Paroles et traduction Paul Hillier feat. Theatre Of Voices - Abelard and Heloise, from Saint-Denis to the Paraclete Monastic Song: O quanta qualia

Abelard and Heloise, from Saint-Denis to the Paraclete Monastic Song: O quanta qualia

O quanta, qualia sunt illa sabbata
Quae semper celebrat superna curia.
Quae fessis requies, quae merces fortibus,
Cum erit omnia Deus in omnibus.

Vere Ierusalem est illa civitas,
Cuius pax iugis est, summa iucunditas,
Ubi non praevenit rem desiderium,
Nec desiderio minus est praemium.

Quis rex, quae curia, quale palatium,
Quae pax, quae requies, quod illud gaudium,
Huius participes exponant gloriam,
Si quantum sentiunt, possint exprimere.

Nostrum est interim mentem erigere
Et totis patriam votis appetere,
Et ad Ierusalem a Babylonia
Post longa regredi tandem exilia.

Illic molestiis finitis omnibus
Securi cantica Sion cantibimus,
Et iuges gratias de donis gratiae
Beata referet plebs tibi, Domine.

Illic ex sabbato succedet sabbatum,
Perpes laetitia sabbatizantium,
Nec ineffabiles cessabunt iubili,
Quos decantabimus et nos et angeli.

Perenni Domino perpes sit gloria,
Ex quo sunt, per quem sunt, in quo sunt omnia;
Ex quo sunt, Pater est; per quem sunt, Filius;
In quo sunt, Patris et Filii Spiritus.

Abelard and Heloise, from Saint-Denis to the Paraclete Monastic Song: O quanta qualia

O how many and how great are those Sabbaths
That the heavenly court is always celebrating,
Which are a rest for the weary, a reward for the brave,
When God shall be all in all.

Truly Jerusalem is that city,
Whose peace is eternal, whose joy is supreme,
Where desire does not precede the thing desired,
Nor is the reward less than the desire.

What king, what court, what palace,
What peace, what rest, what joy is that,
Let those who share in its glory tell,
If they can express how much they feel.

Meanwhile, it is ours to lift up our minds
And with all our vows to seek our homeland,
And after long exiles
To return at last from Babylon to Jerusalem.

There, when all troubles are ended,
We shall sing the songs of Zion in safety,
And the blessed people will give
Unceasing thanks for the gifts of grace to you, O Lord.

There, one Sabbath will follow another,
The endless joy of those who keep the Sabbath,
And the ineffable songs of joy
That we and the angels shall sing.

To the eternal Lord be eternal glory,
From whom are all things, through whom are all things, in whom are all things;
From whom they are, the Father is; through whom they are, the Son is;
In whom they are, the Spirit of the Father and the Son.