Lenten Office Hymns.

A page from The Sherbrooke Missal, one of the earliest surviving Missals written in English. This beautiful Altar Missal, made from parchment, originates from East Anglia. 

It is considered a very important manuscript as it is 

one of the earliest examples of a Missal of an English source. 

Sarum Missals were books produced by The Church during The Middle Ages for Celebrating Mass throughout the year.

Date: 1310 - 1320.

Collection:

National Library of Wales.

NLW General Manuscripts.

Source/Photographer:

National Library of Wales.

This File is made available under the 

Creative Commons CC0 1.0 

Universal Public Domain Dedication.

Author: Unknown.

(Wikimedia Commons)

This Article is taken from, and can be read in full at,
Society of St. Bede — Liturgical Resources HERE

From “The Liturgical Year”, by Abbot Guéranger, O.S.B.

“Although the Law of Fasting began on Ash Wednesday, yet Lent, properly so called, does not begin till the Vespers of Saturday. 

In order to distinguish the rest of Lent from these four days which have been added to it, The Church continues to chant Vespers at the usual hour, and allows her Ministers to break their Fast before having said that Office. 

But, beginning with Saturday, Vespers will be anticipated; every day (Sundays excepted, which always exclude Fasting), they will be said at such an early hour, that when the Faithful take their full meal, the Evening Office will be over. 

It is a remnant of the discipline of the primitive Church, which forbade the Faithful to break their Fast before Sunset, in other words, before Vespers or Evensong.”

With First Vespers of the First Sunday of Lent, The Office changes, and the Hymns, Proper to Lent, are now used. 

The following is from HYMNS of the ROMAN LITURGY, by the Rev. Joseph Connelly, M.A.

“Quia promisit Dominus coronam vigilantibus, says The Church in the Lenten Invitatory. 

“Lent may be looked on as a prolonged Vigilia, in which the Christian, by Prayer and Penance, is more alert than usual in imitation of Our Lord, hoping for pardon for past offences, and preparing against future temptations. 

Lisboa, Monastery of Santa Maria de Belém. 15th-Century.

“The basis of our Prayer and Penance is Hope. 

“The words “. . . promisit . . . coronam . . .” remind us of this, and so does the use of the Psalm “Qui habitat”, during The Mass of the First Sunday of Lent, and the constant use of some of its verses during the Office up to Passiontide.”

Audi Benigne Conditor is used for Vespers in the Roman and Ambrosian Breviary, and for Lauds in the Sarum Use, it was possibly written by Saint Gregory. 

Cantus database entry. More on this Hymn can be found on our Post here, Audi Benigne Conditor.

Audi Benigne Conditor, Ambrosian melody.
Audi Benigne Conditor, Augsberg Antiphoner melody.
Audi Benigne Conditor, Dominican melody.
Audi Benigne Conditor, Monastic melody.
Audi Benigne Conditor, Roman melody.
Audi Benigne Conditor, Sarum melody.

Ex More Docti Mystico is used for Matins in the Roman Breviary, for Vespers in the Ambrosian and Sarum Books; it is also possibly written by Saint Gregory. 

Cantus database entry. More on this Hymn can be found on our Post, here, Ex More Docti mystico.

Ex More Docti mystico, Ambrosian melody.
Ex More Docti mystico, Augsberg Antiphoner melody.
Ex More Docti mystico, Monastic melody.
Ex More Docti mystico, Roman unrevised Text.
Ex More Docti mystico, Roman revised Text.
Ex More Docti mystico, Sarum Vespers.

“Jam Christe sol justitiæ” is the Lauds Hymn; the author is unknown, but probably of the 6th-Century A.D. 

The original Text “Jam Christe sol justitiæ”, has many difficulties. This caused many variants in the manuscripts, and perhaps prompted the revisers to make a smoother Text. 

The first verse in the Roman Breviary is practically a new Text, “O sol salutis, intimis”, and, in the second and third verses, new ideas as well as new words have been introduced. 

Commentary from “The Liturgical Year”. 

Here is a link to the Cantus database entry for this Hymn.

Lisboa, Monastery of Santa Maria de Belém. 15th-Century.

Jam Christe sol justitiæ, Roman melody.

Jam Christe sol justitiæ, Roman melody (Alter Tonus).
Jam Christe sol justitiæ (Download).

“Summi Largitor premii”, is the Sarum Use Hymn for Matins and was written by Pope Saint Gregory the Great in the 6th-Century. 

Cantus database entry.

Summi Largitor præmii, Sarum melody.
Summi Largitor præmii, Cistercian melody.
Summi Largitor præmii, (Download).

“Ad Preces Nostras Deitas Aures”, is in the Ordinal of Pope Innocent III (1198 - 1216), the ancestor Text of the Breviary of Pope Saint Pius V.

Lent has four Hymns, one each for Matins and Lauds, but two for Vespers. 

“Audi, benigne Conditor” is said at Vespers from Monday to Saturday, but Sunday has its own Hymn, “Aures ad nostras”, an anonymous work first attested in a manuscript of the 10th-Century from the Abbey of Saint Benedict on Monte Cassino.

Cantus database entry.

Ad Preces Nostras Deitas Aures, Sunday Vespers Hymn for Lent.
Aures ad Nostras, Sunday Vespers Hymn for Lent.
Ad Preces Nostras (Download).

“Christe qui lux es et dies”. This is an ancient Compline Hymn for Lent, sometimes attributed to Saint Ambrose (4th-Century A.D.).

This Hymn was used for Compline during Lent in the Sarum Breviary. It is also used in the Mozarabic Breviary. 

Here is the Cantus Database entry for this Hymn.

Compline : Christe qui lux es et dies.
Compline : Christe qui lux es et dies (with elided note).

The Lenten Hymns in the Sarum Breviary change on the Third Sunday of Lent; we will write about those Hymns in another Blog Post. 

Here, Sarum Hymns for Lent.