The Hymns at the Lesser Hours: Prime III

This is the third post on the topic of the hymns at Prime; see Part I here, which describes the Office of Prime in a general way.  Part II is here.

The following are the hymns listed for Prime, in  Hymn melodies for the whole year, from the Sarum service-books:

Daily throughout the year :-

Jam lucis orto sidere

    (1) On Sundays in Advent ... ... ... ... 24

(2) On all Ferias except in Paschal-tide ... ... 1

(3) On Xmas Day, Feasts of the  B.V. M.,  Dedication of a Church, Nativity of S. John Bapt, SS. Peter and Paul, Translation of S. Thomas, Abp., Feast of' Relics, S. Gregory, & S. Ambrose, (if they fall before Passion-tide), S. Augustin of England, if celebrated out of Paschal-tide, S. Augustin of Hippo, S. Michael & all Angels, S. Jerome, & Translation of S. Edward, K. Conf.  ... ... ... ... 3

(4) On the Feast of S. Stephen & the three days following, & on the Feasts of the Circumcision & of S. Vincent ... 27

(5) On the 6th day in the 8ve of Xmas & daily till the Vigil of Epiphany, and on the Vigil, (if it be a Sunday), & on all Feasts, except those of the lowest class, from the 8ve of Epiphany until the Purification of the B. V. M. ... ... ... ...26

(6) On the Vigils of Christmas & Epiphany (not being a Sunday), & on all Ferias & Vigils from Low Sunday to Ascension Day, & on the Vigil of Pentecost, & on all Simple Feasts of the lowest class throughout the year, & during 8ves. ... ... ... ...2

(7) On the Feast of Epiphany, the Sunday within the 8ve, & on the 8ve day ... ... ... ... ... ... 28

(8) On the remaining days of the 8ve ... ... ... 29

(9) On all Sundays from the 8ve of Epiphany until the 1st  Sunday in Lent, when the Service is of the Sunday ... ... 21

(10) On the 1st & 2пd Sundays in Lent ... ...  ... ...30

(11) On the 3d & 4th Sundays in Lent ... ...  ... ...33

(12) On Passion & Palm Sundays, & on Feasts of the Holy Cross  ... ...   ... ... 35

(13) On all Sundays from Low Sunday until Ascension Day, when the Service is of the Sunday ... ... ... ... 37

(14) On Ascension Day & daily until the Vigil of Pentecost, & on the Feast of Corpus Christi ... ... ... ... 41

(15) On Whitsun Day & daily until Trinity Sunday ...  ... ...42

(16) On Trinity Sunday & all following Sundays until Advent, when the Service is of the Sunday ... ... ... ... 43

(17) During the 8ve of the Dedication of a Church, & on all Feasts, except those of the lowest class, from the Purification of the B.V. M.. until Passiontide, & from Trinity until Advent ... ... ... 4

(18) On all Feasts of Apostles & Evangelists out of Xmas & Paschaltides, except SS. Peter & Paul  ... ... ... ...48

(19) During the 8ves of the Assumption & Nativity of the B.V.M.  ... ... ... ... 63

(20) On all Feasts of Saints occurring between Low Sunday & Ascension Day, except the Annunciation of our Lady ...  ... ...39

(21) On the Feast of All Saints  ... ... ... ...3 or 26

[At Christmas-tide (York) : Agnoscat omne seculum ... ... 55]

Iam lucis orto sidere is the one and only hymn prescribed for use at Prime; there are over twenty different melodies in the list above, though!  The melodies used for  Iam lucis orto sidere vary by feast and season - Sundays are counted this way too;  the hymn takes on a melody associated with the season or holy day in which it's sung.  (As you can see from the note above, Agnoscat omne seculum was used only in Christmastide at York; I'll go over that one just briefly at the end.)

This is TPL's entry for Iam lucis orto sidere; it's noted that "This 6th century hymn is used in the Roman Breviary at the Office of Prime. In the Liturgia Horarum it is found at Thursday Lauds for the second and fourth weeks of the Psalter during Ordinary time."   These are the words from that page, in Latin and English (translation by Alan G. McDougall (1895-1964)).

IAM lucis orto sidere,
Deum precemur supplices,
ut in diurnis actibus
nos servet a nocentibus.    

Linguam refrenans temperet,
ne litis horror insonet,
visum fovendo contegat,
ne vanitates hauriat.    

Sint pura cordis intima,
absistat et vecordia:
carnis terat superbiam
potus cibique parcitas.    

Ut cum dies abscesserit,
noctemque sors reduxerit,
mundi per abstinentiam
ipsi canamus gloriam.    

Deo Patri sit gloria,
eiusque soli Filio,
cum Spiritu Paraclito,
nunc et per omne saeculum.
Amen.    

NOW in the sun's new dawning ray,
lowly of heart, our God we pray
that He from harm may keep us free
in all the deeds this day shall see.

May fear of Him our tongues restrain,
lest strife unguarded speech should stain:
His favoring care our guardian be,
lest our eyes feed on vanity.

May every heart be pure from sin,
and folly find no place therein:
scant meed of food, excess denied,
wear down in us the body's pride

That when the light of day is gone,
and night in course shall follow on,
we, free from cares the world affords,
may chant the praises that is our Lord's.

All laud to God the Father be,
all praise, Eternal Son, to Thee;
|all glory, as is ever meet,
to God the Holy Paraclete.
Amen.

Here are the scores for melody #28, used for Iam lucis orto sidere "On the Feast of Epiphany, the Sunday within the 8ve, & on the 8ve day," and melody #29, used for Iam lucis orto sidere "On the remaining days of the 8ve."

Melody #28 is the tune used for the Mattins Epiphany hymn, Hostis Herodes impie.  The LLPB listing for that day offers this mp3 labeled "Hymn for the Epiphany of our Lord".

I still have no recording of melody #29, though.


Melody #21 is sung "On all Sundays from the 8ve of Epiphany until the 1st  Sunday in Lent, when the Service is of the Sunday."

This is the hymn tune used at Saturday evensong for Deus, Creator Omnium "From the Octave of the Epiphany until the 1st Sunday in Lent," too.  And for once, the Roman tune matches the Sarum; here's Deus, Creator Omnium from the Liber Hymnarius Wiki (click the download arrow to listen to the hymn sung in Latin):

Deus, creator omnium (Ambrosius)

Meter: 8.8.8.8

•   H.IV, p. 181

Here's melody #30, sung "On the 1st & 2пd Sundays in Lent ": 

This is the same tune used for the Evensong hymn, Ex more docti mystico, during the first two weeks of Lent.  Here's an mp3 of Ex more docti mystico, sung to melody #30, from the Lutheran Liturgical Prayer Brotherhood's "Seasonal Propers Sung."  They call it "The Fast, as taught by holy lore."


Here's melody #33, sung "On the 3d & 4th Sundays in Lent": 

This is the same tune used for the Evensong hymn, Ecce tempus idoneum, during the weeks three and four of Lent.   Here's an mp3 of Ecce tempus idoneum ("Now is the healing time decreed"), sung to melody #33, from the Lutheran Liturgical Prayer Brotherhood's "Seasonal Propers Sung" page.


Here's the score for melody #35 - sung "On Passion & Palm Sundays, & on Feasts of the Holy Cross"

This is the same tune used for the Evensong hymn, Vexilla regis prodeunt, beginning on Lent 5 until Holy Thursday.   Here is an mp3 of Vexilla Regis Prodeunt, sung to melody #35.  This very famous Venantius Fortunatus hymn is called in English here, "The Royal Banners Forward Go."   Again the audio file comes from the Lutheran Liturgical Prayer Brotherhood's "Seasonal Propers Sung."


Here's the score for melody #37 - sung "On all Sundays from Low Sunday until Ascension Day, when the Service is of the Sunday":

This is the same melody used for the Eastertide 1st Evensong hymn, Chorus nove Hierusalem ("Ye Choirs of New Jerusalem"); here's an mp3 of that hymn sung to this melody.


Here's a peek-in to the SSM Breviary entry for Prime: