Saturday, January 11, 2014

The Sunday Office hymns, "from the Оctave of the Epiphany until the 1st Sunday in Lent"

I'm finally getting around to posting all 21 of these Epiphanytide Office hymns!  I'm going to break the content into 7 posts, one for each day of the week, and each post containing the Mattins, Lauds, and Evensong hymns for that weekday.   Sarum used these different daily hymns only during Epiphanytide; other traditions, though, use them during the long "Ordinary Time" period "after Pentecost," too.

Starting with Sunday, from Hymn melodies for the whole year from the Sarum Service books:
From the Оctave of the Epiphany until the 1st Sunday in Lent - On Sundays:
Mattins: Primo dierum omnium ... ... ... 15
Lauds: Eterne rerum Conditor ... ... ... 17
Evensong: Lucis Creator optime ... ... ... 19

Each day's hymns for this period, including texts and audio files, are available at the following links:

Hymn melodies prescribes Primo dierum omnium, the Sunday Mattins hymn for this period, to be sung to melody #15:



Liber Hymnarius offers an mp3 of this hymn sung to melody #15 (click the arrow image to play the mp3):
Meter: 8.8.8.8
Melody: d e f g eg f e f
Download H.IV, p. 182


TPL says, about Primo dierum omnium:
This hymn is attributed to Pope St. Gregory the Great (540-604) and there is good reason to think he may have written it. The ancient preface to St. Columban's Altus prosator describes the arrival of St. Gregory's messengers from Rome bearing gifts and a set of hymns for the Liturgy of the Hours. In turn, St. Columban sent a set of hymns he had composed to St. Gregory. There has been considerable debate of late as to whether St. Gregory really did write the hymn or if he simply sent what was current in Rome at the time. Considerable evidence can be put forth for both positions.

This traditional winter-time Sunday Matins hymn is used in the Liturgia Horarum for the Sunday Office of the Readings of the first and third weeks of the Psalter during Ordinary Time. The hymn below is the complete hymn, whereas in the Liturgia Horarum only the first four verses are used along with a different concluding verse. In the Roman Breviary the hymn has been heavily modified and appears as Primo die, quo Trinitas.

Here are the words in Latin and English; the translation is by J. M. Neale (1818-1866):
PRIMO dierum omnium,
quo mundus exstat conditus
vel quo resurgens conditor
nos, morte victa, liberat.
HAIL day! whereon the One in Three
first formed the earth by sure decree,
the day its Maker rose again,
and vanquished death, and burst our chain.
Pulsis procul torporibus,
surgamus omnes ocius,
et nocte quaeramus pium,
sicut Prophetam novimus.
Away with sleep and slothful ease!
We raise our hearts and bend our knees,
and early seek the Lord of all,
obedient to the Prophet's call:
Nostras preces ut audiat
suamque dexteram porrigat,
et hic piatos sordibus 1
reddat polorum sedibus,
That He may hearken to our prayer,
stretch forth His strong right arm to spare,
and every past offense forgiven,
restore us to our homes in heaven.
Ut quique sacratissimo
huius diei tempore
horis quietis psallimus,
donis beatis muneret.
Assembled here this holy day,
this holiest hour we raise the lay;
and O that He to whom we sing,
may now reward our offering!
Iam nunc, Paterna claritas,
te postulamus affatim:
absit libido sordidans,
omnisque actus noxius.
O Father of unclouded light,
keep us this day as in Thy sight,
in word and deed that we may be
from every touch of evil free.
Ne foeda sit, vel lubrica
compago nostri corporis,
per quam averni ignibus
ipsi crememur acrius.
That this our body's mortal frame
may know no sins, and fear no shame,
nor fire hereafter be the end
of passions which our bosoms rend.
Ob hoc, Redemptor, quaesumus,
ut probra nostra diluas:
vitae perennis commoda
nobis benignus conferas.
Redeemer of the world, we pray
that Thou wouldst was our sins away,
and give us, of Thy boundless grace,
the blessings of the heavenly place.
Quo carnis actu exsules
effecti ipsi caelibes,
ut praestolamur cernui,
melos canamus gloriae.
That we, thence exiled by our sin,
hereafter may be welcomed in:
that blessed time awaiting now,
with hymns of glory here we bow.
Praesta, Pater, piissime,
Patrique compar Unice,
cum Spiritu Paraclito
regnans per omne saeculum.
Most holy Father, hear our cry,
through Jesus Christ our Lord most High
who, with the Holy Ghost and Thee
doth live and reign eternally.


Next comes Eterne rerum Conditor, the Sunday Lauds hymn for this period; Hymn melodies prescribes it to be sung to melody #17:



Here's the hymn, sung to melody #17 by the Monks of Glenstal Abbey:



Liber Hymnarius has this one, too; again, click the arrow to play the mp3:
Aeterne rerum conditor, noctem diemque qui regis (Ambrosius)
Meter: 8.8.8.8

Download H.1, p. 184


    TPL says, about Eterne rerum Conditor:
    This hymn (minus the final doxology) was written by St. Ambrose (340-397). The hymn is filled with Scriptural allusions and is one of the finest hymns in the Liturgy. Formerly it was used in the Roman Breviary at Sunday Lauds after Epiphany until Lent, and then again from September 28 until November 26. Today the hymn is used in the Liturgy of the Hours (less verses five and six) for Sunday Lauds on the first and third Sundays of the Psalter during Ordinary Time.

    Here are the words in Latin and English; the translation is by W J. Copeland (1804-1885):
    AETERNE rerum conditor,
    noctem diemque qui regis,
    et temporum das tempora,
    ut alleves fastidium;
    MAKER of all, eternal King,
    who day and night about dost bring:
    who weary mortals to relieve,
    dost in their times the seasons give:
    Praeco diei iam sonat,
    noctis profundae pervigil,
    nocturna lux viantibus
    a nocte noctem segregans.1
    Now the shrill cock proclaims the day,
    and calls the sun's awakening ray,
    the wandering pilgrim' guiding light,
    that marks the watches night by night.
    Hoc excitatus lucifer
    solvit polum caligine,
    hoc omnis erronum chorus2
    vias nocendi deserit.
    Roused at the note, the morning star
    heaven's dusky veil uplifts afar:
    night's vagrant bands no longer roam,
    but from their dark ways hie them home.
    Hoc nauta vires colligit
    pontique mitescunt freta,
    hoc ipsa petra ecclesiae
    canente culpam diluit.
    The encouraged sailor's fears are o'er,
    the foaming billows rage no more:
    Lo! e'en the very Church's Rock
    melts at the crowing of the cock.
    Surgamus ergo strenue!
    Gallus iacentes excitat,
    et somnolentos increpat,
    Gallus negantes arguit.
    O let us then like men arise;
    the cock rebukes our slumbering eyes,
    bestirs who still in sleep would lie,
    and shames who would their Lord deny.
    Gallo canente spes redit,
    aegris salus refunditur,
    mucro latronis conditur,
    lapsis fides revertitur.
    New hope his clarion note awakes,
    sickness the feeble frame forsakes,
    the robber sheathes his lawless sword,
    faith to fallen is restored.
    Iesu, labantes respice,
    et nos videndo corrige,
    si respicis, lapsus cadunt,3
    fletuque culpa solvitur.
    Look in us, Jesu, when we fall,
    and with Thy look our souls recall:
    if Thou but look, our sins are gone,
    and with due tears our pardon won.
    Tu lux refulge sensibus,
    mentisque somnum discute,
    te nostra vox primum sonet
    et ore psallamus tibi.4
    Shed through our hearts Thy piercing ray,
    our soul's dull slumber drive away:
    Thy Name be first on every tongue,
    to Thee our earliest praises sung.
    Sit, Christe, Rex piissime,
    tibi Patrique gloria
    cum Spiritu Paraclito,
    in sempiterna saecula. Amen.
    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.


    Finally, for Vespers, it's Lu­cis Cre­at­or op­ti­me, sung to melody #19:


    LLPB  offers this mp3 (in English) of this hymn sung to melody #15 ; they call it "O Blest Creator of the Light."  


    Here's TPL on Lu­cis Cre­at­or op­ti­me:
    Attributed to Pope St. Gregory the Great (540-604), this hymn is used in the Roman Breviary at Vespers for Sundays after Epiphany and Sundays after Pentecost. In the Liturgia Horarum it is used for Sunday evening Vespers for Ordinary time for the first and third weeks of the Psalter. 
     
    Here are the words in Latin and English; the translation is by J. M. Neale (1818-1866):
    LUCIS Creator optime
    lucem dierum proferens,
    primordiis lucis novae,
    mundi parans originem:
    O BLEST Creator of the light,
    Who mak'st the day with radiance bright,
    and o'er the forming world didst call
    the light from chaos first of all;
    Qui mane iunctum vesperi
    diem vocari praecipis:
    tetrum chaos illabitur,1
    audi preces cum fletibus.
    Whose wisdom joined in meet array
    the morn and eve, and named them Day:
    night comes with all its darkling fears;
    regard Thy people's prayers and tears.
    Ne mens gravata crimine,
    vitae sit exsul munere,
    dum nil perenne cogitat,
    seseque culpis illigat.
    Lest, sunk in sin, and whelmed with strife,
    they lose the gift of endless life;
    while thinking but the thoughts of time,
    they weave new chains of woe and crime.
    Caeleste pulset ostium:2
    vitale tollat praemium:
    vitemus omne noxium:
    purgemus omne pessimum.
    But grant them grace that they may strain
    the heavenly gate and prize to gain:
    each harmful lure aside to cast,
    and purge away each error past.
    Praesta, Pater piissime,
    Patrique compar Unice,
    cum Spiritu Paraclito
    regnans per omne saeculum. Amen.
    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. Amen.

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