Last night I was listening to Matins for Christmas Eve (from ChantCd.com)

There is an MP3 downloadable edition available now, so you can listen to it within minutes of buying it, plus it's cheaper and there's no shipping.
https://www.chantcd.com/index.php/Divine-Office-of-Matins-Christmas-Eve-MP3-DOWNLOAD-EDITION

Here is a sample of the Invitatory (the lyrics are below):


I was actually there when it was recorded in 2000. It was my first experience with Matins, and let's just say I was impressed.

I was well prepared for Christmas that year, having properly celebrated 100% of Advent at the Seminary, with the O Antiphons and all the other things the Catholic Liturgy has to offer.

I remember it was pitch black outside, but super bright in the Seminary's main chapel.

I remember how the 3rd Nocturn (the third set of 3 psalms, readings, etc.) turns upward, almost changing gears, sounding much more happy, anticipating Christmas itself. You start hearing more "Alleluia" in the antiphons before each Psalm, etc.

What really stands out in my memory is how I was getting my "second wind" right about then. At the seminary we all kept a regular, normal sleeping schedule: 10:00 PM to 6:00 AM, 7 days a week. Matins started at either 9:30 or 10:30 PM (I can't remember) but it lasted until 11:30, at which point we sang a bunch of Christmas songs, and then had Midnight Mass. The point is: after a certain point, your body gets the message that you're staying up late/skipping out on bedtime and kicks in a certain amount of adrenaline. You get your "second wind". It's odd that the "second wind" almost perfectly coincided with the higher pitch of joy found in the later parts of Christmas Eve Matins! I remember thinking, "Yeah, I'm up pretty late at this point. But isn't this all worth it! I love Christmas!"

I remember the beautiful Psalm melodies, that (as far as I knew) were only used at Matins. Throughout the year we chanted Vespers and Compline, so we were no strangers to various Psalm melodies. But these particular melodies seemed reserved for Matins.

I still notice just how 100% hand-picked appropriate these Psalms are. They are all about God's mercy, rejoicing, etc.

The antiphon for the 7th Psalm:

Ipse invocabit me, Alleluia,
Pater meus es tu, Alleluia.
"He will call upon me, Alleluia
Thou art my Father, Alleluia"

And the first line from that Psalm:
Misericordias Domini *
In aeternum cantabo.
The mercies of the Lord *
I will sing them forever.


And the 8th Psalm:

(antiphon)
Laetentur caeli, et exultet terra
ante faciem Domini, quoniam venit.
The heavens and the earth rejoice
before the face of the Lord, because he comes.

(first verse)
Cantate Domino canticuм novum: *
cantate Domino omnis terra
Sing ye to the Lord a new song: *
Sing ye to the Lord, all the earth


Here is the "invitatory" for Christmas Eve Matins.

It starts out setting the framework for the whole night's Liturgy. It establishes that God is the great God of all creation, that He is our God, and points out how God is both just and merciful. It reminds us of the 40 years in the desert, and how some were unfaithful and turned their backs on God, and how God justly punished them. It appeals to us to NOT likewise turn a deaf ear to God.

Hodie, si vocem eius audieritis,
nolite obdurare corda vestra,
sicut in exacerbatione secundum
diem tentationis in deserto:
ubi tentaverunt me patres vestri,
probaverunt et viderunt opera mea.

Today, if you hear His voice,
do not harden your hearts,
like in the time of temptation as
your fathers were tempted in the desert:
Where your fathers tempted Me,
They tested and saw My works.




VERSE:
Christus natus est nobis:
Venite adoremus.

Venite, exultemus Domino, jubilemus Deo, salutari nostro:
praeoccupemus faciem eius in confessione, et in psalmis iubilemus ei.

Christus, etc.

Quoniam Deus magnus Dominus, et Rex magnus super omnes deos:
quoniam non repellet Dominus plebem suam:
quia in manu eius sunt omnes fines terrae,
et altitudines montium ipse conspicit.

Venite, etc.

Quoniam ipsius est mare, et ipse fecit illud,
et aridam fundaverunt manus eius:
venite, adoremus, et procidamus ante Deum:
ploremus coram Domino, qui fecit nos,
quia ipse est Dominus Deus noster;
nos autem populus eius, et oves pascuae eius.

Christus, etc.

Hodie, si vocem eius audieritis,
nolite obdurare corda vestra,
sicut in exacerbatione secundum
diem tentationis in deserto:
ubi tentaverunt me patres vestri,
probaverunt et viderunt opera mea.

Venite, etc.

Quadraginta annis proximus fui
generationi huic,
et dixi: Semper hi errant corde;
ipsi vero non cognoverunt vias meas:
quibus iuravi in ira mea:
Si introibunt in requiem meam.

Christus, etc.

Gloria Patri, et Filio, et Spiritui Sancto.
Sicut erat in principio, et nunc, et semper,
et in saecula saeculorum. Amen.

Christus, etc.

http://www.chantcd.com/lyrics/christus_natus_est_nobis.htm