, and of holy hope.
 ²⁵ In me is all grace of the way and of the truth, in me is all hope of life and of virtue.
 ²⁶ Come over to me, all ye that desire me, and be filled with my fruits.
 ²⁷ For my spirit is sweet above honey, and my inheritance above honey and the honeycomb.
 ²⁸ My memory is unto everlasting generations.
 ²⁹ They that eat me, shall yet hunger: and they that drink me, shall yet thirst.
 ³⁰ He that hearkeneth to me, shall not be confounded: and they that work by me, shall not sin.
 ³¹ They that explain me shall have life everlasting.
 ³² All these things are the book of life, and the covenant of the most High, and the knowledge of truth.
 ³³ Moses commanded a law in the precepts of justices, and an inheritance to the house of Jacob, and the promises to Israel.
 ³⁴ He appointed to David his servant to raise up of him a most mighty king, and sitting on the throne of glory for ever.
 ³⁵ Who filleth up wisdom as the Phison, and as the Tigris in the days of the new fruits.
 ³⁶ Who maketh understanding to abound as the Euphrates, who multiplieth it as the Jordan in the time of harvest.
 ³⁷ Who sendeth knowledge as the light, and riseth up as Gehon in the time of the vintage.
 ³⁸ Who first hath perfect knowledge of her, and a weaker shall not search her out.
 ³⁹ For her thoughts are more vast than the sea, and her counsels more deep than the great ocean.
 ⁴⁰ I, wisdom, have poured out rivers.
 ⁴¹ I, like a brook out of a river of a mighty water; I, like a channel of a river. and like an aqueduct, came out of paradise.
 ⁴² I said: I will water my garden of plants, and I will water abundantly the fruits of my meadow.
 ⁴³ And behold my brook became a great river, and my river came near to a sea:
 ⁴⁴ For I make doctrine to shine forth to all as the morning light, and I will declare it afar off.
 ⁴⁵ I will penetrate to all the lower parts of the earth, and will behold all that sleep, and will enlighten all that hope in the Lord.
 ⁴⁶ I will yet pour out doctrine as prophecy, and will leave it to them that seek wisdom, and will not cease to instruct their offspring even to the holy age.
 ⁴⁷ See ye that I have not laboured for myself only, but for all that seek out the truth.

[EDIT:  As Nathaniel reminds me in the comments, I'd forgotten that another part of the antiphon comes from Wisdom of Solomon.   This is a beautiful passage, too, so I'll quote a bit of it here as well:

For [wisdom] is a reflection of eternal light,
a spotless mirror of the working of God,
and an image of his goodness.
Although she is but one, she can do all things,
and while remaining in herself, she renews all things;
in every generation she passes into holy souls
and makes them friends of God, and prophets;
for God loves nothing so much as the person who lives with wisdom.
She is more beautiful than the sun,
and excels every constellation of the stars.
Compared with the light she is found to be superior,
for it is succeeded by the night,
but against wisdom evil does not prevail.

She reaches mightily from one end of the earth to the other,
and she orders all things well.

Interestingly, this last passage also shows up in at least one of the mass propers  - cannot recall at the moment if more than one - at The Feast of the Transfiguration; clearly "eternal light" has something to do with that.  In any case, at some point, I'm going to take an in-depth look at the way "Wisdom" is portrayed in the Apocrypha; it's always fascinated me.  Wisdom seems to be a persona, an aspect of God given a separate form - and a feminine one, while we're at it!   Thanks again to Nathaniel for reminding me of this.]

Below is a Latin version of the Magnificat itself, if you're inclined to listen to or sing it:




The text of the Magnificat comes from Luke 1;  here are the words to the original Latin and the modern English (US BCP 1979) versions of this beautiful canticle, so that you can sing along if you wish.

Magnificat: anima mea Dominum.
Et exultavit spiritus meus: in Deo salutari meo.
Quia respexit humilitatem ancillae suae:
ecce enim ex hoc beatam me dicent omnes generationes.
Quia fecit mihi magna, qui potens est:
et sanctum nomen eius.
Et misericordia eius, a progenie et progenies:
timentibus eum.
Fecit potentiam in brachio suo:
dispersit superbos mente cordis sui.
Deposuit potentes de sede:
et exaltavit humiles.
Esurientes implevit bonis:
et divites dimisit inanes.
Suscepit Israel puerum suum:
recordatus misericordiae suae.
Sicut locutus est ad patres nostros:
Abraham, et semini eius in saecula.

Gloria Patri, et Filio, et Spiritui Sancto,
Sicut erat in principio, et nunc, et semper, et in saecula saeculorum. Amen.

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
my spirit rejoices in God my Savior; *
for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.
From this day all generations will call me blessed: *
the Almighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his Name.
He has mercy on those who fear him *
in every generation.
He has shown the strength of his arm, *
he has scattered the proud in their conceit.
He has cast down the mighty from their thrones, *
and has lifted up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things, *
and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has come to the help of his servant Israel, *
for he has remembered his promise of mercy,
The promise he made to our fathers, *
to Abraham and his children for ever.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: *
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.

The rubrics for Sapientia-tide (these next 8 days) change, according to Breviary.net; the antiphons at Lauds and Vespers are proper to this period.  If you'd like to pray the whole office of Vespers, you can do it at St. Bede's Breviary; choose "Amplified Prayer Book" under "Style" to get the "O's".

You can see the antiphons listed here, at Breviary Offices, from Lauds to Compline Inclusive (Society of St. Margaret, Boston, 1885).   Here is a direct peek-in:





This is an "O Antiphon" page from the Poissy Antiphonal (1335-45); it's got "O Sapientia," "O Adonai," and "O Radix Jesse" - the first three "O"s:

On the Feast of the Conception of the B.V. Mary (Dec. 8)

From Hymn melodies for the whole year, from the Sarum service-books:

On the Feast of the Conception of the B. V. Mary (Dec. 8)

Evensong: Ave! maris Stella ... ... ... 64
Mattins:  Quem terra, pontus, ethera  ... ... ... 63
Lauds: O gloriosa femina  ... ... ... 63

We have seen all these hymns in our travels before; the Mattins and Lauds hymns are the same, and sung to the same melody, at Purification (Candlemas, February 2), at Assumption (August 15), and at The Nativity of the B.V.M. (Sept. 8); the  Evensong hymn is the same one, again sung to the same melody, as on the Nativity of the B.V.M. (Sept. 8).

So, these hymns and melodies are associated with Mary throughout the year; this makes it easy for me, since I can just grab content from some of the feasts I've already posted on!  (Ironic that this is one of the last of the Propers of Saints I'm posting on - yet the first of those to be celebrated during the liturgical year.)

Follow along with the Offices for this feast at Breviary Offices, from Lauds to Compline Inclusive (Society of St. Margaret, Boston) (published in 1885). You can get all the Psalms, the collect, Chapter, antiphons, etc., for each of the offices of the day at that link, although no music is provided; also check the iFrame look-in at the bottom of this post.


Here is the score for the beautiful melody #64, used for the splendid hymn Ave! Maris Stella on this day (as, again, on the Nativity of the B.V.M.); below that is a video of the hymn sung by the Benedictine Monks of the Abbey at Ganagobie.:

 

CPDL has the Latin and English words; non-metrical English translation is by Allen H Simon:

Ave, maris stella,
Dei Mater alma,
Atque semper Virgo,
Felix caeli porta.

Sumens illud Ave
Gabrielis ore,
Funda nos in pace,
Mutans Evae nomen.

Solve vincla reis,
Profer lumen caecis,
Mala nostra pelle,
Bona cuncta posce

Monstra te esse matrem,
Sumat per te preces,
Qui pro nobis natus
Tulit esse tuus.

Virgo singularis,
Inter omnes mitis,
Nos culpis solutos,
Mites fac et castos.

Vitam praesta puram,
Iter para tutum,
Ut videntes Jesum,
Semper collaetemur.

Sit laus Deo Patri,
Summo Christo decus
Spiritui Sancto,
Tribus honor unus. Amen.
   


Hail, star of the sea,
loving Mother of God,
and also always a virgin,
Happy gate of heaven.

Receiving that Ave
from Gabriel's mouth
confirm us in peace,
Reversing Eva's name.

Break the chains of sinners,
Bring light to the blind,
Drive away our evils,
Ask for all good.

Show yourself to be a mother,
May he accept prayers through you,
he who, born for us,
Chose to be yours.

O unique virgin,
Meek above all,
Make us, absolved from sin,
Gentle and chaste.

Keep life pure,
Make the journey safe,
So that, seeing Jesus,
We may always rejoice together.

Let there be praise to God the Father,
Glory to Christ in the highest,
To the Holy Spirit,
One honor to all three. Amen.

CPDL also offers a brief write-up about the hymn:

Hymn to the Virgin Mary (8th cent., author anon.)
Liturgical use: Hymn at Vespers on feasts of the Virgin Mary.

Mary's title of stella maris was first proposed by St. Jerome, in his treatise Liber de nominibus hebraicis (probably around AD 390), in which he explains the etymology of Hebrew names. He quotes unidentified sources as explaining the name of Mary as smyrna maris, literally bitterness of the sea. The Hebrew word miriam indeed refers to bitterness - it is explained as such in the anonymous Jewish account The life of Moses. St. Jerome dismisses the 'bitter' etymology, however, and proposes to change her title to stella maris. In order to justify his proposal, he quotes Syrus, most likely his contemporary St. Ephraem Syrus, who had insisted on Mary's status as domina or mistress.

View Wikipedia article for Ave maris stella.

This is from that Wikipedia link:

Ave Maris Stella (Latin, "Hail Star of the Sea") is a plainsong Vespers hymn to Mary. It was especially popular in the Middle Ages and has been used by many composers as the basis of other compositions. The creation of the original hymn has been attributed to several people, including Bernard of Clairvaux (12th century), Saint Venantius Fortunatus (6th century)^[1] and Hermannus Contractus (11th century).^[2] The text is found in 9th-century manuscripts, kept in Vienna^[3] and in the Abbey of Saint Gall.^[1]

The melody is found in the Irish plainsong "Gabhaim Molta Bríde", a piece in praise of St. Bridget. The popular modern hymn Hail Queen of Heaven, the Ocean Star, is loosely based on this plainsong original.

It finds particular prominence in the "Way of Consecration to the Blessed Virgin Mary" by Saint Louis de Montfort.

Here's a (very faint) recording of the same hymn, sung by the Benedictines of Brazil.

This is Guillame Dufay's beautiful chant/polyphony alternatim arrangement of the hymn, using the same melody in the chant portions.



Or, you can listen to 32 different versions of the hymn (!) in the below playlist:






Here is the chant score for melody #63 from Hymn Melodies; this tune is used for both the Mattins and Lauds hymns on this feast day, and, again, on Purification (AKA Candlemas, February 2), at Assumption (August 15), and at the Nativity of the B.V.M. (Sept. 8).

Here's an mp3 the cantor from LLPB singing melody #63; it's the Mattins hymn Quem terra, pontus, ethera, called "The God Whom Earth and Sea and Sky" in English.

Here are the words from Oremus; the note says "Words: attributed to Fortunatus, sixth century; trans. John Mason Neale, 1854."

The God whom earth and sea and sky
adore and laud and magnify,
whose might they own, whose praise they swell,
in Mary's womb vouchsafed to dwell.

The Lord whom sun and moon obey,
whom all things serve from day to day,
was by the Holy Ghost conceived
of her who through his grace believed.

How blessed that Mother, in whose shrine
the world's Creator, Lord divine,
whose hand contains the earth and sky,
once deigned, as in his ark, to lie.

Blessed in the message Gabriel brought,
blessed by the work the Spirit wrought;
from whom the great Desire of earth
took human flesh and human birth.

O Lord, the Virgin-born, to thee
eternal praise and glory be,
whom with the Father we adore
and Holy Ghost for evermore.

The Lauds hymn, O gloriosa femina (sometimes "O gloriosa domina"), is sung to the same melody today;  O gloriosa domina is also sung at Lauds on Purification (Candlemas)

This set of words comes from the SSM Breviary mentioned above (p.291);  it uses the same meter as Quem terra, pontus, ethera, so just sing it to the same tune, as prescribed.

O GLORIOUS Virgin, throned in rest
Amidst the starry host above,
Who gavest nurture from thy breast
To God with pure maternal love:

What we had lost through sinful Eve
The Blossom sprung from thee restores.
And granting bliss to souls that grieve.
Unbars the everlasting doors.

O gate, through which hath passed the King:
O hall, whence light shone through the gloom;
The ransomed nations praise and sing,
Life given from the virgin womb.

All honour, laud, and glory be,
O Jesu, Virgin-born, to Thee;
All glory, as is ever meet,
To Father and to Paraclete. Amen.

CPDL has the words to O gloriosa Domina, in Latin and English; the words above are clearly taken from the same original Latin text, so it's definitely the same song:

O gloriosa Domina
excelsa super sidera,
qui te creavit provide,
lactasti sacro ubere.

Quod Eva tristis abstulit,
tu reddis almo germine;
intrent ut astra flebiles,
Caeli fenestra facta es.

Tu regis alti janua
et porta lucis fulgida;
vitam datam per Virginem,
gentes redemptae, plaudite.

Gloria tibi, Domine,
qui natus es de Virgine,
cum Patre et Sancto Spiritu
in sempiterna secula. Amen.


O Heaven's glorious mistress,
elevated above the stars,
thou feedest with thy sacred breast
him who created thee.

What miserable Eve lost
thy dear offspring to man restors,
the way to glory is open to the wretched
for thou has become the Gate of Heaven.

Thou art the door of the High King,
the gate of shining light.
Life is given through a Virgin:
Rejoice, ye redeemed nations.

Glory be to Thee, O Lord,
Born of a Virgin,
with the Father and the Holy Spirit,
world without end. Amen.

Here's a page from the Poissy Antiphonal that includes both of these hymns - but the melodies seem quite different:





Here's that peek-through to the SSM Breviary for today:




Here's a bit from Wikipedia about the history of this feast:

An 11th-century Eastern Orthodox icon
of the Theotokos Panachranta,
i.e. the "all immaculate" Mary^[15]

A feast of the Conception of the Most Holy and All Pure Mother of God was celebrated in Syria on 8 December perhaps as early as the 5th century. Note that the title of achrantos (spotless, immaculate, all-pure) refers to the holiness of Mary, not specifically to the holiness of her conception.^[14]

By the 7th century the feast of her conception was widely celebrated in the East, under the name of the Conception (active) of Saint Anne. In the West it was known as the feast of the Conception (passive) of Mary, and was associated particularly with the Normans, whether these introduced it directly from the East^[16] or took it from English usage.^[17] The spread of the feast, by now with the adjective "Immaculate" attached to its title, met opposition on the part of some, on the grounds that sanctification was possible only after conception.^[18] Critics included Saints Bernard of Clairvaux, Albertus Magnus and Thomas Aquinas. Other theologians defended the expression "Immaculate Conception", pointing out that sanctification could be conferred at the first moment of conception in view of the foreseen merits of Christ, a view held especially by Franciscans.^[19]

Writers such as Mark Miravalle and Sarah Jane Boss interpret the existence of the feast as a strong indication of the Church's traditional belief in the Immaculate Conception.^[20][21]

On 28 February 1476, Pope Sixtus IV, a Franciscan after whom the Sistine Chapel is named, authorized those dioceses that wished to introduce the feast to do so, and introduced it to his own diocese of Rome in 1477,^[17] with a specially composed Mass and Office of the feast.^[22] With his bull Cum praeexcelsa of 28 February 1477, in which he referred to the feast as that of the Conception of Mary, without using the word "Immaculate", he granted indulgences to those who would participate in the specially composed Mass or Office on the feast itself or during its octave, and he used the word "immaculate" of Mary, but applied instead the adjective "miraculous" to her conception.^[23][24] On 4 September 1483, referring to the feast as that of "the Conception of Immaculate Mary ever Virgin", he condemned both those who called it mortally sinful and heretical to hold that the "glorious and immaculate mother of God was conceived without the stain of original sin" and those who called it mortally sinful and heretical to hold that "the glorious Virgin Mary was conceived with original sin", since, he said, "up to this time there has been no decision made by the Roman Church and the Apostolic See."^[25] This decree was reaffirmed by the Council of Trent.^[26]

One of the chief proponents of the doctrine was the Hungarian Franciscan Pelbartus Ladislaus of Temesvár. ^[27]

Pope Pius V, the Dominican Pope who in 1570 established the Tridentine Mass, included the feast (but without the adjective "Immaculate") in the Tridentine Calendar, but suppressed the existing special Mass for the feast, directing that the Mass for the Nativity of Mary (with the word "Nativity" replaced by "Conception") be used instead.^[28] Part of that earlier Mass was revived in the Mass that Pope Pius IX ordered to be used on the feast and that is still in use.^[29]

On 6 December 1708, Pope Clement XI made the feast of the Conception of Mary, at that time still with the Nativity of Mary formula for the Mass, a Holy Day of Obligation.^[18] Until Pope Pius X reduced in 1911 the number of Holy Days of Obligation to 8, there were in the course of the year 36 such days, apart from Sundays.^[30]

Here's another beautiful icon, a "Detail of a 13th century Theotokos Aeiparthenos icon, the Eleusa Theotokos of Tolga.   (Aeiparthenos = "Ever Virgin.")

Conditor alme siderum: Holy maker of sterres bright

A wonderful post at A Clerk of Oxford today:

Creation of the stars, BL Royal E IX, f. 3v

Among the Office Hymns for Advent is 'Conditor Alme Siderum', best known in translation as 'Creator of the stars of night'. Two years ago I posted a medieval English translation of this hymn written in the early fourteenth century by a Franciscan friar, William Herebert.  Herebert is an excellent translator and his version of the hymn is a good one; the opening phrase which renders God as 'holy wright' of the stars (starwright?) particularly sticks in the mind.  In this post I want to look at two more Middle English translations of this hymn, from the end of the fifteenth century, and so a little later than Herebert.

Here's the hymn sung in Latin:




And in English (rather fast!) by Ely Cathedral Choir:





Holy maker of sterres bright,
Of feithefull men eternall light,
Crist, that ayene mankynde hast bought,
Here oure prayers of buxum thought.

Having rewth, this worlde shulde be spilte
Thurgh the perell of dedly gilte,
Thou savedest fro grete doloure
To the gilty geving socoure.

This worlde drawing nyghe vnto nyght,
As spowse of bowre, thou came outright
Fro the clausure moost clenly dight
Of moder Mary, virgyne bright.

To whose grete myght, as it is right,
On knees boweth euery wight:
Alle heuenly and erthily thinge
Knowlege them meke to thy beknyng.

O holy lorde, we beseche the,
Of alle this worlde that iuge shall be,
Terme of oure lyfe defende vs froo
The darte of the fals fende, oure foo.

Lawde and honoure, ioye and vertue
To god and to his sonne Ihesue,
Also vnto the holigoost,
Bothe thre and one, of myghtis moost.

This from the carol collection of another Franciscan, the admirable James Ryman of Canterbury, who has left us a manuscript containing no fewer than 170 (!) English carols and songs on all kinds of religious topics.  The text of them all is online here.  This text is so simple it hardly needs glossing, but just in case, here's a literal version:

Holy maker of stars bright,
Of faithful men eternal light,
Christ, who again mankind hast bought, [bought again = redeemed]
Hear our prayers of humble thought.

Having pity that this world should be spilte [destroyed]
Through the peril of deadly guilt,
Thou savedest it from great dolour [sorrow]
To the guilty giving succour.

This world drawing nigh unto night,
As spouse from bower, thou came aright
From the enclosure most cleanly dight [made]
Of mother Mary, virgin bright.

To whose great might, as it is right,
On knees boweth every wight: [creature]
All heavenly and earthly thing
Acknowledge themselves meek at thy beckoning. [command]

O holy Lord, we beseech thee,
Of all this world who Judge shall be,
Throughout our life defend us fro [from]
The dart of the false fiend, our foe.

Laud and honour, joy and virtue
To God and to his Son Jesu,
Also unto the Holy Ghost,
Both three and one, of mights most. [greatest in power]

Most of the poems in Ryman's collection bear some relationship to a particular Latin text, but they vary quite a bit in how close that relationship is; often the English poem has only the loosest connection with the hymn that it quotes.  This, however, is a faithful translation - perhaps because it would be difficult to improve on the beauty of the original, with its stars and chambers and bridegrooms and the world's 'evening hour'.  I like the run of rhymes in verses 3-4, seven rhymes on 'ight' in just six lines (or eight, if you count 'nigh'); and 'drawing nigh unto night' finds an appropriately alliterative English echo of the Latin's 'vergente... vespere'.  In verse 3 this translation also preserves the hymn's quotation of Psalm 18 more precisely than the most common modern translation does: 'as spouse from bower' is the psalm and hymn's 'uti sponsus de thalamo'. 'In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun, which cometh forth as a bridegroom out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a giant to run his course...'

Read much more here.

The Hymns at the Lesser Hours: Prime V

This is the fifth and last post on the topic of the hymns at Prime; see Part I here, which describes the Office of Prime in a general way.  Part II is here; Part III here; Part IV here.

The following are the hymns listed for Prime, in  Hymn melodies for the whole year, from the Sarum service-books:

Daily throughout the year :-

Jam lucis orto sidere

    (1) On Sundays in Advent ... ... ... ... 24

(2) On all Ferias except in Paschal-tide ... ... 1

(3) On Xmas Day, Feasts of the  B.V. M.,  Dedication of a Church, Nativity of S. John Bapt, SS. Peter and Paul, Translation of S. Thomas, Abp., Feast of' Relics, S. Gregory, & S. Ambrose, (if they fall before Passion-tide), S. Augustin of England, if celebrated out of Paschal-tide, S. Augustin of Hippo, S. Michael & all Angels, S. Jerome, & Translation of S. Edward, K. Conf.  ... ... ... ... 3

(4) On the Feast of S. Stephen & the three days following, & on the Feasts of the Circumcision & of S. Vincent ... 27

(5) On the 6th day in the 8ve of Xmas & daily till the Vigil of Epiphany, and on the Vigil, (if it be a Sunday), & on all Feasts, except those of the lowest class, from the 8ve of Spiphany until the Purification of the B. V. M. ... ... ... ...26

(6) On the Vigils of Christmas & Epiphany (not being a Sunday), & on all Ferias & Vigils from Low Sunday to Ascension Day, & on the Vigil of Pentecost, & on all Simple Feasts of the lowest class throughout the year, & during 8ves. ... ... ... ...2

(7) On the Feast of Epiphany, the Sunday within the 8ve, & on the 8ve day ... ... ... ... ... ... 28

(8) On the remaining days of the 8ve ... ... ... 29

(9) On all Sundays from the 8ve of Epiphany until the 1st  Sunday in Lent, when the Service is of the Sunday ... ... 21

(10) On the 1st & 2пd Sundays in Lent ... ...  ... ...30

(11) On the 3d & 4th Sundays in Lent ... ...  ... ...33

(12) On Passion & Palm Sundays, & on Feasts of the Holy Cross  ... ...   ... ... 35

(13) On all Sundays from Low Sunday until Ascension Day, when the Service is of the Sunday ... ... ... ... 37

(14) On Ascension Day & daily until the Vigil of Pentecost, & on the Feast of Corpus Christi ... ... ... ... 41

(15) On Whitsun Day & daily until Trinity Sunday ...  ... ...42

(16) On Trinity Sunday & all following Sundays until Advent, when the Service is of the Sunday ... ... ... ... 43

(17) During the 8ve of the Dedication of a Church, & on all Feasts, except those of the lowest class, from the Purification of the B.V. M.. until Passiontide, & from Trinity until Advent ... ... ... 4

(18) On all Feasts of Apostles & Evangelists out of Xmas & Paschaltides, except SS. Peter & Paul  ... ... ... ...48

(19) During the 8ves of the Assumption & Nativity of the B.V.M.  ... ... ... ... 63

(20) On all Feasts of Saints occurring between Low Sunday & Ascension Day, except the Annunciation of our Lady ...  ... ...39

(21) On the Feast of All Saints  ... ... ... ...3 or 26

[At Christmas-tide (York) : Agnoscat omne seculum ... ... 55]

Iam lucis orto sidere is the one and only hymn prescribed for use at Prime; there are over twenty different melodies in the list above, though!  The melodies used for  Iam lucis orto sidere vary by feast and season - Sundays are counted this way too;  the hymn takes on a melody associated with the season or holy day in which it's sung.  (As you can see from the note above, Agnoscat omne seculum was used only in Christmastide at York; I go over that one just here in this post.)

This is TPL's entry for Iam lucis orto sidere; it's noted that "This 6th century hymn is used in the Roman Breviary at the Office of Prime. In the Liturgia Horarum it is found at Thursday Lauds for the second and fourth weeks of the Psalter during Ordinary time."   These are the words from that page, in Latin and English (translation by Alan G. McDougall (1895-1964)).

IAM lucis orto sidere,
Deum precemur supplices,
ut in diurnis actibus
nos servet a nocentibus.    

Linguam refrenans temperet,
ne litis horror insonet,
visum fovendo contegat,
ne vanitates hauriat.    

Sint pura cordis intima,
absistat et vecordia:
carnis terat superbiam
potus cibique parcitas.    

Ut cum dies abscesserit,
noctemque sors reduxerit,
mundi per abstinentiam
ipsi canamus gloriam.    

Deo Patri sit gloria,
eiusque soli Filio,
cum Spiritu Paraclito,
nunc et per omne saeculum.
Amen.    

NOW in the sun's new dawning ray,
lowly of heart, our God we pray
that He from harm may keep us free
in all the deeds this day shall see.

May fear of Him our tongues restrain,
lest strife unguarded speech should stain:
His favoring care our guardian be,
lest our eyes feed on vanity.

May every heart be pure from sin,
and folly find no place therein:
scant meed of food, excess denied,
wear down in us the body's pride

That when the light of day is gone,
and night in course shall follow on,
we, free from cares the world affords,
may chant the praises that is our Lord's.

All laud to God the Father be,
all praise, Eternal Son, to Thee;
|all glory, as is ever meet,
to God the Holy Paraclete.
Amen.

Here's the chant score for melody #39, used for  Iam lucis orto sidere "On  all Feasts of Saints occurring between Low Sunday & Ascension Day, except the Annunciation of our Lady":

This is the same melody used for the Sarum Mattins hymn, Aurora Lucis Rutilat ("The Day Draws on with Golden Light") (mp3 here); again the audio file comes from the LLPB.


Here's melody #3 again, one option for Iam lucis orto sidere "On the Feast of All Saints"

The other option for Iam lucis orto sidere "On the Feast of All Saints" is melody #26; this is the same melody used for the All Saints hymn at Lauds and 2nd Evensong, Christe, redemptor omnium, Conserva - which in turn is the same tune used for the Christmas Matins hymn, Christe, Redemptor omnium, De:

Here, from LLPB is an mp3 that matches this tune; it's called "Jesus, the Father's Only Son," and is listed as a "Hymn for the first Vespers of the Feast of the Nativity of our Lord."



York, as usual, sings melody #55 for Prime in Christmastide; the melody is the same one used at all the other offices there:

I still don't have an audio file of this tune; sorry about that.  Will try to remedy as soon as I can.

The hymn itself come from a long Fortunatus hymn/poem, and I'm not quite sure which portion of it they sing for Prime, or whether it's sung in its entirety.  Herem againm is that entire poem/hymn from this book about the Christmas season by Dom Gueringer.

Agnoscat omne saeculum
Vemsse vitae praemium;
Post  hostis asperi jugum
Apparuit redemptio

Esaias quae cecinit
Complete sunt in Virgine
Annuntiavit Angelus
Sanctus replevit Spiritus.

Maria ventre concipit
Verbi fidelis semine:
Quem totus orbis non capit
Portant puellae viscera.

Radix Jesse floruit,
Et Virga fructum edidit;
Foecunda partum protulit,
Et Virgo mater permanet.

Praesepo poni pertulit
Qui lucis auctor exstitit,
am Patre coelos condidit,
Sub Matre pannos induit.

Legem dedit qui saeculo,
Cujus decem praecepta sunt,
Dignando factus est homo
Sub Legis esse vinculo.

Adam vetus quod polluit
Adam novus hoc abluit:
Tumens quod ille dejicit
Humiliimus hie erigit,

Jam nata lux est et salus,
Fugnta nox et victa mora,
Venite gentes, credite,
Deum Maria protulit. Amen.

Let all ages acknowledge  that he is come,
Who is the reward of life.
After mankind had carried the yoke of its cruel enemy
Our Redemption appeared.

What Isaias foretold,
has been fulfilled in the Virgin;
an Angel announced the mystery to her,
and the Holy Ghost filled her by his power.

Mary conceived in her womb,
for she believed in the word that was spoken to her:
the womb of a youthful maid holds Him,
whom the whole earth cannot contain.

The Root of Jesse has given its flower,
and the Branch has borne its fruit:
Mary has given birth to Jesus,
and the Mother is still the spotless Virgin.

He that created the light
suffers himself to be laid in a manger;
He that, with the Father, made the heavens,
is now wrapt by his Mother's hand in swaddling-clothes.

He that gave to the world the ten
commandments of the law, deigns,
by becoming Man, to be
Under the bond of the law.

What the old Adam defiled,
that the new Adam has purified;
and what the first cast down by his pride,
the second raised up again by his humility.

Light and salvation are now born to us,
night is driven away, and death is vanquished:
oh! come, all ye people, believe;
God is born of Mary. Amen.

Here's a peek-in to the SSM Breviary entry for Prime: