Uploaded December 2023 | Updated September 2026, 12 hours ago

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The text given below, which may date back to the eleventh century, is the fourth of nine responses used during Matins (morning prayer) on Christmas Day. During the Renaissance, a number of composers, nine of whom are represented here, set it to music. The Latin text, not all of which is used in every setting, is as follows:

O magnum mysterium
et admirabile sacramentum,
ut animalia viderent Dominum natum
jacentem in praesepio.
O beata Virgo, cujus viscera meruerunt
portare Dominum Jesum Christum.
Ave Maria, gratia plena: Dominus tecum.
Alleluia!

In English:

O great mystery
and wondrous sacrament
that animals should see the new-born
Lord lying in a manger.
O blessed Virgin, whose womb
was worthy to bear the Lord Jesus Christ.
Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with you.

Cristóbal de Morales, however, appends the following:

Domine, audivi auditum tuum et timui:
consideravi opera tua, et expavi:
in medio duorum animalium.

Lord, I heard report of You, and I feared.
I considered your works, and I was terrified
between two animals.