The Propers of the First Sunday of Lent
When one turns to the proper chants of the First Sunday of Lent, the most striking aspect is that they are all drawn from Psalm 90 Qui habitat. Here is the psalm in the Douai-Rheims translation:
He that dwelleth in the aid of the most High, shall abide under the protection of the God of Jacob. 2 He shall say to the Lord: Thou art my protector, and my refuge: my God, in him will I trust. 3 For he hath delivered me from the snare of the hunters: and from the sharp word. 4 He will overshadow thee with his shoulders: and under his wings thou shalt trust. 5 His truth shall compass thee with a shield: thou shalt not be afraid of the terror of the night.
6 Of the arrow that flieth in the day, of the business that walketh about in the dark: of invasion, or of the noonday devil. 7 A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand: but it shall not come nigh thee. 8 But thou shalt consider with thy eyes: and shalt see the reward of the wicked. 9 Because thou, O Lord, art my hope: thou hast made the most High thy refuge. 10 There shall no evil come to thee: nor shall the scourge come near thy dwelling.
11 For he hath given his angels charge over thee; to keep thee in all thy ways. 12 In their hands they shall bear thee up: lest thou dash thy foot against a stone. 13 Thou shalt walk upon the asp and the basilisk: and thou shalt trample under foot the lion and the dragon. 14 Because he hoped in me I will deliver him: I will protect him because he hath known my name. 15 He shall cry to me, and I will hear him: I am with him in tribulation, I will deliver him, and I will glorify him. 16 I will fill him with length of days; and I will show him my salvation.
The Introit or entrance chant uses verses 15, 16 and 1. Bear in mind that on this day, we read in the Gospel about the temptation of Christ in the wilderness. Through the Introit, it is as though the Church imagines God the Father pronouncing these promises to the Only-begotten. It announces to us, even at the start of Lent, the goal of the season, that is, the solemn celebration of the glorious resurrection of our Lord – the melodic eloboration over “glorificabo eum” (I will glorify him) confirm this. By our incorporation into the body of Christ through baptism, which together with the other sacraments of initiation is the heart of the Paschal Vigil, these promises are made to us. In this manner, the Gregorian propers tell us what the joyful season of Lent is all about and reveal a Christological reading of the psalm. Above all, they help us to appropriate to ourselves and meditate upon the sacred word of Scripture.