Words from the Sarum Rite, circa 6th century, a traditional hymn for Vespers during the Christmas season, from Liturgia Horarum.
Translations Include:
Jesu, The Father's Only Son, John Mason Neale
(Alternate Title: Christ, Redeemer Of All)
O Christ, Redeemer Of Our Race, Henry Williams Baker
O Christ, The Father's Only Son (Adaptation of Neale by Keyte and Parrott, The New Oxford Book of Carols, copyright 1992)
O Saviour Of Our Fallen Race, Gilbert E. Doan, Jr., copyright
Christe, Redemptor Omnium (Carols for Choirs 3, #12, copyright 1978)
Music: "Christe Redemptor Omnium," 6th Century.
MIDI / Noteworthy Composer / XML
Meter: LM
1. Christe Redemptor omnium,
Ex Patre Patris Unice,
Solus ante principium
Natus ineffabiliter:
2. Tu lumen, Tu splendor Patris,
Tu spes perennis omnium;
Intende quas fundunt preces
Tui per orbem famuli.
3. Salutis auctor, recole1
Quod nostri quondam corporis,
Ex illibatâ Virgine
Nascendo, formam sumpseris.
4. Hoc præsens testatur dies,
Currens per anni circulum;
Quod solus a sede Patris,
Mundi salus adveneris;
5. Hunc cœlum, terra, Hunc mare,
Hunc omne quod in eis est,
Auctorem adventus Tui
Laudat, exultans cantico.
6. Nos quoque qui sancto Tuo
Redempti sumus sanguine;
Ob diem Natalis Tui
Hymnum novum concinimus.
7. Iesu, tibi sit gloria,2
Qui natus es de Virgine,
Cum Patre et Sancto Spiritu,
In sempiterna sæcula. Amen.
Notes:
1. Or: Memento, salutis Auctor, Return
2. Or: Gloria Tibi, Domine, Return
Sheet Music "Morning Hymn" from J. H. Hopkins, ed., Great Hymns of the Church Compiled by the Late Right Reverend John Freeman Young (New York: James Pott & Company, 1887), #61, p. 94.
"Proper Melody, from the Salisbury Hymnal
Harmonized by Hermann R. Schrœder"
Notes:
Christe Redemptor is a medieval plainchant, mode 1, a Latin office hymn from the sixth century. The setting in the Lutheran Book of Worship, 1978, is one of the few examples were the tune is proper to the text. This Christmas Vespers hymn was found in the Sarum, York (Salisbury) and Aberdeen Breviaries and also in the Roman Breviary before 1525. Later revisions in the text can be found in the Roman Breviary, 1632 and the Paris Breviary, 1736.
There are many different forms of both text and tune. The translation in the Lutheran Book of Worship by Gilbert Doan is made from the original, and the tune is the one found in the Sarum Breviary.
Compare Jesu, Redemptor Omnium of the Tridentine Rite (Council of Trent), a modification of both the words and tune of the original by Urban VIII in the 1629. The Council of Trent, the nineteenth ecumenical council, opened at Trent on 13 December, 1545, and closed there on 4 December, 1563. Its main object was the definitive determination of the doctrines of the Church in answer to the heresies of the Protestants; a further object was the execution of a thorough reform of the inner life of the Church by removing the numerous abuses that had developed in it.
On the Internet, there is an interesting discussion titled "URBAN VIII AND THE REVISION OF THE LATIN HYMNAL" by Vincent A. Lenti (copyright, 1994), which discusses the pontificate of Urban VIII, and in particular in his participation in the "revision" of many ancient hymns.
The Tridentine Mass was the Mass used in the Catholic Church for almost 1500 years, until the introduction of the Mass of Pope Paul VI following the Second Vatican Council. It was codified by the Council of Trent in the 16th century. But the Mass itself is far older than that. The Canon, or central part, of the Mass dates back to the time of St Gregory in the sixth century. In 1570, Pope St Pius V — in his Papal Bull Quo Primum — said that priests could use the Tridentine rite forever, "without scruple of conscience or fear of penalty".
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