Asperges Me, Domine

Yesterday was the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. I had the privilege of attending Mass in what is now called the Extraordinary Form, otherwise known as the Traditional Latin Mass.

It was a High Mass, being a solemnity, and for those who don’t know a High Mass has added onto it at the beginning (or rather a Low Mass has it omitted) a blessing and sprinkling with holy water, accompanied by the chanting of a psalm with antiphons, which is known as the Asperges Me.

The melody of the chant can vary, but the one I usually hear sounds so sweet to my ear that it can be quite affecting when my mood is susceptible. Here is a recording (which, by the way, sounds a lot more polished than what I normally hear at my church) (see text in English below):

The text in English:

Antiphon: Thou shall sprinkle me with hyssop, O Lord, and I shall be cleansed; Thou shalt wash me, and I shall be made whiter than snow.

Psalm 50: Have mercy on me, O God, according to thy great mercy.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Antiphon: Thou shall sprinkle me with hyssop, O Lord, and I shall be cleansed; Thou shalt wash me, and I shall be made whiter than snow.