Advent is/was a time of somber reflection.

To break the grey, cold monotony of this part of the Liturgical cycle, we come to the third Sunday of Advent, when the altar hangings briefly turn from penitential purple to a lovely rose color.

I had planned to post an excerpt of Bach’s “Magnificat” but came across this in the mix. A cappella voices are always a treat, and none more so than the King’s Singers, here, singing the ancient “Gaudete”:

Gaudete, gaudete Christos est natus
Ex Maria virginae, gaudete.
Gaudete, gaudete Christos est natus
Ex Maria virginae, gaudete.

Tempus ad est gratiae hoc quod optabamus,
Carmina laetitiae devote redamus.

Gaudete, gaudete Christos est natus
Ex Maria virginae, gaudete.
Gaudete, gaudete Christos est natus
Ex Maria virginae, gaudete.

From the wiki entry:

Gaudete (English: /ˈɡaʊdeɪteɪ/; Ecclesiastical Latin: [gawˈdetɛ] “rejoice” in Latin) is a sacred Christmas carol, which is thought to have been composed in the 16th century, but could easily have existed as a monophonic hymn in the late medieval period, with polyphonic alto, tenor, and bass parts added during the 15th century, particularly due to its Medieval Latin lyrics. The song was published in Piae Cantiones, a collection of Finnish/Swedish sacred songs published in 1581. No music is given for the verses, but the standard tune comes from older liturgical books.

The Latin text is a typical medieval song of praise, which follows the standard pattern for the time – a uniform series of four-line stanzas, each preceded by a two-line refrain (in the early English carol this was known as the burden). Carols could be on any subject, but typically they were about the Virgin Mary, the Saints or Yuletide themes.