Latin HymnsTe Deum LaudamusAttributed to Niceta of Remisiana
¶[4th Century]
¶E praise thee, O God, we acknowledge thee to be the Lord.WAll the earth doth worship thee, the Father everlasting.To thee all Angels cry aloud: the Heavens, and all the Powerstherein.To thee Churubin and Seraphin continually do cry,Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of Sabaoth;Heaven and earth are full of the Majesty of thy Glory.The glorious company of the Apostles praise thee.The goodly fellowship of the Prophets praise thee.The noble army of Martyrs praise thee.The holy Church throughout all the world doth acknowledge thee;The Father, of an infinite Majesty;Thine honourable, true, and only Son;Also the Holy Ghost, the Comforter.Thou art the King of Glory, O Christ!Thou art the everlasting Son of the Father.When thou tookest upon thee to deliver man, thou didst not abhor theVirgin's womb.When thou hadst overcome the sharpness of death, thou didst open theKingdom of Heaven to all believers.Thou sittest at the right hand of God in the Glory of the Father.We believe that thou shalt come to be our Judge.We therefore pray thee, help thy servants whom thou hast redeemed withthy precious blood.Make them to be numbered with thy Saints in glory everlasting.O Lord, save thy people and bless thine heritage.Govern them, and lift them up for ever.Day by day we magnify thee;And we worship thy Name, ever world without end.[547]Vouchsafe, O Lord, to keep us this day without sin.O Lord, have mercy upon us: have mercy upon us.O Lord, let thy mercy lighten upon us: as our trust is in thee.O Lord, in thee have I trusted: let me never be confounded.
Veni Creator SpiritusATTRIBUTED TO CHARLEMAGNE. Tr. JOHN DRYDEN[742s14]
¶CREATOR SPIRIT, by whose aidThe world's foundations first were laid,Come, visit every pious mind;Come, pour thy joys on human kind;From sin and sorrow set us free,And make thy temples worthy thee.O source of uncreated light,The Father's promised Paraclete,Thrice holy fount, thrice holy fire,Our hearts with heavenly love inspire;Come, and thy sacred unction bringTo sanctify us while we sing.Plenteous of grace, descend from high,Rich in thy sevenfold energy;Thou strength of his almighty hand,Whose power does heaven and earth command,Proceeding Spirit, our defence,Who dost the gift of tongues dispense,And crown'st thy gift with eloquence.Refine and purge our earthy parts,But O , inflame and fire our hearts,Our frailties help, our vice control;Submit the senses to the soul,And, when rebellious they are grown,Then lay thy hand, and hold them down.Chase from our minds the infernal foe,And peace, the fruit of love, bestow;And, lest our feet should step astray,Protect and guide us in the way;[548]Make us eternal truths receiveAnd practise all that we believe.Give us thyself, that we may seeThe Father and the Son by thee.Immortal honour, endless fame,Attend the Almighty Father's name:The Saviour Son be glorified,Who for lost man's redemption died;And equal adoration be,Eternal Paraclete, to thee.
Hicb Reve Vivit UrFrom "de Contempt U Mundi" by Bernard of MorlaixTr. J. M. NEALE
¶[cir. 7/25]
¶BRIEF life is here our portion,Brief sorrow, short-lived care;The life that knows no ending,The tearless life, is there.
¶And after fleshly scandal,And after this world's night,And after storm and whirlwind,Is calm and joy and light.
¶There grief is turned to pleasure,Such pleasure as, below,No human voice can utter,No human heart can know:
¶The peace of all the faithful,The calm of all the blest,Inviolate, unvaried,Divinest, sweetest, best.
¶That peace,—but who may claim it?The guileless in their way,Who keep the ranks of battle,Who mean the thing they say.[549]Strive, man, to win that glory,Toil, man, to gain that light,Send hope before to grasp it,Till hope be lost in sight!
Urbs Sion AureaFrom the Same
¶JERUSALEM the golden,With milk and honey blest,Beneath thy contemplationSink heart and voice oppressedI know not, O, I know not,What social joys are there,What radiancy of glory,What light beyond compare!
¶They stand, those halls of Zion,Conjubilant with song,And bright with many an angelAnd all the martyr throng.And they who, with their Leader,Have conquered in the fight,Forever and foreverAre clad in robes of white.
¶Jerusalem the glorious,The glory of the elect,O dear and future visionThat eager hearts expect,New mansion of new people,Whom God's own love and lightPromote, increase, make holy,Identify, unite!
Jesu, Dulcis MemoriaST. BERNARD OF CLAIRVAUX. Tr. E. CASWALL
¶[1091-1153]
¶JESU, the very thought of TheeWith sweetness fills the breast;But sweeter far Thy Face to see,And in Thy Presence rest.
¶No voice can sing, no heart can frame,Nor can the memory findA sweeter sound than Jesu's Name,The Saviour of mankind.
¶O Hope of every contrite heart,O Joy of all the meek,To those who ask how kind Thou art,How good to those who seek!
¶But what to those who find? Ah! thisNor tongue nor pen can show;The love of Jesus, what it isNone but His loved ones know.
¶Jesu, our only Joy be Thou,As Thou our Prize wilt be:Tn Thee be all our glory now,And through eternity.
Jesu, Dulce Do Cord IumST. BERNARD OF CLAIRVAUX. Tr. RAY PALMER
¶[1091-1153]
¶JESUS, Thou Joy of loving hearts!Thou Fount of Life! Thou Light of men!From the best bliss that earth imparts,We turn unfi'l'd to Thee again.[551]Thy truth unchanged hath ever stood;Thou savest those that on Thee call;To them that seek Thee, Thou art good,To them that find Thee, All in All!
¶We taste Thee, O Thou Living Bread,And long to feast upon Thee still!We drink of Thee, the Fountain Head,And thirst our souls from Thee to fill!
¶Our restless spirits yearn for Thee,Where'er our changeful lot is cast;Glad, when Thy gracious smile we see,Blest, when our faith can hold Thee fast.
¶O Jesus, ever with us stay!Make all our moments calm and bright!Chase the dark night of sin away,Shed o'er the world Thy holy light!
Die Sir. E, Dies ILL aTHOMAS A CELANO. Tr. J. O'HAGAN
¶[d. 1275]
¶DAY of wrath, that day whose knellingGives to flame this earthly dwelling;Psalm and Sibyl thus foretelling.
¶Pealing wondrous through the regions,Shall the trumpet force obedience,And the graves yield up their legions.
¶Startled death and nature sicken,Thus to see the creature quicken,Waiting judgment terror-stricken.[552]Open, then, with all recorded,Stands the book from whence awardedDoom shall pass with deed accorded.
¶When the judge is throned in session,All things hid shall find confession,Unavenged be no transgression.
¶Wretch, what then shall be my pleading?Who my patron interceding?Scarce the just securely speeding.
¶Think, 'twas I, my lost condition,Caused, O pitying Lord, thy mission;Spare my soul that day's perdition.
¶Thou who Mary's sin hast shriven,Thou who broughtst the thief to heaven,Hope to me hast also given.
¶Nothing worth is mine endeavour,Yet, in ruth, my soul deliverFrom the flame that burns for ever.[553]With thy sheep, thy chosen, place me,Severed from the goats embrace me;On thy right-hand, ransomed, place me.
¶Crashed to dust and prostrate bending,All my heart contrition rending;I implore thee, guard my ending.
Stabat MaterJACOBUS DE BENEDICTIS. Tr. D. F. MACCARTHY
¶\13th-14th Century]
¶BY the cross, on which suspended,With his bleeding hands extended,Hung that Son she so adored,Stood the mournful Mother weeping,She whose heart, its silence keeping,Grief had cleft as with a sword.
¶Oh, that Mother's sad affliction—Mother of all benediction—Of the sole-begotten One;Oh, the grieving, sense-bereaving,Of her heaving breast, perceivingThe dread sufferings of her Son.[554]What man is there so unfeeling,Who, his heart to pity steeling,Could behold that sight unmoved?Could Christ's Mother see there weeping,See the pious Mother keepingVigil by the Son she loved?
¶For his people's sins atoning,She saw Jesus writhing, groaning,'Neath the scourge wherewith he bled;Saw her loved one, her consoler,Dying in his dreadful dolour,Till at length his spirit fled.
¶O thou Mother of election,Fountain of all pure affection,Make thy grief, thy pain, my own;Make my heart to God returning,In the love of Jesus burning,Feel the fire that thine has known.
¶Blessed Mother of prediction,Stamp the marks of crucifixionDeeply on my stony heart,Ever leading where thy bleedingSon is pleading for my needing,Let me in his wounds take part.
¶Make me truly, each day newlyWhile life lasts, O Mother, dulyWeep with him, the Crucified.Let me, 'tis my sole demanding,Near the cross, where thou art standing,Stand in sorrow at thy side.
¶Queen of virgins, best and dearest,Grant, oh, grant the prayer thou hearest,Let me ever mourn with thee;Let compassion me so fashionThat Christ's wounds, his death and passion,Be each day renewed in me.[555]Oh, those wounds do not deny me;On that cross, oh, crucify me;Let me drink his blood I pray:Then on fire, enkindled, daring,I may stand without despairingOn that dreadful judgment-day.
¶May that cross be my salvation;Make Christ's death my preservation;May his grace my heart make wise;And when death my body taketh,May my soul when it awakethOpe in heaven its raptured eyes.
Adeste FidelesAnonymousCalled "THE PORTUGUESE CHAPEL HYMN."Tr. J. R. BESTE
¶[iph-i6th Century]
¶HASTEN, ye faithful, glad, joyful, and holy,Speed ye to Bethlem to honour the Word;See there the King of angels is born lowly—Oh, come and kneel before him;Oh, come and all adore him;Oh come, oh come, rejoicing to honour the Lord.
¶God of the Godhead, true Light unabated,Mary the Virgin has borne the Adored;True God eternal, begot, uncreated—Oh, come and kneel before him;Oh, come and all adore him;Oh come, oh come, rejoicing to honour the Lord.
¶Sing, all ye angels, till echoes reboundingSwell through your halls, for ever be heard;'Glory to God,' through all heaven resounding—Oh, come and kneel before him;Oh, come and all adore him;Oh come, oh come, rejoicing to honour the Lord.[556]Praise to the Infant, who this day descended;Glory to thee, blessed Jesus adored;Word, in whom two natures join, yet unblended—Oh, come and kneel before him;Oh, come and all adore him;Oh come, oh come, rejoicing to honour the Lord.
O Deus, Ego a MoteATTRIBUTED TO ST. FRANCIS XAVIER. Tr. EDWARD CASWALL
¶[1506-1552}
¶MY God, I love thee: not becauseI hope for heaven thereby,Nor because they who love thee notMust burn eternally.
¶Thou, O my Jesus, Thou didst meUpon the Cross embrace;For me didst bear the nails and spear,And manifold disgrace.
¶And grief and torments numberless,And sweat of agony;Yea, death itself; and all for meWho was thine enemy.
¶Then why, O Blessed Jesu Christ,Should I not love thee well?—Not for the hope of winning heaven,Nor of escaping hell;
¶Not with the hope of gaining aught,Not seeking a reward;But as thyself hast loved me,O ever-loving Lord!
¶E'en so I love thee and will love,And in thy praise will sing,Solely because thou art my God,And my eternal King.