The Sixth Day of Christmas: The Cherry Tree Carol

Here's this old carol, sung just recently by the Choir of Ely Cathedral:



From the YouTube page:

"The cherry tree carol" is a 13th-century English traditional carol, appearing here in a world premiere recording of a new arrangement. The words tell the apocryphal tale of Mary and Joseph on the way to Nazareth for the Census: Mary asks Joseph to pluck a cherry for her, and he refuses, spitefully suggesting that the father of the baby should do so instead. Jesus, from within the womb, commands Joseph to do as he is told. The tune is cheery (cherry?) and melodic, and lends itself well to the upper voices used in this arrangement.

Here is one set of words to this; this choir seems to be singing a slightly different set, though:

When Joseph was an old man, an old man was he
He married Virgin Mary, the Queen of Galilee
He married Virgin Mary, the Queen of Galilee

Joseph and Mary walked through an orchard green
There were cherries and berries, as thick as might be seen
There were cherries and berries, as thick as might be seen

Mary said to Joseph, so meek and so mild:
Joseph, gather me some cherries, for I am with child
Joseph, gather me some cherries, for I am with child

Then Joseph flew in anger, in anger flew he
Let the father of the baby gather cherries for thee!
Let the father of the baby gather cherries for thee!

Then up spoke baby Jesus, from in Mary's womb:
Bend down the tallest branches, that my mother might have some
Bend down the tallest branches, that my mother might have some

And bend down the tallest branches, it touched Mary's hand
Cried she: Oh look thou Joseph, I have cherries by command
Oh look thou Joseph, I have cherries by command

This page on the site "Remembering the Old Songs," has some more information on the carol, as well as another set of words to a much longer version.  This was originally an article written by by Bob Waltz and published in Inside Bluegrass in December 1995, apparently.

For some reason that I've never been able to fathom, Christianity and the Christmas story have never had a strong place in traditional music. Francis James Child, in The English and Scottish Popular Ballads, listed 305 traditional English-language ballads; by my count, exactly seven of these have religious themes.Vance Randolph's Ozark Folksongs (arguably the best collection of American folk tunes) lists 68 religious pieces, but apart from a few spirituals, all are by church or popular composers.

There is one major exception: The Cherry Tree Carol. This piece, Child #54, was collected in Britain in the seventeenth century (and is probably older), and has been found throughout the Appalachians, as well as in the Ozarks and on into Canada. Jean Ritchie recorded an Appalachian version on "Kentucky Christmas."

The story may have originated in the "Infancy Gospel of the Pseudo-Matthew," an apocryphal Latin work of the ninth century. In it, the miracle took place after Jesus's birth. Joseph, Jesus, and Mary were fleeing from King Herod when Mary became faint from the heat. Joseph led her under a date palm tree to rest. Mary begged Joseph to get her some of the dates. Joseph was astonished; the tree was too tall to climb. But Jesus (who was no more than two years old) commanded the palm, "Bow down, tree, and refresh my mother with your fruit." And bow down it did, and remained until Jesus ordered it to straighten up (and be carried up into heaven!)

The earliest English versions seem to have included three parts: the story of Joseph's jealousy (found in the Bible in Matthew 1:18 & :25) and the cherry tree; the angel's message to Joseph on Christmas Eve, and a conversation between Mary and the baby Jesus (who may not even have been born yet). In it he predicts his crucifixion and, as here, his birth on January 6, the "old-style Christmas" which many people in the Appalachians celebrated until early in this century.

When Joseph was an old man,
An old man was he,
When he courted Virgin Mary,
The Queen of Galilee,
When he courted Virgin Mary,
The Queen of Galilee,

As Joseph and Mary
Were walking one day,
"Here are apples and cherries,"
O Mary did say....

Then Mary spoke to Joseph,
So meek and so mild,
"Joseph, gather me some cherries
For I am with child...."

Then Joseph flew in anger --
In anger flew he,
"Let the father of the baby
Gather cherries for thee!"

Then Jesus spoke a few words,
A few words spoke he,
"Let my mother have some cherries;
Bow low down, cherry tree!

"Bow down, O cherry tree!
Bow low down to the ground!"
Then Mary gathered cherries
While Joseph stood around....

Then Joseph took Mary
All on his left knee;
Saying: "What have I done? Lord,
Have mercy on me!"

Then Joseph took Mary
All on his right knee,
"Pray tell me, little baby,
When your birthday shall be....

"On the sixth day of January
My birthday shall be,
When the stars and the elements
Shall tremble with glee....

***

As Joseph was a-walking,
He heard an angel sing,
"Tonight shall be the birth-time
Of Christ, our heavenly king...."

"He neither shall be born
In house nor in hall,
Nor in the place of paradise,
But in an ox's stall....

"He neither shall be clothéd
In purple nor in pall
But in the bare white linen
That useth babies all....

As Joseph was a-walking,
Then did an angel sing,
And Mary's child at midnight
Was born to be our king....

There are indeed quite a number of bluegrass/Appalachian versions of the carol on YouTube.  Here's one example:




Here's a really nice instrumental version:

For the feast of St. Thomas Becket: In Rama sonat gemitus ("The sound of weeping is heard in Rama")

Here's something quite interesting for this feast day. It's a 12th century anonymous composition found in a French manuscript; its subject is Thomas Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury who was murdered in Canterbury Cathedral on this day in 1170.




The story related in this piece is not Becket's murder, though, but his exile at the hands of King Henry II of England.  From the YouTube page:

'In Rama sonat gemitus' (The sound of weeping is heard in Rama) is an anonymous work (conductus) found in the French manuscript source Wolfenbüttel 677. Using biblical allusion, it comments directly on the exile of Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, from England to France in 1164. Although eventually returned to England in [1170], he was murdered just a few months later. This dates In Rama sonat gemitus to the years of his exile: 1165-1170.

Here are the words, in Latin with an English translation, from CPDL:

In Rama sonat gemitus
plorante Rachel Anglie:
Herodis namque genitus
dat ipsam ignominie.
En eius primogenitus
et Joseph Cantuarie
Exulat (? - or 'si sit') fisto venditus
Egiptum colit Gallie.

A lamentation is heard in Rama:
England's Rachel weeps.
For one begotten by Herod
treats her with ignominy.
Her firstborn -
Joseph of Canterbury -
is exiled as if sold,
and lives in the Egypt of France.

- Translation by Mick Swithinbank

My friend Robert pointed out to me this CD of music "in honor of St. Thomas of Canterbury."  The liner notes for this piece on that CD say this:

This plaint for solo voice is the earliest surviving piece of music about Becket. Since it mentions his exile in France, it must date from the period 1164-1170, though it was not copied into its only extant manuscript source until much later. In the poem, Rama refers to Canterbury, Rachel to the Mother Church, Herod to Henry II, while the Joseph sold by his jealous brethren is Becket.

Pretty interesting!  I was curious about the Scriptural reference; I know it best from this verse from Matthew, where it refers to the slaughter of the innocents (which was yesterday's feast day, in fact):

A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be comforted, because they are no more.

I thought it was sort of odd, though, for such a verse to be used for this purpose; the exile of an Archbishop isn't really anything like the slaughter of innocents.  So I searched some more on this theme, and found - although I hadn't remembered it - that Jeremiah had Rachel weeping, too:

Thus says the LORD: “A voice is heard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter weeping. Rachel is weeping for her children; she refuses to be comforted for her children, because they are no more.”

And here, Rachel IS weeping for an exile:  for the exile of Israel in Babylon.  So this is the basis for In Rama sonat gemitus, referring to Thomas Becket.

(I could have realized what Matthew was doing a bit sooner by simply reading the verse prior to Matthew 2:18 above!  Here's Matthew 2:17:  "Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah:  ".)

That leaves us with the original Rachel; did she actually weep over her children?

There seem to be at least two takes on this.  One thought is that Genesis 30:1 is one reason for Rachel to weep:

When Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, she envied her sister. She said to Jacob, “Give me children, or I shall die!”

Another interpretation of the reference to Rachel is that she:

....died with "sorrow" in giving birth to Benjamin (Ge 35:18, 19, Margin; 1Sa 10:2), and was buried at Ramah, near Bethlehem, is represented as raising her head from the tomb, and as breaking forth into "weeping" at seeing the whole land depopulated of her sons, the Ephraimites.

The commentators often group several of these things together, as well.  It is also true that, again according to Jeremiah (40:1), the captives were taken to Ramah as they began their journey into exile in Babylon:

The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord after Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had let him go from Ramah, when he took him bound in chains along with all the captives of Jerusalem and Judah who were being exiled to Babylon.  The captain of the guard took Jeremiah and said to him, “The Lord your God pronounced this disaster against this place.  The Lord has brought it about, and has done as he said. Because you sinned against the Lord and did not obey his voice, this thing has come upon you.  Now, behold, I release you today from the chains on your hands. If it seems good to you to come with me to Babylon, come, and I will look after you well, but if it seems wrong to you to come with me to Babylon, do not come. See, the whole land is before you; go wherever you think it good and right to go.

(Some commentators have also pointed out that the meaning of the word "Ramah" is "high place."  It may be that Er-ram, north of Jerusalem, is the modern-day city that was once Ramah.)

In any case, the choice of text is to symbolize Becket's exile, not his murder - which means that the Scriptural reference is to Jeremiah and not Matthew.

The Introit for St. Stephen: Etenim sederunt ("Princes met and talked against me")

Etenim sederunt is the Introit for the Feast of St. Stephen, December 26. Here's a video of it from the GradualeProject.





The text comes from various parts of Psalm [118/]119; here is the Latin and English from Divinum Officium:

Introitus
Ps 118:23; 118:86; 118:23
Sedérunt príncipes, et advérsum me loquebántur: et iníqui persecúti sunt me: ádjuva me, Dómine, Deus meus, quia servus tuus exercebátur in tuis justificatiónibus.
Ps 118:1
Beati immaculáti in via, qui ámbulant in lege Dómini
V. Glória Patri, et Fílio, et Spirítui Sancto.
R. Sicut erat in princípio, et nunc, et semper, et in saecula saeculórum. Amen
Sedérunt príncipes, et advérsum me loquebántur: et iníqui persecúti sunt me: ádjuva me, Dómine, Deus meus, quia servus tuus exercebátur in tuis justificatiónibus.

Introit
Ps 118:23, 86, 23.
Princes met and talked against me, and the wicked persecuted me wrongfully; help me, O Lord my God, for Your servant meditates on Your statutes.
Ps 118:1
Happy are they whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the Lord.
V. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost.
R. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
Princes met and talked against me, and the wicked persecuted me wrongfully; help me, O Lord my God, for Your servant meditates on Your statutes.

Here's the chant score:

 In writing this post, I've come across some interesting stuff.  Apparently this Introit has at quite a number of tropes associated with it. 

Tropes are embellishments of the liturgical chants; they were sung prior to or interspersed with the Proper chants of feast days.   They are a development of the Middle Ages, and were abolished eventually at the council of Trent in 1570.  Here's a description from the Encyclopedia Britannica:

Trope, in medieval church music, melody, explicatory text, or both added to a plainchant melody. Tropes are of two general types: those adding a new text to a melisma (section of music having one syllable extended over many notes); and those inserting new music, usually with words, between existing sections of melody and text.

Troping was rooted in similar practices in the ancient Byzantine liturgy and arose in the West, probably in France, by the 8th century. The custom reached the musically important Swiss monastery of Saint Gall by the 9th century and soon became widespread throughout Europe. It was abolished in the 16th century by the Council of Trent.

Two important medieval musical-literary forms developed from the trope: the liturgical drama and the sequence (qq.v.). A troped chant is sometimes called a farced (i.e., interpolated) chant.

Here is an example of one of the tropes on this Introit, found in the book Early Trope Repertory of Saint Martial de Limoges, by Paul Evans.  The book describes it as an example of "line-by-line interpolations, in which a trope introduces each phrase of the official chant":

Trope:  Hodie Stephanus martye celos ascendit, quem propheta dudmum intuens eius voce dicebat:
Introit:  Etenim sederunt principes et adversum me loquebantur.
Trope:  Insurrexerunt contra me Iudeorum populi inique,
Introit:  Et iniqui persecuti sunt me.
Trope:  Invidiose lapidibus appresserunt me;
Introit:  Adiuva me Dominus Deus meus.
Trope:  Suscipe meum in pace spiritum,
Introit:  Quia servus tuus exercebatur in tuis iustificationibus.

Tropes were new compositions, and the melody and texts were conceived simultaneously, according to Evans.  Unfortunately, I was not able to find any audio or video of any of the tropes for this feast - but I will keep looking.  Perhaps there will be some video online for tropes of major feasts; there are many associated with Christmas, so I may return there.

 

[EDIT 11/14/23:  Thanks to an anonymous commenter on this post, I now have an example of a trope on this Introit - but unfortunately I haven't yet been able to make out what the words are.  Here's the video anyway; you can hear that the trope introduces the Introit, and it is then interspersed between each line of the text.  Hopefully at some point I'll succeed in finding the text of the trope, and will return here to post it if I do:

 

Thanks, Anonymous!]

This page in the book The Winchester Troper, from Mss. of the Xth and XIth Centuries - edited by Walter Frere - contains a complete list of tropes associated with this feast from those sources.  Here's screen-cap of that page, listing all the tropes, with some footnotes; as you can see, there are several tropes each associated with the Introit, the Offertory, and the Communio:

I am now reading a bit more about the tropes on this Introit, but want to get this post published today, so that will be another post.

Here's an interesting painting of St. Stephen by Mariotto di Nardo; the full title is apparently "Predella Panel Representing the Legend of St. Stephen: Devils Agitating the Sea as Giuliana Transports the Body of St. Stephen from Jerusalem to Constantinople / The Re-interment of St. Stephen beside St. Lawrence in Rome."

No idea what that's about, but I'll check it out!

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.

An Advent I Responsory: Aspiciebam

This beautiful chant is the 2nd Responsory at Matins of Advent 1 Sunday:



This is the text, an apocalyptic passage from Daniel 7:13-14:

R. Aspiciébam in visu noctis, et ecce in núbibus cæli Fílius hóminis veniébat: et datum est ei regnum, et honor:
* Et omnis pópulus, tribus, et linguæ sérvient ei.
V. Potéstas ejus, potéstas ætérna, quæ non auferétur: et regnum ejus, quod non corrumpétur.
R. Et omnis pópulus, tribus, et linguæ sérvient ei.

R. I saw in the night visions, and, behold, the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and there was given Him a Kingdom, and glory;
* And all people, nations, and languages shall serve Him.
V. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away, and His Kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.
R. And all people, nations, and languages shall serve Him.

Here's the chant score from the Sarum Breviary; it may not match up exactly with what's on the recording - I haven't compared them yet -  but it was the only score I could find of this chant.

The 1st Responsory on the same Sunday is Aspiciens a longe:  "I look from afar" - a rather famous Responsory, in fact, sung on the first Sunday in Advent even now in many Anglican parishes.  Then there is this one, Aspiciebam, the 2nd Responsory;  the 3rd Responsory is a version of the Annunciation from Luke's Gospel.

Matins is a long service, especially on Sunday; it starts with Invitatory prayers (here, the Lord's Prayer and the Hail Mary), the creed, the Venite, and a hymn; it continues with generally three  Nocturns.  Each Nocturn begins with the recitation of Psalms - for this particular service, the first Nocturn is Psalms 1-14, with Antiphons.  (On other days, there are far fewer Psalms in each Nocturn!  On non-Sundays and non-Feast Days in Advent, for instance, it's sometimes three Psalms per Nocturn.)  Following the Psalms, three Lessons are read, consisting either of Scripture or a Sermon or writing from a Church Father.  (I believe that without exception, the Lessons for the First Nocturn  are always from Scripture;  non-Scriptural writings are limited to Nocturns 2 and 3.  These non-scriptural Lessons are often commentaries on passages of Scripture.) 

Responsories are sung following each of the Lessons.  You can get an idea of what all this is like by going to Divinum Officium and clicking "Matutinum.")

The Lessons for the First Nocturn at Matins on the First Sunday in Advent all come from Isaiah 1.  Here's what the whole Lesson section of the First Nocturne looks like; this is taken from the Marquess of Bute Roman Breviary published 1908.

First Lesson.

THE vision of Isaiah, the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem, in the days of  Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth, for the LORD hath spoken : I have nourished and brought up children : and they have rebelled against Me. The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib : but Israel doth not know Me, and My people doth not consider.

First Responsory.

I look from afar, and, behold, I see the Power of God coming,  and a cloud covering all the land.  Go ye out to meet Him, and say :  Tell us if Thou art He, That shalt reign over God s people Israel.

Verse.  Both low and high, rich and poor together.

Answer. Go ye out to meet Him, and say.

Verse.  Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel^ Thou That leadest Joseph like a flock.

Answer. Tell us if Thou art He.

Verse. Lift up your gates, O ye princes ; and be ye lift up, ye everlast ing doors, and the King of glory shall come in.

Answer. That shalt reign over God s people Israel.

Verse. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost.

Answer. I look from afar, and, behold, I see the Power of God coming, and a cloud covering all the land. Go ye out to meet Him, and say : Tell us if Thou art He, That shalt reign over God's people Israel.

Second Lesson.

WOE to the sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evil-doers, children that are corrupters : they have forsaken the LORD, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger : they are gone away back ward. Upon what part shall I smite you any more, ye that revolt more and more ? The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint : from the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it, but wounds and bruises and putrifying sores : they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment.

Second Responsory.

I saw in the night visions, and, behold, the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and there was given Him a Kingdom, and glory : and all people, nations, and languages shall serve Him.

Verse. His dominion is an ever lasting dominion which shall not pass away, and His Kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.

Answer. And all people, nations, and languages shall serve Him.

Third Lesson.

YOUR country is desolate, your cities are burned with fire ; your land, strangers devour it in your presence, and it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers. And the daughter of Zion is left as a cottage in a vineyard, and as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, and as a besieged city. Except the LORD of hosts had left unto us a seed, we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah.

Third Responsory.

The Angel Gabriel was sent to Mary, a Virgin espoused to Joseph, to bring unto her the word of the Lord : and  when the Virgin saw the light she was afraid. Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found grace from the Lord. Behold, thou shalt conceive and bring forth a son, and He shall be called the Son of the Highest.

Verse. The Lord God shall give unto Him the throne of His father David, and He shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever.

Answer. Behold, thou shalt conceive, and bring forth a son, and He shall be called the Son of the Highest.

Verse. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost.

Answer. Behold, thou shalt conceive and bring forth a son, and He shall be called the Son of the Highest.

Here are three pages from manuscripts that contain this responsory.  First, here's a really old one - from around 990 A.D. - from the Swiss St. Gall Antiphonary.  You can see it there where you see the first large red "R" at the left; the chant notation is written above in the old staffless style:

Next, there's this page from a kind of wild thirteenth-century Cistercian antiphoner from Vienna; Aspiciebam begins at the bottom of the page:

And this is an image from the much later Münster Antiphoner (1537):