Now Let Us All with One Accord / Ex More Docti Mystico / Precemur Omnes Cernui

In Fellowship with Ages Past

Now Let Us All with One Accord, first published in 1972 is a translation and adaption by the editors of Praise the Lord Hymnal (Geoffrey Chapman, publisher) of the Lenten Hymn sung in the Roman Breviary: Ex More Docti Mystico (see 2nd video) attributed to St. Gregory the Great (540-604). In the Roman Breviary this Latin hymn has been divided into two separate hymns for Lent: Ex More Docti Mystico (Verses 1-4, Sunday Matins) and Precemur Omnes Cernui (Verses 5-9, Sunday Lauds). In the Liturgy of the Hours, Now Let Us All with One Accord is used during Lent. It is set to the tune, The Truth Sent From Above: a Herefordshire Folk Song collected by Cecil J. Sharp and popularized by Ralph Vaughan-Williams.


Tune: The Truth Sent From Above

EX MORE DOCTI MYSTICO

1. EX MORE DOCTI MYSTICO
servemus abstinentiam,
deno dierum circulo
ducto quater notissimo.

2. Lex et prophetae primitus
hanc praetulerunt, postmodum
Christus sacravit, omnium
rex atque factor temporum.

3. Utamur ergo parcius
verbis, cibis et potibus,
somno, iocis et arctius
perstemus in custodia.

4. Vitemus autem pessima
quae subruunt mentes vagas,
nullumque demus callido
hosti locum tyrannidis.

5. PRECEMUR OMNES CERNUI,
clamemus atque singuli,
ploremus ante iudicem,
flectamus iram vindicem:

6. Nostris malis offendimus
tuam, Deus, clementiam;
effunde nobis desuper,
remissor, indulgentiam.

7. Memento quod sumus tui,
licet caduci, plasmatis;
ne des honorem nominés
tui, precamur, alteri.

8. Laxa malum quod fecimus,
auge bonum quod poscimus,
placere quo tandem tibi
possimus hic et perpetim.

9. Praesta, beata Trinitas,
concede, simplex Unitas,
ut fructuosa sint tuis
haec parcitatis munera. Amen
 
Ex More Docti Mystico (Ambrosian)

PRECEMUR OMNES CERNUI

1. PRECEMUR OMNES CERNUI,
clamemus atque singuli,
ploremus ante iudicem,
flectamus iram vindicem:

2. Nostris malis offendimus
tuam, Deus, clementiam;
effunde nobis desuper,
remissor, indulgentiam.

3. Memento quod sumus tui,
licet caduci, plasmatis;
ne des honorem nominés
tui, precamur, alteri.

4. Laxa malum quod fecimus,
auge bonum quod poscimus,
placere quo tandem tibi
possimus hic et perpetim.

5. Praesta, beata Trinitas,
concede, simplex Unitas,
ut fructuosa sint tuis
haec parcitatis munera. Amen

Songs of Thankfulness and Praise

God in Man Made Manifest

Songs of Thankfulness and Praise, first published in 1862 was written by Christopher Wordsworth (1807-1855). Nephew of poet William Wordsworth, he was a Priest of the Church of England. He was a prolific author and hymn writer. His hymns often reflect the kind of mysticism and use of scripture present in the writings of the Early Fathers of the Eastern Church that he studied. Songs of Thankfulness and Praise is sung to the 1678 tune, Salzburg by Jakob Hintze (1622-1702). In the Liturgy of the Hours it is used on the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord.



SONGS OF THANKFULNESS AND PRAISE by Christopher Wordsworth, 1862 (Public Domain) 

1. Songs of thankfulness and praise
Jesu, Lord, to Thee we raise.
Manifested by the star
To the sages from afar;
Branch of royal David's stem
In Thy birth at Bethlehem;
Anthems be to Thee addressed,
God in Man made manifest.

 2. Manifest at Jordan's stream,
Prophet, Priest, and King supreme;
And at Cana, wedding-guest,
In Thy God-head manifest;
Manifest in power divine,
Changing water in to wine;
Anthems be to Thee addressed,
God in Man made manifest.

 3. Manifest in making whole
Palsied limbs and fainting soul;
Manifest in valiant fight,
Quelling all the devil's might;
Manifest in gracious will,
Ever bringing good from ill;
Anthems be to Thee addressed,
God in Man made manifest.

 4. Sun and moon shall darkened be.
Stars shall fall, and heavens shall flee;
Christ will then like lightning shine,
All will see His glorious sign:
All will then the trumpet hear;
All will see the Judge appear;
Thou by all wilt be confessed,
God in Man made manifest.

 5. Grant us grace to see Thee, Lord,
Present in Thy holy Word;
May we imitate Thee now,
And be pure, as pure art Thou;
That we like to Thee may be
At Thy great Epiphany;
And may praise Thee, ever blest,
God in Man made manifest.

When Jesus Comes to Be Baptized

The Spirit of the Lord Comes Down

When Jesus Comes to Be Baptized, first published in 1971, it was written by the Benedictine Nuns of Stanbrook Abbey, England. The convent is supported spiritually in prayer by some 100 Oblates and over 800 Friends. Oblates (25,000 world-wide) are similar to Third-Order Franciscans or Dominicans. Friends of UK Benedictine Orders have included such luminaries as Dame Laurentia McLachlan, George Bernard Shaw and Sydney Cockerell. When Jesus Came to Be Baptized is sung to the tune, St. Venantius from the Clausener Gesangbuch (1653). The following video features an unknown alternative melody. In the Liturgy of the Hours it is used on the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord.