Chants of the Vatican Graduale - MusicaSacra

120 First Sunday in Lent
of glorificdbo: the former has e as its lowest note, the latter has e as its
highest. All the depths of the soul, be they ever so profound, will find
their perfect satisfaction in the glory of God. Although this phrase is
much like the preceding one, the emphasis given to d in the first half
and the descent to e in the second half succeed in individualizing it.
Parallel sentence structure, clear delineation and presentation of what is
important, pleasing contrasts and cadences: those are the features of
this chant.
The same melody is used on Trinity Sunday and on the feast of St.
Joseph Cupertino.
In the psalm-verse the final cadence, by way of exception, begins
not on the fifth last, but on the sixth last syllable.
Caecilia, 29, 18 i.;Gregoriusbote, 25, 10 ff.
GRADUAL (Ps. 90: 11, 12)
1. Angelis suis 2. mandavit de te, 1. To his angels 2. hath he given
3. ut custodiant te 4. in omnibus charge over thee, 3. to keep thee 4.
viis tuis. $. 1. In manibus porta- in all thy ways. $ T . 1. In their hands
bunt te, 2. ne unquam offendas 3. they shall bear thee up, 2. lest at
ad lapidem 4. pedem tuum. any time thou dash 3-4. thy foot
against a stone.
According to the words of the Epistle, a servant of God must prove
himself "in much patience, in tribulation, in necessities, in distresses, in
stripes, in prisons, in labors, in watchings, in fastings." The Apostle is
describing his own life. But in the introduction he notes this word of
the Lord: "In an acceptable time have I heard thee, and in the day of
salvation have I helped Thee." The verses of this Gradual point to a
special kind of divine help and protection; they are the very verses
quoted by the devil in today's Gospel. But in the Gradual the Church
tells us this: he who does not willfully place himself in danger, who is
not more wise than it behooveth to be wise, but humbly places his confidence
in God, for such a one these words will ever remain true. They
are our consolation in all the trials and temptations we may have to
undergo.
God Himself has put us in the care of the angels, of His own angels.
In the prayers of the Breviary this verse resounds throughout the whole
of Lent.
The melody is a typical one, and is employed for a great variety of
texts. Here we shall discuss only those texts which occur on Sundays
and feast days and in the Requiem Mass. In Paleographie musicale
(Vol. II) are published two hundred and nineteen manuscripts, dating
from the ninth to the seventeenth century, in all of which this melody