"Requiring equal levels of research and creativity, knowledge and imagination, translation is a scholarly art. The International Commission on English in the Liturgy (ICEL) demonstrates eloquently through this commentary not only how it practices this art in bringing these Hymns to vibrant life in the English language, but also how it is consistently guided by the treasures of word and thought contained within the original Latin texts. From the processes, contexts, and literary features revealed in the General Introduction and its Appendices, to the musically and linguistically sensitive translations that accompany the Latin texts. to the commentaries that trace coherent pathways through the Hymns stanza by stanza rather than simply extracting lemmata, this is a deeply learned yet eminently approachable project that invites the reader to experience the Hymns as works that are richly, abundantly alive."?Sarah Brown Ferrario, The Catholic University of America "In this first of five volumes, the International Commission on English in the Liturgy introduces the cultural and spiritual heritage of the hymns of the Divine Office. Faithful to Vatican II?s mandate to restore them to their authentic form, the translators render fresh versions of the hymns? Latin originals. They creatively replace previously used translations based on spurious Latin versions of renaissance humanists. These compromised the hymns? life blood, their metaphoric coherence, which arises from the simplicity and elegance of the Roman rite.

Accordingly, these volumes represent their own inspiring cultural and spiritual monument."?Stephen M. Fields, SJ, Hackett Family Professor in Theology, Georgetown University "In this collection of hymns, intensive research by liturgical and linguistic scholars has identified and studied a vast array of liturgical texts. This recently published translation of the hymns is the first time the whole corpus appears in a single translation. Cantate Domino: A Commentary on the Hymns of the Liturgy of the Hours is the outcome of a wide-ranging and ambitious project, making widely available scholarly background commentary on the hymnody, ?proper? to the ?Laudis Canticum? of the Liturgy of the Hours."?Abbot Paul Gunter, OSB, Abbot of Douai, Secretary, Department of Christian Life and Worship, Catholic Bishops Conference of England and Wales "For sixty years the Bishops of The International Commission on English in the Liturgy have been translating Latin liturgical texts to be used throughout the English-speaking world. In the Commentary on the Hymns of the Liturgy of the Hours they share with us the fruit of their experience. A careful study of the editiones typicae of the liturgical books is always of immense value.

It opens for us, through an attentive and prayerful study, the riches of the rediscovered treasures of the Church which have, through the reform of the liturgy, made available once more resources which had been hidden for many years. This scholarly guide to the corpus of hymnody will be of great assistance to all who celebrate the sanctification of time in the Prayer of the Church. These poetic texts with their literary beauty, their theological depth, their mystical insights will draw everyone into a greater appreciation as they pray together ?in the person of Christ? for the sanctification of time and the whole world. I sincerely hope that the ?Cantate Domino? commentaries bear much fruit in bringing many to a deeper knowledge and understanding of the daily sacrifice of praise which the Church offers, and in which the whole Body of Christ participates."?Cardinal Arthur Roche, Prefect of the Dicastery of Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments.