Tags
Candlemas, Canticle, Chandeleur, Feasts, Groundhog Day, Marian Antiphons, Marian hymnology, Nunc Dimittis
Putti (Chérubins), by Raphaël
Marian Antiphons (Antiennes)
Today, 2 February 2015, we are entering the Marian year’s second season, the first takes us from Advent to Candlemas (la Chandeleur), once an observed feast commemorating the presentation of the child Jesus at the Temple. The second lasts until Good Friday.
In other words, as of today the Marian song is the Ave Regina Cælorum. From the beginning of Advent until today, it had been the Alma Redemptoris Mater. Several composers have set the words of the Alma Redemptoris Mater and the same is true of the Ave Regina Cælorum.
In the Church of England, today, Candlemas, is the end of the Epiphany season which follows the Christmas season.
The “Nunc dimittis” or Canticle of Simeon (Cantique)
Also sung today is the Nunc dimittis (“Now you dismiss…,” Luke 2:29–32), The Song of Simeon or Canticle of Simeon). Simeon had been promised he would see Jesus and did. A canticle is a song of praise. In this respect, the Nunc Dimittis resembles the Magnificat, or Canticle of Mary. Mary sang the Magnificat when she heard her cousin Elizabeth was with child. To listen to the Nunc Dimittis and read its story, simply click on one of the links below:
- Nunc Dimittis, Simeon’s Song of Praise (2 February 2012)
- Candlemas: the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple & a Festival of Lights (2 February 2012)
Groundhog Day
Moreover, today is Groundhog Day. How long will winter last? See the link below.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/groundhog-day-what-do-meteorologists-think-1.2940617
Humans have always situated their feasts when a change occurs in the weather. We go from season to season and the following year, we also go from season to season and this continues year after year.
The Labours of the Months
Remember Jean de France’s Très Riches Heures. (See Les Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry). It’s a Book of Hours, but it is also a calendar. The Très Riches Heures has a large illuminated (enluminures) page for each month of the year illustrating the Labours of the Months. With Jean de France, there was another motive. In the background of each page, we see one of his castles.
Greek poet Hesiod, who is believed to have been active between 750 and 650 BCE, wrote Works and Days, a book Wikipedia describes as a farmer’s almanac. In Works and Days, he is teaching his brother Perses about the agricultural arts. (See Works and Days.)
Although we are leaving the first Marian season, I am including both the Alma Redemptoris Mater and the Ave Regina Cælorum.
—ooo—
During Canonical Hours, the Antiphon (antienne) is a liturgical chant that precedes and follows a Psalm or a Canticle. In a Mass, it is also a chant to which a choir or the congregation respond with a refrain. It is therefore a call and response chant.
- Alma Redemptoris Mater (Advent through February 2)
- Ave Regina Cælorum (Presentation of the Temple through Good Friday)
- Regina Cœli (Eastertide)
- Salve Regina Notre-Dame de Paris (from first Vespers of Trinity Sunday until None of the Saturday before Advent)
Sources and Resources
Hesiod’s Works and Days (r. 700 BCE) is an online publication (click on the title).
—ooo—
Posts on Marian Hymnology & More
- Posts on Marian Hymnology (6 January 2013)
- Epiphany: Balthasar, Melchior & Gaspar (6 January 2013)
- A Christmas Offering (cont’d): Hymns to Mary (26 December 2012)
- From the Magnificat to the Stabat Mater (6 April 2012)
- Raphael and Marian Liturgy at NDP (4 April 2012)
- Fra Angelico & the Annunciation (3 April 2012)
- On Calendars & Feast Days (2 April 2012)
- Candlemas: the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple & a Festival of Lights (2 February 2012)
- Nunc Dimittis, Simeon’s Song of Praise (2 February 2012)
- A Christmas Offering: Hymns to Mary (25 December 2011)
- The Blessed Virgin: Mariology (24 December 2011)
- A Portrait of Giovanni Battista Pergolesi (20 December 2011)
- Liturgy as a Musical Form (15 December 2011)
- Canonical Hours and the Divine Office (19 November 2011) ←
© Micheline Walker
2 February 2013
WordPress
updated
2 February 2015
