A Christmas Responsory: Hodie nobis caelorum Rex

Here's the beautiful 1st Responsory of Christmas Matins; I believe the singers are the Schola Gregoriana of Cambridge, directed by Mary Berry, and that the recording comes from this CD.  They are wonderful singers!



From Divinum Officium, here is the text in Latin and English, from its "1570 Trident" source:

R. Hodie nobis cælórum Rex de Vírgine nasci dignátus est, ut hóminem pérditum ad cæléstia regna revocaret:
* Gaudet exercitus Angelórum: quia salus æterna humano generi appáruit.
V. Glória in excélsis Deo, et in terra pax homínibus bonæ voluntátis.
R. Gaudet exercitus Angelórum: quia salus æterna humano generi appáruit.
V. Glória Patri, et Fílio, et Spirítui Sancto.
R. Hodie nobis cælórum Rex de Vírgine nasci dignátus est, ut hóminem pérditum ad cæléstia regna revocaret: * Gaudet exercitus Angelórum: quia salus æterna humano generi appáruit.

R. This is the day whereon the King of heaven was pleased to be born of a Virgin, that He might bring back to heaven man who was lost.
* There is joy among the hosts of Angels, because eternal salvation hath appeared unto men.
V. Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, to men of goodwill.
R. There is joy among the hosts of Angels, because eternal salvation hath appeared unto men.
V. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost.
R. This is the day whereon the King of heaven was pleased to be born of a Virgin, that He might bring back to heaven man who was lost. There is joy among the hosts of Angels, because eternal salvation hath appeared unto men.

Here's the chant score, from the McMaster Sarum Breviary (PDF); it's a slight bit different than what the Roman Breviary does.  The latter returns to "gaudet exercitus angelorum" in the response, while the former to "Quia salus eterna."

This is what the First Nocturn of Christmas Matins looks like; this is taken from the Marquess of Bute Roman Breviary published 1908:

FIRST NOCTURN.

First Antiphon. The LORD hath said unto Me : * Thou art My Son, this day have I begotten Thee.
Psalm II.
Why do the heathen rage ? &c.
Second Antiphon. The Lord is as a bridegroom * coming out of his chamber.
Psalm XVIII.
The heavens declare, &c. 
Third Antiphon. Grace is poured into Thy lips: * therefore God hath blessed Thee for ever.
Psalm XLIV.
Mine heart is overflowing, &c.
Verse. The Lord is as a bride groom.

First Lesson.  (Isa. ix. I.)
AT the first He lightly afflicted the land of Zabulon and the land of Naphtali : and afterward did more grievously afflict the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles. The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light : they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined. Thou hast multiplied the nation and not increased the joy. They shall joy before Thee according to the joy in harvest, as men rejoice when they divide the spoil. For Thou hast broken the yoke of his burden, and the staff of his shoulder, and the rod of his oppressor, as in the day of Midian. For every battle of the warrior is with confused noise, and garments rolled in blood, and it shall be with burning and fuel of fire. For unto us a Child is born, and unto us a Son is given : and the government is upon His shoulder, and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The Mighty God, The Ever lasting Father, the Prince of Peace.

First Responsory.
This is the day whereon the King of heaven was pleased to be born of a Virgin, that He might bring back to heaven man who was lost. There is joy among the hosts of Angels, because eternal salvation hath appeared unto men.
Verse.  Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, to men of goodwill. 
Answer. There is joy among the hosts of Angels, because eternal salvation hath appeared unto men.
Verse. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost.
Answer. This is the day whereon the King of heaven was pleased to be born of a Virgin, that He might bring back to heaven man who was lost. There is joy among the hosts of Angels, because eternal salvation hath appeared unto men.

Second Lesson. (Isa. xl. i.)
COMFORT ye, comfort ye, My people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned ; for she hath received of the LORD'S hand double for all her sins. The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness : Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert an highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low : and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain. And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together ; for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it. The voice said, Cry. And I said : What shall I cry ? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field. The grass withereth and the flower fadeth, because the spirit of the LORD bloweth upon it : surely the people is grass. The grass withereth and the flower fadeth : but the word of our  Lord endureth for ever.

Second Responsory.
This day is the true peace come down unto us from heaven. This day throughout the whole world the skies drop down sweetness.
Verse. This day is the daybreak of our new redemption, of the re storing of the old, of everlasting joy.
Answer. This day throughout the whole world the skies drop down sweetness.

Third Lesson. (Isa. lii. I.)
AWAKE, awake, put on thy strength, O Zion : put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, thou city of the Holy One ! for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean. Shake thyself from the dust, arise, sit down, O Jerusalem : loose thyself from the bands of thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion ! For thus saith the LORD : Ye have sold yourselves for nought, and ye shall be redeemed without money. For thus saith the Lord  GOD : My people went down aforetime into Egypt, to sojourn there : and the Assyrian oppressed them without cause. Now, therefore, what have I here, saith the LORD, that My people is taken away for nought ? They that rule over them do evil, saith the LORD, and My name continually every day is blasphemed. Therefore My people shall know My Name in that day : they shall know that I am He That spake, behold, it is I.

Third Responsory.
O ye shepherds, speak, and tell us what ye have seen ; who is appeared in the earth ? We saw the new-born Child, and Angels singing praise to the Lord.
Verse. Speak ; what have ye seen ? And tell us of the Birth of Christ.
Answer. We saw the new-born Child, and Angels singing praise to the Lord.
Verse. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost.
Answer. We saw the new-born Child, and Angels singing praise to the Lord.

Lovely, to me, that all three Lessons are taken from Isaiah.  The fourth through sixth Lessons are taken from a Christmas sermon of Pope Leo II - and then the seventh and eighth Lessons, finally, are Luke's Nativity.  The ninth Lesson is the beautiful Prologue of John's Gospel.  Really a wonderful Feast of the Nativity Matins.

Also:  I love that second Psalm antiphon:  "The Lord is as a bridegroom * coming out of his chamber."   That's a reference to Psalm 19:5, where it refers to the Sun!  The use made here of it is terrific, though - the "chamber" being the womb of Mary.

Here's Thomas Tallis' setting of the Responsory; the chant alternates with his composition:




This manuscript page that contains Hodie nobis caelorum Rex - right at the top - comes from a Twelfth-century antiphoner from Klosterneuburg, Austria.  This is staffless chant notation, above the text:

And here's another colorful page from this Thirteenth-century Austrian Cistercian antiphoner that contains this Responsory:

Lastly, here's a closeup from a later ms (1555-ish), taken from a Cistercian antiphoner from the Abbey of Salzinnes, Namur, in the Diocese of Liège [Belgium].  That beautiful piece of art is the "h" of "hodie"! 

Here's Giotto's fresco of the Nativity, around 1310, from the lower church of San Francesco, Assisi:

Blessed Christmas to all.