The Advent Sequence: Salus Aeterna

Salus Aeterna is an 11th-Century sequence hymn for Advent, found in the Sarum Gradual.  The video below comes from St. Michael and All Angels Anglican Church in Winnipeg; there is nothing more on the YouTube page than that, but this duo sings the entire sequence, in English.



Here's the score from Hymn Melodies for the Whole Year, from the Sarum Service Books:




Here are the words in Latin from Prosper Gueringer's The Liturgical Year: Advent, and in English from Hymn Melodies:

Salus aeterna, indeficiens mundi vita.
Lux sempiterna, et redemptio vera nostra.
Condolens humana perire saecla per tentantis numina.
Non linquens excelsa, adisti ima propria dementia.
Mox tua spontanea gratia assumens humana,
Quae fuerant perdita omnia, salvasti terrea.
Ferens mundo gaudia.
Tu animas et corpora nostra, Christe, expia,
Ut possideas lucida nosmet liabitacula.
Adventu primo justifica.
In secundo nosque libera;
Ut cum facta luce magna, judicabis omnia,
Compti stola incorrupta, nosmet tua subsequamur mox vestigia quocumque visa. Amen,


Saviour eternal, health and life of the world unfailing,
light everlasting, and in verity our redeemer.
Grieving that the ages of men
must perish through the tempter’s subtlety,
still in heaven abiding,
thou camest earthward of thine own great clemency.
Then freely and graciously deigning to assume humanity,
to lost ones and perishing gavest thou thy free
deliverance, filling all the world with joy.
O Christ, our souls and bodies cleanse
by thy perfect sacrifice, that we as temples
pure and bright fit for thine abode may be.
By thy former advent justify,
by thy second grant us liberty,
that when in the might of glory thou descendest,
judge of all,
we in raiment undefiled bright may shine,
thy footsteps blest,
where’er they lead us.

And here is Gabriel Jackson's (b. 1962) gorgeous polyphonic 20th Century setting, masterfully sung (in Latin) by the BYU Singers:



At one time there was a video on YouTube of a Benjamin Britten composition based on the Gregorian melody, too. It's straightforwardly the Gregorian tune until about 2:04 on the video, at which point a baritone solo begins - and then abruptly ends! The piece uses about half the original Gregorian tune , and was - perhaps?- written as a processional; I had found nothing about it at the time this post was originally written - but see more in the comments below.