Conditor alme siderum

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Latin “sidus” (“siderum”) means more than just a “star”, encompassing also the sun (technically also a star), the moon, and the planets, as well as all the heavenly constellations and comets and meteors.[1]

Conditor alme siderum, is a seventh-century Latin hymn used during the Christian liturgical season of Advent.[2] It is also known in English as Creator of the Stars of Night, from a translation by J.M. Neale.

It was formerly ascribed to Saint Ambrose, but there is no contemporaneous evidence to support the attribution. The hymn has been mainly used in the Divine Office at Vespers.[3]

History[]

The hymn was rewritten by Pope Urban VIII in 1632, changing it so extensively that only the second line of the original hymn remained unchanged. The revision, which begins Creator alme siderum, is thus so extensive that it is in effect a different composition.[4] While the original text did not include a doxology, most versions do include one of some sort, usually appended as verse 6.

John Mason Neale made a translation of the hymn which appeared as "Creator of the Stars of Night" in the first edition of the Hymnal Noted in 1852.[5] The ancient text served as the basis for the text found in the Liturgia Horarum revised in the wake of the Second Vatican Council, where it is indicated for use at Vespers on the First Sunday of Advent. The new text as found in the Antiphonale Romanum II, for Vespers of Sundays and feasts, contains several differences, including the elimination of the Greek word (h)agie in verse 5, due to a correction of the meter, giving Te, Sancte, fide quæsumus instead ("Most holy, faithful One, we beseech thee"). There is also a different doxology than the one found in the appendix to the 1912 Antiphonale Romanum, which contains the ancient texts of the hymns.[6][7][8] The doxology is as follows: Sit, Christe, rex piíssime, tibi Patríque glória cum Spíritu Paráclito in sempitérna sæcula (Glory be unto Christ, most gracious King, and to thee, the Father with the Spirit, the Paraclete in the everlasting age).

Text[]

Footnotes[]

  1. ^ "Catholic Answers". www.catholic.com.
  2. ^ Martin, Michael. "Conditor Alme Siderum". Preces Latinae. Retrieved 29 May 2017.
  3. ^ "Godzdogz". The Dominican Friars. Retrieved 29 May 2017.
  4. ^ Martin, Michael. "Creator alme siderum". Preces Latinae. Retrieved 29 May 2017.
  5. ^ Creator of the Stars of Night Julian, John. Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)
  6. ^ Monks of Solesmes (2009). Antiphonale Romanum II (in Latin). La Froidfontaine, France: S.A.S. p. 7.
  7. ^ Monks of Solesmes (1912). Antiphonale Sacrosanctae Romanae Ecclesiae pro Diurnis Horis. Rome: Typis Polyglottis Vaticanis. p. 12.
  8. ^ DiPippo, Gregory (September 23, 2009). "Compendium of the Reforms of the Roman Breviary, 1568-1961: Part 4 - 1629: The Hymns of Urban VIII". New Liturgical Movement. Archived from the original on 2009-09-27. Retrieved 2021-11-28.
  9. ^ "Conditor alme siderum". www.hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com.
  10. ^ "Creator alme siderum". www.hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com.
  11. ^ "Neale, J.M., "Creator of the Stars of Night"".

External links[]

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