MCE 03-06 Adoramus te Christe : Virgo mitis

Edition

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,
quia per sanctam crucem tuam redemisti mundum.

We adore you, Christ, and we bless you,
because through your Holy Cross you have redeemed the world.

Virgo mitis[1][i], virgo pia,
Esto nobis vitae via,
Esto nostrum refugium
Ut cum dulci melodia
Cantemus ‘Ave Maria’.

Sweet virgin, pious virgin,
be for us a path of life,
be our refuge,
so that we may sing
with a sweet melody ‘Ave Maria’.

Ave, virgo virginum,
Ave, lumen luminum,
Ave, stella praevia.

Hail, virgin of virgins,
hail, light of lights,
hail, guiding star.

Castitatis lilium,
Consolatrix omnium,
Peccatorum venia.

Lily of chastity,
consoler of all,
forgiveness of sins.

Tu pincerna veniae,
Tu lucerna gratiae,
Tu superna gloriae
Es regina
Et vera mentis anxiae
Medicina.

You are the bearer of forgiveness,
you are the lamp of grace,
you are the highest queen
of glory
and the true medicine
of the uneasy soul.


[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.

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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,
quia per sanctam crucem tuam redemisti mundum.

We adore you, Christ, and we bless you,
because through your Holy Cross you have redeemed the world.

Virgo mitis, virgo pia,
Esto nobis vitae via,
Esto nostrum refugium
Ut cum dulci melodia
Cantemus ‘Ave Maria’.

Sweet virgin, pious virgin,
be for us a path of life,
be our refuge,
so that we may sing
with a sweet melody ‘Ave Maria’.

Ave, virgo virginum,
Ave, lumen luminum,
Ave, stella praevia.

Hail, virgin of virgins,
hail, light of lights,
hail, guiding star.

Castitatis lilium,
Consolatrix omnium,
Peccatorum venia.

Lily of chastity,
consoler of all,
forgiveness of sins.

Tu pincerna veniae,
Tu lucerna gratiae,
Tu superna gloriae
Es regina
Et vera mentis anxiae
Medicina.

You are the bearer of forgiveness,
you are the lamp of grace,
you are the highest queen
of glory
and the true medicine
of the uneasy soul.