"Hortus Conclusus Est" - The Norbertines of St. Michael's Abbey
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 25 ส.ค. 2024
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Hortus conclusus es, Dei Genetrix: hortus conclusus, fons signatus: surge, propera, amica mea.
“Thou art an enclosed garden, Mother of God: an enclosed garden, a fountain sealed up: rise, make haste, my beloved.”
This antiphon comes from the Divine Office of the Immaculate Conception. We chant these words to the Blessed Virgin, addressing her as hortus conclusus, an “enclosed garden.” This phrase originally comes from the Scriptures, namely from the Song of Songs. The Church has taken these sacred words and applied to the Blessed Virgin. Why is this so?
The Song of Songs is on the surface a love poem between a man and woman who are smitten with one another. These lovers, the bride and the bridedgroom, alternate in declarations of their infatuation and descriptions of each other’s beauty replete with exotic comparisons to cypress trees, vineyards, spikenard, gazelles, and similar exotic imagery (e.g. Thy cheeks are as a piece of a pomegranate; Thy neck is as a tower of ivory; thine eyes like the fishpools in Heshbon, by the gate of Bathrabbim). But, being a divinely inspired book of the scriptures, there is hidden beneath the surface of these vivid images a profound revelation: that of God’s unfathomable love. Many saints and other masterly commentators on this divine love poem have recognized three mystical relations being described: the relation between Christ and the Church; between Christ and the soul; and specifically between Christ and the Blessed Virgin Mary.
God has love for all his creation, but it is especially occupied with the Blessed Virgin Mary. This is most clear from the fact that he chose her from among all women to be his own mother. He prepared her for this unique role by preserving her from all stain of sin, by bestowing on her the grace to be immaculately conceived. Hence the words from the Song of Songs, "Thou art all fair, O my love, and there is not a spot in thee," are aptly applied to the Holy Virgin; no spot of sin ever blighted the all-fair Virgin. Likewise, to return to the antiphon above, Our Lady is fittingly described as a hortus conclusus, an enclosed garden, because of the special divine graces she received.
Mary is an enclosed garden because of her perpetual virginity. When she was told that she would conceive the Son of God in her womb Mary responded to the archangel Gabriel, "How can this be since I do not know man?" The archangel revealed that the Holy Spirit himself would overshadow the Virgin and marvelously conceive Jesus Christ. The garden of Mary’s womb was thus only accessible by Almighty God and was closed off to all others. Mary is a paradisiacal garden-a new sort of Eden-reserved for God alone, and the fruit of her womb-a new sort of Tree of Life-is the incarnate Son of God himself. And thus in wonder and admiration, and in the very expressions of love uttered by God himself in the Song of Songs, we chant the praises of the hortus conclusus, the enclosed garden of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
#stmichaelsabbey #catholic #sacredmusic
Visit www.theabbotscircle.com for more Sacred Music and to experience the ever-growing digital library of St Michael's Abbey's virtual monastery.
Brothers can you please add
Ad cenam Agni providi.
❤ may God bless you immensely.
Please keep the traditional Church alive, the battle for our souls is close and we will need you to guide us to God.
Beautiful! Where heaven and earth come together.
I always wanted to be a priest as a kid but I changed my mind as I grew. But if I had discovered The Norbertines of St. Michael earlier, I would have never changed my mind. I love the work going on. God bless.
Quam sublimis pulchritudo! Scripturae, theologia, et devotio mirabiliter conpinguntur in hoc cantu. Decens vero dominae nostrae. Gratias vobis patres! 😃
Utinam talis pulchritudo saepius audiatur in nostris parochiis. Fortasse sic erit diebus futuris, Deo adjuvante.
So moving. God bless the Norbertines!! 🤍
Love the Norbertines... Bless them all!
More of these please! ❤
Beautiful Polyphonic Chant! Now this is Reverent Church music that praises God. 🙏
The chant that elevate your spirit and feed your soul. Thank you to all the Norbertines, you are always in my prayers.
In my outsider's opinion, attracting younger folks to religious vocations, while it may require some media outreach as you've done so well, doesn't require any gimmicks or selling points. It doesn't require religious life to be seen as fun or quirky or alternative or comfortable, it only needs to be seen for what it always was, and this is what St. Michael's is showing. I'm socially and politically liberal, and probably always will be, but when it comes to thoughts about religious life, and that life appealing to young people, especially young men, I remain, you might say "conservative". Young men, more often than not, want things to be their rawest, most authentic version. They want challenge, intensity, you might even say "adventure"; they don't want lite and relaxed. Love and fraternity and a peaceful life seem almost inevitable in the monastic setting, but that may not be the top selling point just yet for men in their 20s or 30s. I'd be willing to wager that even more than these, they want deep introspection, an intense schedule, Latin liturgy, challenging study, fasting and mortification (as my priest puts it, "real 'knees on marble' kind of stuff"). It's certainly appealing to me, even at 36 years old. You all at St. Michael's seem to lead a challenging life, one of service but of deeply personal spirituality; one of mysticism and love, but within an intellectual culture nearly professorial in nature, not backing off of tough or even adversarial questions. It would seem to me that monasteries and seminaries that exemplify these things are the ones that are thriving. Case in point ^^^
Thank you for your heavenly voices and music and thank God for the gift of the Norbertines!
The people are hungry thank you for the bread you give ..so many others will give you stones..God bless you and keep you always..
Absolutely beautiful. The harmonies and acoustics are tremendous. Please continue your important ministry. We hear you.
How beautiful art thou.
My Love❤
No doubt,the Lord is iin our presence❤
I felt more closer to God while listening to your angelic voices!
You canons sound great, and the acoustics in that church are phenomenal.
É divina, é maravilhosa, é mágica!...❤
too beautiful
Beautiful.
My dear Fathers, this is absolutly your best performance. PERFECT!!! 😇✝️✝️✝️
I love this, and when I played this I got chills & my dog woke up, so beautiful GOD BLESS YOU ALL!💝✝️
Hermoso himno a nuestra señora de huerto
Most beautiful!
You truly lift up my heart and mind towards the heavenly realm.
This is so beautiful.
Superb. Solemn. Sublime.
From theabbotscircle: Quam pulchra es, amica mea! quam pulchra es! Oculi tui columbarum, absque eo quod intrinsecus latet. Capilli tui sicut greges caprarum quae ascenderunt de monte Galaad. [2] Dentes tui sicut greges tonsarum quae ascenderunt de lavacro; omnes gemellis foetibus, et sterilis non est inter eas. [3] Sicut vitta coccinea labia tua, et eloquium tuum dulce. Sicut fragmen mali punici, ita genae tuae, absque eo quod intrinsecus latet. [4] Sicut turris David collum tuum, quae aedificata est cum propugnaculis; mille clypei pendant ex ea, omnis armatura fortium. [5] Duo ubera tua sicut duo hinnuli, capreae gemelli, qui pascuntur in liliis. [6] Donec aspiret dies, et inclinentur umbrae, vadam ad montem myrrhae, et ad collem thuris. [7] Tota pulchra es, amica mea, et macula non est in te.
[8] Veni de Libano, sponsa mea : veni de Libano, veni, coronaberis: de capite Amana, de vertice Sanir et Hermon, de cubilibus leonum, de montibus pardorum. [9] Vulnerasti cor meum, soror mea, sponsa; vulnerasti cor meum in uno oculorum tuorum, et in uno crine colli tui. [10] Quam pulchrae sunt mammae tuae, soror mea sponsa! pulchriora sunt ubera tua vino, et odor unguentorum tuorum super omnia aromata. [11] Favus distillans labia tua, sponsa; mel et lac sub lingua tua : et odor vestimentorum tuorum sicut odor thuris. [12] Hortus conclusus soror mea, sponsa, hortus conclusus, fons signatus.
Grazie !
🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼
Is that Father Ambrose on the far left?
yes!
❤
i keep coming back. Love this.
From the book of The Song of Songs 4,1-6.12
Chorus (based on v12): Hortus conclusus es, Dei Genetrix: hortus conclusus, fons signatus: surge, propera, amica mea
1 Quam pulchra es amica mea, quam pulchra es, oculi tui columbarum absque eo quod intrinsecus latet, capilli tui sicut greges caprarum quae ascenderunt de monte Galaad.
2 Dentes tui sicut greges tonsarum quae ascenderunt de lavacro, omnes gemellis fetibus et sterilis non est inter eas.
3 Sicut vitta coccinea labia tua, et eloquium tuum dulce, sicut fragmen mali punici ita genae tuae, absque eo quod intrinsecus latet.
4 Sicut turris David, collum tuum quae aedificata est cum propugnaculis, mille clypei pendent ex ea omnis armatura fortium.
5 Duo ubera tua sicut duo hinuli capreae gemelli qui pascuntur in liliis.
6 Donec adspiret dies et inclinentur umbrae, vadam ad montem murrae et ad collem turis.
thank you very much!
Do I hear a little Cistercian influence on this chant?
Where can I find the sheet music for this?
Following this....
Would greatly appreciate the English translation!!
“Thou art an enclosed garden, Mother of God: an enclosed garden, a fountain sealed up: rise, make haste, my beloved.”
Thanks! Who is a composer?
"Promosm"