Text for Discussion: St. Ambrose's Aeterne Rerum Conditor, aka The One about a Rooster
  • Kathy
    Posts: 5,499
    Following up to a thread about Charles Wesley's Christ Whose Glory Fills the Skies, I thought I would introduce another, perhaps more foreign-sounding text for the morning.

    This is my translation of St. Ambrose's Aeterne Rerum Conditor. Although I'm happy to hear criticism about the translation, since it's pretty close to the meaning of the Latin, I was also wondering what people think of Ambrose's thinking as expressed in the hymn.

    Aeterne rerum Conditor

    Eternal maker of all things
    Of day and night the sov'reign King,
    Refreshing mortals, You arrange
    The rhythm of the seasons' change

    The rooster sounds his morning cry
    --Throughout the night he watched the sky--
    For travelers, a guiding light
    To tell the watches of the night.

    The morning star that hears the cry
    Dispels the darkness from the sky.
    The demons, hearing the alarm
    Abandon all their paths of harm.

    The sailor hears and he is brave;
    The sea becomes a gentle wave.
    The rooster's call reached Peter's ears:
    He washed away his sins in tears.

    Our wav'ring hearts, Lord Jesus, see.
    O look upon us, make us free,
    For in Your gaze no fault can stay,
    And sins by tears are washed away.

    O Light, upon our senses shine.
    Dispel our sleepiness of mind,
    That we may sing Your morning praise,
    Then, vows fulfilling, live our days.
    Thanked by 1CHGiffen
  • Adam WoodAdam Wood
    Posts: 6,451
    I think St. Ambrose lived in a time when talking about a rooster didn't seem weird or exotic. I can't imagine programming this in a conventional vernacular liturgy as is. Perhaps dropping 2 & 4, and slightly amending the beginning of 5 (since it references Peter's wavering heart) it could be salvaged for normal, modern use.

    It's interesting- lots of archaic imagery works just fine. We have no problem calling The Lord "The Good Shepherd," even if we have never met a real shepherd. Something about this, though, makes it not work for me. Probably because it is referencing something that is supposed to have just happened in the life of the singing community: the rooster cry at daybreak.

  • Kathy
    Posts: 5,499
    Maybe not a city text?
  • Adam WoodAdam Wood
    Posts: 6,451
    Yes. Or even it depends on the city, I imagine.

    Lots of places still have roosters. I've just never happened to live in any of them.
  • David Sullivan
    Posts: 355
    Kathy, keep the references to the rooster--Christians understand the connection to Peter's repentance. After all, the first verse puts forth the idea that the rhythms and patterns of nature are set by God for our benefit. Most suburban and city dwellers under massive light pollution don't get to see much of the morning star either.

    As for salvaging the hymn for "normal, modern use," I tend to think that modern use isn't necessarily 'normal.'
    Thanked by 1CHGiffen
  • Adam WoodAdam Wood
    Posts: 6,451
    I wasn't suggesting Kathy change anything- only musing on what I might do if I was compiling a hymnal for congregational use.

    I assume this hymn is proper to some day in the Divine Office, in which usage it should remain as it is.
    Thanked by 1David Sullivan
  • CHGiffenCHGiffen
    Posts: 5,150
    Kathy, I've loved your translation of this Matins hymn from the moment I discovered it several months ago. Although it is in Long Meter, I feel that, with there being an even number of stanzas and the way they pair off, together with the scope of the imagery in the hymn, it might also fit a Long Meter Double tune well – maybe ST. CROIX would work.

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