A Responsory for Palm Sunday: Ingrediente Domino ("As the Lord entered the holy city")

I've never heard it used, but this Responsory is prescribed for use upon the (re-)entrance into the church after the Palm Sunday procession, just before the mass itself begins.



Here's an English translation from Cantica Nova; it's easy to see why it is used at this particular moment in the liturgy.  The chant score is below.

R. As the Lord entered the holy city, the children of the Hebrews proclaimed the resurrection of life. Waving their branches of palm, they cried: Hosanna in the highest.

V, When the people heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, they went out to meet him. Waving their branches of palm, they cried: Hosanna in the highest.

The chapter titled "The Palm Sunday Procession in Medieval Chartres" in the book The Divine Office in the Latin Middle Ages mentions Ingrediente domino, describing it as "a Matins responsory of Palm Sunday at Chartres and elsewhere."  Here's a description of the Palm Sunday Procession as it moves to the cathedral for the mass:

[The assembly] followed the Rue Saint-Pierre, which led from the Benedictine house of Saint-Père up the hill and into the upper town (haute ville).  Along the route the succentor intoned and the multitude sang after him a succession of antiphons and responsories, the texts of which were mainly reworkings of the four evangelists' accounts of Christ's entry into Jerusalem:  A. Ceperunt omnes, A. Cum audiesset populus, A. Ante sex dies, R. Cum audisset turbe, R. Dominus Jhesus ante sex dies, and R. Ingrediente domino.  At the Porte Cendreuse, one of the half-dozen gates leading through the old walls into the upper town of Chartres, the clergy sang this last responsory, Ingredient domino.  This chant, a Matins responsory of Palm Sunday at Chartres and elsewhere, was reserved for this special moment of "entry into Jerusalem" here in Chartres and in most of the other dioceses in northern France.  Finally, as the procession passed through the west door of the cathedral of Notre-Dame, the spiritual theme, as communicated in the text of the plainsong, switched from on extolling Christ's triumph to one honoring the Virgin Mary (A. Letare virgo v. Post partum virgo).

Ingrediente domino has definitely been used in this way at the Palm Sunday mass since at least the Tridentine (1570) era (see this page; change the date to 4-13-2014); however, I have not been able to find Ingrediente domino listed as a Palm Sunday Matins Responsory at Divinum Officium (or anywhere else), as described in the above paragraph.   [EDIT:  I was wondering here why this was called a "Responsory," rather than an antiphon.  Fr. Michael in comments points out that "It's a responsory because it has a Verse, sung by the cantor alone, and then everyone again sings the latter half of the first portion."  I hadn't ever really understood what defined a "Responsory" in particular, or why it was different from the many other kinds of call-response chants that exist - so thanks much to him.] 

"The Palm Sunday Procession in Medieval Chartres" continues this way, with more about the entrance into the Cathedral:

Although this was a standard liturgical practice - to change to chants honoring the patron of the church at the moment of entry - the transition from chants for Palm Sunday to one for the Virgin is of interest here, for it occurred beneath a similar thematic transition represented in sculpture and glass.  The typmpanum of the west side of the famous royal portal, as is well known, is constructed around an imposing sculpture of Christ in Majesty surrounded by four apocalyptic animals symbolizing the four evangelists.  Those in the procession celebrating the First Coming of Christ looked up to vision of the ultimate prophecy, the majestic Second Coming of Christ, when He would judge the quick and the dead.

Passing through the portal and into the church, the sudden darkness brought to light, then as now, three of the finest examples of stained glass ever created, the dazzling twelfth-century lancet windows immediately below the great west rose.  The largest and most central of these lancet windows, the one directly above the royal portal, is the Incarnation Window, which recounts the story of the principal events in the life of Christ up to, but not including, His passion and resurrection.  At the top of the central Incarnation Window are three panels depicting Christ's entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday.  The telling in glass of the story of Palm Sunday concludes the history of His earthly life.  Accordingly, these panels are then immediately surmounted by a great crowned Virgin and Child in Glory, a fitting capstone to the theme of the Word made flesh.  Thus, just as the processional chants proceed from a theme commemorating Christ's final triumphant arrival to one honoring the Virgin, so the sculpture and stained glass directly above the heads of the clergy and laity of Chartres depict the same subjects.  At this moment musical and visual arts stood in perfect harmony.

As the faithful reentered the cathedral the bells of the church rang again.  Inside a candelabrum holding seven candles was illuminated, and the crosses and relics were left uncovered for the remainder of the day.  Having entered the chancel and mounted to their choir stalls, the canons and chaplains of the cathedral again celebrated the office of Terce, just as they had earlier that morning at Saint-Cheron.  High Mass then immediately followed.

Here's that "Christ in Majesty," photo courtesy of Vassil:

And here are the three "Entry into Jerusalem" stained glass panels from the Incarnation Window: (all window images © Dr Stuart Whatling, 2011):

The Disciples

Christ riding a donkey

The City's Welcome

Finally, this is the "great crowned Virgin and Child in Glory" at the top of the window, described above:

Here's some general introductory stuff about the Palm Sunday procession, from the beginning of the same chapter:

The origin of the Palm Sunday procession in the Latin West can be traced back to Jerusalem and the scriptural account of Christ's triumphant entry into the Holy City as a prelude to His final great work of Redemption.  The joyful scene, described in varying degrees of detail in the four Gospels, naturally lent itself to vivid re-creation.  As early as the late fourth century the nun Egeria, a pilgrim to the Holy Land from Spain or southern France, observed the people of Jerusalem reenacting the entry of the conquering Christ.  From the top of the Mount of Olives they led their bishop back to the celestial City, the children running before him shouting "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord."  From Jerusalem the Palm Sunday ceremony moved westward, to th elands of the Gallican rite, undoubtedly carried by pilgrims such as Egeria and by later monastic refugees fleeing the Holy Lands.  The Bobbio Missal, a Gallican source of the early eighth century, contains a blessing of the palms ("Benedictio palme et olivae super altario"), which implies that  a procession followed thereafter (Hermann Graef 1959, II; and Tyrer 1932, 50).  And although there are suggestions that a procession was known in Spain by this time, documents of the ninth century originating in northern France are the first to prove incontrovertibly its existence.  Most important among these is the statement by Amalarius of Metz indicating that the tradition of a Palm Sunday procession was already widespread.  Later, the custom was carried into Italy, though apparently not until the twelfth century was it officially adopted in Rome.

Thus, invoking Amalarius as the witness, we can say with confidence that the clergy of the principal monasteries and cathedrals of the Carolingian Empire were accustomed to celebrate Palm Sunday with an appropriate procession by the ninth century.

You can read Egeria's descriptions of The Liturgy of Jerusalem during the 4th Century; the liturgies of Holy Week are among the most detailed.    Here's the section titled "Procession with Palms on the Mount of Olives":

Accordingly at the seventh hour all the people go up to the Mount of Olives, that is, to Eleona, and the bishop with them, to the church, where hymns and antiphons suitable to the day and to the place are said, and lessons in like manner. And when the ninth hour approaches they go up with hymns to the Imbomon, that is, to the place whence the Lord ascended into heaven, and there they sit down, for all the people are always bidden to sit when the bishop is present; the deacons alone always stand. Hymns and antiphons suitable to the day and to the place are said, interspersed with lections and prayers.

And as the eleventh hour approaches, the passage from the Gospel is read, where the children, carrying branches and palms, met the Lord, saying; Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord, and the bishop immediately rises, and all the people with him, and they all go on foot from the top of the Mount of Olives, all the people going before him with hymns and antiphons, answering one to another: Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord.

And all the children in the neighbourhood, even those who are too young to walk, are carried by their parents on their shoulders, all of them bearing branches, some of palms and some of olives, and thus the bishop is escorted in the same manner as the Lord was of old.

For all, even those of rank, both matrons and men, accompany the bishop all the way on foot in this manner, making these responses, from the top of the mount to the city, and thence through the whole city to the Anastasis, going very slowly lest the people should be wearied; and thus they arrive at the Anastasis at a late hour. And on arriving, although it is late, lucernare takes place, with prayer at the Cross; after which the people are dismissed.

As you can see, the procession in Jerusalem was stational; it moved from place to place on the way to the Church of the Resurrection (called "the Anastasis" by Egeria) many hours later.  This was also the case in the Chartres procession; in fact, the route of the procession was laid out to recall the geography of Jerusalem itself.  Again according to "The Palm Sunday Procession in Medieval Chartres," and moving back to the beginning of the procession as it leaves the cathedral:

To the sounds of now a great general pealing, they exited [the cathedral] through the royal west door, preceded by crosses, Gospel books for the clergy of each church, and feretories bearing the relics of saints.  The succentor soon sang forth the incipit of the first of the responsoria de historia, the succession of nine great responsories that tell the story of Christ's triumphant entry into Jerusalem.  This cycle had already been sung at the cathedral that morning at Matins and now was chanted again as the procession made its way through the streets of Chartres.  Moving towards the east, the assembly passed beyond the walls of the city and to the first station, a cemetery outside the priory of Saint-Barthélemy, where it was joined by processions coming from other churches.  The route of the procession had obviously been chosen so as to traverse a topography reminiscent of that of ancient Jerusalem.  The cemetery at Saint-Barthélemy corresponds to Golgotha, the site of Christ's crucifixion to the east and beyond the walls of Jerusalem.  From there the procession of Chartres ascended a hill to the abbey church of Saint-Cheron.  Again, the topography was perfectly chosen.  Saint-Cheron, then as now, sits atop a hill, a substitute Mount of Olives, whence one can see the celestial Jerusalem of Chartres some four kilometers distant to the west.

.....

At the great cross in the cemetery the clergy and populace stopped in station and divided themselves into two distinct performing groups.  The bishop, cantor, priests, and deacons, and the multitude of townsfolk (populus multus) remained on the est side of the cross looking west.  The succentor, subdeacons, and choir-boys, all in a prearranged order, moved to their customary place (consuetus locus) on the west side and faced the other group to the east.  With the choirboys singing the verses and the bishop's group and succentor's group alternating with the refrain, the chanted the ninth-century processional hymn Gloria laus et honor [Palm Sunday: Gloria, laus et honor tibi ("All Glory, Laud, and Honor")].  This antiphonal singing of the Gloria laus was a musical and dramatic high point of the ceremony.

Sounds great!  And this was followed by an "Adoration of the Cross," including prostrations, to the singing of antiphons.


Here's another chant version of the responsory, sung by Giovanni Viannini:




And here's a polyphonic setting by Pandolfo Zallamella (1551 - 1591), sung by the Czech group Dyškanti: "Sacred Music from the Rosenberg Library," 14 May 2011 at the Church of the Virgin Mary in Ceské Budejovice:



ChristusRex.org has all the chant propers for today, sung by the Sao Paolo Benedictines:

Hebdomada SanctaDominica in Palmis de Passione Domini

Antiphona: Hosanna filio David (34.9s - 548 kb) score

Ad processionem
Procedamus (8.3s - 133 kb) score
Antiphona: Pueri... portantes (2m24.9s - 2266 kb) score
Antiphona: Pueri... vestimenta (1m18.4s - 1228 kb) score
Hymnus ad Christum Regem: Gloria, laus (2m43.7s - 2558 kb) score
Responsorium: Ingrediente Domino (3m34.2s - 3350 kb) score

Ad Missam

Tractus: Ps. 21, 2-9.18.19.22.24.32 Deus, Deus meus (1m54.7s - 1794 kb) score
Graduale: Phil. 2, 8. V. 9 Christus factus est (2m19.3s - 2178 kb) score
Offertorium: Ps. 68, 21.22 Improperium... et dederunt (2m40.2s - 2504 kb) score
Communio: Mt. 26, 42 Pater, si non potest (3m28.0s - 3252 kb) score

And here are Chantblog posts on some of these:

• Palm Sunday: Hosanna, Filio David
• Palm Sunday: Gloria, laus et honor tibi ("All Glory, Laud, and Honor").
• The Palm Sunday Tract: Deus, Deus Meus
• The Palm Sunday Gradual: Christus factus est
• The Palm Sunday Offertory: Improperium expectavit cor meum