Chants of the Vatican Graduale - MusicaSacra

Vigil of the Nativity 41
His prayers and actions our own, so that that which beams forth in our
souls through faith will, as the Collect for the second Mass of Christmas
puts it, be reflected in our deeds.
Rass. gr., 7, col. 41 f.
VIGIL OF THE NATIVITY
INTROIT (Ex. 16:6, 7)
1. Hodie scietis, quia veniet 1. This day you shall know that
Dominus, et salvabit nos: 2. et the Lord will come, and save us: 2.
mane videbitis gloriam ejus. Ps. and in the morning you shall see his
Domini est terra et plentitudo ejus: glory. Ps. The earth is the Lord's
* orbis terrarum, et universi qui and the fulness thereof: * the world
habitant in eo. and all they that dwell therein.
With these words Moses announced to the people of Israel the manna
from heaven during the journey through the desert. With these same
words Mother Church heralds the true Manna, the Bread of Life, Jesus
Christ, who is born at Bethlehem, the "house of bread" (Schott, Messbuch.)
The opening melody is arresting: it challenges our attention, for it
augurs much. How will it be proclaimed, the message there so solemnly
introduced? It is a message of mightiest import, spirit-stirring, enrapturing,
than which nothing greater can be uttered: The Lord is coming
as Redeemer; tomorrow He will come. The full meaning of the word
Dominus is explained by the Apostle in today's Lesson: the Lord comes
as man, born of the tribe of David. But He is also God, eternal God, of
the same essence as the Father. This God-man comes to redeem us. In
spite of His humble condition, however, the spirit of holiness dwells
within Him, and this leads Him in the end to the great wonder of His
resurrection. The Lord is coming as Redeemer; tomorrow He will come.
Tomorrow, after thousands of years of yearning and waiting; tomorrow,
only a short while to wait, and the hour of deliverance will strike; tomorrow,
and the glory will be revealed of Him whose rule extends over
all the earth, as the psalm-verse says, and over all the inhabitants
thereof.
And the melody? It is of the simplest style, foregoing all attempts
at melismatic grouping. After the portentous introduction, it ranges
itself unpretentiously around the tonic of the sixth mode, nor presuming
to go more than a single tone above it, but several times sinking a fourth