Office Hymns for Immaculate Conception
  • BenBen
    Posts: 3,114
    How do office hymns work for LOTH? Are they merely recommended? Can you use your own?
    What is the correct hymn to use for Vespers I of the Immaculate Conception?
  • Joseph MendesJoseph Mendes
    Posts: 99
    Yours truly started a thread on this on the Catholic Answers Forums a while back:

    http://forums.catholic.com/showthread.php?t=613490

    Edit: I cannot seem to be able to make that a link. You will just have to paste it into your address bar.
  • SkirpRSkirpR
    Posts: 854
    The "correct" hymn for I Vespers of the Immaculate Conception is "Praeclara custos." It is found in the 1983 Liber Hymnarius p. 475, or the 2009 Antiphonale Romanum II p. 686, and in metrical English translation (without music) in the Mundelein Psalter p. 1146.

    When the LOTH was translated into English, it was decided that instead of translating the Latin hymns, already existing English hymns would be used that express the same general ideas. If you dedice to take this option, the two suggested hymns for Evening Prayer I of the Immaculate Conception in the ICEL Liturgy of the Hours are "Mary crowned with living light" (75.75.D) to the tune GLORIFCATION, or (curiously enough) the Latin Marian antiphon Salve Regina.
  • RobertRobert
    Posts: 343
    I am not fond of any of the translations of "Praeclara custos" I've come across--they all seem to be rendered in the idiom of 19th century romantic doggerel poetry, or at any rate rely on obscure or archaic words and turns of phrase. Using "Mary crowned with living light" instead seems like a good option.

    Below is my own attempt at a metrical but unrhymed adaptation of the Latin hymn. I've sung unrhymed hymns for the Office in groups before and in my experience they work fairly well when sung to simple chant melodies. I would rather a straightforward version that does not attempt to rhyme than the wince-inducing turns of phrase one often encounters in rhymed versions. Having said that, I would be very interested in finding a good rhymed version in modern English, if there are any out there.

    ___________

    O Noble Guardian of the Chaste
    Praeclara custos

    1. O noble guardian of the chaste,
    pure mother of almighty God,
    O portal of the heav'nly court:
    you are our hope and heaven's joy.

    2. Amid the thorns a lily blooms,
    a flow'r so pure, a dove so fair;
    a branch from Jesse's root bears fruit:
    her Son, a balm for all our wounds.

    3. O tower sealed, O guiding star,
    impervious to the dragon's strike,
    protecting us from Satan's lies,
    the light that leads the shipwrecked home.

    4. Dispel the gloom of errors dark,
    from deadly peril steer us clear;
    to sailors lost in stormy seas,
    reveal the path of safety now.

    5. O Jesus, of the Virgin born
    to you shall all the glory be,
    and to the Father without end,
    and to the Spirit evermore. Amen.

    - Robert M. Bruce, 2011, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
  • Chris_McAvoyChris_McAvoy
    Posts: 389
    The english metrical version of "Preclara custos" that is in the Monastic Breviary Matins is the one to go with.
    Monastic Breviary Matins has some of the most consistently pleasing to sing metrical english-fied latin hymns I've yet found in a single book.

    I typeset it already but don't have time to scale it down for upload at this moment.
    Come this time next year I will post it again. It will be published in the hymnal I realease evetually as well.

    Bruce has a very good accurate translation there but I do not think it will sing as well as this one.

    1. Fair Guardian of the Virgin choirs,
    Chaste Mother of the Deity,
    Thou gateway to the courts of heaven,
    Our hope of heaven's felicity,

    2. A Lily grown among the thorns,
    Of all pure doves the comeliest,
    Branch from life-giving root, the health
    Of man by wounds of sin distrest,

    3. From serpents sting the impervious tower,
    For shipwrecked souls the friendly star,
    Defending us from treachery,
    Our light to guide us from afar.

    4. Avert from us grim error's shades,
    Deceptive quicksands of dismay
    Among so many boisterous waves
    In heavenly progress guide our way.

    5. All honour, laud, and glory be,
    O Jesu, Virgin-born to thee,
    All glory, as is ever meet,
    To Father and to Paraclete.

    I hope nothing there is too "wince-inducing" ;-)
  • RobertRobert
    Posts: 343
    Chris McAvoy, that is indeed "the one to go with," thank you! I must invest in a copy of this Monastic Breviary if this is indicative of the quality of the hymn translations.
  • SkirpRSkirpR
    Posts: 854
    Of course, the Liturgia Horarum includes *six* verses, where these other translations - even if more poetic - only translate five of them.
Add a Comment