Improperia — Popule meus, quid feci tibi? — of the Adoration of the Cross

The Improperia — a Latin word meaning reproaches or complaints — are the antiphons sung at the rite of the Adoration of the Cross, in the liturgical action of Good Friday, while the people approach the altar to venerate the Cross unveiled by the celebrant. They take the form of loving complaints which the crucified Christ addresses to his people, contrasting the blessings of the Old Covenant (deliverance from Egypt, crossing of the Red Sea, food of manna, water from the rock) with the acts of the Passion (cross, gall, vinegar, lance, crown of thorns). Its most ancient known structure is the Greek-Latin Trisagion alternated — Hagios o Theos, Hagios Ischyros, Hagios Athanatos, eleison hymas — in Greek and in Latin — the only moment in the Roman liturgy where Greek is sung alongside Latin, an ancient sign of the unity of the Church between East and West. The Improperia are attested from the Romano-Germanic Pontifical of the 10th century (Mainz, c. 950); liturgical studies suggest older origins in the papal liturgy of Rome, in the Gelasian Sacramentary (8th cent.). The Prophet’s verses are taken from Micah 6:3-4 and Isaiah 5:4. Preserved in the Roman Missal of St Pius V (1570), they were retained in the liturgical renewal of St Paul VI (1970), remaining as the proper chant of the Adoration of the Cross. We present here the traditional integral form in Latin, with literal English translation of our own from the original Latin (without reproducing ICEL or any modern translated missal).

(The celebrant and two cantors alternate:)

O my people, what have I done to thee, or wherein have I afflicted thee? Answer me.

Because I led thee out of the land of Egypt: thou hast prepared a Cross for thy Saviour.

(The two choirs answer alternately in Greek and in Latin:)

— Holy God. — Sanctus Deus.
— Holy Mighty. — Sanctus Fortis.
— Holy Immortal, have mercy on us. — Sanctus Immortalis, miserere nobis.

Because I led thee through the desert for forty years, and fed thee with manna, and brought thee into a most excellent land: thou hast prepared a Cross for thy Saviour.

— Holy God. — Sanctus Deus.
— Holy Mighty. — Sanctus Fortis.
— Holy Immortal, have mercy on us. — Sanctus Immortalis, miserere nobis.

What more ought I to have done for thee, that I have not done? I, in truth, planted thee as my most beautiful chosen vineyard: and thou hast become exceedingly bitter unto me: for in my thirst thou gavest me vinegar to drink, and with a lance thou pierced the side of thy Saviour.

— Holy God. — Sanctus Deus.
— Holy Mighty. — Sanctus Fortis.
— Holy Immortal, have mercy on us. — Sanctus Immortalis, miserere nobis.

(The lesser reproaches follow, alternated verse by verse by the two choirs:)

For thy sake I scourged Egypt with its firstborn: and thou hast delivered me up to be scourged.

I led thee out of Egypt, drowning Pharaoh in the Red Sea: and thou hast delivered me up to the chief priests.

I opened the sea before thee: and thou with a lance hast opened my side.

I went before thee in a pillar of cloud: and thou hast led me into the praetorium of Pilate.

I fed thee with manna in the desert: and thou hast smitten me with blows and scourges.

I gave thee the saving water of the rock to drink: and thou hast given me gall and vinegar to drink.

For thy sake I struck the kings of the Canaanites: and thou with a reed hast struck my head.

I gave thee a royal sceptre: and thou hast given my head a crown of thorns.

I exalted thee with great power: and thou hast hung me upon the gibbet of the Cross.

(It concludes with the final invitation to the veneration of the Cross:)

Behold the wood of the Cross, on which hung the Salvation of the world.

— Come, let us adore.