Suffering With Joy

Rorate Caeli Desuper (Advent Prose)

December 6, 2010

Rorate caeli with Annunciation illustrated, gold on parchment, c. 1300, upper Rhenish

Are you of a mind to enter into a deep Advent meditation?  I can think of nothing more profound than the exquisite Gregorian chant, Rorate caeli desuper, sometimes referred to as “Advent Prose”.

The words and the chant invariably bring tears to my eyes.  I have included both the Latin and the English in this post so you will be able to understand the chant as it is sung and have a reference for meditation should you desire it.

We sing the beginning of the Rorate as the Introit from the Fourth Sunday of Advent, for Votive Masses of the Blessed Virgin in Advent, as antiphons in the Divine Office during Advent, and in the liturgy for the feast of the Expectation of the Blessed Virgin Mary on December 18. The entire prayer is sung before Benediction during Advent.

I searched and searched on YouTube to find an acceptable rendition of the chant and finally found the one I’m presenting here.  Everything else was too fast, correct chant practice was not observed, or there were pitch problems, all of which detract from the essential holiness and beauty. 

You deserve to hear it rendered exquisitely as in monasteries and convents and this was the closest I could come. The recording quality is not as good as it should be, so imagine you are sitting in person in a seminary or monastery chapel and overlook the technical flaws.

Chant should never be rushed.  The pauses (silence) in the phrases are tiny moments of contemplation allowing us to stop for a moment before singing the next lines, and endings should always be softened. Chant was meant to be sung in a church or chapel with reverberations which allow the music to float, as it were, to heaven.

When you listen to this, hear how expressive of the meaning of the words the line of music is. My favorite part is the melody of the Consolamini. I think no other lines of chant expresses such painful longing for the Redeemer solaced by the Father.  At the end we are wrapped in His tenderness.

Rorate caeli desuper, et nubes pluant justum. (Is. 45:8)

Drop down dew, ye heavens, from above, and let the clouds rain down the Just One.

Ne irascaris, Domine, ne ultra memineris iniquitatis.

Be not angry, O Lord, remember no more our iniquities.

Ecce civitas Sancti facta es deserta, Sion deserta facta est; Jerusalem desolata est: domus sanctificationis tuae et gloriae tuae, ubi laudaverunt te patris nostri.

Behold, the city of the Holy One is deserted; Sion is laid desolate: Jerusalem is laid waste: the home of Thy sanctification and of Thy glory, where our fathers praised Thee.

Rorate caeli…

Drop down dew…

Peccavimus, et facti summus tamquam immundus nos; et cecidimus quasi folium universi: et iniquitates nostrae quasi ventus, abstulerunt nos.  Abscondisti faciem tuam a nobis, allisisti nos in manu iniquitatis nostrae.

We have sinned, and we are become like the unclean; we are fallen like the leaves, and our sins, like the storm, have carried us away.  Thou has hidden Thy face from us, and hast thrown us into the power of our sins.

Rorate caeli…

Drop down dew…

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

Behold, O Lord, the affliction of Thy people, and send Him Whom Thou wilt send forth, the Lamb, the ruler of the earth, from the rock of the desert to the mountain of the daughter of Sion, that He may take away the yoke of our captivity.

Rorate caeli…

Drop down dew…

Consolamini, consolamini, populae meus: cito veniet Salus tua.  Quare moerore consumeris?  Quare inovavit te dolor? Salvabo te; noli timere: ego enim sum Dominus Deus tuus, Sanctus Israel, Redemptor tuus.

Be comforted, be comforted, O my people: thy Savior shall come quickly.  Why hath grief devoured thee?  Why hath sorrow disfigured thee?  I will save thee: fear not: for I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Redeemer.

Rorate caeli…

Drop down dew…

Tell me, when you have finished listening and reading, were you not transported?

Tags: Catholic Church, liturgy

2 Comments to Rorate Caeli Desuper (Advent Prose)

1. 

   Absolutely transported, by the chant and by your words as well. We are so blessed in the Church.
Joann on December 12th, 2010
2. 

   I’m so glad to find somebody else who is also transported by this. If I had my way, it would be part of a liturgical service in Advent in every parish. To me it is one of the crown jewels of the liturgy.
barb on December 12th, 2010