# Qui habitat

Qui habitat (Latin for 'He who dwells') is a liturgical chant sung as the tract during the Mass of the First Sunday of Lent or Quadragesima Sunday in the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church. This tract, drawn from Psalm 90 (91 in the Hebrew numbering), is a significant example of Gregorian chant and "one of the most remarquable tracts" of the Graduale Romanum. It reflects the penitential character of the Lenten season. It replaces the Alleluia, which is omitted during Lent, and serves as a meditative interlude between the Gradual and the Gospel reading.

## Text and scriptural basis

The text of Qui habitat is derived from verses of Psalm 90 in the Latin Vulgate, specifically verses 1–7 and 11–16. The full text of the tract, as found in the Liber Usualis and the 1962 Roman Missal, is as follows:
This psalm is traditionally interpreted as a hymn of divine protection, emphasizing trust in God amidst spiritual and physical dangers, a theme resonant with the penitential and introspective tone of Lent.

## Liturgical context

In the Roman Rite, the tract is a chant sung after the Gradual during Masses in penitential seasons, such as Lent and certain Ember Days, when the Alleluia is suppressed. Qui habitat is specifically assigned to the First Sunday of Lent, a day whose liturgy focuses on Christ's temptation in the desert (Matthew 4:1–11). The psalm's imagery of divine safeguarding aligns with the Gospel narrative, where Jesus overcomes the temptations of Satan through reliance on God.
Historically, the tract emerged in the early medieval period as part of the Gregorian chant repertoire, codified by the 9th century. Unlike the responsorial Gradual, the tract is sung straight through (tractim) without a congregational response, reflecting its origins in soloistic psalmody.

## Musical characteristics

Qui habitat is composed in Mode II (Hypodorian), a mode characterized by a plagal range and a melancholic, introspective quality suited to the Lenten season. The chant is melismatic, featuring extended vocal flourishes on certain syllables, particularly in the opening verse and the phrases describing divine protection (e.g., "Scapulis suis obumbrabit tibi"). Its notation in Gregorian square neumes, as preserved in manuscripts like the Graduale Romanum, reveals a fluid, undulating melody that mirrors the text's contemplative nature.
The tract's structure consists of a series of verses sung by a cantor or schola cantorum, with no refrain or antiphon, distinguishing it from other Proper chants like the Introit or Offertory. Its length—typically one of the longest tracts in the Roman Rite—underscores its role as a meditative bridge in the liturgy, allowing the assembly to reflect on the preceding readings.

## Historical development

The use of Psalm 90 in the First Sunday of Lent liturgy dates back to at least the 6th century, as evidenced by early Roman ordines and sacramentaries. While some such as liturgist Jean Hesbert consider Qui habitat to be a gradual because the responsorial psalm is one of the most essential and most ancient elements of the primitive Mass, others such as James McKinnon argue that it is a prime example of psalms sung in directum of the early Fore-Mass. Its assignment as a tract likely solidified during the Carolingian reforms of the 8th and 9th centuries, when Gregorian chant was standardized under the influence of figures like Alcuin and the monks of Saint Gall. Along with a few others chants, Qui habitat was singled out because of its length as worthy of special remuneration for the cantors of the clergy of Metz under the authority of bishop Angilram (768-791). The Ordo Officiorum of the Lateran Cathedral in Rome c. 1140 indicate that the tract Qui habitat was sung "in an alternation between the members of the schola cantorum and three or four specially selected canons. who had stationed themselves in the middle of the choir." During the Middle ages, the tract, despite its length, was well preserved by the monastic tradition and pondered upon in their Lenten sermons by preachers such as Saint Bernard of Clairvaux and his seventeen sermons on the tract.
In the Tridentine Mass (pre-Vatican II), Qui habitat retained its traditional place and form. Following the liturgical reforms of the Second Vatican Council, the tract was largely replaced in the Ordinary Form of the Mass by a responsorial psalm or a shorter Alleluia verse, though it remains in use in celebrations of the Extraordinary Form (1962 Missal) and among communities preserving traditional chant. In recent years, there has been rediscovery of the Qui habitavit tract despite its length which had led most congregations to leave it out or psalm-tone it at best. As "the Gradual provides each part of the liturgical cycle with a distinct tonality", Qui habitat should be heard as a initiative procedure at the beginning of the Lenten season parallel to the Introit Ad te levavi for Lent:
   The Tract Qui habitat, if left out, deprives the first Sunday of Lent of the ninetieth Psalm's unshakeable confidence.

## Interpretation

Theologically, Qui habitat encapsulates the Lenten call to trust in God's providence and goodness during times of trial, echoing Christ's desert experience according to the traditional interpretation echoed by Dom Gueranger. Its vivid imagery—shields, wings, and defeated serpents—has inspired artistic and literary interpretations, including medieval illuminations and sermons by figures like Saint Augustine, who linked the psalm to spiritual warfare.
Musically, the tract is a cornerstone of the Gregorian repertory, admired for its expressive depth and technical sophistication. Modern performances by ensembles like the Schola Gregoriana of Cambridge and recordings in the Graduale Triplex continue to preserve its haunting beauty.