Urbs Ierusalem Beata

This hymn is used for Vespers & Matins for the Common of the Dedication of a Church in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Breviary and for Vespers of the same Office in the Ordinary Form. Fr. Britt indicates this hymn continues as Angularis Fundamentum. It was used for Vespers I for the Dedication of a Church in the Paris Breviary (1736). It was also used for Vespers I and Matins for the Office of the Dedication of a Church in the Sarum Breviary.

Urbs Ierusalem beata*,
Dicta pacis visio,
Quæ construitur in cælis
Vivis ex lapidibus,
Et Angelis coronata,
Ut sponsata comite.

Nova veniens e cælo
Nuptiali thalamo
Præparata, ut sponsata
Copuletur Domino:
Plateæ et muri eius,
Ex auro purissimo.

Portæ nitent margaritis,
Adytis patentibus;
Et virtute meritorum
Illuc introducitur
Omnis qui ob Christi nomen
Hic in mundo premitur.

Tunsionibus, pressuris
Expoliti lapides,
Suis coaptantur locis,
Per manus artificis,
Disponuntur permansuri
Sacris ædificiis.

**Gloria et honor Deo
Usquequaque Altissimo,
Una Patri, Filioque,
Inclyto Paraclito,
Cui laus est et potestas
Per æterna sæcula. Amen.

Words: Anonymous Latin 6th or 7th Century.
Tune: “Urbs Ierusalem Beata” Gregorian Chant, Mode IV,traditional.
Meter: 87.87.87

*Fr. Britt indicates this line is also rendered “Urbs Beata Ierusalem.”

**John Chandler provides this alternate closing doxology in Hymni Ecclesiastici:
Sit perennis laus Parenti
Sit perennis Filio:
Laus tibi, qui nectis ambos
Sit perennis, Spiritus,
Chrisma cuius nos inungens
Viva templa consecrat. Amen.

Here is the text of the hymn as it appears in the 1736 Paris Breviary:

Urbs Ierusalem beata,
Dicta pacis visio,
Quæ construitur in cælis
Vivis ex lapidibus,
Et ovantum coronata,
Angelorum agmine.

Nova veniens e cælo
Nuptiali thalamo
Præparata, ut sponsata
Copuletur Domino:
Plateæ et muri eius,
Ex auro purissimo.

Portæ nitent margaritis,
Adytis patentibus;
Et virtute meritorum
Illuc introducitur
Omnis qui ob Christi nomen
Hic in mundo premitur.

Tunsionibus, pressuris
Expoliti lapides,
Suis coaptantur locis,
Per manus artificis,
Disponuntur permansuri
Sacris ædificiis.

Sit perennis laus Parenti,
Sit perennis Filio:
Laus tibi, qui nectis ambos
Sit perennis, Spiritus,
Chrisma cuius nos inungens
Viva templa consecrat. Amen.

The hymn takes the following form in Pope Urban VIII’s 1632 reform of the Breviary:

Cælestis urbs Ierusalem,
Beata pacis visio,
Quæ celsa de viventibus
Saxis ad astra tolleris,
Sponsæque ritu cingeris
Mille angelorum millibus.

O sorte nupta prospera,
Dotata Patris gloria,
Respersa sponsi gratia,
Regina formosissima,
Christo iugata Principi,
Cæli corusca civitas.

Hic margaritis emicant,
Patentque cunctis ostia:
Virtute namque prævia
Mortalis illuc ducitur,
Amore Christi percitus
Tormenta quisquis sustinet.

Scalpri salubris ictibus,
Et tunsione plurima,
Fabri polita malleo
Hanc saxa molem construunt,
Aptisque iuncta nexibus
Locantur in fastigio.

Decus Parenti debitum
Sit usquequaque Altissimo,
Natoque Patris unico,
Et inclyto Paraclito,
Cui laus, potestas, gloria
Æterna sit per sæcula. Amen.

Tune: Unknown
Meter: 88.88.88

Here is the text as it appears in the  Hymnale Secundum Usum Insignis Ac Praeclarae Ecclesiae Sarisburiensis (1850):

Urbs Beata Hierusalem*,
Dicta pacis visio;
Quæ construitur in cælis,
Vivis ex lapidibus,
Et angelis coronata,
Ut sponsata comite.

Nova veniens de cælo,
Nuptiali thalamo
Præparata et sponsata
Copuletur Domino;
Plateæ et muri eius
Ex auro purissimo.

Portæ nitent margaritis,
Adytis patentibus,
Et virtute meritorum
Illuc introducitur
Omnis qui pro Christi nomine
Hoc in mundo premitur.

Tunsionibus, pressuris,
Expoliti lapides
Suis coaptantur locis
Per manus artificis,
Disponuntur permansuri
Sacris ædificiis.

Gloria et honor Deo
Usquequo* altissimo,
Una Patri Filioque
Inclito Paraclito,
Cui laus est et potestas
Per æterna sæcula. Amen.

*These are the only instances where the 1531 Folio Edition agrees with The Hymnale Secundum Usum Insignis Ac Praeclarae Ecclesiae Sarisburiensis (1850) over against the original version of the hymn shown at the top.

This hymn has been translated into English as the following:
Blessed City, Heavenly Salem (Benson) – Part I
Blessèd City, Heavenly Salem (Neale)
Jerusalem, Thou City Blest!
O City of Our God, Jerusalem the Blest!
Thou, Heav’nly, New Jerusalem