You Heavens, Sprinkle Dew from Above CWB II 254

Advent, in CWB II, gets closed out with:

253 Advent Litany

…and this song aka Rorate caeli desuper. It is a chant for Advent based on Isaiah 45:8. The translation in CWB II is by Rev Percy Jones and since there is no claim of copyright, here it is:

Antiphon

You heavens, sprinkle dew from above.

You clouds rain down the Just One.

1 Withhold your anger from us O Lord,

Be mindful no more of our evil doing,

For the city of your Holy One has become a desert:

Sion has been laid waste, Jerusalem empty and desolate:

The house of your hallowing presence and of your glory,

Where our ancestors of old sang your praises.

Antiphon

2 We all have sinned and have become like one unclean.

We have all fallen low as dead leaves fall in autumn;

And like the wind our sins have swept us away.

You have hidden from us your face.

You have crushed us in the grip of our transgressions.

Antiphon

3 Behold O Lord the affliction of your people;

And send him who is to come.

Send forth the Lamb, the Lord of the universe:

As ransom gold from Petra in the desert

To the mount of Sion’s daughter,

May he deliver us from the yoke of our captivity.

Antiphon

4 “Be comforted , be comforted, O you my people,

For quickly comes your salvation.

Why are you consumed with grief?

For your sorrow has transformed you;

I come to save, away with all your fears:

For I am your Lord and your God Most High,

Israel’s Holy One and your Redeemer.”

Antiphon

 

The tune is beyond me (BIAB can’t do Chant!) but not the people at Gregorian Chant Hymns.

The Latin text and sound file are here.

Better still you could download the Parish Book of Chant as a free pdf from Musica Sacra and wonder why you paid money for CWB II.

 

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