The Reproaches (Improperia) are often chanted by a priest during the Good Friday service as the people are venerating the Cross. In this chant of very ancient origin, Christ Himself “reproaches” us, making us more deeply aware of how our sinfulness caused his agony. (Below are 2 Videos with the Reproaches Sung in English and in Latin/Greek)
An English translation of some of the Reproaches, originally in Latin, follows:
My people, What have I done to you? How have I offended you?
Answer me!
I led you out of Egypt; but you led your Savior to the Cross.
For forty years I led you safely through the desert,
I fed you with manna from heaven, and brought you to the land of plenty; but you led your Savior to the Cross.
O, My people! What have I done to you that you should testify against me?
Holy God. Holy God. Holy Mighty One. Holy Immortal One, have mercy on us.
Latin/Greek: Cantor: Popule meus, quid feci tibi? Aut in quo contristavi te? Responde mihi. Cantor: Quia eduxi te de terra Ægypti: parasti Crucem Salvatori tuo. Choir A: Hagios o Theos. Choir B: Sanctus Deus. Choir A: Hagios Ischyros. Choir B: Sanctus Fortis. Choir A: Hagios Athanatos, eleison hemas. Choir B: Sanctus Immortalis, miserere nobis.
My people, What have I done to you? How have I offended you?
Answer me!
I led you out of Egypt; but you led your Savior to the Cross.
For forty years I led you safely through the desert,
I fed you with manna from heaven, and brought you to the land of plenty; but you led your Savior to the Cross.
O, My people! What have I done to you that you should testify against me?
Holy God. Holy God. Holy Mighty One. Holy Immortal One, have mercy on us.
Latin/Greek: Cantor: Popule meus, quid feci tibi? Aut in quo contristavi te? Responde mihi. Cantor: Quia eduxi te de terra Ægypti: parasti Crucem Salvatori tuo. Choir A: Hagios o Theos. Choir B: Sanctus Deus. Choir A: Hagios Ischyros. Choir B: Sanctus Fortis. Choir A: Hagios Athanatos, eleison hemas. Choir B: Sanctus Immortalis, miserere nobis.
Catholic Encyclopedia History of the Reproaches:
The Improperia are the reproaches which in the liturgy of the Office of Good Friday the Saviour is made to utter against the Jews, who, in requital for all the Divine favours and particularly for the delivery from the bondage of Egypt and safe conduct into the Promised Land, inflicted on Him the ignominies of the Passion and a cruel death. It is during the Adoration of the Cross that these touching remonstrances are rendered by the choir. In all they consist of three distinct parts. Of these the third — composed of the antiphon "Crucem tuam adoramus", the first verse of Psalm lxvi, the versicle "Crux fidelis", and the hymn "Pange lingua gloriosi lauream" — does not belong to the Improperia strictly so called. The first part consists of three reproaches, namely, the Popule meus" (Micah 6:3), "Ego eduxi" (Jeremiah 2:21) and "Quid ultra" (Isaiah 5:2, 40), the Trisagion (Sanctus Deus, Santus fortis, Sanctus immortalis) being repeated after each in the Latin and Greek languages. The second part contains nine reproaches pervaded by the same strain of remonstrance. Each of these is a verse taken from some portion of the Scriptures and followed in every instance by the "Popule meus" as a sort of refrain. Originally these striking sentences were rendered to a plain-song melody. In the year 1560 Palestrina gave them such an appropriate and beautiful musical setting that Pius IV ordered it to be used in the Sixtine Chapel, where one may still hear on Good Friday each year these exquisite compositions, which are unsurpassed in simple beauty, dramatic feeling, and depth of impressiveness. The best edition of Palestrina's "Improperia" is probably that published by Dr. Proske in the fourth volume of "Musica Divina" in 1863. This version is founded on the Altaemps-Otthoboni manuscript preserved in the Vatican Library (cf. Grove, "Dictionary of Music", s.v.). The precise date of the appearance of the Improperia in the liturgy is not ascertained. Definite references to it are found in documents of the ninth and tenth centuries, and even traces exist in manuscripts of a much earlier date. In his work "De antiquâ ecclesiæ disciplinâ", Martène (c. xxiii) gives a number of fragmentary Ordines, some of which go back as far as 600. Many others mention the Improperia. In the beginning the order was not quite what it is now, and in many places the officiant himself at the Good Friday Office sang the verses of the reproaches, while the people joined in the responses or refrain. Thus the representative character of these moving words seems to have been more effectively observed.
The Improperia are the reproaches which in the liturgy of the Office of Good Friday the Saviour is made to utter against the Jews, who, in requital for all the Divine favours and particularly for the delivery from the bondage of Egypt and safe conduct into the Promised Land, inflicted on Him the ignominies of the Passion and a cruel death. It is during the Adoration of the Cross that these touching remonstrances are rendered by the choir. In all they consist of three distinct parts. Of these the third — composed of the antiphon "Crucem tuam adoramus", the first verse of Psalm lxvi, the versicle "Crux fidelis", and the hymn "Pange lingua gloriosi lauream" — does not belong to the Improperia strictly so called. The first part consists of three reproaches, namely, the Popule meus" (Micah 6:3), "Ego eduxi" (Jeremiah 2:21) and "Quid ultra" (Isaiah 5:2, 40), the Trisagion (Sanctus Deus, Santus fortis, Sanctus immortalis) being repeated after each in the Latin and Greek languages. The second part contains nine reproaches pervaded by the same strain of remonstrance. Each of these is a verse taken from some portion of the Scriptures and followed in every instance by the "Popule meus" as a sort of refrain. Originally these striking sentences were rendered to a plain-song melody. In the year 1560 Palestrina gave them such an appropriate and beautiful musical setting that Pius IV ordered it to be used in the Sixtine Chapel, where one may still hear on Good Friday each year these exquisite compositions, which are unsurpassed in simple beauty, dramatic feeling, and depth of impressiveness. The best edition of Palestrina's "Improperia" is probably that published by Dr. Proske in the fourth volume of "Musica Divina" in 1863. This version is founded on the Altaemps-Otthoboni manuscript preserved in the Vatican Library (cf. Grove, "Dictionary of Music", s.v.). The precise date of the appearance of the Improperia in the liturgy is not ascertained. Definite references to it are found in documents of the ninth and tenth centuries, and even traces exist in manuscripts of a much earlier date. In his work "De antiquâ ecclesiæ disciplinâ", Martène (c. xxiii) gives a number of fragmentary Ordines, some of which go back as far as 600. Many others mention the Improperia. In the beginning the order was not quite what it is now, and in many places the officiant himself at the Good Friday Office sang the verses of the reproaches, while the people joined in the responses or refrain. Thus the representative character of these moving words seems to have been more effectively observed.
(Just prior to the reproaches the priest chants three times, in a rises intonation, “Ecce Lignum Crucis,” or “Behold the wood of the cross,” each time unveiling parts of the cross that had been covered in a purple veil.)
Sources: Adoremus.org and The Catholic Encyclopedia
Comments