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Pope Saint Paul VI (3 April 1969): “Although the text of the Roman Gradual—at least that which concerns the singing—has not been changed, the Entrance antiphons and Communions antiphons have been revised for Masses without singing.”

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Views from the Choir Loft

Re: Ancient Sequence (Thursday after Pentecost)

Jeff Ostrowski · May 29, 2023

ERONICA MORENO recently published a fascinating article called: Terrific Pentecost Hymn You’ve Not Heard Before! Basically, Veronica spoke about the ancient Sequence for Pentecost Thursday called: Qui Procédis Ab Utróque. Veronica provided quite a bit of information. For example, she posted a PDF organ accompaniment—99 pages!—by HENRI POTIRON (professor at the Gregorian Institute in Paris) which contains an accompaniment for that Sequence. Veronica also provided a peerless metrical translation by MONSIGNOR RONALD KNOX, which is #710 in the Brébeuf Portal. She also posted rehearsal videos, a mediæval manuscript, background for the ALLES IST AN GOTTES SEGEN tune, and other interesting items.

FSSP Priest Enters! • A member of the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter saw the article and was inspired to create—for the first time in history—a literal translation into English:

Qui procédis ab utróque,
Genitóre Genitóque,
Páriter Paráclite.
Redde linguas eloquéntes,
Fac fervéntes in te mentes
Flamma tua dívite.

Thou who procedest equally from each,
Father and Son,
O Paraclete:
render tongues rich in speech,
make minds glow for thee
through thy lavish flame.

Amor Patris Filiíque,
Par ambórum et utríque
Compar et consímilis.
Cuncta reples, cuncta foves,
Astra regis, caelum moves,
Pérmanens immóbilis.

Love of the Father and Son,
equal of both, and to each
matched and alike:
all thou fillest, all thou tendest,
stars thou rulest, heaven thou movest,
all unmoving thou remaining.

Lumen carum, lumen clarum,
Internárum tenebrárum
Éffugans calíginem.
Per te mundi sunt mundáti:
Tu peccátum, tu peccáti
Déstruis rubíginem.

Light beloved, light radiant,
putting to flight the obscurity
of inward shadows:
the clean by thee are cleansed:
thou sin, and thou sin’s
rust destroyest.

Veritátem notam facis,
Et osténdis viam pacis,
Et iter justítiae.
Perversórum corda vitas,
Et bonórum corda ditas
Múnere sciéntiae.

Truth thou makest known,
thou showest both the way of peace
and the course of justice.
The hearts of the depraved thou shunnest,
and the hearts of the good thou enrichest
with the gift of knowledge.

Te docénte nil obscúrum,
Te regénte nil impúrum
Sub tua praeséntia.
Gloriátur mens jucúnda
Per te laeta; per te munda
Gaudet consciéntia.

With thy teaching naught is darksome,
with thy ruling naught is sullied
beneath thy gaze
[lit. presence].
The cheerful mind glories,
gladdened by thee; made clean
by thee, conscience rejoices.

Tu commútas eleménta:
Per te suam sacraménta
Habent efficáciam.
Tu nocívam vim repéllis,
Tu confútas et reféllis
Hóstium nequítiam.

Elements thou convertest:
by thee do the sacraments
possess their power.
Harmful force thou drivest away,
thou restrainest and exposest
the wickedness of foes.

Quando venis, corda lenis:
Quando subis, átrae nubis
Éffugit obscúritas.
Sacer ignis, cor fidélis
Intus uris, et a curis
Purgas, quando vísitas.

When thou comest, thou softenest hearts:
when thou enterest, there flees
the dismal cloud’s darkness.
O hallowed fire, the faithful heart
thou burnest within, and from cares
thou clearest, when thou visitest.

Mentes prius imperítas
Et sopítas et oblítas
Érudis et éxcitas.
Foves linguas, formas sonum;
Cor ad bonum facit pronum
A te data cáritas.

Minds hitherto unaware,
both deadened and besmeared
[or in another sense, deceived]
thou refinest and rousest.
Tongues thou tendest, speech thou shapest;
charity, given by thee,
makes the heart inclined to good.

O juvámen oppressórum,
O solámen miserórum,
Páuperum refúgium.
Da contémptum terrenórum,
Ad amórem supernórum
Trahe desidérium.
Amen.

O aid of the downtrodden,
O solace of the wretched,
haven of the poor:
grant
[us] disregard of earthly things,
to the love of things above
draw
[our] longing.
Amen.

Provenance • I believe this Sequence was mainly used in France. You can tell it’s relatively late as it’s written according to rhyme and stress-accent (QuaLitative), rather than long and short syllables (QuanTitative). For more on this, cf. my 2016 article: The “Long & Short” of Latin Hymns.

Opinions by blog authors do not necessarily represent the views of Corpus Christi Watershed.

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Alles Ist An Gottes Segen, Henri Potiron, Monsignor Ronald Knox Traditional Mass, Qui procédis ab utróque, Sequence for Pentecost Thursday Last Updated: May 29, 2023

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About Jeff Ostrowski

Jeff Ostrowski holds his B.M. in Music Theory from the University of Kansas (2004). He resides with his wife and children in Michigan. —(Read full biography).

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Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    “Simplified” Keyboard Accompaniment (PDF)
    I’d much rather hear an organist play a simplified version correctly than listen to wrong notes. I invite you to download this simplified organ accompaniment for hymn #729 in the Father Brébeuf Hymnal. The hymn is “O Jesus Christ, Remember.” I’m toying with the idea of creating a whole bunch of these, to help amateur organists. The last one I uploaded was downloaded more than 1,900 times in a matter of hours—so there seems to be interest in such a project. For the record, this famous text by Oratorian priest, Father Edward Caswall (d. 1878) is often married to AURELIA, as it is in the Brébeuf Hymnal.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    ‘Bogey’ of the Half-Educated: Paraphrase
    Father Adrian Porter, using the cracher dans la soupe example, did a praiseworthy job explaining the difference between ‘dynamic’ and ‘formal’ translation. This is something Monsignor Ronald Knox explained time and again—yet even now certain parties feign ignorance. I suppose there will always be people who pretend the only ‘valid’ translation of Mitigásti omnem iram tuam; avertísti ab ira indignatiónis tuæ… would be “You mitigated all ire of you; you have averted from your indignation’s ire.” Those who would defend such a translation suffer from an unfortunate malady. One of my professors called it “cognate on the brain.”
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Father Cuthbert Lattey • “The Hebrew MSS”
    Father Cuthbert Lattey (d. 1954) wrote: “In a large number of cases the ancient Christian versions and some other ancient sources seem to have been based upon a better Hebrew text than that adopted by the rabbis for official use and alone suffered to survive. Sometimes, too, the cognate languages suggest a suitable meaning for which there is little or no support in the comparatively small amount of ancient Hebrew that has survived. The evidence of the metre is also at times so clear as of itself to furnish a strong argument; often it is confirmed by some other considerations. […] The Jewish copyists and their directors, however, seem to have lost the tradition of the metre at an early date, and the meticulous care of the rabbis in preserving their own official and traditional text (the ‘massoretic’ text) came too late, when the mischief had already been done.” • Msgr. Knox adds: “It seems the safest principle to follow the Latin—after all, St. Jerome will sometimes have had a better text than the Massoretes—except on the rare occasions when there is no sense to be extracted from the Vulgate at all.”
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    “Reminder” — Month of November (2025)
    On a daily basis, I speak to people who don’t realize we publish a free newsletter (although they’ve followed our blog for years). We have no endowment, no major donors, no savings, and refuse to run annoying ads. As a result, our mailing list is crucial to our survival. Signing up couldn’t be easier: simply scroll to the bottom of any blog article and enter your email address.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Gospel Options for 2 November (“All Souls”)
    We’ve been told some bishops are suppressing the TLM because of “unity.” But is unity truly found in the MISSALE RECENS? For instance, on All Souls (2 November), any of these Gospel readings may be chosen, for any reason (or for no reason at all). The same is true of the Propria Missæ and other readings—there are countless options in the ORDINARY FORM. In other words, no matter which OF parish you attend on 2 November, you’ll almost certainly hear different propers and readings, to say nothing of different ‘styles’ of music. Where is the “unity” in all this? Indeed, the Second Vatican Council solemnly declared: “Even in the liturgy, the Church has no wish to impose a rigid uniformity in matters which do not implicate the faith or the good of the whole community.”
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    “Our Father” • Musical Setting?
    Looking through a Roman Catholic Hymnal published in 1859 by Father Guido Maria Dreves (d. 1909), I stumbled upon this very beautiful tune (PDF file). I feel it would be absolutely perfect to set the “Our Father” in German to music. Thoughts?
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“Indeed, we may not hope for real Latin poetry any more, because Latin is now a dead language to all of us. However well a man may read, write, or even speak Latin now, it is always a foreign language to him, acquired artificially. It is no one’s mother tongue. Does a man ever write real poetry in an acquired language?”

— Rev’d Adrian Fortescue (d. 1923)

Recent Posts

  • PDF Download • “Pope Pius XII Psalter” — English, Latin, and Commentary (532 pages)
  • “Simplified” Keyboard Accompaniment (PDF)
  • ‘Bogey’ of the Half-Educated: Paraphrase
  • Father Cuthbert Lattey • “The Hebrew MSS”
  • Re: The People’s Mass Book (1974)

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