Origin: Europe, ca. 1300 or later
Provenance: Purchased in France and donated to the d'Alzon Library by Fr. Donat Lamothe A.A. ca. 2000.
Physical description: 47 x 35 cm. Square notation on red three-line staff with C clef. Gothic textualis with round d's, suggesting a 13th through 16th century Italian style (see Brown 47). Lombards in alternating red and blue ink. Multiple erasures, including a large rectangle on the upper left corner of the recto side; some erasures corrected. Doodles on the second letter of each hymn. Water damage. A "V" tab (for virginum?) is pasted along the outer edge, probably added no earlier than 1500.
Further information: This fragment probably comes from an antiphonary or breviary, the two genres of chant manuscripts most likely to contain collections of hymns. The rubric on the bottom half of the recto side makes it clear that the following hymns are to be sung in nativitate virginum – on the feasts of the nativities of virgin martyrs such as Saints Agnes and Lucia – at vespers and lauds. Note that only the first verse of the hymn Jesu corona virginum is notated; unlike antiphons, hymns consist of multiple strophes to which the same melody is repeated.
The fragment contains Jesu corona virginum, a hymn for the Common of Virgins, in its entirety:
| Latin | English (trans. Dorgan) |
|
Jesu corona virginum, Quem mater illa concipit, Quae sola Virgo parturit: Haec vota clemens accipe.
Qui pergis inter lilia, Septus choreis Virginum, Sponsus decorus gloria, Sponsisque reddens praemia.
Quocumque tendis, virgines sequuntur, atque laudibus Post te canentes cursitant; Hymnosque dulces personant.
Te deprecamur supplices; Nostris ut addas sensibus, Nescire prorsus omnia Corruptionis vulnera.
Virtus, honor, laus, gloria Deo Patri cum Filio, Sancto simul Paraclito, In saeculorum saecula. |
Jesus, crown of virgins, Whom that mother conceived Who alone was pregnant as a virgin, Accept these prayers mercifully:
You who go among the lilies Surrounded by choirs of virgins, The bridegroom adorned in glory, Rewarding his brides.
Wherever you go, virgins Follow, and, singing praises, Run around after you; They make sweet hymns resound.
Kneeling, we pray to you That you may grow our capacities To truly not know All the blows of corruption.
Power, honor, praise, glory To God the Father, the Son And the Holy Spirit Forever and ever. |
Jesu corona virginum is preceded by the hymn Jesu corona celsior (for the Common of Confessors) and followed by Virginis proles (also for the Common of Virgins).
