WHAT IS A PROLIX RESPONSORY
AND WHY SHOULD I CARE?

by J. Michael Thompson,
on the eve of the First Sunday in Advent, 2021

I heard a prolix responsory sung for the first time in my life at the Church of the Ascension, Chicago, Illinois. The choir was singing the famous "A Procession with Carols on Advent Sunday, which traditionally opens with the choir in the narthex, singing what the "Carols for Choirs" calls "the Advent Responsory," set to a set of faux-bourdons by G. P. da Palestrina.  It is a wonderfully evocative text for the first day of the Church's new year of grace.

R.  I looked from afar, 
and I behold the power of God coming,
and a cloud covering the land.
Go ye out to meet Him and say:
Tell us if Thou art He that shall reign over Thy people Israel?

V. High and low, rich and poor, one with another,
R. Go ye out to meet Him and say:
Tell us if Thou art He that shall reign over Thy people Israel?

V. Hear, O Thou Shepherd  of Israel, 
Thou that leadest Joseph like a sheep.
V. Tell us if Thou art He that shall reign over Thy people Israel?

V. Glory to the Father and to the Son,
and to the Holy Ghost:

R.  I looked from afar, 
and I behold the power of God coming,
and a cloud covering the land.
Go ye out to meet Him and say:
Tell us if Thou art He that shall reign over Thy people Israel?

The Palestrina setting is lovely, even if not designed by the composer for that particular text.

I was certain, the first time that I heard this text, that it was originally sung to a piece of plainsong.  Mind you, I had never been to a celebration of Matins (or Vigils) in the pre-Vatican II Roman Rite.  But I was certain that I was right.

It took very little sleuthing to find out that this Responsory was given in the Roman and monastic books as the First Responsory of the First Sunday of Advent.  A bit of follow-up showed me that its performance was done in a more complicated fashion than most other Responsories, with more repetitions of parts of the text than were often done.

But it was to be twenty years more before I would find a copy of the Mode VII melody.  It wasn't in the "Liber Usualis," which was my first  "go-to" source for plainchant melodies.  I found quite a few other prolix (long) responsories therein---for major feasts such as Christmas, Epiphany, the Sacred Triduum, Ascension, Pentecost, Corpus Christi.  But nothing for Advent.  Finally, when not looking for it at all, I found it in a Cistertian book with many chants used for processions and other devotions often sung at Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament.  There it was, "Aspiciens a longe."

And I longed to do a setting of it that would utilize its chant melody and still permit it to have the drama of choral music for the various parts of the "repetenda."

In 2001, I was able to publish a version of "the Procession With Carols on Advent Sunday," entitled "Redeemer of the Nations Come," which World Library Publications took a chance on  publishing, and in that collection, I put my own version of this gorgeous text, in English, so that it could be heard joined to it's ancient Gregorian melody, but in a 21st century dress.

I offer it to you and wish you a most blessed Advent!
JMT

Redeemer Of The Nations, Come

Choral Responsory: I Look From Afar

Lamb of God II(Agnus Dei)
Mass of St. Monica* 
Composer and Conductor: Paul Jernberg
Recorded by the Cor Unum Chorale
St. John the Evangelist Church
Clinton, Massachusetts
January 4, 2022
*this setting was originally composed as part of the Mass of St. John (1998)

Lamb of God II - Mass of St. Monica

March 17 is the feast of St. Patrick, bishop and apostle of Ireland. This is the Responsory from the medieval office of his feast, as it appears in the "Dublin Troper." The Schola Cantorum of St. Peter's in the Loop recorded it, along with the whole Vespers and Mass for March 17, on "In Honor of St. Patrick: chant for his feast," which is published by The Liturgical Press, Collegeville, MN.
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TRANSLATION OF TEXT:
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Our great father's merits are a source of wonder,
for to Patrick the Lord showed the place of purgatory
where the living purify themselves,
children who have done wrong.
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By the gift of your intercession aid us, O Patrick,
washing away by your good intercessions the ill we have gone.
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(Here the Prose is inserted into the Responsory)
In pure mind and and joyous,
the present gathering celebrates:
Such a father, a holy man,
honoring him with praise.
He makes a fountain flow
and cures a blind man by his prayer.
By the altar, across the sea
he bears a leper in the waves.
May the perverse people be converted
from the hopelessness of their errors,
Believing in Christ,
through Him they obey the Gospel.
Therefore in all our offerings
let us hymn Saint Patrick,
that he may cleanse and deliver us
from the flames!
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(The Responsory resumes here)
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Where the living purify themselves,
children who have done wrong.
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Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit:
*children who have done wrong.

In Honor Of St. Patrick: Chant For His Feast

Responsory And Prose

Text: adaptation of Sub tuum praesidium (traditional Latin Hymn)
Music: Paul F. Jernberg
Recorded at St. John the Guardian of Our Lady Parish
Clinton, Massachusetts
October 21, 2022

Cor Unum Chorale
Paul Jernberg, director

We Fly Unto Your Heart of Compassion

Veni Creator Spiritus
Traditional Chant
Josquin Des Prez (1450-1521) / J. Gerald Phillips (1927-2013)

Wyoming Catholic College Choir & Cor Unum Artists (Paul F. Jernberg, director)

Recorded on October 18, 2024
Gala Concert in honor of Blessed Charles of Austria
The Eagles' Club
Alexandria, Virginia

Recording engineer: Joel Conrad

Text and English Translation:

Veni, Creator Spiritus mentes tuorum visita,
imple superna gratia, quae tu creasti pectora.

Come, Creator Spirit, visit the hearts of your people.                                                                                       Fill with supernal grace the hearts you have made. 

Qui diceris Paraclitus, altissimi donum Dei,
fons vivus, ignis, caritas et spiritalis unctio.

You who are the comforter, gift of the highest God,                                                                                                                   living fount, fire, love, and balm for the spirit:

Tu septiformis munere, digitus paternae dexterae
tu rite promissum Patris sermone ditans guttura.

Bestow the sevenfold gifts, you finger of the hand of God                                                                                                                fulfill the Father’s promise, enriching us with holy speech.

Per te sciamus da Patrem noscamus atque Filium,
te utriusque Spiritum credamus omni tempore.

Through you may we know the Father, and the Son as well, 
and in you, the Spirit, with them both, may we have faith forever.

Veni Creator Spiritus - Des Prez / Phillips

Regina Caeli - Gregor Aichinger (1565-1628)
Recorded by St. John's Schola and Trivium Chorale
Paul Jernberg, Director
Cathedral of St. Paul, Worcester, Massachusetts
May 26, 2000

Note: As this recording was made in "live" at the end of finals week when the level of fatigue was high for most of us, we intended it to be a souvenir for friends and family rather than something to be published. Nevertheless, we hope that the tracks from this CD can give a glimpse into the beauty and joy we experienced and shared in singing this and other great works from our patrimony of sacred choral music.

Regina Caeli - Gregor Aichinger

This is the Exapostilarion for Pascha, the Resurrection of our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ, withmthe Galician chant from Western Ukraine arranged for four-part mixed choir by composer Roman Hurko.  The Schola Cantorum of st. Peter the Apostle recorded it on the cd, Liturgy #3 in English."  
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TRANSLATION OF SLAVONIC TEXT---
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You, O King and Lord,
have fallen asleep in the flesh as a mortal man,
but on the third day You rose again.
You have raised Adam from his corruption
and made death powerless.
You are the Pascha of incorruption;
You are the salvation of the world.


Veni Creator Spiritus - Des Prez / Phillips

Paul F. Jernberg

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