The Original Verses of the Attende Domine

Attende Domine serves well as a motet in Lent. Owing to a reference I found online, I discovered that the Attende Domine was originally a neo-Gallican paraliturgical composition of the early nineteenth century, while the verses (together with their music) with which we are familiar (Ad te, Rex summe, etc.) were inserted about the turn of the twentieth century (when Solesmes restored the Gregorian chant) from the Mozarabic Rite, in place of the original verses (and their music), which had been derived from Scripture.

A quick search online revealed that the earliest book containing the original verses was dated 1811, and the latest, 1918.

Having finally found the original verses (and their music in Le paroissien romain... (1854), pp. 371-374) online, it is obvious that the Attende Domine was composed in imitation of the Rorate cæli; the clearest textual parallel is in verse 3 of the Rorate cæli, the relevant words being ut auferat jugum captivitatis nostræ, significantly enough not found in Scripture, but deriving from an Advent Magnificat antiphon, while others are in verse 2 (Peccavimus... ...iniquitatis nostræ) and verse 4 (popule meus... Dominus Deus tuus... Redemptor tuus).

Here are the original verses of the Attende Domine, in Latin and English, with the Scriptural references added:

R. Attende, Domine, et miserere, quia peccavimus tibi. (Cf. Bar. 3, 2)

R. Attende, Domine, et miserere, quia peccavimus tibi. (Cf. Bar. 3, 2)

1. Recordare, Domine, quid acciderit nobis (Lam. 5, 1); peccavimus cum patribus nostris, injuste egimus (Ps. 105, 6); multiplicatæ sunt super capillos capitis iniquitates nostræ (cf. Ps. 39, 13).

R. Attende, Domine, et miserere, quia peccavimus tibi. (Cf. Bar. 3, 2)

2. Contristati sumus in exercitatione nostra et conturbati sumus a voce inimici et a tribulatione peccatorum (cf. Ps. 54, 3-4): in proximo est perditio nostra, et non est qui adjuvet (cf. Ps. 21, 12); formido mortis cecidit super nos (cf. Ps. 54, 5).

R. Attende, Domine, et miserere, quia peccavimus tibi. (Cf. Bar. 3, 2)

3. Cor contritum et humiliatum ne despicias, Domine (cf. Ps. 50, 19): in jejunio et fletu (Joël 2, 12) te deprecamur nos (cf. 2 Par. 6, 37). Eleemosynam concludimus in sinu pauperum, et ipsa exorabit te pro nobis (cf. Eccli. 29, 15): convertimur ad te, quoniam multus es ad ignoscendum (cf. Is. 55, 7).

R. Attende, Domine, et miserere, quia peccavimus tibi. (Cf. Bar. 3, 2)

4. Audi, popule meus, et considera (cf. Ps. 80, 9): vinea mea electa (cf. Jer. 2, 21), domus Israël (cf. Is. 5, 7): Ego te plantavi, quomodo facta est in amaritudinem? (Cf. Jer. 2, 21) expectavi ut faceres judicium, et ecce iniquitas, et justitiam, et ecce clamor (cf. Is. 5, 7).

R. Attende, Domine, et miserere, quia peccavimus tibi. (Cf. Bar. 3, 2)

5. Revertere, revertere (cf. Eccli. 17, 23) ad Dominum Deum tuum (cf. Os. 14, 2), et auferam jugum captivitatis tuæ (cf. Magn. Aña., F. II infra Hebd. II Advent.); redimam te (Jer. 15, 21); lavabo iniquitates tuas in sanguine meo (cf. Apoc. 1, 5); et ero victima tua (?), et Redemptor tuus (Is. 41, 14; 49, 26; 54, 5; 60, 16).

R. Attende, Domine, et miserere, quia peccavimus tibi. (Cf. Bar. 3, 2)

******

R. Look down on us, O Lord, and take pity; for we have sinned against thee. (Cf. Bar. 3, 2)

R. Look down on us, O Lord, and take pity; for we have sinned against thee. (Cf. Bar. 3, 2)

1. Remember, O Lord, what is come upon us (Lam. 5, 1); we have sinned with our fathers: we have acted unjustly (Ps. 105, 6); and our iniquities are multiplied above the hairs of our head (cf. Ps. 39, 13).

R. Look down on us, O Lord, and take pity; for we have sinned against thee. (Cf. Bar. 3, 2)

2. We are grieved in our exercise; and we are troubled at the voice of the enemy, and at the tribulation of sinners (cf. Ps. 54, 3-4): our perdition is at hand, for there is no one to help us (cf. Ps. 21, 12); and the fear of death is fallen upon us (cf. Ps. 54, 5).

R. Look down on us, O Lord, and take pity; for we have sinned against thee. (Cf. Bar. 3, 2)

3. A contrite and humbled heart do not despise, O Lord (cf. Ps. 50, 19); in fasting and weeping (Joël 2, 12) we pray to thee (cf. 2 Par. 6, 37). Alms we will shut up in the heart of the poor, and it shall obtain help for us from thee (cf. Eccli. 29, 15). We return to thee; for thou art bountiful to forgive (cf. Is. 55, 7).

R. Look down on us, O Lord, and take pity; for we have sinned against thee. (Cf. Bar. 3, 2)

4. Hearken, O my people, and consider (cf. Ps. 80, 9), my chosen vineyard (cf. Jer. 2, 21), O house of Israel (cf. Is. 5, 7): I planted thee: how then art thou turned into bitterness? (Cf. Jer. 2, 21) And I looked that thou shouldst do judgement, and behold iniquity: and do justice, and behold a cry (cf. Is. 5, 7).

R. Look down on us, O Lord, and take pity; for we have sinned against thee. (Cf. Bar. 3, 2)

5. Return, O return (cf. Eccli. 17, 23) to the Lord thy God (cf. Os. 14, 2), and I shall take away the yoke of thy captivity (cf. Magn. Aña., F. II infra Hebd. II Advent.); I shall redeem thee (Jer. 15, 21), and wash thy iniquities in my Blood (cf. Apoc. 1, 5); and I shall be thy Victim (?), and thy Redeemer (Is. 41, 14; 49, 26; 54, 5; 60, 16).

R. Look down on us, O Lord, and take pity; for we have sinned against thee. (Cf. Bar. 3, 2)

First Day of Summer, First Day of the New Year of Grace

A glorious first day of summer in Hobart: after our sung Latin Mass at St Canice for the first Sunday of Advent, we gathered outside for lunch and a meeting, in order to plan for the future of our Latin Mass Community, in response to His Grace's instructions to do so. A committee was formed, and, God willing, arrangements will be made to organise more Latin Masses in the future.

There was a good attendance at our Missa cantata, the servers and I did our best, and the choir sang well: I was especially taken with their rendering of Veni, veni, Emmanuel at the Offertory and the Advent Prose Rorate cæli desuper at Communion.

Of your charity, please pray that, as our limited resources may allow, we may give greater glory to God by our liturgical worship and by our evangelical witness to Christ and His Church, that more and more may come to love and serve the Lord.

From my Correspondents

I always esteem any kindly messages I receive regarding this blog (even the backhanded compliment about my waxing eloquent, paid me by a somewhat irascible, if, as I certainly do know from his support over the years, a really rather kind priest, albeit of a different theological outlook, when I ventured to ask if he knew who the next Archbishop would be). After all, I do aim to please, in a somewhat pathetic way.

Two emails recently received deserve comment.

Luke suggests my poor effort at an Advent collect would be better as follows – and I tend to agree:

O God, who by thy prophet Isaias hast revealed unto us the first coming of thine only-begotten Son in great humility to save that which was lost, and his coming again in glory to judge the quick and the dead and the world by fire: Grant us grace so to worship the infant Christ with faith and good works, that we may with sure confidence behold him when he shall come to be our judge; who liveth and reigneth world without end. Amen.

I left him the chore of latinizing it, and he has generously done so, altering it a little in the process so as to be truer to the Latin idiom:

Deus, qui per Isaiam prophetam revelasti nobis adventum primum unigeniti Filii tui magna in humiliate ad salvandum perditum et adventum secundum magna in gloria judicare vivos et mortuos et saeculum per ignem; Præsta, quæsumus, gratiam qua adoremus infantem Christum fide operibusque bonis, ut venientem judicem securi videamus, Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum, qui tecum vivit et regnat in sæcula sæculorum. Amen.

Alan, meanwhile, wrote to say:

I  do hope that you'll finish the Novena text soon. I looked up Gueranger's Liturgical Year but cannot find the "use" for Rorate caeli. Maybe just a pre-Mass Processional. I wonder why the Anglicans changed that one verse ??? There is nothing ultramontane in it, just as the order of the verses in "O Come O Come" is strange in some hymn books.

Respondeo dicens:

1. I will, Deo volente.

2. The Franciscans at the Holy Sepulchre certainly sing the Rorate cæli in procession; I have heard it sung at the Offertory at Mass, and I have seen its use suggested at Benediction. It is a sort of paraliturgical text that really constitutes a stand-alone musical meditation for Advent – last night, at our fortnightly schola practice, instead of Compline and Benediction (our priest being in hospital for a – we trust – minor operation), we sang the Rorate in procession at the end, and this seemed very moving, I believe.

3. As to why the Anglicans changed one verse, I suppose they wanted more unwatered-down Isaiah straight from the Bible, and less mish-mash from the Breviary (strange, since many Anglicans lust for all things Roman, much as they would never submit to the Pope, just as some Americans go mad over any royal personage that deigns to visit their republic, though they wouldn't give up their President).

4. Hymn books oft put "O come, O come, Emmanuel" first, even though it corresponds to the last O Antiphon, as it perhaps better sets the scene than to begin with the versified version of O Sapientia. Why sometimes less than all seven verses are sung is due to the modern love of brevity (a species of indifference and lack of love).

The Advent Prose

At Benediction after Compline on Tuesday, we sang the Advent Prose, Rorate cæli desuper; I was minded to look up something about it, and found - an old post of mine on this very chant. What plaintive notes, what expectant thrill...

Advent Prose

Apparently Cardinal de Bérulle is behind the Advent Prose Rorate cæli, this compilation of texts from Isaias (and elsewhere, such as Exodus), on a penitential, yet Messianic theme, reflecting our wavering between hope and fear:

Is 45:8ab

R/. Rorate caeli desuper,
et nubes pluant justum.  

(Bedew us, heaven, from above;
ye clouds rain down the Just One.)

[Repeat R/. here and after each verse.]

Is 64:9a,b, 10, 11ab

1. Ne irascaris Domine,
ne ultra memineris iniquitatis:
ecce civitas Sancti facta est deserta:
Sion deserta facta est: Jerusalem desolata est:
domus sanctificationis tuae et gloriae tuae,
ubi laudaverunt te patres nostri. 

(Withhold thy wrath from us, O Lord,
and remember no more our evil doing.
Lo, the city of the Holy One is made a desert,
Sion a desert is become: Jerusalem waste and desolate:
the house of thy hallowing presence and of thy glory,
where of old our fathers sang thy praises.)

Is 64:5c; Is 64:6a,cd, 7cd 

2. Peccavimus, / et facti sumus tamquam immundus nos,
et cecidimus quasi folium universi:
et iniquitates nostrae quasi ventus abstulerunt nos:
abscondisti faciem tuam a nobis,
et allisisti nos in manu iniquitatis nostrae.

(We all have sinned, and are become like unto one unclean.
We have fallen low, as a dying leaf falls earthward;
and our iniquities, as a wind have swept us swiftly far.
Thou hast hidden thy face from us, thy people;
thou hast broken us by the weight of our own sinning.)

Cf. Ex 3:7a; Ex 4:13b; Is 16; cf. 14:25d; cf. various

3. Vide Domine afflictionem populi tui, /
et mitte quem missurus es: /
emitte Agnum dominatorem terrae,
de petra deserti ad montem filiae Sion /
ut auferat ipse jugum / captivitatis nostrae.

(Behold, O Lord, the affliction of thy people.
Send quickly him who is to come.
Send forth the Lamb who rules all earthly kingdoms,
from Petra in the desert, to the Mount of the daughter of Sion;
that he may take away the grievous yoke of our subjection.)

Is 40:1a; R/. i of 2nd Sunday of Advent 

(cf. various; cf. Micah 4:9a,d; 

cf. various; cf. Is 43:3ab)

4. Consolamini, consolamini, popule meus: /
cito veniet salus tua: / quare moerore consumeris,
quia innovavit te dolor? / Salvabo te, noli timere, /
ego enim sum Dominus Deus tuus,
Sanctus Israel, Redemptor tuus. 

(Be ye comforted, be ye comforted, O ye my people:
for most speedily comes salvation. Why are ye consumed
with sorrowing, so that your grief has quite transformed you?
I come to save, be no more fearful. For know ye not that I am
your God and Master, Israel’s Holy One, your sole Redeemer.)

We sang this at the Offertory at Mass this Sunday (excepting the last verse, for lack of time, lest we keep Fr Rowe waiting at the altar). I also noticed, while saying Matins, that the fourth verse is taken, except for its first line, from the first Responsory of this Sunday's Office, slightly abbreviated.