04 December, 2006

Rorate coeli desuper

One of my favorite Advent hymns, and probably my favorite. There are some English versions of this hymn, but we're not longer allowed to think of ourselves as sinners whose actions bring our own suffering upon us, so no one I know sings this anymore at this time of year, or anything like this.


Rorate coeli desuper
et nubes pluant justum.
Break open, o heavens, from above,
that the clouds might rain down the Just One.
Ne irascaris, Domine!
Ne ultra memineris iniquitatem.
Ecce civitas sancta facta est deserta:
Sion deserta facta est.
Jerusalem desolata facta est.
Domus sanctificationis tua et gloria tua,
et ubi laudaverunt te patres nostri.
Be not angry, Lord,
nor remember any longer our iniquity.
Behold, your holy city has been deserted:
Zion has been deserted.
Jerusalem has been made desolate.
Your house of sanctification and your glory,
where our fathers praised you.
Peccavimus, et facti sumus tamquam immundus nos
Et cecidimus, quasi folium universi
Et iniquitates nostrae quasi ventus abstulerunt nos
Abscondisti faciem tuam a nobis
Et allisisti nos in manu iniquitatis nostrae.
We have sinned, and have been made unclean
and we have fallen, all of us like leaves
and our iniquities blow us about like the wind.
You have hidden your face from us
and abandoned us in the hand of our iniquity.
Vide, Domine, afflictionem populi tui.
et mitte quem missurus es:
emitte Agnum, dominatorem terra,
de petra deserti ad montem filia Sion:
ut auferat ipse jugum captivitatis nostra.
See, O Lord, the affliction of your people,
and send him who is to come:
send the Lamb, the lord of the earth,
from the rock of the desert to the mountain of your daughter Zion:
that he might himself take the yoke of our captivity.
Consolamini, popule meus:
cito veniet salus tua: Quare moerore consumeris
quia innovavit te dolor? Salvabo te,noli timere
Ego enim sum Dominus Deus tuus:
Sanctus Israel, Redemptor tuus.
Be consoled, my people:
your salvation will come quickly: why squander with sorrow,
why does your anguish renew? I will save you: be not afraid.
Indeed I am the Lord your God:
the Holy One of Israel, your Redeemer.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

O, indeed, I love it too, especially to sing it. Great words, great tune.

And as for the Tempus Nativitatis I love "Puer natus in Bethlehem, alleluia"

cheers

jack perry said...

Thanks for the comment! I love Puer Natus in Bethlehem, alleluia as well. I may add a translation at the appropriate time.