Of old, the Jews sounded trumpets to invite men to weddings, and to solemn feasts, and to move their camp; wherefore, now the Lord has commanded the prelates to sound trumpets, inviting the nations to the wedding of the King, whose day is upon us, namely, the day of the Lord’s Birth, in which Christ wedded human nature to himself, according to that which is said in the Psalm (18, 6), “And He is like a bridegroom going forth from his chamber.” (This psalm is used in some of the Masses of Advent, and at Matins of Christmas.) Sing ye, therefore, because the wedding is nigh, and for this very reason, in this week, the cantors lift up their voices higher than usual in the responsories, and in the introit, so that we who were previously weighed down by the slumber of negligence may at least be roused by the calling out and excitement of the chants.
Introitus Isa 45 Roráte, caeli, désuper, et nubes pluant justum: aperiátur terra, et gérminet Salvatórem. Ps. 18 Caeli enarrant gloriam Dei: et ópera manuum ejus annuntiat firmamentum. Gloria Patri ... Roráte... (Drop down dew, ye heavens, from above, and let the clouds rain the Just one, let the earth be opened, and bud forth a Savior. Ps. The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament proclaims the work of His hands. Glory be... Drop down dew...)
...in the Office of this Sunday, which is drawn in part from the prophets, and in part from the Gospel... the calling of the nations is especially declared through the coming of Christ, where in the person of the Apostles and doctors is said, “Sound ye the trumpet, and call the nations.” (This is the beginning of the first responsory of Matins and the first antiphon of Lauds on the fourth Sunday of Advent. This motet by Palestrina is the text of the first and third antiphons of Lauds, and the Introit of the Mass given above.)
Canite tuba in Sion, quia prope est dies Domini; ecce veniet ad salvandum nos, alleluja, alleluja. Erunt prava in directa, et aspera in vias planas: Veni, Domine, et noli tardare. Alleluia. Rorate caeli, etc. (Sound ye the trumpet in Zion, for the day of the Lord is nigh; behold He shall come to save us, alleluia, alleluia. The crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain: come, o Lord, and tarry not, alleluia. Drop down dew...)
(The following section refers to an introit which was sung on this Sunday in many medieval Uses, but is not part of the Roman repertoire.) Indeed, the gentile nations, seeing that the Godhead would be made ready in the womb of a virgin, cries out to Him in the Introit, according to the use of some churches, “Remember us, o Lord, in the good pleasure of Thy people”, that is, in Thy Son, in whom Thou was well pleased from among the thousands of people, He who was Thine from the beginning of the world. (Durandus, Rationale Divinorum Officiorum, VI, 11, 2-3)
Introitus, Ps. 105 Memento nostri, Domine, in beneplacito populi tui; visita nos in salutari tuo, ad videndum in bonitate electorum tuorum, ad laetandum in laetitia gentis tuæ, ut lauderis cum haereditate tua. Ps. Confitemini Domino, quoniam bonus, quoniam in sæculum misericordia ejus. Gloria Patri... Memento... (Remember us, o Lord, in the favor of Thy people: visit us with thy salvation, that we may see the good of Thine elect, that we may rejoice in the joy of thy nation, that thou mayst be praised with thy inheritance. Ps. Praise ye the Lord, for He is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.)
