Hospodine, pomiluj ny

Last updated
The oldest preserved complete transcription of the hymn from the late 14th century Hospodine pomiluj ny Traktat Jana z Holesova.jpg
The oldest preserved complete transcription of the hymn from the late 14th century

Hospodine pomiluj ny (English: Lord, Have Mercy on Us) is the oldest known Czech song. The hymn is a paraphrase of the Kyrie Eleison with deep choral melody. Its text preserves traces of Church Slavonic origin.

Contents

History

Author of the song, dating from the turn of 10/11th century, is unknown, but authorship is usually attributed to the Czech saint, missionary and martyr Svatý Vojtěch (St. Adalbert of Prague). The text has simple form with 8 verses, without rhyme or stanzas. Its definitive version comes from time when Old Church Slavonic competed with Latin and absorbed Czech components.

First mention of the choral comes from 1055 when it was sung during election of duke Spytihněv II of Bohemia. The oldest recording appears in chronicle of Jan from Holešov from 1397. It was also sung during celebrations and as a war song. Charles IV used it during his coronation, Jan Hus during sermons given in Bethlehem Chapel in Prague. Together with Saint Wenceslas Chorale it is one of the first Czech national anthems. The song, almost unmodified, is still used during liturgy.

Text

In modern Czech orthography: explanatory notes

Hospodine pomiluj ny Hospodine, pomiluj ny, Jezu Kriste, pomiluj ny, ty Spase všeho míra, spasiž ny, i uslyšiž, Hospodine, hlasy nášě; daj nám všém, Hospodine, žizň a mír v zemi; žizň a mír v zemi. Krleš, Krleš, Krleš!

Latin translation: source

O Domine, miserere O Domine, miserere, Iesu Christe, miserere, Salus es totius mundi, salva nos et percipe, o Domine, voces nostras; da cunctis, o Domine, panem, pacem terrae; panem, pacem terrae. Kyrie eleison!

(translated by M. B. Boleluczky)


English translation: source

Lord! have mercy upon us. Lord! have mercy upon us. Jesus Christ! have mercy upon us. Thou, Saviour of the whole world, Save us, and listen, Lord! to our voices. Give us all, O Lord, Plenteousness and peace on earth. Kyrie Eleison!

(translated by John Bowring)

Notes

Related Research Articles

Agnus Dei Christian prayer

Agnus Dei is the Latin name under which the "Lamb of God" is honoured within the Catholic Mass and other Christian liturgies descending from the Latin liturgical tradition. It is the name given to a specific prayer that occurs in these liturgies, and is the name given to the music pieces that accompany the text of this prayer.

<i>Miserere</i> (Allegri) Setting of Psalm 51 by Gregorio Allegri

Miserere is a setting of Psalm 51 by Italian composer Gregorio Allegri. It was composed during the reign of Pope Urban VIII, probably during the 1630s, for the exclusive use of the Sistine Chapel during the Tenebrae services of Holy Week, and its mystique was increased by unwritten performance traditions and ornamentation. It is written for two choirs, of five and four voices respectively, singing alternately and joining to sing the ending in 9-part polyphony.

Missa solemnis (Beethoven) 1824 mass by Beethoven

The Missa solemnis in D major, Op. 123, is a Solemn Mass composed by Ludwig van Beethoven from 1819 to 1823. It was first performed on 7 April 1824 in Saint Petersburg, Russia, under the auspices of Beethoven's patron Prince Nikolai Galitzin; an incomplete performance was given in Vienna on 7 May 1824, when the Kyrie, Credo, and Agnus Dei were conducted by the composer. It is generally considered one of the composer's supreme achievements and, along with Bach's Mass in B minor, one of the most significant Mass settings of the common practice period.

Kyrie Common name of a Christian liturgical prayer

Kyrie, a transliteration of Greek Κύριε, vocative case of Κύριος (Kyrios), is a common name of an important prayer of Christian liturgy, also called the Kyrie eleison.

Gloria in excelsis Deo Christian hymn

"Gloria in excelsis Deo" is a Christian hymn known also as the Greater Doxology and the Angelic Hymn/Hymn of the Angels. The name is often abbreviated to Gloria in Excelsis or simply Gloria.

Bogurodzica

Bogurodzica, in English known as the Mother of God, is a medieval Roman Catholic hymn composed sometime between the 10th and 13th centuries in Poland. It is believed to be the oldest religious hymn or patriotic anthem in the Polish language, which was traditionally sung in Old Polish with the Greek phrase Kyrie eleison – "Lord, have mercy". While its origin is not entirely clear, several scholars agree that Saint Adalbert of Prague is the likely author. Polish knights chanted Bogurodzica prior to their engagement at the Battle of Grunwald and it also accompanied the coronation ceremonies of the first Jagiellonian kings.

Penitential Psalms Psalms expressive of sorrow for sin

The Penitential Psalms or Psalms of Confession, so named in Cassiodorus's commentary of the 6th century AD, are the Psalms 6, 31, 37, 50, 101, 129, and 142.

Trisagion Hymn in the Orthodox Divine Liturgy

The Trisagion, sometimes called by its opening line Agios O Theos, is a standard hymn of the Divine Liturgy in most of the Eastern Orthodox, Western Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Eastern Catholic churches.

Kyrie (song) 1985 single by Mr. Mister

"Kyrie" is a song by American pop rock band Mr. Mister, from their album Welcome to the Real World. Released around Christmas in 1985, it hit the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 charts in March 1986, where it was number 1 for two weeks. It also hit the top spot on the Billboard Top Rock Tracks chart for one week. In the UK, the song peaked at number 11 in March 1986.

The ordinary, in Roman Catholic and other Western Christian liturgies, refers to the part of the Mass or of the canonical hours that is reasonably constant without regard to the date on which the service is performed. It is contrasted to the proper, which is that part of these liturgies that varies according to the date, either representing an observance within the liturgical year, or of a particular saint or significant event, or to the common which contains those parts that are common to an entire category of saints such as apostles or martyrs.

Jacques Berthier was a French composer of liturgical music, best known for writing much of the music used at Taizé.

<i>Petite messe solennelle</i> 1863 missa solemnis by Gioachino Rossini

Gioachino Rossini's Petite messe solennelle was written in 1863, possibly at the request of Count Alexis Pillet-Will for his wife Louise to whom it is dedicated. The composer, who had retired from composing operas more than 30 years before, described it as "the last of my péchés de vieillesse".

<i>Saint Ludmila</i> (oratorio)

Antonín Dvořák composed his oratorio Saint Ludmila (Czech: Svatá Ludmila for soloists, choir and orchestra, between September 1885 and May 1886. The oratorio was written to a text by the leading Czech poet and writer Jaroslav Vrchlický. Saint Ludmila is Dvořák's third oratorio, and is considered one of his foremost works.

Absolution of the dead

Absolution of the dead is a prayer for or a declaration of absolution of a dead person's sins that takes place at the person's religious funeral.

The embolism in Christian liturgy is a short prayer said or sung after the Lord's Prayer. It functions "like a marginal gloss" upon the final petition of the Lord's Prayer, amplifying and elaborating on "the many implications" of that prayer. In the Roman Rite of Mass, the embolism is followed by the doxology or, in the Tridentine Mass, by the Fraction.

Lord Have Mercy or Lord, have mercy may refer to:

Order of Mass is an outline of a Mass celebration, describing how and in what order liturgical texts and rituals are employed to constitute a Mass.

Jan z Holešova or Jan of Holešov was a Czech writer, linguist, musicologist, theologian, and one of the first ethnographers and a founder of modern comparative linguistics.

Da pacem, Domine

Da pacem Domine is the incipit of two different Latin texts, a hymn and an introit. Both have been the base for compositions to be used in church liturgy, beginning with chant. Paraphrased versions of the hymn were created by Martin Luther in German in 1529, "Verleih uns Frieden", also set by several composers. In English, the hymn entered the Book of Common Prayer, "Give peace in our time, O Lord".

References