1708. Alma redemptoris mater. There is more than one hymn with this beginning, but the one meant is perhaps one of five stanzas printed in Hymni Latini Medii Ævi, ed. F. J. Mone, vol. ii. p. 200, from a St. Gallen MS. no. 452, p. 141, of the thirteenth century. The first and last stanzas were sung in the Marian Antiphon, from the Saturday evening before the 1st Sunday in Advent to Candlemas day. In l. 4 we have the salutation which Chaucer mentions (l. 1723), and in the last stanza is the prayer (l. 1724). These two stanzas are as follows:—
'Alma redemptoris mater,
quam de caelis misit pater
propter salutem gentium;
tibi dicunt omnes "aue!"
quia mundum soluens a uae
mutasti uocem flentium....
Audi, mater pietatis,
nos gementes a peccatis
et a malis nos tuere;