Duomo Music Chapel, the Chapter Eucharistic Celebration and the Ambrosian Offertory for the Lenten

The so-called 'Ambrosian' chant is the musical repertoire of the Milanese Church, which, like the rite, is so called in reference to Ambrose, the holy bishop who died in 397.
In a different way from Saint Gregory the Great - after whom the Gregorian Chant is named - Ambrose was actually the author of liturgical hymns: the well-known account of Saint Augustine (baptised by Ambrose in 387) is a first-hand account of the historical circumstances in which the bishop introduced hymnody 'secundum morem orientalium partium' (according to the custom of the East) in Milan, making it a powerful instrument of catechesis.
In the European cultural landscape, the historical importance of Ambrosian chant is significant: it is, in fact, the only one of the archaic pre-Gregorian repertoires to have survived in liturgical practice to the present day.

As a crossroads of cultures, Milan has incorporated a multiplicity of contributions into its liturgical chant: alongside indigenous creations, texts and melodies from the Iberian Peninsula and Gaul, from the Greek and Syriac East, and from the Mediterranean world, have converged in the Ambrosian Chant, reshaped in the peculiar local style, of Italic matrix, which alternates very simple melodies with extraordinarily elaborate vocalisations.

Every Sunday during Lent, the Duomo Music Chapel performs the Offertory Antiphon in Ambrosian chant, which in medieval manuscripts is called offerenda, quite elaborate and often with a verse, as well as the whole Ambrosian repertoire of each celebration (Ingressa, Post Evangelium, Confractorium, Transitorium and the Psalm in Italian with the melody taken from the Ambrosian Psalm).

At this linkl you can download all the offertories in Ambrosian Chant of the 5 Sundays of Lent taken from the Antiphonale Missarum Iuxta Ritum Sanctæ Ecclesiæ Mediolanensis, published in Rome in 1935.

At this link you can listen to the Offertory of the First Sunday of Lent, Sunday "In capite Quardragesimae" (Scapulis suis obumbrabit tibi Dominus).

The Offertory of the Second Sunday of Lent (Precatus est Moyses) is available at this link.

Every Sunday, the Milan Duomo will offer all the worshippers and visitors a new service, by means of special QR Codes located in various places in the Cathedral: the possibility of downloading a liturgical aid in English onto your device, including the Sunday Readings and the Rite of the Mass, in PDF format.

The English-language aids, which can also be accessed through the link liturgy.duomomilano.it, are also accompanied by a second file including all the musical parts, in order to facilitate greater accessibility and openness to those from all over the world who wish to experience the Duomo in its cultural and faith dimension.

Inviting everyone to experience this dimension, we remind you that all festive Chapter celebrations are streamed live on the official Duomo di Milano YouTube channel Duomo Milano Tv.