Gregorian Chants for Ash Wednesday
- angelamrocchio
- Feb 16
- 6 min read
Updated: Feb 16
Image: 16th century antiphoner from Braga Cathedral, Portugal
"Attende Domine et miserere quia peccavimus tibi" | respond from responsory, Emendemus in melius:
When describing the liturgical calendar, most people visualize a pie chart. Fixed proportions are designated to each season: Advent, Christmas, Lent, Easter, etc. Each year we revisit the same seasons, feasts, observances, and proper texts.
A colleague once challenged me to rotate the pie chart horizontally, and to think of the liturgical calendar as a descending spiral staircase. While we certainly do anually return to the same occasions around the circumference of this liturgical circle, each repetition beckons us to go deeper.
Image: spiral staircase of Loretto Chapel, Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA
The chants for the imposition of ashes on Ash Wednesday extend just such an invitation to delve deeper. While public awareness for the proper antiphons, and their Gregorian counterparts, has been growing in recent years, these particular chants, Immutemur, Iuxta Vestibulum, and Emendemus in melius are still relatively unknown. The chants and their texts are particularly poignant to the beginning of a new Lenten season.
Additionally, two of them are related to well known Lenten hymns which even churchgoers who are unfamiliar with the Gregorian repertory have likely encountered at some point: Parce Domine, and Attende Domine.
I hope that this presentation of the chants for Ash Wednesday will help you to enter more fully into the spirit of Lent.
Imposition of Ashes, chant 1: Immutemur
cf. Joel 2:12-13
late 10th century manuscript from Einsideln link
Immutemur sheet music: chant notation | standard notation p.1 | standard notation p.2
Immutemur habitu, in cinere et cilicio:
jejunemus, et ploremus ante Dominum:
quia multum misericors est dimittere peccata nostra Deus noster.
Let us change the appearance of our garments with ashes and sackcloth;
let us come before the Lord with fasting and tears.
For in his great mercy, our God will forgive us our sins.
translation from Gregorian Missal
"Sackcloth and ashes"
The text of Immutemur takes a perplexing departure from the scripture upon which it is based:
"rend your hearts, and not your garments" (Joel 2:13)
Why does the chant seem to suggest we do the opposite? Jesus states that he did not come to destroy the Law. "Do not think that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets. I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill." Matthew 5:17 Indeed, the writings of many early church fathers prove that the use of sackcloth and ashes continued after Christ's life on earth.
Sackcloth and ashes signify a humble change of heart. It is the humility within the act to which God responds, and it is God who cleanses the repentant heart. "Thou hast turned for me my mourning into joy: thou hast cut my sackcloth, and hast compassed me with gladness." Psalm 29:12 [Psalm 30:12]
Contrast this genuine humility of heart with the hypocrisy of the Pharisees, the latter which Jesus curses:"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites; because you make clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but within you are full of rapine and uncleanness." Matthew 23:25
The Lenten work of moral purification, I propose, is the act of interiorly ordering the soul to correspond to outward penances. Yes, the conversion of heart does begin with outward signs. Ashes are important. But this is only the beginning of the work.
"Today if you shall hear his voice, harden not your hearts."
Psalm 94:8 [Psalm 95:8]
Imposition of Ashes 2: Iuxta vestibulum
cf. Joel 2:17 and Esther 13:17
late 10th century manuscript from Einsideln link
Iuxta vestibulum sheet music: chant notation | standard notation p.1 | standard notation p.2
Juxta vestibulum et altare plorabunt sacerdotes et levitae
ministri Domini, et dicent:
Parce Domine, parce populo tuo:
et ne dissipes ora canentium ad te, Domine.
Between the vestibule and the altar, the priests and the Levites,
the ministers of the Lord, will weep and say:
"Spare your people, spare them O Lord,
and do not destroy the mouth of those who call upon you."
translation from Gregorian Missal
To grasp the full meaning of the text, it is worth reading the whole chapter of Joel from which it originates. The first half describes the terror associated with the Second Coming. But it does not end there. The second half responds with tidings of hope: "And you, O children of Sion, rejoice, and be joyful in the Lord your God: because he hath given you a teacher of justice, and he will make the early and the latter rain to come down to you as in the beginning."
Inter vestibulum, motet by Cristóbal Morales
Parce Domine
sheet music | recording link (click on "Lent")
Iuxta vestibulum dates back at least to the 10th century. In this chant, we encounter a form of the refrain of Parce Domine, a prominent Lenten hymn today. Below is the text of that refrain:
Parce Domine, parce populo tuo,
ne in aeternum irascaris nobis.
Spare your people, Lord, spare your people and have mercy.
Do not be angry with us forever.
The most popular form of this hymn is not contained in the Cantus Index, and seems to be a fairly modern composition. Some versions include verses from Psalm 50[51], the same text that is employed in Miserere Mei by Allegri, a piece which Mozart allegedly transcribed from memory after hearing it sung once at the Sistine Chapel.
The verses included in the sheet music linked above, however, have a different oigin. They are a synthesis of multiple Office hymns — a sort of "best of the Lenten season" synopsis, if you will:
Verses 1 and 2 are from the Matins hymn, Ex more docti mystico
Verse 3 are from the Lauds hymn, O sol salutis
Verses 4 and 5 are from the Vespers hymn, Audi benigne conditor
Parce Domine: other settings
Chants Divers indicates three alternate melodies for the refrain on pp. *59 - *60 (PDF pages 63-64). See numbers 55, 56, 57.
James Richardson of Serviam Scores has generously made available for free a simple, 3-part version based on Garau's composition; it is available with verses in Latin, English, and Spanish. sheet music | practice tracks
Jacob Obrecht wrote what may be considered the definitive motet; be sure to give it a listen. recording | sheet music
Imposition of ashes 3: Emendemus in melius (responsory)
cf. Baruch 3:2 and Psalm 78:9 [Psalm 79:9]
13th-century antiphoner from the Cathedral of Sens, France
Emendemus sheet music: chant notation | standard notation p.1 | standard notation p.2
Emendemus in melius, quae ignoranter peccavimus:
ne subito praeoccupati die mortis,
queramus spatium poenitentiae, et invenire non possumus.
* Attende Domine, et miserere: quia peccavimus tibi.
V. Adiuva nos, Deus salutaris noster: et propter honorem nominis tui, Domine, libera nos.
* Attende Domine...
Let us make amends for the sins we have committed in ignorance,
lest death's day come upon us suddenly,
when we might seek more time for repentance and find none.
* Hearken, O Lord, and have mercy, for we have sinned against you.
V. Help us, O God, our Saviour, and for the glory of your name, deliver us, O Lord.
* Hearken, O Lord...
translation from Gregorian Missal
Emendemus in melius, motet by William Byrd
I was first exposed to this stunning motet while singing in my college choir, and have never forgotten it. Pay attention to the text painting.
Attende Domine
sheet music | recording link (click on "Lent")
In Emendemus in melius, a chant which dates back at least to the 13th century, we encounter a form of the refrain of Attende Domine, another popular Lenten hymn today. This hymn is sometimes called the Lenten Prose, akin to the hymn Rorate Caeli (the hymn is to be distinguished from the introit by the same name), the Advent Prose.
Refrain: Attende Domine, et miserere, quia peccavimus tibi.
Refrain: Look down, O Lord, and have mercy, for we have sinned against you.
Ad te Rex summe, omnium Redemptor, oculos nostros sublevamus flentes: Exaudi, Christe, supplicantum preces. To thee, high King, Redeemer of all, weeping we lift our eyes; hear, Christ, the prayers of thy servants.
Dextera Patris, lapis angularis, via salutis, janua caelestis, ablue nostri maculas delicti.
Right hand of the Father, cornerstone, path of salvation and gate of heaven,
cleanse the stains of our sins.
Rogamus, Deus, tuam majestatem: Auribus sacris gemitus exaudi: crimina nostra placidus indulge. O God, we pray thy majesty, lend thy holy ears to our sighs, mercifully forgive
our offenses.
Tibi fatemur crimina admissa: contrito corde pandimus occulta: Tua, Redemptor, pietas ignoscat. To thee we confess committed sin, with contrite heart we unveil hidden faults;
may thy mercy, Redeemer, forgive.
Innocens captus, nec repugnans ductus; testibus falsis pro impiis damnatus:
Quos redemisti, tu conserva, Christe.
Seized though innocent, led away unresisting, condemned by false witness in
place of the guilty, Christ keep those whom thou hast redeemed.
This hymn is a fairly modern composition, and like Parce Domine, does not appear in the Cantus Index. The verses, however, have a very interesting and much more ancient origin —
the Mozarabic (Spanish) Rite!
![origin of Attende Domine verses [2]](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/afd73c_f230cd8ab2964a7cbd4739a726314f30~mv2.png/v1/fill/w_418,h_90,al_c,q_85,enc_avif,quality_auto/afd73c_f230cd8ab2964a7cbd4739a726314f30~mv2.png)
Some sources say the verses date all the way back into the 10th century. The images shown just above appear in a 1775 Spanish publication as the Preces (Supplications) prescribed for the noon Office on Holy Thursday, with the simple response, "Et miserere." (Note that the words for the first verse of the hymn version have been reordered a bit.)
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