Matins chants for Ascensiontide

The feast of the Ascension


The chants for the feast of the Ascension can be found in full in the Liber Responsorialis (available online at CC Watershed), starting at page 94.

A version of the Office for the feast including all of the texts and chants needed (including psalms) can be found on the Gregofacsimil website, but note that many of the responsories use verses that are not the same as those in the breviary.

Sunday after the Ascension


The invitatory, hymn and responsories for the Sunday after Ascension are the same as for the feast.

You can also find a nicely laid out version of the chants and texts as one document over at Gregofacsimil (it is labelled as being Sunday within the Octave, but is the same as for the feast), but note that many of the responsories verses  are not the same as those in the breviary.

Divinum Officium as usual gives the correct psalms and antiphons, but the Roman version of the readings and responsories; for the correct set, see the Lectio Divina Notes blog.

Links for translations, sources for the responsories and recordings available online provided on this blog can be found below:

Vigil of the Ascension
Feast of the Ascension
Short responsory for Ascensiontide (ferias)

The 'Ordinary' of Ascensiontide


Once upon a time, the feast of the Ascension warranted an Octave.  This was, alas abolished, but many of the texts used are preserved in the 'Ordinary of Ascensiontide'.  For Matins:
  • the invitatory antiphon is as for the rest of Eastertide, viz Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia;
  • the hymn (when not displaced by a feast) is Aeterne Rex Altissime;
  • the versicles after the psalms in the first Nocturn are of Ascensiontide (in the psalter); 
  • the one reading becomes Hebrews 6:18-30 with short responsory 'Dominus in caelo' (not on Divinum Officium); and
  • the chapter verse is Revelation 5:12  with versicle 'Exaltare Domine'.

Matins Chants for Eastertide





The invitatory antiphons

The invitatory antiphon for Easter Sunday, the days of the Octave, and Sundays during Eastertide is Surrexit Dominus vere, alleluia, which can be found in the Liber Responsorialis (LR), pg 82; Liber Hymnarius, pg 79; or Invitatory booklet.

Image result for surrexit dominus vere




The invitatory for ferial weekdays in shown below.




The hymn

The hymn is Rex Sempiterne Domino, which can be found in LR 82, Nocturnale Romanum or Liber Hymnarius.

Note that the Easter tone for the Te Decet Laus is used, and this can be found both in the LR (Pg 42, alter tonus) and Liber Hymnarius. 

Antiphons

There is only one antiphon for each Nocturn, and these are used on Sundays throughout the season.  The texts are in the Clear Creek Matins booklet (Matins according to...); the chants can be found either in the Psalter for Matins of Peter Standhofe (PDF only), or the Nocturnale Romanum.

Responsories

Easter Sunday
Easter Monday
Easter Tuesday
Easter Wednesday
Easter Thursday
Easter Friday
Easter Saturday

Easter Octave (Dominica in Albis, or White Sunday)

Second Sunday after the Easter Octave (Easter2)

Third Sunday after the Easter Octave (Easter3)
(For an integrated version of all of the necessary chants and texts for the Third Sunday of Easter, see the Gregofacsimil website).  Note though that the texts used differ in places from those in the Monastic Breviary.

Fourth Sunday after the Easter Octave (Easter4)

Fifth Sunday after the Easter Octave (Easter5)