An Epiphany Responsory: In columbae specie ("In the form of a dove")

In columbae specie is the ninth responsory of Epiphany Matins in the Sarum Breviary; in the Roman Breviary, it's used as the second responsory.  It's sung here beautifully by the Schola Hungarica, with Janka Szendrei and László Dobszay.



Here are the words of the Responsory itself, in Latin and English, from Divinum Officium:

R. In colúmbæ spécie Spíritus Sanctus visus est, Patérna vox audíta est:
* Hic est Fílius meus diléctus, in quo mihi bene complácui.
V. Cæli apérti sunt super eum, et vox Patris intónuit.
R. Hic est Fílius meus diléctus, in quo mihi bene complácui.

R. The Holy Ghost appeared in a bodily shape like a dove, and the voice of the Father was heard:
* This is My beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased.
V. The heavens were opened unto him, and, lo, the voice of the Father was heard, like unto thunder, saying:
R. This is My beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased.

The text is taken from Luke 3:22, part of the story of the Baptism of Jesus by John in the River Jordan - one of events historically celebrated on the Feast of the Epiphany:

15 As the people were in expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Christ, 16 John answered them all, saying, “I baptize you with water, but he who is mightier than I is coming, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 17 His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”

18 So with many other exhortations he preached good news to the people. 19 But Herod the tetrarch, who had been reproved by him for Herodias, his brother's wife, and for all the evil things that Herod had done, 20 added this to them all, that he locked up John in prison.

21 Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heavens were opened, 22 and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form, like a dove; and a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”

The singers have inserted an extra-responsorial, prose-like text into the middle of this chant, as you probably noted.  It's called Quem non prevalent, and was actually used at the offices on Epiphany in some places.   (The general subtitle to the CD above is "Gregorian Chants from Austria," so I'm assuming for now that is primarily where this was used.  And indeed there is something about it in this paper titled "The Identification of Quem Non Prevalent in Klosterneuburg, Augustiner-Chorherrenstift-Bibliothek, 1013."  So there's the Austrian connection; I still need to read this paper, though.)

Here's the chant score of the Responsory itself, from the Sarum Rite website; as you will see, the text is slightly different:

Here are the words from the Sarum Breviary, in Latin and English; I've bolded the section that departs from the text used in the Roman Breviary. 

R. In colúmbæ spécie Spíritus Sanctus visus est, † Patérna vox audíta est:
* Hic est Fílius meus diléctus, in quo mihi bene complácui. ‡Ipsum audíte.
V. Vox Dómini super aquas Deus majestátis intónuit : Dóminus super aquas multas.  †Patérna.
V.  Glória.  ‡Ipsum.


R. IN the form of a dove * the Ho-ly Spi- rit was seen : † The voice of the Father was heard,
* This is My beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased.  ‡Hear ye him.
V. The voice of the Lord is upon the waters ; the God of majesty hath thundered : the Lord is upon many waters. †The voice.
V. Glory be. ‡Hear.

This alternate Sarum verse is taken, verbatim, from Psalm 29:3:

 3 The voice of the Lord is upon the waters: the God of glory thundereth: the Lord is upon many waters.

Looks to me that the Roman Breviary text may be a nod towards the Baptism story in Matthew 3; it contains the same reference to the "heavens opening":

The heavens were opened unto him, and, lo, the voice of the Father was heard, like unto thunder, saying:

According to Cantus database, this Responsory was used in many places on the Octave of Epiphany, rather than on Epiphany itself (as far as I can tell so far).  Interesting to note, too, that it is Luke's genalogy - which is recounted immediately following the Baptism story in Luke - that is sung at the end of Epiphany Matins in the Sarum Rite.  I would bet that accounts for In columbae specie being used as the ninth, rather than the second, responsory, in the Sarum Breviary.

Sr. Fidelis, of the Community of Jesus, writes on this Responsory; as you can see, she is referring to as a responsory "for the octave of Epiphany," which "brings us right to the scene of the Baptism of Jesus," as the modern calendar celebrates these two (now separate) feasts:

One of the loveliest Responsories for the octave of Epiphany brings us right to the scene of the Baptism of Jesus. The text is as follows: “In the form of a dove the holy Spirit was seen;  the Father’s voice was heard: ‘This is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased.’ V. The heavens opened over him and the voice of the Father thundered.”

The Responsory follows a particular pattern: the first section of the piece is chanted, after which a verse is sung, usually by a single voice. Then all begin at a point halfway through the first section, and chant to the end.

This Mode 2 Responsory has an almost plaintive quality to it. You’ll notice the FA clef, so often used with Mode 2 chants. The high point of the chant comes on the text  paterna vox — the voice of the Father. If you look closely at the chant below while listening to the recording, you’ll notice that in some instances, the notes differ from what is written in square notation. This particular piece was chanted and recorded according to the ancient neumes, taken from the Hartker Antiphoner — a manuscript from around the early 11th century! Listen to it a second time, while looking at the ancient neumes written above the square notation, and you’ll “see” what you are hearing!  It is fascinating to note the slight variation in the melody and how it has changed over the centuries.

There is also an mp3 at that page.

I cannot find a good .jpg representation of this Matins chant at the Cantus database!  Each available image is the chant as used on the Octave of Epiphany, or else used in another way on Epiphany.  I will have to take a look at that Octave usage, too, to see if it's exactly the same chant as this one.

But here's a wonderful Battesimo di Cristo I haven't seen before, from around 1475; it's credited to both Andrea Verrocchio and Leonardo da Vinci:

A Responsory for the Feast of St. Thomas Becket: Iacet granum oppressum palea ("The grain of wheat lies smothered by the chaff")

Iacet granum oppressum palea is the Third Responsory at Matins in the Sarum Breviary for the Feast of St. Thomas Becket, December 29.  But it is also used, sometimes in procession, at the end of (what would normally be Second) Vespers of the Feast of the Holy Innocents - that is, Vespers of the day before the Feast of St. Thomas Becket - and in a very interesting way.  More about that below.

First, the chant, beautifully sung here by Egeria Voices, a Spanish a capella group:



Here are the words, in Latin and English:

R. Jacet granum oppressum palea,
     Justus coesus pravorum framea,
     Coelum domo commutans lutea.
V. Cadit custos vitis in vinea,
    Dux in castris, oultor in area,
    Coelum domo commutans lutea. 

R. The grain of wheat lies smothered by the chaff,
     the just man slain by the sword of sinners.
     Changing his house of clay for heaven.
V. The vine-keeper dies in his vineyard,
     the general in his camp, the husbandman on the place of his toil.
    Changing his house of clay for heaven. 

St. Thomas Becket was the Archbishop of Canterbury who was murdered by soldiers of King Henry II of England in Canterbury Cathedral on December 29 in the year 1170.   This was an event that shocked England and all of Europe, and Thomas was canonized only three years later.  You can read a full account of the event and its repercussions at the British Museum website.  Here's a quote from that page:

Becket’s death and subsequent miracles transformed Canterbury Cathedral into one of the most important pilgrimage destinations in Europe. In 1220 his body was moved from the crypt to a glittering new shrine in a purpose-built chapel upstairs in the Cathedral. Geoffrey Chaucer famously captured something of the atmosphere of pilgrimage to this shrine in his Canterbury Tales. In death Becket remained a figure of opposition to unbridled power and became seen as the quintessential defender of the rights of the Church. To this end you can find images of his murder in churches across Latin Christendom, from Germany and Spain, to Italy and Norway. Becket was, and remains, a truly European saint. His relics at Canterbury were visited by people from across the continent until 1538, when Henry VIII would label him a traitor, order the destruction of his shrine and try to wipe him from history altogether. That, however, is a story for another time.

Here's a page containing this chant, from the Antiphonarium Massiliense, an Antiphoner from Marseille cathedral. It's from the late 12th century, dated to between 1190 and 1200.

The week following Christmas is packed with Feast Days:  St. Stephen on December 26; St. John the Evangelist on December 27; Holy Innocents on December 28; St. Thomas Becket on December 29.  The liturgies of the week are therefore very complex; each of these feasts has its own antiphons, prayers, responsories, and hymns - and each day includes a sort of First/Second-Vespers-Memorial-mashup of the Feast itself with each following feast day.  (These seem sometimes to be referred to as "Memorials," even though Memorials are - as their name would imply - normally a hearkening-back to a feast day that's already happened.  Normally major feasts have a First and Second Vespers, too - but one day just tumbles into the next during this week, so it's a bit confusing, and hard to know what to call Vespers during this time!)  There are other ordinary memorials throughout the week, too: of Christmas every day, and also memorials for each prior feast.  And then each of these feast days has its octave one week later, most falling within the twelve days.  It's all very complicated - made more so in emotional resonance by the fact that three of four of these major feast are martyrs' days.   In any case it is a very, very rich set of offices.

As I noted above, this chant, Iacet granum oppressum palea, is introduced at the end of Second Vespers of Holy Innocents - then used again at Matins of St. Thomas Becket a few hours later.  And, at that First/Second Vespers/Memorial mashup, this chant is also associated with a "Procession to the Altar of St. Thomas."

The set of screenshots below comes from Volume 2 of Prosper Guéranger's "The Liturgical Year"; this Volume contains commentary on the Christmastide liturgies.  (It's actually just the first volume of what Guéranger classified as Christmas liturgies.  Volume 1 begins at Christmas Eve, and runs through the Vigil of the Epiphany; Volume 2 begins on Epiphany, and runs through and includes Candlemas, and then the following Sundays through Quinquagesima.)

Anyway, here's Guéranger's take on this Responsory and its function; note, too, that the Responsory-plus-Prose is entirely in rhyme in the Latin:

Here's a full description of the celebration of the feast, from an 1894 publication of The Dublin Review, in an article titled The Ancient Offices of Some of England's Saints.

S. Thomas Of Canterbury.

From the day when Henry II. bestowed the crown of martyrdom on his primate, to the day when a still more ferocious Henry rifled his tomb, and threw his sacred ashes to the four winds, no more popular name was to be found in the Calendar of English Saints than that of Thomas Becket.

His festivals, therefore, as may well be imagined, were celebrated with especial splendour, and a more than wonted beauty is to be met with in his offices. Of these the Sarum Breviary gives three varieties.

The office for his festival proper, observed on December 29th, the solemn commemoration for the feast of the translation of his relics, and a weekly commemoration, or, as we should say, votive office.

The celebration of the great festival, December 29th, commenced on the day preceding the feast itself with what was called a memorial.

This memorial was made in two ways. In certain churches, probably the more important, immediately after vespers, and without changing their vestments, the clergy and choir proceeded, in solemn procession, nevertheless, without candles in their hands, as the rubric expressly states, to the altar of St. Thomas, and, as they went, they hymned their hero's victory. "The wheaten grain lies prone before the flail," runs the quaintly beautiful sequence with which Sarum honoured the greatest of England's saints. "The righteous man, hewn down by impious swords, thereby exchanging squalid earth for Heaven. The vineyard's keeper falls beside the vine. The captain on the battle-field lies low, the husbandman within his threshing-floor. From squalid earth, Christ's martyr mounts to Heaven."*

Having reached the altar, this as well as the image of the saint was incensed by the officiating priest, while the rest of the clergy and the choir, grouped around, continued their triumphant canticle:

Sound ye the gladsome trump of victory,

For this, that God's own vineyard might be free,

*R. Jacet granum oppressum palea,
     Justus coesus pravorum framea,
     Coelum domo commutans lutea.
  V. Cadit custos vitis in vinea,
    Dux in castris, oultor in area,
     Coelum domo commutans lutea.
Which, clad in human flesh, Himself had freed
By dying on the purple blood-stained cross.
The savage beast of prey becomes a lamb,
The shepherd's crnel death converts his foe,
Christ's marble pavement flows all red with blood.
Thus Thomas wins the martyr's laurel crown,
And like the wheaten grain, from husk set free,
Is garnered in the storehouse of the King.*

Then was intoned the V. Ora pro nobis Beate Thoma, &c., with its accompanying R., and afterwards followed the Collect, the same which we still use.

The memorial completed, the clergy returned to the choir; but great was the devotion of the ancient Church of England to the Mother of God. She loved to associate the name of Mary, with all her joys and all her sorrows. In redeundo, runs the rubric, dicitur Responsorium vel Antiphona de Sancta Maria.

In those churches in which it was not customary to have a procession on St. Thomas's Eve, the following antiphon was substituted for the above prose:

The watchful pastor, slain amid his flock,
Their peace procures, by pouring out his blood.
O joyous sorrow! O most mournful joy!
The sheep draw breath, the shepherd lyeth low,
And weeping Mother Church applauds a son
"Who, by his death a victor, mounts to Heaven. +

All the antiphons at this office are rhythmical and rhyming.

Those at Matins form a sort of metrical legend of the Saint's life, the chief characteristic of which is quaintness. Several of them, however, are not without a certain naive beauty. Take, for example, the ninth, which sings of the happiness of the place and of the church, in which the memory of Thomas dwells, of the country which gave him birth, and of the land which afforded him shelter during his exile:

Ant. 9.—Felix locus, felix ecclesia:

In qua Thomse viget memoria:
Felix terra quae dedit proesulem
Felix ilia quae fovit exulem:
Felix pater, sucurre miseris:
Ut felices jungamur superis.

________________________________________________

           * Prosa.
  Clangat pastor in tuba cornea.
  Ut libera sit Christi vinea,
  Quam, assumptae sub carnis trabea,
  Liberavit cruce purpurea,
  Adversatrix ovis erronea
  Fit pastoris ccede sanguinea,
  Pavimenta Christi mamorea
  Sacro madent cruore rubea.
  Mart ir vitse donatus laurea,
  Velut granum purgatum palea,
  In divina transfertur horrea
  Curium donio commutans lutea.
+ Pastor caesus in gregis medio
  Pacem emit cruoris precio.
  O loetus dolor in tristi gaudio,
  Grex respirat pastore mortuo.
  Plangens plaudit mater in filio,
  Quia vivit victor sub gladio.

Lots more on all the offices of the day at that article!  It's clear that this was a very important day, in the middle of a very important week; the offices are very ornate and rich in every way.

Here is the entire Responsory-plus-Prose / Procession from the Holy Innocents page at The Sarum Rite English Scholarly Breviary; it immediately follows Memorials for Nativity, St. Stephen, and St. John the Evangelist:

The Responsory chant itself was used in many places, from England to France to Czechia to Hungary.  See the full list  of concordences at the University of Waterloo chant database.

At some point I'll create images for the full Procession score in Latin, too, and will post it here.  Also, I would love to find a recording of the Prose section of the chant used at the Vespers memorial; if I too, I'll post that here, too.

An Advent Responsory: Ecce Dies Veniunt ("Behold, the days come")

Ecce Dies Veniunt is the ninth responsory at Mattins on the First Sunday of Advent in the Roman Breivary.   But it's sung at First Vespers on the First Sunday of Advent in the Sarum Breviary.  Either way, it was clearly an important chant.

Here it's sung by Gregoriana.



Here are the words, in Latin and English, from Divinum Officium:

R. Ecce dies véniunt, dicit Dóminus, et suscitábo David germen justum: et regnábit rex, et sápiens erit, et fáciet judícium et justítiam in terra:
* Et hoc est nomen quod vocábunt eum: * Dóminus justus noster.
V. In diébus illis salvábitur Juda, et Israël habitábit confidénter.
R. Et hoc est nomen quod vocábunt eum:
V. Glória Patri, et Fílio, * et Spirítui Sancto.
R. Dóminus justus noster.

R. Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch; and a King shall reign in wisdom and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth:
* And this is His name whereby He shall be called: * The Lord our Righteous one.
V. In His days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely.
R. And this is His name whereby He shall be called.
V. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, * and to the Holy Ghost.
R. The Lord our Righteous one.

Here is the chant score, from The Sarum Rite, at McMaster University, Toronto.  There are some melodic differences between this score and what's sung on the video above.

This Responsory is also listed in Cantus Database as a Responsory for other Advent Sundays.  So it appears it was used in various ways and at various times in different locations and at  different times.


Here's an image of the chant as used as an Advent 1 Vespers Responsory, from the Antiphonarium Benedictinum (1400)  used at the Abbey of Sankt Lambrecht (Steiermark, Austria).

Here's another one from Austria (Klosterneuburg), and about the same period; it's another Vespers Responsory for Advent 1:

This is from a "Late-thirteenth century Cistercian antiphoner (dated c. 1295) from Lubiąż in modern-day south-western Poland (German: Leubus). 272 folios. Green five-line staff with a red F-line and a yellow C-line."  It was used as a Matins Reponsory on Advent 3.

And this earlier one comes from a "Cistercian antiphoner from the Abbey of St. Mary of Morimondo in the diocese of Milan. Second half of the twelfth century (up to 1174)."  It's written in staffless musical notation, as you can see; it was also used as a Matins Reponsory on Advent 3.

"A Short Responsory" for Lent: Illumina oculos ("Lighten my eyes")

Here's something interesting, for Lent: a "short responsory" that comes from Medieval Hungary.  It's beautifully sung here by the Schola Hungarica:




The text is taken from Psalm 12/(13):4-5/(3-4), and Psalm 87/(88):2:

12:4b Illumina oculos meos, ne unquam obdormiam in morte,
12:5a Ne quando dicat inimicus meus. Praevalui adversus eum.

2. Domine, Deus salutis meae, in die clamavi et nocte coram te.

13:3b Lighten mine eyes, that I sleep not in death.
13:4a Lest my enemy say "I have prevailed against him."

2. O Lord God of my salvation, I have cried day and night before thee.

Perfect for Lent!   But, this text is nowhere to be found in the Trent Breviary.  The CD lists it as included in "The Istanbul Antiphonary,"  which I have not found online (although I have found numerous references to it).  I need to look more at this.

Fortunately, Cantus Database lists it as a Compline Responsory, found 18 times in various manuscripts, most from Eastern Europe:  Czechia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Poland, etc.  It's used, variously, on the first four Sundays of Lent.  (In one exception below, St. Gall, it's listed as "uncertain usage" for feasts of the BVM.  So not much help there.) 

I've copied the concordance table from Cantus here for easier reading:

Siglum	Folio	Incipit				Feast	Mode	Image	DB
A-Gu 29	128r	Illumina oculos meos ne	C	R		Dom. 4 Quadragesimae	6	Image	CD
A-Gu Ms. 211	064v	Illumina oculos meos ne	C	R		Dom. 3 Quadragesimae			CD
A-VOR 287	066v	Illumina oculos meos ne	C	R		Dom. 3 Quadragesimae	5		CD
A-Wda D-4	001v	Illumina oculos meos ne	C	R		Dom. 3 Quadragesimae	5		CD
A-Wda D-4	039v	Illumina oculos meos*	C	R		Dom. 3 Quadragesimae	*		CD
CH-SGs 388	476	Illumina oculos meos ne	X	R	2	De BMV	?	Image	CD
CZ-Pst DE I 7	107v	Illumina oculos meos ne	C	R		Dom. 1 Quadragesimae	5		CD
PL-KIk 1	059r	Illumina oculos meos ne	C	R		Dom. 3 Quadragesimae	5		CD
PL-WRu R 503	056r	Illumina oculos meos ne	C	R		Dom. 3 Quadragesimae	5		CD
SI-Lna 18 (olim 17)	083r	Illumina oculos meos ne	C	R		Dom. 2 Quadragesimae	5		CD
TR-Itks 42	059r	Illumina oculos meos ne	C	R		Dom. 1 Quadragesimae	5		CD
SK-BRsa SNA 2	089r	Illumina oculos meos ne	C	R		Dom. 1 Quadragesimae		Image	CSK
SK-BRsa SNA 4	095r	Illumina oculos meos ne	C	R		Dom. 1 Quadragesimae		Image	CSK
SK-BRsa SNA 17	018v	Illumina oculos meos ne	C	R		Dom. 3 Quadragesimae		Image	CSK
SK-Bra EC Lad. 6	054v	Illumina oculos meos ne	C	R		Dom. 1 Quadragesimae		Image	CSK
PL-KIk PL-KiK 1	059r	Illumina oculos meos ne	C	R		Dom. 3 Quadragesimae	5		CPL
PL-PłS PL-PłS 35	047v	Illumina oculos meos ne	C	R		Dom. 1 Quadragesimae	5	Image	CPL
PL-PłS PL-PłS 35	053v	Illumina*	C	R		Dom. 2 Quadragesimae	*	Image	CPL

The usual "Short Responsory" at Compline in the Trent Breviary (and others)  is this:   

Into your hands, Lord, I commend my spirit.
– Into your hands, Lord, I commend my spirit.
You have redeemed us, Lord God of truth.
– Into your hands, Lord, I commend my spirit.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
– Into your hands, Lord, I commend my spirit.

I wonder if Illumina oculos replaced it during Lent, in some of these Eastern European breviaries?    Would be very interesting to know, so here's another thing I'll have to investigate.


Here's an image of the chant from the Antiphonary of Bratislava (15th C. ); here is one from the Antiphonarium from Płock Cathedral, a 15th C. Polish source.  (I cannot post these images on this page because of copyright restrictions.)   They differ slightly, in places, from what's on the video above - but they are clearly the same tune.  The pretty rise and fall of the melody on "oculos" is the same in every case.

Here's one from the Antiphonarium Benedictinum (1400) (Austria), which doesn't have the same restriction.  The text does not seem to be complete here, though:

Here's the St. Gall/BVM version; it's written in the old-style chant notation, without staff, so hard to tell - but it seems to me to be a similar melody, with the same rise and fall on "oculos."  The St. Gall MS is from the 13th Century.

St. Gallen, Stiftsbibliothek, Cod. Sang. 388, p. 476 – Antiphonary

There is another "Illumina oculos" in the repertoire, though; a different text that begins the same way is the Offertory at Lent IV in Year C.   (This chant was formerly the Offertory on the Fourth Sunday of Pentecost.)