Gaudete

Here is today's Latin Christmas carol; you can read one carol per day for the month of December, or see the complete collection all at once. In the Catholic Advent calendar, "Gaudete" Sunday is the third Sunday in Advent. This 16th-century Latin carol which became a hit single in the 1970s for the band Steeleye Span. You can find an English translation at wikipedia. There is a music download of the song available at David Solomons's website.

The reference in the song to the "gate of Ezekiel" is based on an allegorical interpretation of Ezekiel 44: Et convertit me ad viam portae sanctuarii exterioris quae respiciebat ad orientem et erat clausa et dixit Dominus ad me porta haec clausa erit non aperietur et vir non transiet per eam quoniam Dominus Deus Israhel ingressus est per eam eritque clausa Principi princeps ipse sedebit in ea ut comedat panem coram Domino per viam vestibuli portae ingredietur et per viam eius egredietur, "Then he brought me back the way of the gate of the outward sanctuary which looketh toward the east; and it [was] shut. Then said the Lord unto me; This gate shall be shut, it shall not be opened, and no man shall enter in by it; because the Lord, the God of Israel, hath entered in by it, therefore it shall be shut. [It is] for the prince; the prince, he shall sit in it to eat bread before the Lord; he shall enter by the way of the porch of [that] gate, and shall go out by the way of the same."

Tempus adest gratiae,
hoc quod optabamus;
carmina laetitiae
devote reddamus.
CHORUS
Gaudete! gaudete!
Christus est natus ex Maria virgine,
gaudete!

Deus homo factus est,
natura mirante;
mundus renovatus est
a Christo regnante.
CHORUS

Ezechielis porta
clausa pertransitur;
unde lux est orta,
salus invenitur.
CHORUS

Ergo nostra contio
psallat iam in lustro,
benedicat Domino:
salus Regi nostro.
CHORUS

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Here are the carols I have completed so far:
December 1: Rudolphus
December 2: Angelus ad Virginem
December 3: Aquifolia Ornate
December 4: A Solis Ortus Cardine
December 5: O Viri, Este Hilares
December 6: Conditor Alme Siderum
December 7: Angeli Canunt Praecones
December 8: Regis Olim Urbe David
December 9: Gaudium Mundo
December 10: Resonet in Laudibus
December 11: Adeste Fideles
December 12: Christe, Redemptor Omnium
December 13: Dum Servant Pecus Pastores
December 14: Primum Noel Cecinit Angelus
December 15: In Dulci Iubilo
December 16: Procul in Praesaepi

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Bolchazy-Carducci has a Latin Christmas Carol music CD! With 12 songs in Latin, O Abies: O Christmas Tree is available at amazon.com for $17.00

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