Provençal song

Prayer of Saint Anne

In Provençal: OURESOUN DE SANTO ANNO

Song no. 5 Damase Arbaud, 1862

Song no. 5 from the collection Chants populaires de la Provence by Damase Arbaud (1814-1876), published in 1862. Public domain. The text follows Arbaud's own spelling, which predates the Félibrige standard, and is reproduced unchanged.

Text

Madamo Santo Anno grand matin s'es lexado, D'aiguo n'a pres et les mans s'es lavado N'a pres ses chapelets à 1 'egliso es anado, L'y es pas anado per rire nj par parlar Mai per Jesus-Christ adourar. Quand de l'autar s'es approuchado Lou capelan l'a refusado Li a dit: Madamo Santo Anno Anetz trouv ar vouestre mari Chochim, De ses uelhs vous regardara, De sa bouco vous beisaïa, Vous laissara enceinto d'uno filho Que s'appélara Mario. Qu aquest sant. ouresoun saurie El tres fes doou jour lou dirie, Quand sense counfessien mourie, Au Paradis anarie. Amen:

English translation of the full text forthcoming.

Notes

This prayer tells how the priest turns Saint Anne away from the altar for her barrenness, and sends her to find her husband Joachim, whose embrace will bring her to conceive a daughter who will be named Mary. Arbaud links this episode at length to the apocryphal gospels, notably the Protevangelium of James, which recounts the humiliation of Anne and Joachim at the temple and the angel's announcement to Joachim. The genre is that of the popular protective prayer, recited to obtain a good death.

Notable words

Provençal	French
ouresoun	oraison, prière
capelan	curé, prêtre
lexado	levée
beisaïa	embrassera, baisera
Chochim	forme provençale, ici mutilée par l'OCR, du nom Joachim

Glosses are given in French, as delivered by our lexicographic source; an English gloss is not yet available for these words.

Source: Damase Arbaud, Chants populaires de la Provence, 1862, song no. 5. Public domain. Digitization: https://archive.org/details/chantspopulaire00arbagoog. Transcription and formatting by Lingua Nostra.