The Armor of Light

Almighty God, give us grace to cast away the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light, now in the time of this mortal life in which your Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the living and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal; through him who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

And the year begins again. I was very tired tonight, and had already been to Lauds and Eucharist in the morning - but went to Vespers anyway because I couldn't stay away; Advent is for me the one irresistible thing.

Believe it or not, I cannot find a complete mp3 recording of the Advent Vespers hymn, Conditor Alme Siderum - either in English or in Latin - anywhere online. Which is quite amazing, when you think about it; it's one of the most well-known, and certainly the most popular, of all the Office Hymns.

But here is a new recording by the Sisters of the Abbey of Regina Laudis called "Women in Chant: The Announcement of Christmas (CD)," which has an almost complete Latin version; here's a RAM file, the hymn sung the way it would be in choir (the way I just heard it!). Here's the TPL listing.

Conditor alme siderum,
aeterna lux credentium,
Christe, redemptor omnium,
exaudi preces supplicum.

Qui condolens interitu
mortis perire saeculum,
salvasti mundum languidum,
donans reis remedium.

Vergente mundi vespere,
uti sponsus de thalamo,
egressus honestissima
Virginis matris clausula.

Cuius forti potentiae
genu curvantur omnia;
caelestia, terrestria
nutu fatentur subdita.

Te, Sancte, fide quaesumus,
venture iudex saeculi,
conserva nos in tempore
hostis a telo perfidi.

Sit, Christe, rex piissime,
tibi Patrique gloria
cum Spiritu Paraclito,
in sempiterna saecula.

That CD might get on my list to purchase; there's what looks to be a quite beautiful version of the Proclamation of Christmas on it, something you don't get to hear every day.