Although Gregorian Chant is not as common as it used to be there are still many beautiful Gregorian chants used throughout the Liturgical Year. A special Lenten Gregorian Chant is Attende Domine. This chant has a history that goes back centuries and is referred to by liturgical musicians as the Lenten Prose as the Rorate Caeli is known as the Advent Prose. These words have resounded in the hearts of the faithful for centuries, and let us not allow the chance to hear them and ponder them this Lent pass us by. The words have changed slightly over the centuries with there being some older French verses based on the Sacred Scripture which have in more recent centuries been adapted by lyrics from the Divine Office of the Mozarabic (also known as the Hispanic) Rite from at least the 10th century. The text of the hymn is primarily a supplication for the mercy of God and the recognition of man’s sinfulness. A lot of modern day hymns and praise and worship music focuses more on the person praying than on the Persons prayed to. This chant strikes a direct tone of the sinner’s awareness of his sorry state and of the goodness of God and His ability to absolve man’s sins. There is a yielding of manly pride to the salvific power of God. Let us, too, yield to the salvific power of Our Lord Jesus Christ during this Lenten season and allow the words of this chant wash over us and flow from our lips and hearts with sincerity.

The words of the chant follow in Latin then English. Listen to a beautiful recording of the chant here.

℟. Attende, Domine, et miserere, quia peccavimus tibi.

Ad te Rex summe, omnium redemptor,
oculos nostros sublevamus flentes:
exaudi, Christe, supplicantum preces. ℟.

Dextera Patris, lapis angularis,
via salutis, ianua caelestis,
ablue nostri maculas delicti. ℟.

Rogamus, Deus, tuam maiestatem:
auribus sacris gemitus exaudi:
crimina nostra placidus indulge. ℟.

Tibi fatemur crimina admissa:
contrito corde pandimus occulta:
tua Redemptor, pietas ignoscat. ℟.

Innocens captus, nec repugnans ductus,
testibus falsis pro impiis damnatus:
quos redemisti, tu conserva, Christe. ℟.

℟. Hear us, O mighty Lord,show us your Mercy: Sinners we stand before you.

To thee, Redeemer, on thy throne of glory:
lift we our weeping eyes in holy pleadings:
listen, O Christ, to our supplications. ℟.

O thou chief cornerstone, right hand of the Father:
way of salvation, gate of life celestial:
cleanse thou our sinful souls from all defilement. ℟.

God, we implore thee, in thy glory seated:
bow down and hearken to thy weeping children:
pity and pardon all our grievous trespasses. ℟.

Sins oft committed now we lay before thee:
with true contrition, now no more we veil them:
grant us, Redeemer, loving absolution. ℟.

Innocent, captive, taken unresisting:
falsely accused and for us sinners sentenced,
save us, we pray thee, Christ our Redeemer. ℟.

Translation by W. J. Birkbeck