On this feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, here are two musical settings of the refrain Adoramus Te, whose full text runs:
Adoramus te, Christe,
et benedicimus tibi:
quia per sanctam crucem
tuam redemisti mundum.
We adore Thee, O Christ, and we bless Thee, for by Thy holy Cross, Thou hast redeemed the world.
Here is Monteverdi’s 1620 motet, as sung by Voces8:
And here is a modern rendition, by Théodore Dubois (+1924), which is a favorite and standard of our own schola, as sung here by the Benedictines of Mary sisters: