Dulce lignum, dulces clavos: The Alleluia for the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross (September 14)

This is one of the relatively few chant propers for the mass that doesn't come from Scripture; its source is Fortunatus' 6th-Century poem Pange lingua, gloriosi, and more specifically the Crux fideles section of that poem.

This is an mp3 recording of this beautiful chant, from the Benedictines of Brazil.   The text:

Dulce lignum, dulces clavos
Dulcia ferens pondera
Quae sola fuistis digna sustinere
Regem coelorum et Dominum

O sweet wood, O sweet nails
That bore his sweet burden
Which alone were worthy to support
The King of Heaven and Lord

And the chant score:

You can get all the words here to the entire Pange lingua, gloriosi of Fortunatus; below I've extracted only the Crux fideles section:

Crux fidelis, inter omnes arbor una nobilis,
nulla talem silva profert flore, fronde, germine,
dulce lignum dulce clavo dulce pondus sustinens.

Flecte ramos, arbor alta, tensa laxa viscera,
et rigor lentescat ille quem dedit nativitas,
ut superni membra regis mite tendas stipite.

Sola digna tu fuisti ferre pretium saeculi
atque portum praeparare nauta mundo naufrago,
quem sacer cruor perunxit fusus agni corpore.

Faithful Cross!
above all other,
one and only noble Tree!
None in foliage, none in blossom,
none in fruit thy peers may be;
sweetest wood and sweetest iron!
Sweetest Weight is hung on thee!

Lofty tree, bend down thy branches,
to embrace thy sacred load;
oh, relax the native tension
of that all too rigid wood;
gently, gently bear the members
of thy dying King and God.

Tree, which solely wast found worthy
the world's Victim to sustain.
harbor from the raging tempest!
ark, that saved the world again!
Tree, with sacred blood anointed
of the Lamb for sinners slain.

Holy Cross Day is a "Feast of Our Lord," according to the Calendar of the Episcopal Church, ranking alongside Holy Name, Presentation, Annunciation, Visitation, St. John the Baptist, and Transfiguration.  It's a big one, in other words. 

Justus has a page about the feast and about the cross in Christian life; here's an excerpt:

During the reign of Constantine, first Roman Emperor to profess the Christian faith, his mother Helena went to Israel and there undertook to find the places especially significant to Christians. (She was helped in this by the fact that in their destructions around 135, the Romans had built pagan shrines over many of these sites.) Having located, close together, what she believed to be the sites of the Crucifixion and of the Burial (at locations that modern archaeologists think may be correct), she then had built over them the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which was dedicated on 14 September 335. It has become a day for recognizing the Cross (in a festal atmosphere that would be inappropriate on Good Friday) as a symbol of triumph, as a sign of Christ's victory over death, and a reminder of His promise, "And when I am lifted up, I will draw all men unto me." (John 12:32)

Tertullian, in his De Corona (3:2), written around AD 211, says that Christians seldom do anything significant without making the sign of the cross. Certainly by his time the practice was well established. Justin Martyr, in chapters 55 and 60 of his First Apology (Defence of the Christian Faith, addressed to the Emperor Antoninus Pius and therefore written between 148 and 155 Ad), refers to the cross as a standard Christian symbol, but not explicitly to tracing the sign of the cross as a devotional gesture. In the ruins of Pompeii (destroyed 79 Ad), there is a room with an altar-like structure against one wall, and over the altar the appearance of the plaster shows that a cross-shaped object had been nailed to the wall, and forcibly pulled loose, apparently shortly before the volcano buried the city. It is suggested that this house may have belonged to a Christian family, and that they took the cross and other objects of value to them when they fled the city. This is not the only possible explanation, but I do not know of a likelier one.

Much more at the link.


The Collect for this day is beautiful:

Almighty God, whose Son our Savior Jesus Christ was lifted high upon the cross that he might draw the whole world to himself: Mercifully grant that we, who glory in the mystery of our redemption, may have grace to take up our cross and follow him; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, in glory everlasting.

The readings, too, are among the most beautiful in Scripture; they include the lovely hymn from Philippians 2:5-11 -  to my way of thinking one of the most glorious passages to be found anywhere in the Bible (and from which comes the beautiful gradual for today and for Palm Sunday, Christus factus est.):

Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,
who, though he was in the form of God,
    did not regard equality with God
    as something to be exploited,
but emptied himself,
    taking the form of a slave,
    being born in human likeness.
And being found in human form,
    he humbled himself
    and became obedient to the point of death--
    even death on a cross.
Therefore God also highly exalted him
    and gave him the name
    that is above every name,
so that at the name of Jesus
    every knee should bend,
    in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue should confess
    that Jesus Christ is Lord,
    to the glory of God the Father.

Here are links to the other readings for today; the Collect comes directly from the Gospel reading from John:

Isaiah 45:21-25
Psalm 98 or 98:1-4
Philippians 2:5-11
or Galatians 6:14-18
John 12:31-36a 

Here's a really lovely piece, based in this chant with perhaps an polyphony alternatim; I can't quite tell what's going on here.  As you can see, this is "Sacred Music from 12th-Century Paris," apparently composed by Magister Leoninus.  The first "Alleluia" clearly comes from this chant proper - but I can't quite follow the rest so far.  Beautiful, though!




And here's a nice version of Crux fideles; there is something at the page about "Crux fidelis - R. Kühnel & Gregoriano."  I think that's a reference to the composer - this, perhaps - and the fact that there's some chant in the middle verse; I'm not sure what that is yet, though.  The YouTube page says it's a "Live recording: ex parish choir "S.Stefano" of Mozzanica (BG) Italy, 14 september 2008."  Interesting, anyway:




Fr. Jay Smith, of New York's Church of St. Mary the Virgin, has written a beautiful meditation on this day, using the San Damiano Cross as a lens through which to see the day.  Here's an extract from that meditation; I encourage you, though, to click over to the website and read the whole thing.

The story of Francis of Assisi’s conversion is well known to many Christians. Of course, there is the confrontation with Francis’s seriously displeased father; but there is also Francis’s experience in the run-down Church of San Damiano, just outside of Assisi. Francis is walking by the church and goes in to pray. He gazes upon a large crucifix, painted in the Byzantine style; and he hears Christ saying to him, “Go, repair my Church, which as you see is falling completely in ruin.” These are loaded, prophetic, words. Francis starts fixing the church and in doing so, he too is “repaired.” The Lord comes up close and Francis is converted. He is turned toward Christ in a new way. Eventually, Francis gathers brothers and sisters around him. He founds his famous order and the rest is history.

The San Damiano Crucifix is a familiar image to many people, especially to those interested in Franciscan history and spirituality. It is large, nearly seven feet tall and over four feet wide. It was probably created around 1100 by an Umbrian artist working in what is known as the Syro-Byzantine style. There are some truly wonderful things about this crucifix. It comes as no surprise that it moved Francis so. First, like much Christian art, in particular much Western Christian art, it is an image that is meant to teach. It has been pointed out that, taken together, the many figures on the cross tell the story of Our Lord’s passion, death, resurrection, and ascension. (Michael D. Guinan, O.F.M., does a detailed and fascinating interpretation of the Cross in his book, The Franciscan Vision and the Gospel of John: The San Damiano Cross, St. Bonaventure, NY, 2006. His book got me thinking about the cross for this article.) Second, the cross is an icon and like all icons “written” in the Eastern Christian tradition, it invites the viewer to meditate and pray, to enter into an encounter with the reality depicted in the image.

Father Guinan reminds us that the San Damiano Crucifix, that most Franciscan of images, is in some ways, not typically Franciscan (Franciscan Vision, 2). For one thing, it was created before Francis was born. More important, the cross does not accentuate Jesus’ suffering on the cross, and therefore it does not stress Jesus’ humanity, which was an important focus in later Franciscan theology, spirituality, and art. Jesus’ humanity is not denied. This is a human body, nailed to a cross. Blood flows both from Jesus’ hands and from his feet. But Jesus does not wear the crown of thorns and the iconographer makes no attempt to depict the suffering of a crucified criminal with any sort of realistic, historical, or physiological accuracy.

In this image, the artist carefully balances humanity with divinity. The inscription above Jesus’ head tells us that he is a king. The clean white garment, edged in gold, may tell us that he is a priest. The attitude of his body, the expression on his face, and the brilliant halo around his head tell us that the Crucified One is also the Risen Lord. As Father Guinan points out, the blood from Jesus’ hands and feet flows forth and down upon the other figures in the image. (If one didn’t know better, the very idea would be gory and distasteful; but for those with “eyes to see,” it is a richly symbolic, deeply scriptural and sacramental idea.) Moreover, angels attend Jesus on the cross and, at the top of the image, angels greet Jesus as he “returns” to the heavenly places, to be seated at the Father’s right hand. As in the Gospel of John, so also here, the Cross is not so much the locus of abandonment and desolation, it is the place where the glory of God is already being revealed: “Jesus said, ‘And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.’ He said this to indicate the kind of death he was to die” (John 12:32).

If icons are meant to be an encounter with the Holy One, what do we encounter when we look at this image? That will be different for each one of us. Perhaps the encounter will be different every time we look at it. (If God is working to “repair,” transform, and convert us, are we ever exactly the same today as we were yesterday?) This is what I see as we arrive at Holy Cross Day: the cross was invented by human beings, acting on their cruelest impulses, to torture, shame, deter, terrorize, and kill. Jesus Christ, “though he was in the form of God” (Philippians 2:6), becomes fully human, “being born in human likeness” (2:7). He does not recoil from the worst and most painful elements of the human condition: sin, death, and terrible cruelty. He does not flee from us in horror or distaste. He comes up close. He sees what we sometimes forget: we were created in the very image of God. Jesus Christ “descends” deeply into the human condition in order to heal us and set us free; and by doing that he shows us who God is. He shows us that God is more powerful than sin and death. He shows us God’s tenacious, unyielding love. He shows us, in his deep humility, the very Glory of God.

"Come, Ye Disconsolate"

Ah. Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway; 1972.



Words: Thom­as Moore, Sac­red Songs, 1816.

Come, ye disconsolate, where’er ye languish,
Come to the mercy seat, fervently kneel.
Here bring your wounded hearts, here tell your anguish;
Earth has no sorrow that heaven cannot heal.

Joy of the desolate, light of the straying,
Hope of the penitent, fadeless and pure!
Here speaks the Comforter, tenderly saying,
“Earth has no sorrow that Heaven cannot cure.”

Here see the Bread of Life, see waters flowing
Forth from the throne of God, pure from above.
Come to the feast of love; come, ever knowing
Earth has no sorrow but heaven can remove.

Common of Saints: On Feasts of Apostles & Evangelists

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

On Feasts of Apostles & Evangelists throughout the year, except in Paschal-tide:

1st Ev. & Matt.  Annue Christe (with its special verses)
   
    On Double Feasts (1st Ev. & Matt). ........46
    On Simple Feasts (1st Ev. only) ..........46
    On Simple Feasts & within Octaves (M.) ...47

    [Matt. (York) Eterna Christi munera, Apostolorum ......61]

L. & 2nd Ev.  Exultet celum laudibus

    At Lauds (except in Christmas-tide) ....48
    At 2nd Ev. (& L. when no 2nd Ev.) ......49
    During Xmas-tide (L. & 2nd Ev.) until Candelmas ....27
    Within the Octaves of SS Peter & Paul (L.) &
             of S. Andrew (L. & Ev.) .....50

   
On the Feasts of Apostles & Evangelists in Paschal-tide,  (i.e. between Low Sunday  & Pentecost):

     1st Ev.      Tristes erant         In Eastertide ......39
     Matt.                                     In Ascension-tide .....41
       
      Lauds      Claro paschali      In Easter-tide .....39
      2nd. Ev.                                In Ascension-tide ....41

Follow along with the Offices for the Common of Saints at Breviary Offices, from Lauds to Compline Inclusive (Society of St. Margaret, Boston) (published in 1885).   That link is to the page containing feasts during Eastertide; here's the page for feasts that occur during the rest of the year.  I'll link-in via iFrame at the bottom of the post to the Eastertide page; scroll through to page 265 to reach the other one.

Annue Christe, the prescribed hymn for Mattins and 1st Evensong (except during Eastertide) as above, is not listed as a hymn for the Common of Apostles and Evangelists at LiberHymnarius.org - and it's hard to find even a reference to it anywhere on the web.   There are, it appears, special verses for use on the particular days of particular Apostles and Evangelists. 

I did find a couple of small clips of various pieces of the hymnm sung by the "Benedictine Monks Of St. Wandrille [Rouen, France]"; the first minute of the hymn using melody 46 below is here.  The end of the first stanza plus the beginning of another verse (not in the words below) is here at Amazon.com.  It's a pretty hymn - melismatic and liquid.

Here are the scores for hymns 46 and 47:

CPDL provides the Latin words for the hymn; these are used on a medieval composed version of it, and I'm assuming this is the original text from which that composition is taken:

Annue Christe sæculorum Domine,
Nobis per hujus tibi cari(a) merita,
Ut qui te coram graviter deliquimus
Hujus solvamur gloriosis precibus.

Salva Redemptor plasma tuum nobile,
Signatum sancto vultus tui lumine;
Nec lacerari sinas fraude dæmonum
Propter quos mortis exsolvisti pretium.

Noli captivos esse tuos servulos,
Absolve reos, compeditos erige,
Et quos cruore redemisti proprio
Rex bone tecum fac gaudere perpetim.

Sit tibi Jesu benedicte Domine
Gloria, virtus, honor, et imperium,
Una cum Patre, sanctoque Paraclito
Cum quibus regnas Deus ante sæcula.

This translation from Cyberhymnal's entry on Annue, Christe, does seem to validate that assumption: 

"Words: Un­known au­thor, be­fore the 11th Cen­tu­ry (An­nue Chris­te sae­cu­lor­um Do­mi­ne); trans­lat­ed from La­tin to Eng­lish by Thom­as A. La­cey in The Eng­lish Hymn­al (Lon­don: Ox­ford Un­i­ver­si­ty Press, 1906), num­ber 174."

Lord of creation, bow Thine ear, O Christ, to hear
The intercession of Thy servant true and dear,
That we unworthy, who have trespassed in Thy sight,
May live before Thee where he dwells in glorious light.

O God our Savior, look on Thine inheritance,
Sealed by the favor shining from Thy countenance;
That no false spirit bring to naught the souls of price
Bought by the merit of Thy perfect sacrifice.

We bear the burden of our guilt and enmity,
Until Thy pardon lift the heart from slavery;
Then through the spending of Thy life blood, King of grace,
Grant us unending triumph in Thy holy place.

To Thee the glorious Christ, our Savior manifest,
All wreaths victorious, praise and worship be addressed,
Whom with the living Father humbly we adore,
And the life giving Spirit, God forevermore.

This, with a bit more information about an obscure hymn, comes from Hymnary.org:

Annue Christe saeculorum Domine. [Common of Apostles.] This hymn is of unknown authorship, its full form consists of four general stanzas, and nine stanzas proper of saints.

Translations in common use:—
1. 0 Christ, Thou Lord of worlds, Thine ear. By J. M. Neale. Published in the enlarged edition of the Hymnal Noted, 1854, No. 75, in 4 stanzas of 8 lines, from whence it has passed into a few collections. In the St. Raphael's Collection, 1860, special stanzas were introduced after the Sarum manner (these added stanzas are all original) for SS. Andrew, Thomas, John and James, Matthias, Peter, Bartholomew, Matthew, and Simon and Jude, and some of these were repeated in Skinner's Daily Service Hymnal, 1864, with additional verses for St. Barnabas and for SS. Philip and James, the latter altered from Bp. Wordsworth's hymn on that festival in his Holy Year, "Blest be, 0 Lord, the grace of Love." It is altered in the Hymnary, 1872, to "0 Christ, Thou Lord of all."

-- Excerpts from John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

 And here's the chant score used at Community of St. John Baptist (Anglican); it's melody #46 but with a different set of words:



If I find an mp3 of the whole hymn I'll certainly come back and post it.  I don't have audio for melody #47, either; still working on that, too.

Aeterna Christi Munera ("The Eternal Gifts of Christ the King" (mp3), though, is the York hymn for Mattins for A&E; that mp3 again comes from LLPB.    Here's the chant score:

The words used on this mp3 are in the 1982 Hymnal at #233, and originally come from the 1940 hymnal, it says; here's a translation by J.M. Neale of the original words from Ambrose, although not exactly the version used on the audio file.

The eternal gifts of Christ the King,
the apostles' glory, let us sing,
and all, with hearts of gladness, raise
due hymns of thankful love and praise.

For they the Church's princes are,
triumphant leaders in the war,
in heavenly courts a warrior band,
true lights to lighten every land.

Theirs is the steadfast faith of saints,
and hope that never yields nor faints;
and love of Christ in perfect glow
that lays the prince of this world low.

In them the Father's glory shone,
in them the will of God the Son,
in them exults the Holy Ghost,
through them rejoice the heavenly host.

To thee, Redeemer, now we cry,
that thou wouldst join to them on high
thy servants, who this grace implore,
for ever and for evermore.

St. David's Compline Choir sings this one, too, although to a different tune; here's that audio file (mp3).

Exultet celum laudibus is the hymn prescribed throughout the year for Lauds and 2nd Evensong for Feasts of Apostles & Evangelists - but melody #27 is only used during Christmastide (which means it's only used on the Feast of St. John Evangelist, since that's the only A&E feast day in Christmastide!).

This is the same tune used for A solis ortus cardine, sung at Lauds & 2nd Evensong on Christmas Day.  Here's LLPB's mp3 of that song; just sing the English words  below (from Oremus - "Words: Latin, tenth century; trans. Richard Mant, as alt. in The English Hymnal, 1906") instead of the words on the audio file and you're in business.

Let the round world with songs rejoice;
let heaven return the joyful voice;
all mindful of the Apostles' fame,
let heaven and earth their praise proclaim.

Ye servants who once bore the light
of Gospel truth o'er heathen night,
still may your work that light impart,
to glad our eyes and cheer our heart.

O God, by whom to them was given
the key that shuts and opens heaven,
our chains unbind, our loss repair,
and grant us grace to enter there;

for at thy will they preached the word
which cured disease, which health conferred:
O may that healing power once more
our souls to grace and health restore:

that when thy Son again shall come,
and speak the world's unerring doom,
he may with them pronounce us blessed,
and place us in thy endless rest.

To thee, O Father; Son, to thee;
to thee, blessed Spirit, glory be!
So was it ay for ages past,
so shall through endless ages last.

"The Lied, Art Song, and Choral Texts Archive" - a site I like more and more each time I see it - provides this set of Latin words:

Exultet celum laudibus
Resultet terra gaudiis
Apostolorum gloriam
Sacra canant solemnia

Vos secli iusti iudices
Et vera mundi lumina
Votis precamur, cordium
Audite preces supplicum

Qui celum verbo clauditis
Serrasque eius solvitis
Nos a peccatis omnibus
Solvite iussu, quesumus

Quorum precepto subditur
Salus et languor omnium
Sanate egros moribus
Nos reddentes virtutibus

Ut cum iudex advenerit
Christus in fine seculi
Nos sempiterni gaudii
Faciat esse compotes

Deo Patri sit gloria
Eiusque soli Filio
Cum Spirito paraclito
Et nunc et in perpetuum.

There's a slightly different set of words on page 153 of Britt's Hymns of the Breviary and Missal.





Melody #48 is used at Lauds for the rest of the year; here's that chant score:

No sound file for melody #48 so far; that will be forthcoming when I find a recording of it.

 

Melody #49 is used for Exultet caelum laudibus at at 2nd Evensong, and at Lauds when there is no 2nd Evensong, according to the formula above.   Here's the audio file of this one, from LLPB (mp3).


Finally, melody #50 is used according to the formula: "Within the Octaves of SS Peter & Paul (L.) & of S. Andrew (L. & Ev.)."  Here's the chant score, but I have no recording at the moment:

In Paschal- and Ascension-tides, though, two other hymns (and melodies) are used on the feast days of Apostles and Evangelists: Tristes erant apostoli  is sung at 1st Evensong and Matttins, and Claro paschali gaudio is sung at Lauds and 2nd Evensong.  Interestingly, the melodies used for these hymns are also used on the (August 7) Feast of the Most Sweet Name of Jesus.

Melody #39 is also well-known as the Easter Mattins hymn Aurora Lucis Rutilat ("The Day Draws on with Golden Light").  Here's an mp3 of an example of that hymn sung to this tune;  just use the words to Tristes erant apostoli  when singing it:

Tristes erant apostoli
de neces sui Domini
quem poena mortis crudelis
servi damnavunt impii.

Sermone blando Angelus
praedixit mulieribus
in Galilaeam Dominus
videntes est quantocius.

Illae dum pergunt concitae
apostolis hoc dicere,
videntes eum vivere,
osculant pedes Domini.

Quo agnito discipuli
in Galilaeam propere
pergunt videre faciem
desideratam Domini.

Esto perenne mentibus
paschale, Iesu, gaudium
et nos renatos gratiae
tuis triumphis aggrega.

Gloria tibi, Domine
qui surrexisti a mortuis
cum Patre et Sancto Spiritu
in sempiterna saecula.
Amen.
   

While Christ's disciples, grieving, sad,
Their Master's painful death deplore,
Whom faithless servants' cruel hands,
Had bathed in His own crimson gore;

Quick from the happy realms above,
An Angel comes on joyful wing,
And to the women tells the joy
That to His flock their Lord will bring.

As they with eager steps make haste,
Their joyous message to repeat,
Their Master's glorious form they see,
And falling clasp His sacred feet.

Cheered by this tale, His faithful flock
The Galilean mount ascend,
And there with loving awe behold
Their heart's sole wish, their truest friend.

That Thou mayst be our Paschal joy
Through happy, never-ending years,
Thine own poor children, Jesu, free
From sin's sad death with all its fears.

To God the Father, and the Son,
Who rose from death, glad praise, repeat;
Let equal praise be ever sung
To God the Holy Paraclete.

Here's the chant score for melody #41; at the moment I have no audio file for this tune, sorry to say.  (See the video below for a melody you could instead, though.)

This is one version of the Latin words:

Claro paschali gaudio
sol mundo nitet radio
Cum Christum iam Apostoli
visu cernunt corporeo.
Alleluia.

Ostensa sibi vulnera
in Christi carne fulgida
resurrexisse Dominum
voce fatentur publica.
Alleluia.

Rex Christe, clementissime,
Tu corda nostra posside
ut tibi laudes debitas
reddamus omni tempore.
Alleluia.

Ut sis perenne mentibus
Paschale Iesu gaudium,
a morte dira criminum
vitae renetos libera.
Alleluia. 

J.M. Neale translated this one, too; the fifth verse is the Doxology, not included in the Latin words above:

Joy dawned again on Easter-Day,
The sun shone out with fairer ray,
When, to their longing eyes restored,
The apostles saw their risen Lord.

His risen flesh with radiance glowed;
His wounded hands and feet he showed:
Those scars their silent witness gave
That Christ was risen from the grave.

O Jesus, King of gentleness,
Do thou our inmost hearts possess;
And we to thee will ever raise
The tribute of our grateful praise.

Jesus, who art the Lord of all,
In this our Easter festival,
From every weapon death can wield
Thine own redeemed, thy people, shield.

All praise, O risen Lord, we give
To thee, who, dead, again dost live;
To God the Father equal praise,
And God the Holy Ghost, we raise.

Amen.

Giovanni Viannini sings this hymn to another tune - no doubt a melody from the Roman Breviary.  Pretty, too:




Here's the iframe peek-in to the Offices from the SSM Breviary (see above):

"The Anglican Franciscan Way"

Here's a video recently posted on the website of the Anglican Communion News Service:

On the Feast of the Nativity of the B.V. Mary (Sept. 8)

On the Feast of the Nativity of the B. V. Mary (Sept. 8) & during the 8ve (when the Service is of the Feast) :

1st Evensong: Ave! maris stella ... ... ... ... 64
Mattins:  Quem terra, pontus, ethera  ... ... ... ... 63
Lauds:  O gloriosa femina  ... ... ... ... 63
2nd Evensong:  Letabundus ... ... Sequence, p. (11)
     But within the 8ve & on the 8ve day :
Evensong:   Ave! maris stella

On the Sunday & 8ve day at both Evensongs ... 64
On the remaining days of the 8ve ... ... ... 65

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's the chant score for melody #63, used at Matins and Lauds for this feast:

Here's an mp3 from LLPB of melody #63 above; this is "The God Whom Earth and Sea and Sky" (the English version of Quem terra, pontus, ethera posted at Oremus Hymnal), sung at numerous Marian feasts throughout the year. Here are the words listed there:

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.

---------------------------------------------------

Words: attributed to Fortunatus, sixth century;
trans. John Mason Neale, 1854

Music: St. Ambrose, O Amor quam ecstaticus, Quem terra, pontus, aethera

You can sing O gloriosa femina (below the first line is O gloriosa domina) for Lauds to the same melody; here are the words, in Latin and English:

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 is the score for the beautiful melody #64, used for the splendid hymn Ave! Maris Stella on this day; 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; 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 gorgeous chant/polyphony alternatim arrangement of the hymn, using the same melody in the chant portions; wow!



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




I have not found music for melody #65 as of yet - this tune is also used for Ave! Maris Stella - but here's the score:

Lastly, again for Vespers on the Feast day itself, we have Letabundus, the Christmas Sequence Hymn, at Second Vespers, as it is also used on Candlemas and Assumption.  Here it's sung by the Gregorian Singers of the Cremona Church of Sant’Abbondio:



Here's the full score with English words, from Hymn Melodies:







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




New Advent has this information about this feast:

Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary

The earliest document commemorating this feast comes from the sixth century. St.Romanus, the great ecclesiastical lyrist of the Greek Church, composed for it a hymn (Card. Pitra, "Hymnogr. Graeca", Paris, 1876, 199) which is a poetical sketch of the apocryphal Gospel of St. James. St.Romanus was a native of Emesa in Syria, deacon of Berytus and later on at the Blachernae church in Constantinople, and composed his hymns between 536-556 (P. Maas in "Byzant. Zeitschrift", 1906). The feast may have originated somewhere in Syria or Palestine in the beginning of the sixth century, when after the Council of Ephesus, under the influence of the "Apocrypha", the cult of the Mother of God was greatly intensified, especially in Syria. St. Andrew of Crete in the beginning of the eight century preached several sermons on this feast (Lucius-Anrich, "Anfänge des Heiligenkultus", Tübingen, 1906, 468). Evidence is wanting to show why the eighth of September was chosen for its date. The Church of Rome adopted it in the seventh century from the East; it is found in the Gelasian (seventh cent.) and the Gregorian (eighth to ninth cent.) Sacramentaries. Sergius I (687-701) prescribed a litany and procession for this feast (P.L. cxxviii, 897 sqq.). Since the story of Mary's Nativity is known only from apocryphal sources, the Latin Church was slow in accepting this oriental festival. It does not appear in many calendars which contain the Assumption, e.g. the Gotho-Gallican, that of Luxeuil, the Toledan Calendar of the tenth century, and the Mozarabic Calendar. The church of Angers in France claims that St. Maurilius instituted this feast at Angers in consequence of a revelation about 430. On the night of 8 Sept., a man heard the angels singing in heaven, and on asking the reason, they told him they were rejoicing because the Virgin was born on that night (La fête angevine N.D. de France, IV, Paris, 1864, 188); but this tradition is not substantiated by historical proofs. The feast is found in the calendar of Sonnatius, Bishop of Reims, 614-31 (Kellner, Heortology, 21). Still it cannot be said to have been generally celebrated in the eighth and ninth centuries. St. Fulbert, Bishop of Chartres (d. 1028), speaks of it as of recent institution (P.L., cxli, 320, sqq.); the three sermons he wrote are the oldest genuine Latin sermons for this festival (Kellner, "Heortology", London, 1908, 230). The octave was instituted by Innocent IV (a. 1243) in accordance with a vow made by the cardinals in the conclave of the autumn of 1241, when they were kept prisoners by Frederick II for three months. In the Greek Church the apodosis (solution) of the feast takes place 12 Sept., on account of the feast and the solemnity of the Exaltation of the Cross, 13 and 14 Sept. The Copts in Egypt and the Abyssinians celebrate Mary's Nativity on 1 May, and continue the feast under the name of "Seed of Jacob" 33 days (Anal. Juris Pont., xxi, 403); they also commemorate it on the first of every month (priv. letter from P. Baeteman, C.M., Alikiena). The Catholic Copts have adopted the Greek feast, but keep it 10 Sept. (Nilles, "Kal. Man.", II, 696, 706).

Here's Giotto's "Birth of the Virgin" ; the artist lived in Florence from about 1267-1337.  This piece is part of the interior of the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua.

And this icon comes from Russia, and the 18th Century:

Monastero San Benedetto, Norcia Italy: Requiem

Here's another monastic community - that's a link to their blog - that posts daily audio files of their masses and of the Divine Office; they are Benedictines in Norcia, Italy.  Here's a 2-minute video about their community; they talk about chant but unfortunately don't include any here. 





Today's Mass - "AD MISSAM DE FERIA II : 2 SEP 2013" - is a Requiem, apparently; here's the mp3 of that.  Beautiful.

Bach: Magnificat

I'm surprised to note that I've never posted this totally wonderful series of videos of Bach's Magnificat; it's from a concert recorded live at the Kloster Melk Benedictine Monastery in Austria.  So I will do it now; the videos are arranged in a playlist so each movement will play automatically.   Don't miss it, whatever you do.

 

Here are the words to this Vespers canticle, in Latin and English:

Magnificat anima mea Dominum,
et exsultavit spiritus meus in Deo salvatore 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 in progenies 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,
sicut locutus est ad patres nostros,
Abraham et semini eius in saecula.

My soul doth magnify the Lord : and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.
For he hath regarded : the lowliness of his handmaiden.
For behold, from henceforth : all generations shall call me blessed.
For he that is mighty hath magnified me : and holy is his Name.
And his mercy is on them that fear him : throughout all generations.
He hath shewed strength with his arm : he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
He hath put down the mighty from their seat : and hath exalted the humble and meek.
He hath filled the hungry with good things : and the rich he hath sent empty away.
He remembering his mercy hath holpen his servant Israel : as he promised to our forefathers, Abraham and his seed for ever.

Here's the musician info; they are truly superlative.  (The baritone, Christopher Maltman, BTW, is a biochemist by academic training!)

Christine Schäfer, soprano
Anna Korondi, soprano
Bernarda Fink, mezzo-soprano
Ian Bostridge, tenor
Christopher Maltman, baritone

Arnold Schoenberg Choir
(chorus master: Erwin Ortner)
Concentus Musicus Wien
Nikolaus Harnoncourt, conductor

This is from the YouTube page:

Buy this DVD at: http://amzn.to/t57Xqw
Buy this in VHS format at: http://amzn.to/AaJ5if

Magnificat anima mea from Magnificat (BWV 243) by Johann Sebastian Bach. Conducted by Nikolaus Harnoncourt.