The Hymns at the Lesser Hours: None

The following are the hymns listed for None, in  Hymn melodies for the whole year, from the Sarum service-books:

Daily throughout the year :

Rerum Deus tenax vigor

(1) On all Double Feasts throughout the year ... ... 9

(2) On the Vigil of Epiphany & on all Sundays &  Simple Feasts throughout the year ... ... ... ... ... 6

(3) On all Ferias throughout the year ... ... ... 7

[At Christmas-tide (York) : Adam vetus quod polluit ... ... 55]

None is the Daily Office prayer said around 3 p.m.  "None" is Latin for "Ninth Hour" - the ninth hour of the day, that is, counting from dawn.  Follow along with the full office here, at Breviary Offices, from Lauds to Compline Inclusive (Society of St. Margaret, Boston, 1885).    I'll link-in via iFrame at the bottom of the post too.

From TPL, here are the Latin words to Rerum Deus tenax vigor, followed by J.M. Neale's English translation; the hymn is attributed to St. Ambrose:

RERUM, Deus, tenax vigor,
immotus in te permanens¹,
lucis diurnae tempora
successibus determinans,    

Largire clarum vespere,
quo vita numquam decidat,
sed praemium mortis sacrae
perennis instet gloria.    

Praesta, Pater piissime,
Patrique compar Unice,
cum Spiritu Paraclito
regnans per omne saeculum. Amen.    


O God, creation’s secret force,
Thyself unmoved, all motion’s source,
Who from the morn till evening ray
Through all its changes guid’st the day:

Grant us, when this short life is past,
The glorious evening that shall last;
That, by a holy death attained,
Eternal glory may be gained.

O Father, that we ask be done,
Through Jesus Christ, Thine only Son;
Who, with the Holy Ghost and Thee,
Doth live and reign eternally.

This is the hymn tune used for "all ferias throughout the year":

 

Here's our usual mp3 of this hymn sung to melody #7 from the Liber Hymnarius Wiki; this tune is the same simple melody used at Terce for Nunc sancte nobis Spiritus and at Sext for Rector potens verax Deus on ferias throughout the year, used here at None still again.

Still no sound files for either melody #6 or #9.  Liber Hymnarius Wiki, though, again offers seven sound files of melodies used for this hymn on different occasions. Again I've posted them here, and again: these may be the same melodies posted for Terce and Sext; that's to be determined .  Meanwhile, feel free to substitute the "in sollemnitatibus" tune for melody #9 (used for Double Feasts throughout the year)  and the "in festis" tune  for melody #6 (used for Simple Feasts throughout the year), or however you want to do it.  

Rerum, Deus, tenax vigor (Ambrosius?)

Meter: 8.8.8.8

Melody: a a a a a a g g

 in feriis per annum, H.D, p. 194
 in memoriis, H.VIII, p. 194
 in festis, H.VIII, p. 194

Melody: d c d f e d d c

  in dominicis per annum, H.II, p. 187

Melody: g g ab b ag abCb ag g

  in sollemnitatibus, H.VIII, p. 188

Melody: f e d e dc de e e

  in Adventu, H.IV, p. 8

Melody: d d d c d f e d

  in Nativitate, H.II, p. 25

This is G. Vianini's Ambrosian version of the hymn; it's not any of the melodies here, though:




Here's New Advent's entry for Rerum Deus tenax vigor:

The daily hymn for None in the Roman Breviary, comprises (like the hymns for Terce and Sext) only two stanzas of iambic dimeters together with a doxology varying according to the feast or season. As in the hymns for Prime, Sext, and Compline, the theme is found in the steady march of the sun that defines the periods of the day:

Rerum, Deus, tenax vigor
Immotus in te permanens,
Lucis diurnæ tempora
Successibus determinans.

O God, whose power unmoved the whole
Of Nature's vastness doth control,
Who mark'st the day-hours as they run
By steady marches of the sun.


The moral application is, as usual, made in the following stanza:

Largire lumen vespere
Quo vita nusquam decidat, etc.

O grant that in life's eventide
Thy light may e'er with us abide, etc.

The authorship of the hymns for Terce, Sext, and None is now ascribed only very doubtfully to St. Ambrose. They are not given to the saint by the Benedictine editors (see AMBROSIAN HYMNOGRAPHY), but are placed by Biraghi amongst his inni sinceri, since they are found in all the manuscripts of the churches of Milan. Daniel (I, 23: IV, 13, 17) thinks that much longer hymns for the hours were replaced by the present ones. Pimont disagrees with Daniel and argues that the saint may well have composed two sets of hymns for the hours. However, the researches of Blume (1908) show that the primitive Benedictine cycle of hymns, as attested by the Rules of Cæsarius and Aurelian of Arles, did not include these hymns, but assigned for Terce, Sext, and None (for Eastertide) the hymns: "Jam surgit hora tertia", "Jam sexta sensim volvitur", "Ter hora trina volvitur"; the earliest manuscripts of the cycle give for these hours, for the remainder of the year, the hymns: "Certum tenentes ordinem", "Dicamus laudes Domino", "Perfectum trinum numerum"; while other manuscripts give as variants for Lent: "Dei fide qua vivimus", "Meridie orandum est", "Sic ter quaternis trahitur". This Benedictine cycle was replaced throughout Western Christendom by a later one, as shown by Irish and English manuscripts, which give the present hymns for the little hours.

Again, York goes with a different hymn for None in Christmastide; the melody is the same one used at Terce:

Still no sound file for this one.  The hymn itself, Adam vetus quod polluit, is again part of the longer Fortunatus hymn hymn/poem whose first line is "Agnoscat omne saeculum."   This time, the hymn begins with verse 7; I'll go ahead and assume it actually consists of verses 7 and 8 (since those are the last two).  Here again 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 None (spelled "Nones" here):




This is Wikipedia's entry for None; as noted, most of the content comes from the Catholic Encyclopedia of 1917:

None (/ˈnoʊn/ nohn), or the Ninth Hour, is a fixed time of prayer of the Divine Office of almost all the traditional Christian liturgies. It consists mainly of psalms and is said around 3 p.m. Its name comes from Latin and refers to the ninth hour of the day after dawn.

This hour is now described more generally as the "midafternoon prayer" and may be said whenever convenient during the day, or omitted entirely. However, bishops and priests are still expected to recite the full sequence of hours, as closely as possible to the traditional time of day.^[1]

Eastern Christian Office

Further information: Little Hours — Eastern Christian Practice

In the Eastern Orthodox and Greek Catholic Churches the office of the Ninth Hour is normally read by a single Reader and has very little variation in it. Three fixed psalms are read at the Third Hour: Psalms 83, 84, and 85 (LXX). The only variable portions for most of the year are the Troparia (either one or two) andKontakion of the Day. The service ends with the Prayer of the Ninth Hour by Saint Basil the Great.

During Great Lent a number of changes in the office take place. On Monday through Thursday, after the three fixed psalms, the Reader says a kathisma from the Psalter. The Troparion of the Day is replaced by special Lenten hymns that are chanted with prostrations. Then a portion of the Ladder of Divine Ascentmay be read. The Kontakion of the Day is replaced by special Lenten troparia. Near the end of the Hour, the Prayer of St. Ephraim is said, with prostrations.

During Holy Week, on Great Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, the services are similar to those during Great Lent, except that there is no kathisma, and instead of the normal Lenten hymns which replace the Kontakion, the Kontakion of the day (i.e., that day of Holy Week) is chanted. On Great Thursday and Saturday, the Little Hours are more like normal. On Great Friday, the Royal Hours are chanted.

During the Lesser Lenten seasons (Nativity Fast, Apostles' Fast and Dormition Fast) the Little Hours undergo changes similar to those during Great Lent, except the Lenten hymns are usually read instead of chanted, and there are no kathismata. In addition, on weekdays of the Lesser Fasts, an Inter-Hour (Greek:Mesorion) may be read immediately after each Hour (at least on the first day of the Fast). The Inter-Hours may also be read during Great Lent if there is to be no reading from the Ladder of Divine Ascent at the Little Hours. The Inter-Hours follow the same general outline as the Little Hours, except they are shorter.

Origin of None

The remainder of this article uses the Catholic Encyclopedia of 1917; it describes the office before the reforms of the Second Vatican Council; the numbering system of psalms is that of the Septuagint and they are said in Latin:

According to an Ancient Greek and Roman custom, the day was, like the night, divided into four parts, each consisting of three hours. As the last hour of each division gave its name to the respective quarter of the day, the third division (from noon to about 3) was called the None (Latin nonus, nona, ninth).^[2] This division of the day was in vogue also among the Jews, from whom the Church borrowed it.^[3] The following texts, moreover, favor this view: "Now Peter and John went up into the temple at the ninth hour of prayer" (Acts 3:1); "And Cornelius said: Four days ago, unto this hour, I was praying in my house, at the ninth hour, and behold a man stood before me" (Acts 10:30); "Peter went up to the higher parts of the house to pray, about the sixth hour" (Acts 10:9). The most ancient testimony refers to this custom ofTerce, Sext, and None, for instance Tertullian, Clement of Alexandria, the Canons of Hippolytus, and even the "Didache ("Teaching of the Apostles"). The last-mentioned prescribed prayer thrice each day, without, however, fixing the hours.^[4]

Saint Clement of Alexandria and likewise Tertullian, as early as the end of the 2nd century, expressly mention the Canonical Hours of Terce, Sext, and None, as specially set apart for prayer.^[5] Tertullian says explicitly that we must always pray, and that there is no time prescribed for prayer; he adds, nevertheless, these significant words: "As regards the time, there should be no lax observation of certain hours—I mean of those common hours which have long marked the divisions of the day, the third, the sixth, and the ninth, and which we may observe in Scripture to be more solemn than the rest."^[6]

Clement and Tertullian in these passages refer only to private prayer at these hours. The Canons of Hippolytus also speak of Terce, Sext, and None, as suitable hours for private prayer; however, on the twostation days, Wednesday and Friday, when the faithful assembled in the church, and perhaps on Sundays, these hours were recited successively in public.^[7] St. Cyprian mentions the same hours as having been observed under the Old Law, and adduces reasons for the Christians observing them also.^[8] In the 4th century there is evidence to show that the practice had become obligatory, at least for the monks.^[9]

The prayer of Prime, at six o'clock in the morning, was not added until a later date, but Vespers goes back to the earliest days. The texts we have cited give no information as to what these prayers consisted of. Evidently they contained the same elements as all other prayers of that time—psalms recited or chanted,canticles or hymns, either privately composed or drawn from Holy Writ, and litanies or prayers properly so-called.

None from the fourth to seventh centuries

The eighteenth cannon of the Council of Laodicea (between 343 and 381) orders that the same prayers be always said at None and Vespers. But it is not clear what meaning is to attached to the words, leitourgia ton euchon, used in the canon. It is likely that reference is made to famous litanies, in which prayer was offered for the catechumens, sinners, the faithful, and generally for all the wants of the Church. Sozomen(in a passage, however, which is not considered very authentic) speaks of three psalms which the monksrecited at None. In any case this number became traditional at an early period.^[10] Three psalms were recited at Terce, six at Sext, and nine at None, as St. John Cassian informs us, though he remarks that the most common practice was to recite three psalms at each of these hours^[11] St. Ambrose speaks of three hours of prayer, and, if with many critics we attribute to him the three hymns Jam surgit hora tertia, Bis ternas horas explicas, and Ter horas trina solvitur, we shall have a new constitutive element of the Little Hours in the 4th century in the Church of Milan.^[12]

In the Peregrinatio ad loca sancta of Etheria, (end of 4th century), There is a more detailed description of the Office of None. It resembles that of Sext, and is celebrated in the basilica of the Anastasis. It is composed of psalms and antiphons; then the bishop arrives, enters the grotto of the Resurrection, recites a prayer there, and blesses the faithful.^[13] During Lent, None is celebrated in the church of Sion; on Sundays the office is not celebrated; it is omitted also on Holy Saturday, but on Good Friday it is celebrated with special solemnity.^[14] But it is only in the succeeding age that we find a complete description of None, as of the other offices of the day.

None in the Roman and other liturgies from the seventh century

In the Rule of St. Benedict the four Little Hours of the day (Prime, Terce, Sext and None) are conceived on the same plan, the formulae alone varying. The Divine Office begins with Deus in adjutorium, like all theCanonical Hours; then follows a hymn, special to None; three psalms, which do not change (Psalm 125, 126, 127), except on Sundays and Mondays when they are replaced by three groups of eight verses from Psalm 118; then the capitulum, a versicle, the Kyrie, the The Lord's Prayer, the oratio, and the concluding prayers.^[15]

In the Roman Liturgy the office of None is likewise constructed after the model of the Little Hours of the day; it is composed of the same elements as in the Rule of St. Benedict, with this difference: that instead of the three psalms (125-127), the three groups of eight verses from Psalm 118 are always recited. There is nothing else characteristic of this office in this liturgy. The hymn, which was added later, is the one already in use in the Benedictine Office—Rerum Deus tenax vigor. In the monastic rules prior to the 10th century certain variations are found. Thus in the Rule of Lerins, as in that of St. Caesarius, six psalms are recited at None, as at Terce and Sext, with antiphon, hymn and capitulum.

St. Aurelian follows the same tradition in his Rule Ad virgines, but he imposes twelve psalms at each hour on the monks. St. Columbanus, St. Fructuosus, and St. Isidore adopt the system of three psalms^[16] Like St. Benedict, most of these authors include hymns, the capitulum or short lesson, a versicle, and an oratio.^[17] In the 9th and 10th centuries we find some additions made to the Office of None, in particular litanies, collects, etc.^[18]

Meaning and symbolism of None

Among the ancients the hour of None was regarded as the close of the day's business and the time for the baths and supper.^[19] At an early date mystical reasons for the division of the day were sought. St. Cyprian sees in the hours of Terce, Sext and None, which come after a lapse of three hours, an allusion to the Trinity. He adds that these hours already consecrated to prayer under the Old Dispensation have been sanctified in the New Testament by great mysteries—Terce by the descent of the Holy Spirit on theApostles; Sext by the prayers of St. Peter, the reception of the Gentiles into the Church, or yet again by the crucifixion of Christ; None by the death of Christ.^[20] St. Basil merely recalls that it was at the ninth hour that the Apostles Peter and John were wont to go to the Temple to pray.^[21] St. John Cassian, who adopts the Cyprian interpretation for Terce and Sext, sees in the Hour of None the descent of Christ intohell.^[22] But, as a rule, it is the death of Christ that is commemorated at the Hour of None.

The writers of the Middle Ages have sought for other mystical explanations of the Hour of None.Amalarius of Metz (III, vi) explains at length, how, like the sun which sinks on the horizon at the hour of None, man's spirit tends to lower itself also, he is more open to temptation, and it is the time the demon selects to try him. For the texts of the Fathers on this subject it will suffice to refer the reader to the above-mentioned work of Cardinal Bona (c. ix). The same writers do not fail to remark that the number nine was considered by the ancients an imperfect number, an incomplete number, ten being considered perfection and the complete number. Nine was also the number of mourning. Among the ancients the ninth day was a day of expiation and funeral service—novemdiale sacrum, the origin doubtless of the novena for the dead.

As for the ninth hour, some persons believe that it is the hour at which our first parents were driven from the Garden of Paradise.^[23] In conclusion, it is necessary to call attention to a practice which emphasized the Hour of None—it was the hour of fasting. At first, the hour of fasting was prolonged to Vespers, that is to say, food was taken only in the evening or at the end of the day. Mitigation of this rigorous practice was soon introduced. Tertullian's famous pamphlet De jejunio, rails at length against the Psychics (i. e. the orthodox Christians) who end their fast on station days at the Hour of None, while he, Tertullian, claims that he is faithful to the ancient custom. The practice of breaking the fast at None caused that hour to be selected for Mass and Communion, which were the signs of the close of the day. The distinction between the rigorous fast, which was prolonged to Vespers, and the mitigated fast, ending at None, is met with in a large number of ancient documents (see Fasting).

Iste Confessor, for the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi

Nicholas Roerich's St. Francis - 1931

Hymn melodies for the whole year from the Sarum service-books prescribes two hymns for Feasts of a Confessor:  Iste confessor  and Jesu, Redemptor Omnium.

Iste Confessor is a beautiful hymn with a wonderful set of words; it's appointed for 1st Evensong and Matins to a variety of melodies.  Here are words to the hymn from Oremus Hymnal; source notes say the hymn is "Latin, eighth century; trans. Laurence Housman, 1906."

He whose confession God of old accepted,
whom through the ages all now hold in honor,
gaining his guerdon this day came to enter
heaven's high portal.

God-fearing, watchful, pure of mind and body,
holy and humble, thus did all men find him;
while, through his members, to the life immortal
mortal life called him.

Thus to the weary, from the life enshrinèd,
potent in virtue, flowed humane compassion;
sick and sore laden, howsoever burdened,
there they found healing.

So now in chorus, giving God the g lory,
raise we our anthem gladly to his honor,
that in fair kinship we may all be sharers
here and hereafter.

Honor and glory, power and salvation,
be in the highest unto him who reigneth
changeless in heaven over earthly changes,
triune, eternal.

The Lutheran Liturgical Prayer Brotherhood calls it a  "hymn about a Holy Man" for the Common of Saints.  Here's an image of the chant score for melody #56, used at First Vespers.

And here's LLPB's mp3 of Iste Confessor, sung to melody #56.


Hymn melodies provides three tune choices for Iste Confessor sung at Matins; here's one of them, melody #57:

Here's a video of the hymn sung to this melody:




Here are the Latin words:

Iste Confessor Domini colentes
Quem pie laudant populi per orbem :
Hac die laetus meruit beatas
Scandere sedes.

Qui pius, prudens, humilis, pudicus,
Sobriam duxit sine labe vitam.
Donec humanos animavit aurae
Spiritus artus.

Cujus ob praestans meritum frequenter,
Ægra quae passim jacuere membra,
Viribus morbi domitis, saluti
Restituuntur.

Noster hinc illi chorus obsequentem
Concinit laudem, celebresque palmas;
Ut piis ejus precibus juvemur
Omne per ævum.

Sit salus illi, decus, atque virtus,
Qui super cæli solio coruscans,
Totius mundi seriem gubernat,
Trinus et unus. Amen.

Anglican Chant XXX: Psalm 115, Not unto us O Lord (G Knight)

Here are the words from the Coverdale Psalter:

1  Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy Name give the praise *
 for thy loving mercy, and for thy truth’s sake.
2  Wherefore shall the heathen say *
 Where is now their God?
3  As for our God, he is in heaven *
 he hath done whatsoever pleased him.
4  Their idols are silver and gold *
 even the work of men’s hands.
5  They have mouths, and speak not *
 eyes have they, and see not.
6  They have ears, and hear not *
 noses have they, and smell not.
7  They have hands, and handle not; feet have they, and walk not *
 neither speak they through their throat.
8  They that make them are like unto them *
 and so are all such as put their trust in them.
9  But thou, house of Israel, trust thou in the Lord *
 he is their succour and defence.
10  Ye house of Aaron, put your trust in the Lord *
 he is their helper and defender.
11  Ye that fear the Lord, put your trust in the Lord *
 he is their helper and defender.
12  The Lord hath been mindful of us, and he shall bless us *
 even he shall bless the house of Israel, he shall bless the house of Aaron.
13  He shall bless them that fear the Lord *
 both small and great.
14  The Lord shall increase you more and more *
 you and your children.
15  Ye are the blessed of the Lord *
 who made heaven and earth.
16  All the whole heavens are the Lord’s *
 the earth hath he given to the children of men.
17  The dead praise not thee, O Lord *
 neither all they that go down into silence.
18  But we will praise the Lord *
 from this time forth for evermore. Praise the Lord.

The incipit of this Psalm in Latin is Non nobis, domine - which became a hymn in its own right at some point during the middle ages:

Non nobis is a short Latin hymn used as a prayer of thanksgiving and expression of humility. The Latin text derives from Psalm 113:9 (according to the Vulgate numbering), which corresponds to Psalm 115:1 in the King James Version. It reads,

Non nobis, non nobis, Domine
Sed nomini tuo da gloriam.
Not to us, not to us, O Lord,
But to thy name give glory.

....

As part of Psalm 115 (In exitu Israel) it was also recited liturgically as part of the Paschal vigil, the celebrants kneeling in a gesture of self-abasement when this verse was reached. According to legend Henry V ordered it to be recited along with the Te Deum in thanksgiving for the English victory at the Battle of Agincourt in 1415 (see below). Jean Mouton (c. 1459-1522) composed a motet to a text beginning with the Non nobis to celebrate the birth of a daughter to Louis XII and Anne of Brittany in 1510.

Here's the song as sung in the 1989 film, Henry V; no idea if this is the original melody or not, though:



About the composer of this Anglican Chant:

Gerald Hocken Knight CBE (1908–1979) was a cathedral organist, who served at Canterbury Cathedral.

Gerald Hocken Knight was born on 27 July 1908 in Par, Cornwall, and was educated at Truro Cathedral School and Peterhouse, Cambridge.[2] He was an articled organ pupil of Hubert Stanley Middleton at Truro Cathedral.

He was appointed a Fellow of the Royal School of Church Music in 1964.

Seen and heard Sunday at Divine Service

The very beautiful collect for Proper 21:

O God, you declare your almighty power chiefly in showing mercy and pity: Grant us the fullness of your grace, that we, running to obtain your promises, may become partakers of your heavenly treasure; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Hatchett's Commentary says, about this collect, that:

The Gallican Missale Gothicum includes this as the initial prayer of the first of six Sunday Masses (no. 477); it is the first prayer of the sixth of sixteen Sunday Masses in the Gelasian sacramentary (no. 1198).  The supplement to the Gregorian appoints it (no. 1159) for the eleventh Sunday after (the) Pentecost (octave), and the Sarum missal and previous Prayer Books for the eleventh Sunday after Trinity.  It has undergone several revisions.  The 1549 version reads:

God, which declarest thy almighty power, most chiefly in showing mercy and pity; Give unto us abundantly thy grace that we, running to thy promises, may be made partakers of thy heavenly treasure; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

The words "mercy and pity" would be more literally translated "sparing and showing compassion."  "Give unto us abundantly thy grace" migth be more literally "multiply upon us your grace."

In 1662 the revised petition read:  "Mercifully grant unto us such a measure of thy grace, that we running the way of thy Commandments, may obtain thy gracrious promises, and be made partakers of thy heavenly treasure."  That revision seemed to make the receiving of heavenly treasure a reward for obedience to the commandments rather than a free gift of grace which we pray that we might run forward eagerly to receive.  In the present revision the collect is revised to make it similar to Cranmer's version.  The preamble states with striking force that the supreme demonstration of God's power is shown not in creation and providence, but in His redemptive love and mercy.

Here's a link to the Missale Gothicum at archive.org.

About the Missale Gothicum of the Gallican Rite:

The Missale Gothicum (Vatican, Queen Christina MSS. 317), described by Delisle, No. 3, is a manuscript dating from the end of the seventh century and once belonging to the Petau Library. The name is due to a fifteenth-century note at the beginning of the book, and hence it has been attributed by Tommasi and Mabillon to Narbonne, which was in the Visigothic Kingdom. Duchesne, judging by the inclusion of Masses for the feasts of St. Symphorian and St. Léger (d. 680), attributes it to Autun. The Masses are numbered, the MS. beginning with Christmas Eve, which is numbered "III". Probably there were once two Advent Masses, as in the "Missale Gallicanum". There are eighty-one numbered sections, of which the last is the first prayer of "Missa Romensif cottidiana", with which the MS. breaks off. The details of the Masses in this book are given in the section of the present article on the liturgical year. The Masses are all Gallican as to order, but many of the actual prayers are Roman. The "Missale Gothicum" has been printed by Tommasi (Codices Sacramentorum, Rome, 1680), Mabillon (De Liturgiâ Gallicanâ, Paris, 1685), Muratori (Liturgia Romana Vetus, Venice, 1748), Neale and Forbes (op. cit.), and Migne's "Patrologia Latina" (Vol. LXXII).

And then, at the Offertory:




 

Rachmaninoff: All-Night Vigil

This seems to the whole thing - 45 minutes of beautiful music.  YouTube page notes below.

Serge Rachmaninoff - Vespers - All-Night Vigil.


Olga Borodina, mezzo-soprano.
Vladimir Mostowoy, tenor.
St. Petersburg Chamber Choir.
Nikolai Korniev.

The All-Night Vigil (Russian: Всенощное бдение, Vsenoshchnoe bdenie), Opus 37, is an a cappella choral composition by Sergei Rachmaninoff, written and premiered in 1915. It consists of settings of texts taken from the Russian Orthodox All-night vigil ceremony. It has been praised as Rachmaninoff's finest achievement and "the greatest musical achievement of the Russian Orthodox Church". It was one of Rachmaninoff's two favorite compositions along with The Bells, and the composer requested that one of its movements (the fifth) be sung at his funeral. The title of the work is often translated as simply Vespers, which is both literally and conceptually incorrect as applied to the entire work: only the first six of its fifteen movements set texts from the Russian Orthodox canonical hour of Vespers.

Rachmaninoff composed the All-Night Vigil in less than two weeks in January and February 1915. The first performance was given in Moscow on March 10 of that year, partly to benefit the Russian war effort. Nikolai Danilin conducted the all-male Moscow Synodal Choir at the premiere. It was received warmly by critics and audiences alike, and was so successful that it was performed five more times within a month. However the Russian Revolution of 1917 and the rise of the Soviet Union led to a ban on performances of all religious music, and on 22 July 1918 the Synodal Choir was replaced by a nonreligious "People's Choir Academy". It has been written that "no composition represents the end of an era so clearly as this liturgical work"

1. Приидите, поклонимся
Priidite, Poklonimsya
Come, Let Us Worship


2. Благослови, душе моя (греческого роспева)
Blagoslovi, Dushe Moya
Praise the Lord, O My Soul (Greek Chant)


3. Блажен муж
Blazhen Muzh
Blessed is the Man

4. Свете тихий (киевского роспева)
Svete Tikhyi
O Gentle Light (Kiev Chant)

5. Ныне отпущаеши (киевского роспева)
Nyne Otpushchayeshi
Lord, Now Lettest Thou (Nunc Dimittis) (Kiev Chant)



6. Богородице Дево, радуйся
Bogoroditsye Devo, Raduisya
Rejoice, O Virgin (Hail Mary (Ave Maria))

7. Шестопсалмие
(alternate: Slava V Vyshnikh Bogu)
The Six Psalms (alternate: Glory To God in the Highest)

8. Хвалите имя Господне (знаменного роспева)
Khvalite Imya Gospodne
Praise the Name of the Lord (Znamenny Chant)

9. Благословен еси Господи (знаменного роспева)
Blagosloven Yesi, Gospodi
Blessed Art Thou, O Lord (Znamenny Chant)



10. Воскресение Христово видевше
Voskreseniye Khristovo Videvshe
Having Beheld the Resurrection

11. Величит душа моя Господа
Velichit Dusha Moya Gospoda
My Soul Doth Magnify the Lord (Magnificat)

12. Славословие великое (знаменного роспева)
(alternate: Slava V Vyshnikh Bogu)
The Great Doxology (Znamenny Chant) (alternate: Glory to God in the Highest)

13. Тропарь: Днесь спасение (знаменного роспева)
Dnes Spaseniye Miru Byst
Troparion: Today Salvation is Come (Znamenny Chant)

14. Тропарь: Воскрес из гроба (знаменного роспева)
Voskres Iz Groba
Troparion: Thou Didst Rise from the Tomb (Znamenny Chant)

15. Взбранной Воеводе (греческого роспева)
Vzbrannoy Voyevode
O Queen Victorious (Greek Chant)

The Hymns at the Lesser Hours: Sext

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

Daily throughout the year :

Rector potens verax Deus

(i) On all 'Double Feasts throughout the year  ... ... ... 9

(2) On the Vigil of Epiphany & on all Sundays & Simple Feasts throughout the year ... ... ... ... ... 10

(3) On all Ferias throughout the year ... ... ... 7

[At Christmas-tide (York) :  Presepe poni pertulit ... ... ... 55]

Sext is the "Little Hour" said at noon (referring to the sixth hour of the day after dawn).   I've quoted extensively below from The Catholic Encylopedia (1917) on the topic; here's a bit from that citation about some of the original thought about the significance of this hour:

Noon is the hour when the sun is at its full, it is the image of Divine splendour, the plenitude of God, the time of grace; at the sixth hour Abraham received the three angels, the image of the Trinity; at the sixth hour Adam and Eve ate the fatal apple. We should pray at noon, says St. Ambrose, because that is the time when the Divine light is in its fulness.^[2] Origen, St. Augustine, and several others regard this hour as favourable to prayer. Lastly and above all, it was the hour when Christ was nailed to the Cross; this memory excelling all the others left a still visible trace in most of the liturgy of this hour.

All these mystic reasons and traditions, which indicate the sixth hour as a culminating point in the day, a sort of pause in the life of affairs, the hour of repast, could not but exercise an influence on Christians, inducing them to choose it as an hour of prayer.

Follow along with the full office here, at Breviary Offices, from Lauds to Compline Inclusive (Society of St. Margaret, Boston, 1885).    I'll link-in via iFrame at the bottom of the post too.

TPL says the hymn Rector potens verax Deus is "attributed to St. Ambrose," and offers these Latin words, with the English translation by J.M. Neale:

RECTOR potens, verax Deus,
qui temperas rerum vices,
splendore mane instruis
et ignibus meridiem,    

Extingue flammas litium,
aufer calorem noxium,
confer salutem corporum
veramque pacem cordium.    

Praesta, Pater piissime,
Patrique compar Unice,
cum Spiritu Paraclito
regnans per omne saeculum. Amen.    

O GOD of truth, O Lord of might,
Who orderest time and change aright,
and sendest the early morning ray,
and lightest the glow of perfect day.

Extinguish Thou each sinful fire,
and banish every ill desire:
and while Thou keepest the body whole
shed forth Thy peace upon the soul.

Almighty Father, hear our cry
through Jesus Christ, Our Lord most High
Who, with the Holy Ghost and Thee,
doth live and reign eternally. Amen.

This is the hymn tune used for "all ferias throughout the year":

 

And here's is an mp3 of melody #7 from the Liber Hymnarius Wiki; this tune is the same simple tune used at Terce for Nunc sancte nobis Spiritus on ferias throughout the year, and is used here at Sext again.

I haven't found sound files for either melody #9 or #10.  Liber Hymnarius Wiki, though, again offers sound files for seven different melodies used for this hymn.  These may be the same melodies posted for Terce; I will have to take the time to check at some point.   Again I've pasted them in here; you can easily substitute the "in festis" tune below for melody #10 (used for Simple Feasts throughout the year), and "in sollemnitatibus" for melody #9 (used for Double Feasts throughout the year) - or use some other scheme of your own choosing.   (I will note that a couple of these melodies are well-known, and used at other times in the Divine Office.) 

 in feriis per annum, H.D, p. 193
 in memoriis, H.VIII, p. 193

 in festis, H.VIII, p. 193
Melody: d c d f e d d c

 in dominicis per annum, H.II, p. 186
Melody: g g ab b ag abCb ag g

 in sollemnitatibus, H.VIII, p. 187
Melody: f e d e dc de e e

 in Adventu, H.IV, p. 8
Melody: d d d c d f e d

 in Nativitate, H.II, p. 25

Here are a couple of Giovanni Vianini's videos of this hymn; the first is the Gregorian melody and the second is an Ambrosian one.  Again, neither is any of the Sarum tunes, but here they are anyway:







Here's an interesting New Advent piece on Rector Potens, Verax Deus:

The daily hymn for Sext in the Roman Breviary finds its theme in the great heat and light of the noonday (hora sexta, or sixth hour of the day) sun, and prays the Almighty Ruler to take from the heart the heat of passion. Baudot ("The Roman Breviary", London, 1909, 34) thinks the hymn "probably" by St. Ambrose: "We know, moreover, that the hymns for Vespers, Terce, and None (probably also the hymn for Sext) are his." Perhaps, however, Baudot refers to other hymns ascribed to the saint by Bäumer ("Gesch. des Breviers", 1895, 135). Whatever probability attaches to the hymns for Terce and None affects equally that for Sext, none of the three being found in the oldest Benedictine cycle, while all three are found in the later Celtic cycle. (For discussion of authorship, see RERUM DEUS TENAX VIGOR.) It is interesting to note that the second stanza is in rhyme throughout:

    Extingue flammas litium,
    Aufer calorem noxium,
    Confer salutem corporum
    Veramque pacem cordium.

Biraghi thinks the rhyme merely a matter of chance; Piedmont thinks it deliberate, but finds no sufficient reason in this fact for denying it to St. Ambrose. Johner ("A New School of Gregorian Chant", tr. New York, 1906, 55) selects the first line to illustrate his contention that whilst in ordinary speech anyone would pronounce the line thus:

    Réctor pótens vérax Deús,

a singer commits no fault in stressing as follows:

    Rectór poténs veráx Déus.

"In German (or English), this kind of thing is impossible. But that does not give us a right to forbid the composer of Gregorian melodies to make use of this and similar licenses. We Germans (and English-speaking people) frequently pronounce Latin with such an exaggerated accent that the words fall too heavily on the ear. Other nations, the French, for example, pronounce the words more smoothly, with a lighter accent." (For the full argument, see pp. 55, 56.)

Again, York goes with a different hymn for Sext in Christmastide; the melody is the same one used at Terce:

Still no sound file for this one, sorry to say.  The hymn itself, Presepe poni pertulit, is again part of the longer Fortunatus hymn hymn/poem whose first line is "Agnoscat omne saeculum."   This time, the hymn begins with verse 5.  Here again 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 Sext (spelled "Sexts" here):





This long article about Sext comes from Wikipedia, and quotes from the Catholic Encyclopedia of 1917:

Sext, or Sixth Hour, is a fixed time of prayer of the Divine Office of almost all the traditional Christian liturgies. It consists mainly of psalms and is said at noon. Its name comes from Latin and refers to the sixth hour of the day after dawn.

Meaning, symbolism and origin

From the Catholic Encyclopedia of 1917; note that this describes the office before the reforms of the Second Vatican Council; the numbering system of psalms is that of the Septuagint and are said in Latin

The hora sexta of the Romans corresponded closely with our noon. Among the Jews it was already regarded, together with Terce and None, as an hour most favourable to prayer. In the Acts of the Apostles we read that St. Peter went up to the higher parts of the house to pray (Acts 10:9). It was the middle of the day, also the usual hour of rest, and in consequence for devout men, an occasion to pray to God, as were the morning and evening hours.

The Fathers of the Church dwell constantly on the symbolism of this hour; their teaching is merely summarized here: it is treated at length in Cardinal Bona's work on psalmody.^[1] Noon is the hour when the sun is at its full, it is the image of Divine splendour, the plenitude of God, the time of grace; at the sixth hour Abraham received the three angels, the image of the Trinity; at the sixth hour Adam and Eve ate the fatal apple. We should pray at noon, says St. Ambrose, because that is the time when the Divine light is in its fulness.^[2] Origen, St. Augustine, and several others regard this hour as favourable to prayer. Lastly and above all, it was the hour when Christ was nailed to the Cross; this memory excelling all the others left a still visible trace in most of the liturgy of this hour.

All these mystic reasons and traditions, which indicate the sixth hour as a culminating point in the day, a sort of pause in the life of affairs, the hour of repast, could not but exercise an influence on Christians, inducing them to choose it as an hour of prayer. As early as the third century the hour of Sext was considered as important as Terce and None as an hour of prayer. Clement of Alexandria speaks of these three hours of prayer,^[3] as does Tertullian.^[4] Long previous the Didache had spoken of the sixth hour in the same manner.^[5] Origen, the "Canons of Hippolytus", and St. Cyprian express the same tradition.^[6] It is therefore evident that the custom of prayer at the sixth hour was well established in the 3rd century and even in the 2nd century or at the end of the 1st century. But probably most of these texts refer to private prayer. In the 4th century the hour of Sext was widely established as a Canonical Hour. The following are very explicit examples. In his rule St. Basil made the sixth hour an hour of prayer for the monks,^[7] St. John Cassian treats it as an hour of prayer generally recognized in his monasteries^[8] The De virginitate, wrongly attributed to St. Athanasius, but in any case dating from the fourth century, speaks of the prayer of Sext, as do also the "Apostolic Constitutions", St. Ephrem, St. John Chrysostom^[9] But this does not prove that the observance of Sext, any more than Prime, Terce, None, or even the other Canonical Hours, was universal. Discipline on this point varied widely according to regions and Churches. And in fact some countries may be mentioned where the custom was introduced only later. That the same variety prevailed in the formulæ of prayer is shown in the following paragraph.

Western Office

Note: reference to Psalms follows the numbering system of the Septuagint.

Despite its antiquity the hour of Sext never had the importance of those of Vigils, Matins, and Vespers. It must have been of short duration. The oldest testimonies mentioned seem to refer to a short prayer of a private nature. In the fourth and the following centuries the texts which speak of the compositions of this Office are far from uniform. John Cassian tells us that in Palestine three psalms were recited for Sext, as also for Terce and None^[10] This number was adopted by the Rules of St. Benedict, St. Columbanus, St. Isidore, St. Fructuosus, and to a certain extent by the Roman Church. However, Cassian says that in some provinces three psalms were said at Terce, six at Sext, and nine at None. Others recited six psalms at each hour and this custom became general among the Gauls.^[11] In Martène will be found the proof of variations in different Churches and monasteries. With regard to ancient times the Peregrinatio Sylviæ, tells us that at the hour of Sext all assembled in the Anastasis where psalms and anthems were recited, after which the bishop came and blessed the people.^[12] The number of psalms is not stated.

In the sixth century the Rule of St. Benedict gives the detailed composition of this Office. We quote it here because it is almost the same as the Roman Liturgy; either the latter borrowed from St. Benedict, or St. Benedict was inspired by the Roman usage. Sext, like Terce and None, was composed at most of three psalms, of which the choice was fixed, the Deus in adjutorium, a hymn, a lesson (capitulum), a versicle, the Kyrie Eleison, and the customary concluding prayer and dismissal ^[13]

In the Roman liturgy Sext is also composed of the Deus in adjutorium, a hymn, three portions of Psalm 118, the lesson, the short response, the versicle, and the prayer. (For the Byzantine Rite, see Eastern Christian Office, below.) In the modern Mozarabic Office Sext consists only of Ps. 53, three "octonaries" of Psalm 118, two lessons, the hymn, the supplication, the capitulum, the Pater Noster, and the benediction.

Eastern Christian Office

Further information: Little Hours — Eastern Christian Practice

In the Eastern Orthodox and Greek Catholic Churches the office of the Sixth Hour is normally read by a single Reader and has very little variation in it. Three fixed psalms are read at the Third Hour: Psalms 53, 54 and 90 (LXX). The only variable portions for most of the year are the Troparia (either one or two) and Kontakion of the Day.

During Great Lent a number of changes in the office take place. On Monday through Friday, after the three fixed psalms, the Reader says a kathisma from the Psalter. The Troparion of the Day is replaced by special Lenten hymns that are chanted with prostrations. Then, a special Troparion of the Prophecy is chanted, which is particular to that specific day of Great Lent. This is followed by a Prokeimenon, a reading from Isaiah and another Prokeimenon. Then there may follow a reading from the Ladder of Divine Ascent. The Kontakion of the Day is replaced by special Lenten troparia. Near the end of the Hour, the Prayer of St. Ephraim is said, with prostrations.

During Holy Week, on Great Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, the services are similar to those during Great Lent (including the reading of a kathisma), but instead of the normal Lenten hymns which replace the Kontakion, the Kontakion of the day (i.e., that day of Holy Week) is chanted. On Great Thursday and Saturday, the Little Hours are more like normal. On Great Friday, the Royal Hours are chanted.

During the Lesser Lenten seasons (Nativity Fast, Apostles' Fast and Dormition Fast) the Little Hours undergo changes similar to those during Great Lent, except the Lenten hymns are usually read instead of chanted, and there are no kathismata. In addition, on weekdays of the Lesser Fasts, an Inter-Hour (Greek: Mesorion) may be read immediately after each Hour (at least on the first day of the Fast). The Inter-Hours may also be read during Great Lent if there is to be no reading from the Ladder of Divine Ascent at the Little Hours. The Inter-Hours follow the same general outline as the Little Hours, except they are shorter.