The chant ''In splendoribus sanctorum'' is the communion chant for the

propers The proper (Latin: ''proprium'') is a part of the Christian liturgy that varies according to the date, either representing an observance within the liturgical year, or of a particular saint or significant event. The term is used in contrast to the ...

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year ...

midnight mass In many Western Christian traditions Midnight Mass is the first liturgy of Christmastide that is celebrated on the night of Christmas Eve, traditionally beginning at midnight when Christmas Eve gives way to Christmas Day. This popular Christmas ...

, sung during the distribution of holy communion. This short chant is a rare example of pure

pentatonic A pentatonic scale is a musical scale (music), scale with five Musical note, notes per octave, in contrast to the heptatonic scale, which has seven notes per octave (such as the major scale and minor scale). Pentatonic scales were developed ...

music used in chant, and for this reason it is impossible to say which

mode Mode ( la, modus meaning "manner, tune, measure, due measure, rhythm, melody") may refer to: Arts and entertainment * '' MO''D''E (magazine)'', a defunct U.S. women's fashion magazine * ''Mode'' magazine, a fictional fashion magazine which is ...

it belongs to. The

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

text of the chant, a passage from Psalm 110 (Vulgate 109) in the Old Testament, is: ''In splendoribus sanctorum, ex utero, ante luciferum, genui te'' which in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

may be rendered "in the brightness of the saints: from the womb before the day star I begot you." (

Douay Bible Douay is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Abel Douay (1809–1870), French general * Félix Douay (1816–1879), French general and brother of Abel Douay See also * Douay–Rheims Bible, an English translation of the Bible, c. ...

, 1610). Traditionally parallels are therefore made to the story of the nativity.

References

{{Christian-music-stub Latin-language Christian hymns