An Advent Responsory: Ecce Dies Veniunt ("Behold, the days come")

December 18, 2019, 2:48 pm

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Ecce Dies Veniunt is the ninth responsory at Mattins on the First Sunday of Advent in the Roman Breivary. But it's sung at First Vespers on the First Sunday of Advent in the Sarum Breviary. Either way, it was clearly an important chant.

Here it's sung by Gregoriana.

Here are the words, in Latin and English, from Divinum Officium:

R. Ecce dies véniunt, dicit Dóminus, et suscitábo David germen justum: et regnábit rex, et sápiens erit, et fáciet judícium et justítiam in terra:
* Et hoc est nomen quod vocábunt eum: * Dóminus justus noster.
V. In diébus illis salvábitur Juda, et Israël habitábit confidénter.
R. Et hoc est nomen quod vocábunt eum:
V. Glória Patri, et Fílio, * et Spirítui Sancto.
R. Dóminus justus noster.

R. Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch; and a King shall reign in wisdom and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth:
* And this is His name whereby He shall be called: * The Lord our Righteous one.
V. In His days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely.
R. And this is His name whereby He shall be called.
V. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, * and to the Holy Ghost.
R. The Lord our Righteous one.

Here is the chant score, from The Sarum Rite, at McMaster University, Toronto. There are some melodic differences between this score and what's sung on the video above.

This Responsory is also listed in Cantus Database as a Responsory for other Advent Sundays. So it appears it was used in various ways and at various times in different locations and at different times.

Here's an image of the chant as used as an Advent 1 Vespers Responsory, from the Antiphonarium Benedictinum (1400) used at the Abbey of Sankt Lambrecht (Steiermark, Austria).

Here's another one from Austria (Klosterneuburg), and about the same period; it's another Vespers Responsory for Advent 1:

This is from a "Late-thirteenth century Cistercian antiphoner (dated c. 1295) from Lubiąż in modern-day south-western Poland (German: Leubus). 272 folios. Green five-line staff with a red F-line and a yellow C-line." It was used as a Matins Reponsory on Advent 3.

And this earlier one comes from a "Cistercian antiphoner from the Abbey of St. Mary of Morimondo in the diocese of Milan. Second half of the twelfth century (up to 1174)." It's written in staffless musical notation, as you can see; it was also used as a Matins Reponsory on Advent 3.

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A Responsory for the Feast of St. Thomas Becket: Iacet granum oppressum palea ("The grain of wheat lies smothered by the chaff")

December 29, 2019, 7:28 pm

≫ Next: An Epiphany Responsory: In columbae specie ("In the form of a dove")

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Iacet granum oppressum palea is the Third Responsory at Matins in the Sarum Breviary for the Feast of St. Thomas Becket, December 29. But it is also used, sometimes in procession, at the end of (what would normally be Second) Vespers of the Feast of the Holy Innocents - that is, Vespers of the day before the Feast of St. Thomas Becket - and in a very interesting way. More about that below.

First, the chant, beautifully sung here by Egeria Voices, a Spanish a capella group:

Here are the words, in Latin and English:

R. Jacet granum oppressum palea,
     Justus coesus pravorum framea,
     Coelum domo commutans lutea.
V. Cadit custos vitis in vinea,
    Dux in castris, oultor in area,
    Coelum domo commutans lutea.

R. The grain of wheat lies smothered by the chaff,
     the just man slain by the sword of sinners.
     Changing his house of clay for heaven.
V. The vine-keeper dies in his vineyard,
     the general in his camp, the husbandman on the place of his toil.
    Changing his house of clay for heaven.

St. Thomas Becket was the Archbishop of Canterbury who was murdered, and thus martyred, by soldiers of King Henry II of England in Canterbury Cathedral on December 29 in the year 1170. This was an event that shocked England and all of Europe, and Thomas was canonized only three years later. You can read a full account of the event and its repercussions at the British Museum website. Here's a quote from that page:

Becket’s death and subsequent miracles transformed Canterbury Cathedral into one of the most important pilgrimage destinations in Europe. In 1220 his body was moved from the crypt to a glittering new shrine in a purpose-built chapel upstairs in the Cathedral. Geoffrey Chaucer famously captured something of the atmosphere of pilgrimage to this shrine in his Canterbury Tales. In death Becket remained a figure of opposition to unbridled power and became seen as the quintessential defender of the rights of the Church. To this end you can find images of his murder in churches across Latin Christendom, from Germany and Spain, to Italy and Norway. Becket was, and remains, a truly European saint. His relics at Canterbury were visited by people from across the continent until 1538, when Henry VIII would label him a traitor, order the destruction of his shrine and try to wipe him from history altogether. That, however, is a story for another time.

Here's a page containing this chant, from the Antiphonarium Massiliense, an Antiphoner from Marseille cathedral. Late-12th century (dated between 1190 and 1200).

The week following Christmas is packed with Feast Days: St. Stephen on December 26; St. John the Evangelist on December 27; Holy Innocents on December 28; St. Thomas Becket on December 29. The liturgies of the week are therefore very complex; each of these feasts has its own antiphons, prayers, responsories, and hymns - and each day includes a sort of First/Second-Vespers-Memorial-mashup of the Feast itself with each following feast day. (These seem sometimes to be referred to as "Memorials," even though Memorials are - as their name would imply - normally a hearkening-back to a feast day that's already happened. Normally major feasts have a First and Second Vespers, too - but one day just tumbles into the next during this week, so it's a bit confusing, and hard to know what to call Vespers during this time!) There are other ordinary memorials throughout the week, too: of Christmas every day, and also memorials for each prior feast. And then each of these feast days has its octave one week later, most falling within the twelve days. It's all very complicated - made more so in emotional resonance by the fact that three of four of these major feast are martyrs' days. In any case it is a very, very rich set of offices.

As I noted above, this chant, Iacet granum oppressum palea, is introduced at the end of Second Vespers of Holy Innocents - then used again at Matins of St. Thomas Becket a few hours later. And, at that First/Second Vespers/Memorial mashup, this chant is also associated with a "Procession to the Altar of St. Thomas."

The set of screenshots below comes from Volume 2 of Prosper Guéranger's "The Liturgical Year"; this Volume contains commentary on the Christmastide liturgies. (It's actually just the first volume of what Guéranger classified as Christmas liturgies. Volume 1 begins at Christmas Eve, and runs through the Vigil of the Epiphany; Volume 2 begins on Epiphany, and runs through and includes Candlemas, and then the following Sundays through Quinquagesima.)

Anyway, here's Guéranger's take on this Responsory and its function; note, too, that the Responsory-plus-Prose is entirely in rhyme in the Latin:

Here's a full description of the celebration of the feast, from an 1894 publication of The Dublin Review, in an article titled The Ancient Offices of Some of England's Saints.

S. Thomas Of Canterbury.

From the day when Henry II. bestowed the crown of martyrdom on his primate, to the day when a still more ferocious Henry rifled his tomb, and threw his sacred ashes to the four winds, no more popular name was to be found in the Calendar of English Saints than that of Thomas Becket.

His festivals, therefore, as may well be imagined, were celebrated with especial splendour, and a more than wonted beauty is to be met with in his offices. Of these the Sarum Breviary gives three varieties.

The office for his festival proper, observed on December 29th, the solemn commemoration for the feast of the translation of his relics, and a weekly commemoration, or, as we should say, votive office.

The celebration of the great festival, December 29th, commenced on the day preceding the feast itself with what was called a memorial.

This memorial was made in two ways. In certain churches, probably the more important, immediately after vespers, and without changing their vestments, the clergy and choir proceeded, in solemn procession, nevertheless, without candles in their hands, as the rubric expressly states, to the altar of St. Thomas, and, as they went, they hymned their hero's victory. "The wheaten grain lies prone before the flail," runs the quaintly beautiful sequence with which Sarum honoured the greatest of England's saints. "The righteous man, hewn down by impious swords, thereby exchanging squalid earth for Heaven. The vineyard's keeper falls beside the vine. The captain on the battle-field lies low, the husbandman within his threshing-floor. From squalid earth, Christ's martyr mounts to Heaven."*

Having reached the altar, this as well as the image of the saint was incensed by the officiating priest, while the rest of the clergy and the choir, grouped around, continued their triumphant canticle:
Sound ye the gladsome trump of victory,

For this, that God's own vineyard might be free,

*R. Jacet granum oppressum palea,
     Justus coesus pravorum framea,
     Coelum domo commutans lutea.
V. Cadit custos vitis in vinea,
    Dux in castris, oultor in area,
     Coelum domo commutans lutea.
Which, clad in human flesh, Himself had freed
By dying on the purple blood-stained cross.
The savage beast of prey becomes a lamb,
The shepherd's crnel death converts his foe,
Christ's marble pavement flows all red with blood.
Thus Thomas wins the martyr's laurel crown,
And like the wheaten grain, from husk set free,
Is garnered in the storehouse of the King.*

Then was intoned the V. Ora pro nobis Beate Thoma, &c., with its accompanying R., and afterwards followed the Collect, the same which we still use.

The memorial completed, the clergy returned to the choir; but great was the devotion of the ancient Church of England to the Mother of God. She loved to associate the name of Mary, with all her joys and all her sorrows. In redeundo, runs the rubric, dicitur Responsorium vel Antiphona de Sancta Maria.

In those churches in which it was not customary to have a procession on St. Thomas's Eve, the following antiphon was substituted for the above prose:
The watchful pastor, slain amid his flock,
Their peace procures, by pouring out his blood.
O joyous sorrow! O most mournful joy!
The sheep draw breath, the shepherd lyeth low,
And weeping Mother Church applauds a son
"Who, by his death a victor, mounts to Heaven. +
All the antiphons at this office are rhythmical and rhyming.

Those at Matins form a sort of metrical legend of the Saint's life, the chief characteristic of which is quaintness. Several of them, however, are not without a certain naive beauty. Take, for example, the ninth, which sings of the happiness of the place and of the church, in which the memory of Thomas dwells, of the country which gave him birth, and of the land which afforded him shelter during his exile:
Ant. 9.—Felix locus, felix ecclesia:

In qua Thomse viget memoria:
Felix terra quae dedit proesulem
Felix ilia quae fovit exulem:
Felix pater, sucurre miseris:
Ut felices jungamur superis.

________________________________________________
           * Prosa.
Clangat pastor in tuba cornea.
Ut libera sit Christi vinea,
Quam, assumptae sub carnis trabea,
Liberavit cruce purpurea,
Adversatrix ovis erronea
Fit pastoris ccede sanguinea,
Pavimenta Christi mamorea
Sacro madent cruore rubea.
Mart ir vitse donatus laurea,
Velut granum purgatum palea,
In divina transfertur horrea
Curium donio commutans lutea.
+ Pastor caesus in gregis medio
Pacem emit cruoris precio.
O loetus dolor in tristi gaudio,
Grex respirat pastore mortuo.
Plangens plaudit mater in filio,
Quia vivit victor sub gladio.

Lots more on all the offices of the day at that article! It's clear that this was a very important day, in the middle of a very important week; the offices are very ornate and rich in every way.

Here is the entire Responsory-plus-Prose / Procession from the Holy Innocents page at The Sarum Rite English Scholarly Breviary; it immediately follows Memorials for Nativity, St. Stephen, and St. John the Evangelist:

The Responsory chant itself was used in many places, from England to France to Czechia to Hungary. See the full list of concordences at the University of Waterloo chant database.

At some point I'll create images for the full Procession score in Latin, too, and will post it here. Also, I would love to find a recording of the Prose section of the chant used at the Vespers memorial; if I too, I'll post that here, too.

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An Epiphany Responsory: In columbae specie ("In the form of a dove")

January 6, 2020, 6:13 pm

≫ Next: The Gradual for the Baptism of Our Lord: Benedictus Dominus Deus Israel ("Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel")

≪ Previous: A Responsory for the Feast of St. Thomas Becket: Iacet granum oppressum palea ("The grain of wheat lies smothered by the chaff")

In columbae specie is the ninth responsory of Epiphany Matins in the Sarum Breviary; in the Roman Breviary, it's used as the second responsory. It's sung here beautifully by the Schola Hungarica, with Janka Szendrei and László Dobszay.

Here are the words of the Responsory itself, in Latin and English, from Divinum Officium:

R. In colúmbæ spécie Spíritus Sanctus visus est, Patérna vox audíta est:
* Hic est Fílius meus diléctus, in quo mihi bene complácui.
V. Cæli apérti sunt super eum, et vox Patris intónuit.
R. Hic est Fílius meus diléctus, in quo mihi bene complácui.

R. The Holy Ghost appeared in a bodily shape like a dove, and the voice of the Father was heard:
* This is My beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased.
V. The heavens were opened unto him, and, lo, the voice of the Father was heard, like unto thunder, saying:
R. This is My beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased.

The text is taken from Luke 3:22, part of the story of the Baptism of Jesus by John in the River Jordan - one of events historically celebrated on the Feast of the Epiphany:

15 As the people were in expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Christ, 16 John answered them all, saying, “I baptize you with water, but he who is mightier than I is coming, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 17 His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”

18 So with many other exhortations he preached good news to the people. 19 But Herod the tetrarch, who had been reproved by him for Herodias, his brother's wife, and for all the evil things that Herod had done, 20 added this to them all, that he locked up John in prison.

21 Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heavens were opened, 22 and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form, like a dove; and a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”

The singers have inserted an extra-responsorial, prose-like text into the middle of this chant, as you probably noted. It's called Quem non prevalent, and was actually used at the offices on Epiphany in some places. (The general subtitle to the CD above is "Gregorian Chants from Austria," so I'm assuming for now that is primarily where this was used. And indeed there is something about it in this paper titled "The Identification of Quem Non Prevalent in Klosterneuburg, Augustiner-Chorherrenstift-Bibliothek, 1013." So there's the Austrian connection; I still need to read this paper, though.)

Here's the chant score of the Responsory itself, from the Sarum Rite website; as you will see, the text is slightly different:

Here are the words from the Sarum Breviary, in Latin and English; I've bolded the section that departs from the text used in the Roman Breviary.

R. In colúmbæ spécie Spíritus Sanctus visus est, † Patérna vox audíta est:
* Hic est Fílius meus diléctus, in quo mihi bene complácui. ‡Ipsum audíte.
V.Vox Dómini super aquas Deus majestátis intónuit : Dóminus super aquas multas. †Patérna.
V. Glória. ‡Ipsum.

R. IN the form of a dove * the Ho-ly Spi- rit was seen : † The voice of the Father was heard,
* This is My beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased. ‡Hear ye him.
V.The voice of the Lord is upon the waters ; the God of majesty hath thundered : the Lord is upon many waters. †The voice.
V. Glory be. ‡Hear.

This alternate Sarum verse is taken, verbatim, from Psalm 29:3:

3 The voice of the Lord is upon the waters: the God of glory thundereth: the Lord is upon many waters.

Looks to me that the Roman Breviary text may be a nod towards the Baptism story in Matthew 3; it contains the same reference to the "heavens opening":

The heavens were opened unto him, and, lo, the voice of the Father was heard, like unto thunder, saying:

According to Cantus database, this Responsory was used in many places on the Octave of Epiphany, rather than on Epiphany itself (as far as I can tell so far). Interesting to note, too, that it is Luke's genalogy - which is recounted immediately following the Baptism story in Luke - that is sung at the end of Epiphany Matins in the Sarum Rite. I would bet that accounts for In columbae specie being used as the ninth, rather than the second, responsory, in the Sarum Breviary.

Sr. Fidelis, of the Community of Jesus, writes on this Responsory; as you can see, she is referring to as a responsory "for the octave of Epiphany," which "brings us right to the scene of the Baptism of Jesus," as the modern calendar celebrates these two (now separate) feasts:

One of the loveliest Responsories for the octave of Epiphany brings us right to the scene of the Baptism of Jesus. The text is as follows: “In the form of a dove the holy Spirit was seen; the Father’s voice was heard: ‘This is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased.’ V. The heavens opened over him and the voice of the Father thundered.”

The Responsory follows a particular pattern: the first section of the piece is chanted, after which a verse is sung, usually by a single voice. Then all begin at a point halfway through the first section, and chant to the end.

This Mode 2 Responsory has an almost plaintive quality to it. You’ll notice the FA clef, so often used with Mode 2 chants. The high point of the chant comes on the text paterna vox — the voice of the Father. If you look closely at the chant below while listening to the recording, you’ll notice that in some instances, the notes differ from what is written in square notation. This particular piece was chanted and recorded according to the ancient neumes, taken from the Hartker Antiphoner — a manuscript from around the early 11th century! Listen to it a second time, while looking at the ancient neumes written above the square notation, and you’ll “see” what you are hearing! It is fascinating to note the slight variation in the melody and how it has changed over the centuries.

There is also an mp3 at that page.

I cannot find a good .jpg representation of this Matins chant at the Cantus database! Each available image is the chant as used on the Octave of Epiphany, or else used in another way on Epiphany. I will have to take a look at that Octave usage, too, to see if it's exactly the same chant as this one.

But here's a wonderful Battesimo di Cristo I haven't seen before, from around 1475; it's credited to both Andrea Verrocchio and Leonardo da Vinci:

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The Gradual for the Baptism of Our Lord: Benedictus Dominus Deus Israel ("Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel")

January 18, 2020, 2:55 pm

≫ Next: Gregorian Chant repertoire recorded at monstery; chants to be posted online

≪ Previous: An Epiphany Responsory: In columbae specie ("In the form of a dove")

The singers here are the Benedictine Monks of Saint-Benoît-du-Lac.

This chant was originally appointed for "The Sunday Within the Octave of the Epiphany." It's gorgeously melismatic and extravagant, with a beautiful text:

Benedictus Dominus Deus Israel, qui facit mirabilia magna solus a saeculo.
V. Suscipiant montes pacem populo tuo: et colles justitiam. Alleluia, alleluia.
V. Jubilate Deo omnis terra: servite Domino in laetitia. Alleluia.

Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who alone doth wonderful things.
V. Let the mountains receive peace for thy people: and the hills justice. Alleluia, alleluia.—
V. Sing joyfully to God all the earth: serve the Lord with gladness. Alleluia.

The first part of the chant comes from Psalm (71)/72, verse 18:

Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel, who only doeth wondrous things.

The verse after that first section is taken from Psalm (71/)72:3:

The mountains shall bring peace to the people, and the little hills, by righteousness.

The Alleluia (Verse 2 as given above) is the famous incipit from Psalm (99/)100, along with more of Verse 1 and some of Verse 2:

O be joyful in the Lord, all ye lands: serve the Lord with gladness.

Here's the chant score:

It's a bit complicated to explain the history of Epiphany and Baptism of Our Lord in a couple of sentences, so I'll just cite the following passages, which come from the Wikipedia entry for Baptism of the Lord, and its pre- and post-Vatican II history:

The Baptism of the Lord is observed as a distinct feast in the Roman rite, although it was originally one of three Gospel events marked by the feast of the Epiphany. Long after the visit of the Magi had in the West overshadowed the other elements commemorated in the Epiphany, Pope Pius XII instituted in 1955 a separate liturgical commemoration of the Baptism.

The Tridentine Calendar had no feast of the Baptism of the Lord for almost four centuries. Then the feast was instituted, under the denomination "Commemoration of the Baptism of our Lord", for celebration on 13 January as a major double, using for the Office and the Mass those previously said on the Octave of the Epiphany, which Pius XII abolished; but if the Commemoration of the Baptism of Our Lord occurred on Sunday, the Office and Mass were to be those of the Feast of the Holy Family without any commemoration.^[1]
In his revision of the calendar five years later, Pope John XXIII kept on 13 January the "Commemoration of the Baptism of our Lord Jesus Christ", with the rank of a second-class feast.

A mere 14 years after the institution of the feast, Pope Paul VI set its date as the first Sunday after January 6 (as early as January 9 or as late as January 13) or, if in a particular country the Epiphany is celebrated on January 7 or 8, on the following Monday.^[2]

To give the flavor of what "The Sunday Within the Octave of the Epiphany" was like a hundred and fifty years ago, I'll quote from Dom Prosper Guéranger's Christmas volume on the Liturgical Year. Guéranger was Abbot of Solesmes Abbey, and he wrote extensively on the Liturgical Year (among other things); this volume was first published in 1867.

The Introit is this mystical one, taken partly from Isaiah and perhaps partly from elsewhere I haven't discovered yet (others say Daniel 7, but I don't see it); the Psalm verse from the Jubilate Deo: (Psalm (99/)100):

In excelso throno vidi sedere virum, quem adorat multitudo Angelorum psallentes in unum : ecce cujus imperii nomen est in aeternum. Ps. Jubilate Deo omnis terra : servite Domino in laetitia.

I saw a man seated on a high throne, whom a multitude of Angels adored, singing all together : Behold him, whose name and empire are to last for ever. Ps. Sing joyfully to God, all the earth : serve ye the Lord with gladness.

Prior to the singing of the gradual, the priest prays a collect for the day, and then a collect for the commemoration of the Epiphany:

According to thy divine mercy, O Lord, receive the vows of thy people, who pour forth their prayers to thee : that they may know what their duty requireth of them, and be able to comply with what they know. Through etc.

O God, who by the direction of a star, didst this day manifest thy only Son to the Gentiles ; mercifully grant, that we, who now know thee by faith, may come at length to see the glory of thy Majesty. Through the same, etc.

Then the Epistle is read; it comes from Romans 12, vv 1-5:

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.

Guéranger then has this to say about the gradual; he introduces it here by first commenting on the Epistle above:

The Apostle invites us to make our offering to the new-born King, after the example of the Magi ; but, the offering which this Lord of all things asks of us, is not anything material or lifeless. He that is Life, gives his whole self to us ; let us, in return, present him our hearts, that is, a living sacrifice, holy, pleasing unto God ; whose service may be reasonable, that is, whose obedience to the divine will may be accompanied by a formal intention of offering itself to its Creator. Here again, let us imitate the Magi, who went back another way into their own country — let us not adopt the ideas of this world, for the world is the covert enemy of our beloved King. Let us reform our worldly prudence according to the divine wisdom of Him, who may well be our guide, seeing he is the Eternal Wisdom of the Father. Let us understand, that no man can be wise without Faith, which reveals to us that we must all be united by love, so as to form one body in Christ, partaking of his life, his wisdom, his light, and his kingly character.

In the chant which follows the Epistle, the Church returns to her praise of the ineffable wonders of a God with us : Justice and righteousness have come down from heaven, to take up their abode on our mountains and hills.

And then, immediately following this gradual came the reading about the event in the Temple, from Jesus' childhood. It's taken from Luke Chapter 2, vv 42-52:

And when he was twelve years old, they went up according to custom. And when the feast was ended, as they were returning, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. His parents did not know it, but supposing him to be in the group they went a day's journey, but then they began to search for him among their relatives and acquaintances, and when they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem, searching for him. After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. And when his parents saw him, they were astonished. And his mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us so? Behold, your father and I have been searching for you in great distress.” And he said to them, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?” And they did not understand the saying that he spoke to them. And he went down with them and came to Nazareth and was submissive to them. And his mother treasured up all these things in her heart. And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.

Guéranger comments:

Thus, O Jesus! didst thou come down from heaven to teach us. The tender age of Childhood, which thou didst take upon thyself, is no hindrance to the ardour of thy desire that we should know the one only God, who made all things, and thee, his Son, whom he sent to us. When laid in the Crib, thou didst instruct the Shepherds by a mere look ; when swathed in thy humble swaddling-clothes, and subjected to the voluntary silence thou hadst imposed on thyself, thou didst reveal to the Magi the light they sought in following the Star. When twelve years old, thou explainest to the Doctors of Israel the Scriptures which bear testimony to thee. Thou gradually dispellest the shadows of the Law by thy presence and thy words. In order to fulfil the commands of thy heavenly Father, thou dost not hesitate to occasion sorrow to the heart of thy Mother, by thus going in quest of souls that need enlightening. Thy love of man will pierce that tender Heart of Mary with a still sharper sword, when she shall behold thee hanging on the Cross, and expiring in the midst of crudest pain. Blessed be thou, sweet Jesus, in these first Mysteries of thine Infancy, wherein thou already showest thyself devoted to us, and leaving the company of thy Blessed Mother for that of sinful men, who will one day conspire thy death. During the Offertory, the Church resumes her canticles of ioy; the presence of the Divine Infant fills her with joy.

The Offertory which follows is the first few verses of Psalm (99/)100 again, the beginning of the Jubilate Deo:

Sing joyfully to the Lord, all the earth : serve ye the Lord with gladness : present yourselves to him with transports of joy : for the Lord is God.

And then the Communion song refers back to the Gospel:

Fili quid fecisti nobis sic? Ego et pater tuus dolentes quaerebamus te. Quid est quod me quaerebatis? Nesciebatis, quia in his, quae patris mei sunt oportet me esse?

Son, why hast thou done so with us? I and thy father have sought thee with sorrow, — And why did you seek me? Did you not know that I must be about the concerns of my Father?

So there was a lot going on in those days, on this Sunday! I actually prefer it this way, personally; I love it when there are multiple themes on a single feast day. These tend to draw together disparate Scriptural themes in very interesting and enlightening ways. And so interesting that the Jubilate Deo plays so prominent a role on this Sunday; it's found in three of the five propers on the day.

I wish I knew more about this chant, though. I looked at Dom Dominic Johner's commentary on the chants, published in 1934, but it is not there; he wrote on the "Feast of the Holy Family" (which has an entirely different set of proper chants), but not on this "Sunday Within the Octave of Epiphany."

The Feast of the Holy Family is a recent addition to the calendar as well. Here's that entry from Wkipedia:

The Feast of the Holy Family is a liturgical celebration in the Catholic Church in honor of Jesus of Nazareth, his mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and his foster father, Saint Joseph, as a family. The primary purpose of this feast is to present the Holy Family as a model for Christian families.^[1]
From the 17th century, the feast has been celebrated at a local and regional level and at that level was promoted by Pope Leo XIII. In 1921, Pope Benedict XV made it part of the General Roman Calendar and set on the Sunday within the Octave of the Epiphany; that is to say, on the Sunday between January 7 through January 13, all inclusive (see General Roman Calendar of 1954).^[3]^[4] The 1962 Roman Missal, whose use is still authorized in the circumstances indicated in the 2007 motu proprio Summorum Pontificum, follows the General Roman Calendar of 1960, which has the celebration on that date.

The 1969 revision of the General Roman Calendar moved the celebration to Christmastide, assigning it to the Sunday within the Octave of Christmas, that is, the Sunday between Christmas Day and New Year's Day (both exclusive), or if both Christmas Day and the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God are Sundays, on 30 December (always a Friday in such years). When not celebrated on a Sunday, it is not a holy day of obligation.^[5]
Formerly, the Sunday within the Octave of Christmas was in fact celebrated only if it fell on 29, 30 or 31 December, since it gave way to the higher ranked feasts of Saint Stephen, Saint John the Apostle and the Holy Innocents. The Feast of the Holy Family that has replaced it outranks these three feasts.

This explains the absence of "The Sunday Within the Octave of Epiphany" in Dom Johner's book. Too bad; his comments are always so interesting and valuable.

You can see all the propers at this online Manuscript from Cluny ("Graduale et prosarium ad usum Cluniacensem"), published between 0975-1100. It's in the old staffless notation, and looks as complex and melismatic as the one in the video above. Looks like this is public domain, and I can use it here, so here's the first page; this chant begins at the bottom of the page.

Source gallica.bnf.fr / BnF

Looks to me as if they used a different Introit for this day ("Venite, adoremus Deum et procidamus ante Dominum : ploremus ante eum, qui fecit nos : quia ipse est Dominus Deus noster" from Psalm (94/)95?), but that all the rest of the propers are the same. That is interesting, and I'm going to see if I can find out where the Trent introit came from.

EDIT: Just now found a slightly more recent ("before 1160-1170") manuscript from the Abbey of Bellelay in Switzerland that uses the In excelso throno Introit, so it's at least that old.

Michael Haydn apparently set this text, but there is no video recording of it online.

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Gregorian Chant repertoire recorded at monstery; chants to be posted online

April 10, 2020, 3:52 pm

≪ Previous: The Gradual for the Baptism of Our Lord: Benedictus Dominus Deus Israel ("Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel")

From The Guardian, April 9, 2020:

Benedictine nuns release Gregorian chants to help ease coronavirus isolation

A monastery of Benedictine nuns living in seclusion in southern France has opened its doors to allow recordings of its Gregorian chants to be made available to the outside world.

In what is believed to be the largest recording project ever conducted, the US musician John Anderson followed the 45-strong order for three years. He installed microphones in the abbey church of Notre-Dame de Fidélité de Jouques near Aix-en-Provence in southern France and captured the nuns singing their eight daily “offices”. The result is thousands of chants, the entire Gregorian repertoire, about 7,000 hours long.

The Gregorian chant originated in the 8th century and spread throughout Europe. It accords to St Benedict’s “rule”, in which the day is divided into balanced divisions of manual and intellectual work, prayer and rest, starting at 5am with the chanting of matins, and concluding with compline at 8pm, followed by the “great silence” of night.

You can access the Holy Week chants at the link in this paragraph:

They have ... allowed the release of a week’s worth of their chants https://www.neumz.com/ for the six days Christians refer to as holy week, preceding Easter Sunday, the highlight of the religious calendar, when the chants have a particular importance. The rest is to go live next month.

Quite a great thing. More at the link above.

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