MCE 03-06 Adoramus te Christe : Virgo mitis
Motet
T1 and T2, mm. 66–90, ‘Ave virgo virginum...Peccatorum venia’, quote verses 1 and 2 from the sequence Mane prima sabbati (Cantus ID ah54143). It is likely that the sequence Ave virgo virginum, from which the text of this passage derives, was sung to this melody.
Text (ed. by Eva Ferro)
Edition |
English translation |
Adoramus te, Christe, et benedicimus tibi, |
We adore you, Christ, and we bless you, |
Virgo mitis[1][i], virgo pia, |
Sweet virgin, pious virgin, |
Ave, virgo virginum, |
Hail, virgin of virgins, |
Castitatis lilium, |
Lily of chastity, |
Tu pincerna veniae, |
You are the bearer of forgiveness, |
[1] mitis] mater Librone 3, C
[i] mitis] mittis Librone 3, A T1 B
The textual edition of this motet is based on one source, Librone 3, ff. 131v–132r, where the motet was written by Scribe I. No mistakes were made by the scribe except for the substitution of the word ‘mater’ for mitis in C.
Devotion to Mary is the predominant topic in this motet as well, except for the first portion of the text. This clearly did not represent a problem for the composer in spite of the fact that this motet was intended for the elevation, as the loco rubric Ad elevationem at the top of fol. 131v indicates. On the other hand, the Christological prayer with which the text opens (‘Adoramus te, Christe…’) clearly hints at the intended liturgical position of the motet. This prayer, widespread and often combined with other prayers, was used on various occasions. At least one source, a fifteenth-century book of hours from Lille – Bibl. municipale, MS 14 (a.c.69)[1] – explicitly mentions it as an Elevation prayer with the rubric: ‘In elevatione corporis sanctissimi DNIC humiliter inclinatus percutiendo pectus tuum dic’, which translates as: ‘Say this prayer while you humbly bow and while beating your breast at the Elevation of the body of our most holy Lord Jesus Christ.’
The subsequent verses are drawn from various Marian sequences, Ave virgo virginum (AH 54, no. 285, p. 432) for ‘Ave virgo … Peccatorum venia’ and Mariae praeconio (AH 54, no. 249, p. 391) for ‘Tu pincerna … es regina’, with some interpolations.
[1] See Giacomo Baroffio, ‘Corpus italicum precum: Materiali per una storia del sentimento religioso in Italia’, http://www.hymnos.sardegna.it/iter/iterliturgicum.htm.
Measure | Voice | Source | Category | Comment | Image |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
I-Mfd3 | designation of voices | –, Altus, Tenor primus, Tenor secundus, Bassus | |||
I-Mfd3 | clefs | original clefs: c1, c4, c4, c4, f4 |
Text
Edition | English translation |
---|---|
Adoramus te, Christe, et benedicimus tibi, |
We adore you, Christ, and we bless you, |
Virgo mitis, virgo pia, |
Sweet virgin, pious virgin, |
Ave, virgo virginum, |
Hail, virgin of virgins, |
Castitatis lilium, |
Lily of chastity, |
Tu pincerna veniae, |
You are the bearer of forgiveness, |