I thought you would enjoy this piece of English Renaissance music, Thomas Tallis’ setting of the Compline hymn “Te Lucis Ante Terminum.” The words are below the video.
| TE lucis ante terminum, rerum Creator, poscimus ut pro tua clementia sis praesul et custodia. |
TO Thee, before the close of day Creator of the world, we pray that with Thy wonted favor, Thou wouldst be our Guard and Keeper now. |
| Procul recedant somnia et noctium phantasmata; hostemque nostrum comprime, ne polluantur corpora. |
From all ill dreams defend our eyes, from nightly fears and fantasies: tread under foot our ghostly foe, that no pollution we may know. |
| Praesta, Pater piissime, Patrique compar Unice, cum Spiritu Paraclito regnans per omne saeculum. Amen. |
O Father, that we ask be done through Jesus Christ Thine only Son, who, with the Holy Ghost and Thee, shall live and reign eternally. Amen. |
From the Roman Breviary, translation by J. M. Neale (1818-1866).
Tags: Music Sacred Catholic Liturgical and Chant, Orthodoxy at Work
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If you have enjoyed this wonderful piece of Thomas Tallis, you can hear it each Sunday at the Compline service at Christ Church on East Avenue.
Compline, at Christ Church began in 1997 through the desire to provide a service to the community in which art and liturgy were seamlessly interwoven and without the spoken word. The ancient and historic Office of Compline became the ideal model for such a service. Compline, the most contemplative of the monastic offices, marks the close of the “Hours of the Divine Office”, and its origins date back to the 4th Century monastic custom of private prayer and devotion before retiring. St. Benedict is responsible for the name of the office, its liturgical character and arrangement. The Christ Church Schola Cantorum sings Compline at Christ Church every Sunday at 9:00pm from October through April. Various members of the Schola Cantorum as well as faculty and students of the Eastman School of Music play organ preludes to Compline each Sunday evening at about 8:50pm.