Skip to content

Home/The Chants/Rorate Caeli

The Cry of Advent

Rorate Caeli

Drop down dew, ye heavens — Advent's longing for the Saviour.

LatineThe Latin text

Roráte cæli désuper,
et nubes pluant justum.

Ne irascáris, Dómine,
ne ultra memíneris iniquitátis:
ecce cívitas Sancti facta est desérta,
Sion desérta facta est,
Jerúsalem desoláta est:
domus sanctificatiónis tuæ et glóriæ tuæ,
ubi laudavérunt te patres nostri.

Roráte cæli désuper,
et nubes pluant justum.

Peccávimus, et facti sumus tamquam immúndus nos,
et cecídimus quasi fólium univérsi:
et iniquitátes nostræ quasi ventus abstulérunt nos:
abscondísti fáciem tuam a nobis,
et allisísti nos in manu iniquitátis nostræ.

Roráte cæli désuper,
et nubes pluant justum.

Vide, Dómine, afflictiónem pópuli tui,
et mitte quem missúrus es:
emítte Agnum dominatórem terræ,
de petra desérti ad montem fíliæ Sion:
ut áuferat ipse jugum captivitátis nostræ.

Roráte cæli désuper,
et nubes pluant justum.

Consolámini, consolámini, pópule meus:
cito véniet salus tua:
quare mœróre consúmeris, quia innovávit te dolor?
Salvábo te, noli timére,
ego enim sum Dóminus Deus tuus,
Sanctus Israel, redémptor tuus.

Roráte cæli désuper,
et nubes pluant justum.

EnglishTranslation

Drop down dew, ye heavens, from above, and let the clouds rain down the Just One.

Be not angry, O Lord, and remember no longer our iniquity: behold, the city of the Holy One is made a desert, Sion is made a desert, Jerusalem is desolate: the house of Thy sanctification and of Thy glory, where our fathers praised Thee.

Drop down dew, ye heavens, from above, and let the clouds rain down the Just One.

We have sinned, and are become as unclean: and we have all fallen as a leaf, and our iniquities like the wind have carried us away: Thou hast hidden Thy face from us, and hast crushed us in the hand of our iniquity.

Drop down dew, ye heavens, from above, and let the clouds rain down the Just One.

Behold, O Lord, the affliction of Thy people, and send forth Him who is to come: send forth the Lamb, the ruler of the earth, from Petra of the desert, to the mount of the daughter of Sion: that He may take away the yoke of our captivity.

Drop down dew, ye heavens, from above, and let the clouds rain down the Just One.

Be comforted, be comforted, My people: thy salvation cometh quickly: why with grief art thou consumed? for sorrow hath stricken thee: I will save thee, fear not: for I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Redeemer.

Drop down dew, ye heavens, from above, and let the clouds rain down the Just One.

Refrain from Isaias (Isaiah) 45:8 · Advent chant — the refrain and all four verses · English partly after the Manual of Prayers (Baltimore, 1888)

I

The longing of Advent

Rorate Caeli takes its refrain straight from the prophet Isaiah: Rorate caeli desuper, et nubes pluant justum — 'Drop down dew, ye heavens, and let the clouds rain down the Just One.' It is the purest expression of Advent, the season of waiting: a cry from a desolate earth for a Saviour who has not yet come, sung in the dark of the year for the Light not yet risen.

The verses are the voice of a people in exile, confessing that their holy city is a desert and begging God to remember mercy rather than sin. The whole hymn leans forward, toward a coming: it is prayer as longing, not yet as thanksgiving.

II

Its history

The refrain is ancient: Rorate caeli is the Introit of the Fourth Sunday of Advent and of the votive Masses of Our Lady in Advent. The verses, woven from Isaiah and other prophetic passages, were joined to it much later — Dom Guéranger knew the whole as the 'Prayer of the Churches of France during Advent', and its earliest known form dates from the seventeenth century. It became especially associated with the votive 'Rorate' Masses of Advent — Masses of Our Lady sung before dawn by candlelight, waiting for the sunrise.

Those candle-lit Rorate Masses remain one of the most beloved customs of the season precisely because the hymn and the setting say the same thing: we are watching in the dark for a Light we have been promised.

III

When it is sung

Rorate Caeli belongs to Advent, and above all to its Rorate Masses and its quieter, expectant liturgies. Its returning refrain suits the whole season's mood of vigilant hope.

Sung slowly by candlelight, it turns the congregation into the watchers of Isaiah — heaven above still shut, the clouds still dry, the plea still rising: come.

Hear it sung on the channel.

Visit the Channel

Questions

On the Rorate Caeli.

What does Rorate Caeli mean?

It means 'Drop down dew, ye heavens.' Taken from Isaias (Isaiah) 45:8, it begs the heavens to send down the 'Just One' — the awaited Saviour.

When is it sung?

During Advent, especially at the candle-lit 'Rorate' votive Masses of Our Lady sung before dawn.

What is a Rorate Mass?

A votive Mass of the Blessed Virgin celebrated in Advent, traditionally before dawn by candlelight, named for the opening words of its Introit, Rorate caeli — the same words as this chant's refrain.

Repertorium

The other chants.

The Penitential CryKyrie EleisonThe Cry for Mercy The Antiphon of MortalityMedia VitaIn the Midst of Life The Hymn of InvocationVeni Creator SpiritusThe Invocation of the Spirit The Marian AntiphonSalve ReginaThe Evening Antiphon The Sequence of JudgmentDies IraeThe Day of Wrath A Child Is BornPuer Natus EstA Child Is Born The Lenten PleaAttende DomineThe Lenten Plea The Hymn of the SacramentPange LinguaThe Hymn of the Sacrament The Easter AntiphonRegina CaeliThe Easter Antiphon The Golden SequenceVeni Sancte SpiritusThe Golden Sequence The Hidden GodheadAdoro Te DevoteThe Hidden Godhead Hail, True BodyAve Verum CorpusHail, True Body Star of the SeaAve Maris StellaStar of the Sea The Great ThanksgivingTe DeumThe Great Thanksgiving