Popule Meus, also known as the 'Improperia' or the 'Reproaches,' is the hymn sung after the Adoration of the Cross on Good Friday. Here Christ reproaches the
Chosen People, contrasting the innumerable favors God has bestowed upon them with the injuries He has received from their hands. Where God led them to the Chosen Land, the Jews led Him to the Cross. Where God gave a royal scepter, the Jews returned a crown of thorns.
This version of Popule Meus was composed by Fr. Tomás Luis de Victoria. It begins with the last stanza of chant sung during the Adoration of the Cross.
It is here sung by the choir La Colombina
Listen to Popule Meus
Latin Lyrics:
Ecce lignum crucis:
In quo salus mundi pependit,
Venite, adoremus.
Popule meus, quid feci tibi?
Aut in quo contristavi te?
Responde mihi.
Quia eduxi te de terra Aegypti,
Parasti Crucem Salvatori tuo.
Hagios o Theos. Sanctus Deus.
Hagios Ischyros. Sanctus Fortis.
Hagios Athanatos, eleison himas.
Sanctus Immortalis, miserere nobis.
Quia eduxi te per desertum Quadraginta annis,
Et manna cibavi te,
Et introduxi te in terram satis bonam,
Parasti Crucem Salvatori tuo.
Hagios o Theos. Sanctus Deus.
Hagios Ischyros. Sanctus Fortis.
Hagios Athanatos, eleison himas.
Sanctus Immortalis, miserere nobis.
Ego propter te flagellavi Aegyptum
Cum primogenitis suis:
Et tu me flagellatum tradidisti.
Popule meus, quid feci tibi?
Aut in quo contristavi te?
Responde mihi.
Ego te eduxi de Aegypto,
Demerso Pharone in mare Rubrum,
Et tu me tradidisti Principibus sacerdotum.
Popule meus, quid feci tibi?
Aut in quo contristavi te?
Responde mihi.
Ego ante te aperui mare,
Et tu aperuisti lancea latus meum.
Popule meus, quid feci tibi?
Aut in quo contristavi te?
Responde mihi.
Translation:
Behold the wood of the cross:
On which hung the salvation of the world,
Come, let us adore.
O my people, what have I done to you?
Or wherein have I grieved you?
Answer me.
Because I led you out of the land of Egypt:
You have prepared a Cross for your Saviour.
O Holy God. O Holy God.
O Holy Strong One. O Holy Strong One.
O Holy and Immortal, have mercy upon us.
O Holy and Immortal, have mercy upon us.
Because I led you through the desert,
For forty years,
And fed you with manna,
And brought you into a land exceeding good,
You have prepared a Cross for your Savior.
O Holy God. O Holy God.
O Holy Strong One. O Holy Strong One.
O Holy and Immortal, have mercy upon us.
O Holy and Immortal, have mercy upon us.
For you I scourged Egypt,
And its firstborn,
And you have delivered me to be scourged.
O my people, what have I done to you?
Or wherein have I grieved you?
Answer me.
I brought you out of Egypt,
And sank Pharaoh in the Red Sea,
And you bave delivered Me To the chief priests.
O my people, what have I done to you?
Or wherein have I grieved you?
Answer me.
I opened the sea before you,
And you have opened my side with a spear.
O my people, what have I done to you?
Or wherein have I grieved you?
Answer me.
