Hymns of the Early Church / being translations from the poetry of the Latin church, arranged in the order of the Christian year

Sundays and Week Days

Sunday Morning

DIE, DIERUM PRINCIPE

By Charles Coffin, born at Ardennes in 1676; Rector of the University of Paris, 1718; died, 1749. The most of his hymns appeared in the Paris Breviary of 1736. In that service-book this is the hymn for Sunday at Matins.

I

O day, the chief of days, whose light

Sprang from the dark embrace of night,

On which our Lord from death’s grim thrall

Arose, True Light, to lighten all.

II

Death trembling heard the mighty Lord,

And darkness quick obeyed His word;—

O shame on us! our tardy will

Is slow His summons to fulfil.

III

While Nature yet unconscious lies,

Come, let us, sons of light, arise,

And cheerful raise our matin lay

To chase the dark of night away.

IV

While all the world around is still,

Come, and with songs the temple fill,

Taught by the saints of bygone days,

Whose words were song, whose songs were praise.

V

Loud trump of Heaven, our languor shake,

And bid our slumbering spirits wake;

Teach us the nobler life, and give,

O Christ, the needed grace to live.

VI

O Font of love! Our steps attend;

Those needed gifts in mercy send;

And where Thy word is heard this day,

Give Thou the Spirit’s power, we pray.

VII

To Father and to Son be praise,

To Thee, O Holy Ghost, always,

Whose presence still the heart inspires

With sacred light and glowing fires.

O NATA LUX DE LUMINE

The oldest text known of this hymn is from a tenth-century MS. It is in the Sarum Breviary (1495), also in that of Aberdeen (1509), which is substantially that of Sarum, and one of the very few surviving service-books of the Pre-Reformation period in Scotland.

I

O Light that from the light wast born,

Redeemer of the world forlorn,

In mercy now Thy suppliants spare,

Our praise accept, and hear our prayer.

II

Thou who didst wear our flesh below,

To save our souls from endless woe,

Of Thy blest Body, Lord, would we

Efficient members ever be.

III

More bright than sun Thine aspect gleamed,

As snowdrift white Thy garments seemed,

When on the mount Thy glory shone,

To faithful witnesses alone.

IV

There did the seers of old confer

With those who Thy disciples were;

And Thou on both didst shed abroad

The glory of the eternal God.

V

From heaven the Father’s voice was heard

That Thee the eternal Son declared;

And faithful hearts now love to own

Thy glory, King of heaven, alone.

VI

Grant us, we pray, to walk in light,

Clad in Thy virtues sparkling bright,

That, upward borne by deeds of love,

Our souls may win the bliss above.

VII

Loud praise to Thee our homage brings,

Eternal God, Thou King of kings,

Who reignest one, Thou one in three,

From age to age eternally.

TU TRINITATIS UNITAS

Attributed by some, but with a small degree of probability, to Gregory the Great. The hymn occurs in all the editions of the Roman Breviary, as also in the Sarum, York, and Aberdeen Breviaries.

I

O Thou Eternal One in Three,

Dread Ruler of the earth and sky,

Accept the praise we yield to Thee,

Who, waking, lift our songs on high.

II

Now from the couch of rest we rise,

While solemn night in silence reigns,

And lift to Thee our earnest cries,

To give Thy balm to heal our pains.

III

If in the night by Satan’s guile

Our souls were lured by thought of sin;

O bid Thy light celestial smile,

And chase away the night within.

IV

Purge Thou our flesh from every stain,

Let not dull sloth our hearts depress;

Nor let the sense of guilt remain,

To chill the warmth our souls possess.

V

To Thee, Redeemer blest, we pray,

That in our souls Thy light may shine;

So we shall walk from day to day,

Unerring in Thy way Divine.

VI

Grant it, O Father, in Thy love,

Grant it, O One-begotten Son,

Who with the Spirit reign above,

Now, and while endless ages run.

Sunday Evening

DEUS CREATOR OMNIUM

By St. Ambrose, born at Lyons, Arles, or TrÊves in 340; consecrated Bishop of Milan in 374; died on Easter Eve, 397. He introduced antiphonal chanting into the Western Church, and laid the foundation of Church music, which Gregory systematised.

I

Thy works, O God, Thy name extol,

Thou Ruler of the worlds that roll;

The day is clad in garments bright,

And grateful sleep pervades the night,

II

That weary limbs from labour free,

By rest for toil prepared may be;

And jaded minds awhile forget

The anxious thoughts that pain and fret.

III

Fast fades the sunlight in the west;

Thy hand we own our day hath blessed;

Now from the accuser’s power we flee,

And lift our prayers in song to Thee.

IV

O Thou hast stirred our hearts to sing,

Hast tuned the praise our voices bring;

From earth’s vain loves our love hast won,

Hast lured our thoughts that heavenward run.

V

So, when the rayless gloom of night

Hath quenched in dark the expiring light,

Faith waves the ebon clouds away,

And dark is light, and night is day.

VI

That sin may ne’er an entrance make,

May slumber ne’er our souls o’ertake;

Faith, wakeful, keeps the soul secure,

And sleep is sweet, and deep, and pure.

VII

The mind from sin’s enticements free,

O let our dreams be thoughts of Thee;

And by no envious foe oppressed,

Vouchsafe to Thy beloved rest.

O DEUS, EGO AMO TE, NEC AMO TE, UT SALVES ME

Attributed to Francis Xavier. Born at the Castle Xavier, near Pampeluna, Spain, in 1506; graduated at the Paris University, where he became acquainted with Ignatius Loyola; as a Jesuit missionary visited India, Travancore, Ceylon, Malacca, and Japan; died, when near Canton, in 1552. The original of this hymn is supposed to be a Spanish sonnet. All that can be said of the Latin version is that it is probably by Xavier, or by some German Jesuit, and is at least as early as 1668.

I

O God, I love Thee, not alone

Because Thou savest me,

And those who love not in return

Are lost eternally.

II

Thou art mine own, O Christ; Thine arms

Embraced me on the Cross;

Thou didst endure the nails, the spear,

The bitter shame and loss.

III

O sorrows numberless were Thine,

And all were borne for me—

The bloody sweat, the cruel death

Of bitter agony.

IV

Why, therefore, should I love Thee now,

O Jesus, ever blest?

Not lest in hell my soul be cast,

Not that in heaven it rest.

V

No other hope my love inspires,

And wins my heart for Thee—

I only love Thee, Christ, my King,

Because Thou lovest me.

LUCIS CREATOR OPTIME

By Gregory, surnamed the Great, born at Rome about 540; succeeded Pelagius in the Papal Chair, 590; sent Augustine on a mission to Britain in 596; died in 614. He ranks among the Four Latin Doctors, and because of the services he rendered to the ritual of the Church, he was styled Magister CÆremoniarum. The Gregorian tones or chants are the fruit of his study of sacred music.

I

Thou, blest Creator of the light,

From whom the day its splendour brings,

Thy word the earth to beauty woke,

When light came forth on glowing wings.

II

The circle of the day is Thine,

The morn, and night in one are bound;—

O hear our earnest prayer as now

The gloomy shades are gathering round;

III

O free our souls from guilty stains,

That we Thy favour still may know;

And let no thought the mind possess,

To bind the heart to earth below.

IV

That we may beat at heaven’s fair gate,

Where safely stored our treasure lies,

Purge us from every filthy stain,

Teach us all evil to despise.

V

Hear us, O Holy Father, hear,

And Thou the Everlasting Son,

Who with the Holy Spirit reign’st

While the eternal ages run.

Monday Morning

AURORA JAM SPARGIT POLUM

Placed by Duffield in a class which contains hymns formerly called Ambrosian, but now known to be the work of other hands. George Cassander, the liberal Catholic collector (1556), writes “Incognitus auctor” after the hymn, which has a place in several old Hymnaria, such as the Durham, the Cottonian, and the Harleian.

I

Now daylight floods the morning sky,

And earthward glides the approaching day,

The dancing rays of sunlight chase

The gathered fears of night away.

II

Hence dreams that cloud the soul! away,

Ye terrors grim of midnight born!

Whate’er the dark of night hath bred,

Die in the light that greets the morn!

III

So when the day eternal breaks,—

That day for which our spirits long,—

Its light may fall to bless our souls,

E’en while we raise our morning song.

IV

To God the Father throned in heaven,

To Christ the one begotten Son,

And to the Holy Ghost be praise,

Now, and while endless ages run.

Monday Evening

JESU, DULCIS MEMORIA

Generally, and there seems little reason to doubt correctly, ascribed to Bernard of Clairvaux. Born in 1091 at his father’s castle near Dijon in Burgundy; died, 1153. The monk of Citeaux, the first Abbot of Clairvaux, the Papal controversialist and the preacher of the Second Crusade, is better known in our day as the author of a hymn regarded by many as the sweetest and most Evangelical in mediÆval hymnody. The poem from which the hymn is taken consists of nearly fifty quatrains on the name of Jesus, known as the Joyful Rhythm of St. Bernard. In the Roman Breviary three hymns are taken from the Rhythm, Jesu dulcis memoria, Jesu Rex Admirabilis, and Jesu decus angelicum.

I

O Jesus, when I think of Thee,

True gladness fills my heart;

But joy unspeakable ’twill be

To see Thee as Thou art.

II

O blessed name! No note more sweet,

No music so divine;

Its charms the dearest fancies greet

That with my memory twine.

III

To those who come with sin confessed,

Thy name their hope inspires;

And every needy soul is blessed,

And granted all desires.

IV

To those who seek, ah! Thou art found

Far more than all desire—

A living fount whose streams abound,

A flame of heavenly fire.

V

What tongue can e’er the charm express?

What words its beauty show?

For Thy dear name’s sweet loveliness

No heart can ever know.

VI

Who only taste the heavenly bread,

They hunger for the feast;

Who drink of Christ, the Fountainhead,

But find their thirst increase.

VII

O Jesus, to my fainting heart

When wilt Thou come to speak?

O, when to me Thy bliss impart,

And more than I can seek?

VIII

O I will feed and hunger still,

O I will drink and pine

Till Thou my famished spirit fill

With that blest name of Thine.

Tuesday Morning

O DEUS, EGO AMO TE, NAM PRIOR TU AMASTI ME

Credited by many to the composer of the hymn which opens with identically the same line, but proceeds quite differently. It is, however, doubtful if this is the composition of Xavier; more probably it is the breathing of desire on the part of some now unknown German Jesuit of the seventeenth century.

I

My heart goes forth in love to Thee,

O God, who first hast lovÈd me;

My freedom, lo, I lay aside,

Thy willing slave whate’er betide.

II

May memory ne’er a thought suggest,

That comes not forth at Thy behest;

And may the mind no wisdom know,

That God all wise doth not bestow.

III

May nothing be desired by me,

Save what I know is willed by Thee;

And what of Thine I e’er attain,

I render back to Thee again.

IV

Take what Thou gavest—all is Thine;

Dispose as suits Thy will divine;

Rule, Lover of my soul; I rest

In Thy blest will who knowest best.

V

That I may love Thee as I will,

O let Thy love my bosom fill;

This gift alone endureth aye—

All else are dreams that flit away.

Tuesday Evening

TE LUCIS ANTE TERMINUM

Sometimes ascribed to St. Ambrose. It is found in eleventh-century Hymnaria of the English Church, and in the Breviaries of Rome, Paris, Sarum, York, and Aberdeen, generally as a hymn at Compline.

I

Maker of the world, we pray,

Ere the dark of night surround us,

Let Thy love beside us stay,

Throw protecting arms around us.

II

Phantoms of the night away!

Let no evil dream affect us;

Pure as falls the light of day,

From the taint of sin protect us.

III

Hear us, Father, when we cry;

Hear us, Christ, Thy grace extending;

Hear us, Spirit, throned on high,

Three in one, through years unending.

Wednesday Morning

JAM META NOCTIS TRANSIIT

This morning hymn is one of four attributed to St. Hilary. Born at Poitiers early in the fourth century; became bishop of his native town about 350; died 13th January 368. His saint’s day (which gives name to Hilary Term in English law courts) is celebrated on 14th January, in order not to trench upon the octave of the Epiphany.

I

Gone are the shades of night,

The hours of rest are o’er;

New beauties sparkle bright,

And heaven is light once more.

II

To Thee our prayers shall speed,

O Lord of light divine;

Come to our utmost need,

And in our darkness shine.

III

Spirit of love and light,

May we Thine image know,

And in Thy glory bright,

To full perfection grow.

IV

Hear us, O Father blest,

Hear us, O Christ the Son,

And Comforter the best,

Now, and till life is done.

Wednesday Evening

LABENTE JAM SOLIS ROTÂ

By Charles Coffin. (See p. 3.) Chandler’s translation, beginning, “And now the sun’s declining rays,” is for “Ninth Hour, or three in the afternoon,” of Sunday. In “Hymns Ancient and Modern” Chandler’s rendering is given as an evening hymn, and with considerable alterations, the first line being, “As now the sun’s declining rays” (No. 12).

I

Now sinks the glowing orb of day,

And silent night comes on apace;

So gains our life the appointed goal,

That marks the limit of our race.

II

O Christ, uplifted on the Cross!

Thine arms were stretched towards the sky;

Grant us with love that Cross to seek,

And folded in those arms to die.

III

Now to the Father throned on high,

And unto Christ His only Son,

And to the Spirit, glory be,

Now, and while endless ages run.

Thursday Morning

SPLENDOR PATERNÆ GLORIÆ

This morning hymn is the complement of Æterne rerum Conditor, and, like it, almost indisputably by St. Ambrose. Its use was generally for Matins or Lauds on Monday; by some monastic orders it was used daily.

I

From the Father’s throne descending,

Light from out the realms of light;

Font of light, all light transcending,

Brighter day in day most bright.

II

Shine, True Light, in radiant brightness,

Flashing forth perpetual ray;

May Thy Spirit’s searching lightness,

Fill our souls with endless day.

III

Father, come we humbly bending,—

Father of Almighty grace,

Who hast glory never ending,

Banish every sinful trace.

IV

When to do Thy will inclining,

Quell for us the tempter’s wrath;

Ne’er in trial’s hour repining,

Lead us in the upward path.

V

May Thy rule our minds enlighten;

Let no sin our lives defile;

Fervent faith our spirits brighten,

Knowing nought of fraud or guile.

VI

Christ, the Bread of Life bestowing,

Faith our daily cup shall fill;

Draughts of joy for ever flowing,

Drink we from the Spirit’s rill.

VII

Thus our life in beauty gliding—

Purity like dawn of day,

Faith like sun at noon abiding,

Eve that knows no twilight grey.

VIII

Forth in beauty rides the Morning—

Be Thy glory on us poured;

Son, the Father’s love adorning,

Father in th’ Eternal Word.

Thursday Evening

SALVATOR MUNDI, DOMINE

Author unknown. Found in the Hymnaria of Sarum, and York, also in the Sarum, York, Hereford, and Aberdeen Breviaries. Used at Eton in Latin original at evening service until about 1830.

I

Thou who hast led our steps this day,

Blest Saviour of the world, we pray,

Through all the night Thy care extend,

And save us to our journey’s end.

II

Be present with us, Lord, who wait,

And lift our cry at mercy’s gate;

Take all our load of sin away,

And change our darkness into day.

III

Free Thou our minds from careless sleep,

Our souls from sin’s allurements keep;

And may our flesh from every stain,

All pure, we pray Thee, still remain.

IV

To Thee of purity the spring,

Our prayers ascend on soaring wing;

Hear Thou our cry, and with the morn

May purity our souls adorn.

V

Glory be unto God always,

To Christ the Son eternal praise;

Glory to God the Spirit be,

From age to age eternally.

Friday Morning

CHRISTE, LUMEN PERPETUUM

By Magnus Felix Ennodius, born at Arles about 473; became Bishop of Pavia about 514; died, 521; buried on 17th July of that year, which day is observed as his festival by the Roman Church.

I

Christ, the light that shines eternal,—

Light that gilds the rolling spheres,

Dawn upon our night, and keep us

Pure as light when day appears.

II

Let no gin of Satan snare us,

Let no enemy oppress;

Wakeful aye with garments spotless,

May we walk life’s wilderness.

III

Keep our hearts in Thy safe keeping,

Be Thy flock Thy special care;

In Thy fold in mercy tend them,

Guard their footsteps everywhere.

IV

And our souls shall sing triumphant

When Thy light our eyes shall see,

And the vows we owe are rendered,

God, the great Triune, to Thee.

Friday Evening

NOX ATRA RERUM CONTEGIT

This hymn is classed by Duffield under the heading “Ambrosian,” which includes compositions of Gregory and other authors. Mone gives it as probably by St. Gregory.

I

Dark night has drawn her curtain round,

And hid earth’s hues in gloom profound;

Now contrite at Thy feet we fall,

And make request, Thou Judge of all,

II

That Thou wouldst hide the guilt of sin,

And throughly purge our hearts within—

O Christ, dispense Thy grace, we pray,

To keep us guiltless day by day.

III

The awakened conscience, sore oppressed

By thought of sin all unconfessed,

Yearns in the gloom, to cast her load

At Thy blest feet, Redeemer, God.

IV

Dispel the darkness, Lord, we pray,

That in our mind holds dismal sway;

Send forth Thy light, and bid us rest

In Thy calm peace, for ever blest.

Saturday Morning

JAM LUCIS ORTO SIDERE

Frequently ascribed to Ambrose, but not by his Benedictine editors. A rendering of it by Dr. Neale is one of the morning hymns in “Hymns Ancient and Modern,” “Now that the daylight fills the sky” (No. 4); but the rendering has been considerably altered by the editors.

I

See in the east the morn arise;

Seek, wingÈd prayer, the glowing skies;

Bring help from Heaven, that all our way

Be pleasing to our God this day.

II

May He restrain from words of sin;

For bitter strife give calm within;

Veil from our eyes the garish light,

That lures the soul to darkest night.

III

Pure may our inmost heart remain

From evil thoughts and fancies vain;

And may the curb our flesh control,

That drags to earth the aspiring soul.

IV

So, when the last stray beams of light

Shall fade before the return of night,

Kept in the path our feet have trod,

We shall give glory to our God.

V

To God the Father, throned in heaven,

To Christ, the one begotten Son,

And to the Holy Ghost be praise,

Now, and while endless ages run.

Saturday Evening

JAM SOL RECEDIT IGNEUS

A recast of O Lux beata Trinitas, one of twelve hymns the Benedictine editors regard as undoubtedly the work of St. Ambrose, and which, in the older Breviaries, was used at Vespers on Saturday.

I

Now sinks the fiery orb of day—

O One in Three, Eternal Light,

O Three in One, for ever bright,

Shine in our darkened minds, we pray.

II

When morning breaks, our songs we raise;

When evening falls, we still adore;

When morn and eve shall come no more,

In mercy grant us still to praise.

III

All praises to the Father be,

All praise to the Eternal Son,

And to the Spirit, Three in One,

From age to age eternally.

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