_Hymns of the Early Church_
BEING TRANSLATIONS FROM THE POETRY OF THE LATIN CHURCH, ARRANGED IN
THE ORDER OF THE CHRISTIAN YEAR
_With Hymns for Sundays and Week-Days_
BY THE
REV. JOHN BROWNLIE
AUTHOR OF
“HYMNS OF OUR PILGRIMAGE,” ETC. ETC.
_WITH HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION AND BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES_
BY THE
REV. C. G. M‘CRIE, D.D.
AUTHOR OF
“PUBLIC WORSHIP OF PRESBYTERIAN SCOTLAND,” ETC.
_London_
JAMES NISBET & CO.
21 BERNERS STREET
1896
_Printed by_ Ballantyne, Hanson & Co.
_At the Ballantyne Press_
PREFACE
This volume is intended for hours of devotion, and the vast storehouse
of sacred poetry of the Latin Church has been put under tribute to
supply the material.
If an apology should be required for the book, it may perhaps be enough
to say that, while south of the Tweed Latin hymnody has had
considerable attention paid to it, the subject has hitherto been all
but neglected in Scotland. There may be reasons for this—we believe
there are; but with these we have nothing to do here. The fact remains
that, while Anglicans can point to a long list of names worthily
associated with this department of Christian literature, including such
well-known hymnologists as Trench, Neale, and Newman, we in Scotland
have only two: Robert Campbell, author of the “St. Andrews Hymnal,” and
Dr. Hamilton M‘Gill, author of “Songs of the Christian Creed and Life,”
with the addition of Dr. Horatius Bonar, who, besides reflecting the
spirit of the poetry of the Early Church in many of his own hymns, has
left us also a few skilful renderings of the original. The present
volume is, we believe, the first of its kind produced by Scotsmen and
Presbyterians.
In making a selection, the translator has experienced no difficulty in
regard to the quantity and quality of material at hand; indeed, he has
laboured under an embarrassment of riches. But the choice has been made
from the best, and care has been taken to use only those hymns that
might be acceptable in point of doctrine to the most fastidious.
It has been the aim of the translator to give the _idea_ and _spirit_
of the Latin verses, and except in a very few instances absolute
faithfulness to the original has been observed, with as much
literalness as it is possible to give to work of this sort.
As a rule the original measures have been retained, and only in a few
pieces, where change seemed desirable, have different measures been
adopted.
For the original text, the following collections have been used:—
Daniel, H. A. _Thesaurus Hymnologicus._ 5 vols. Halle and Leipzig,
1841-56.
Mone, F. J. _Lateinische Hymnen des Mittelalters._ 3 vols. Freiburg,
1853-55.
Wrangham, D. S. “The Liturgical Poetry of Adam St. Victor.” 3 vols.
London, 1881.
Newman, J. H. _Hymni Ecclesiæ._ Oxford and London, 1865.
Neale, J. M. _Hymni Ecclesiæ._ London, 1851.
Trench, R. C. “Sacred Latin Poetry.” London, 1886.
The translator desires to give expression to his sense of indebtedness
to Dr. M‘Crie, whose share in this work is by no means confined to the
Introduction and Notes. It was at his instigation that the task was at
first undertaken, and his help and co-operation as the work of
rendering progressed, were ungrudgingly given.
It will be cause for thankfulness to the translator if the work of some
of the happiest hours of his life should meet with the appreciation and
approbation of his fellow-countrymen, and awaken their interest in a
department of devotional literature which has been too long neglected.
Portpatrick,
_November_ 1895.
INDEX OF LATIN TITLES
PAGE
Sundays and Week-Days—
Die, dierum principe 3
O nata lux de lumine 5
Tu Trinitatis Unitas 7
Deus Creator omnium 9
O Deus, ego amo Te, nec 11
Lucis Creator optime 13
Aurora jam spargit polum 15
Jesu, dulcis memoria 17
O Deus, ego amo Te, nam 20
Te lucis ante terminum 22
Jam meta noctis transiit 23
Labente jam solis rotâ 25
Splendor Paternæ gloriæ 27
Salvator mundi, Domine 30
Christe, lumen perpetuum 32
Nox atra rerum contegit 34
Jam lucis orto sidere 36
Jam sol recedit igneus 38
Advent—
Christe, precamur annue 41
In noctis umbra desides 43
Veni, Veni, Emmanuel! 45
Christmas—
Nato nobis Salvatore 49
Puer natus in Bethlehem 52
Heu! quid jaces stabulo 54
Quicumque christum quæritis 57
Epiphany—
Jesu, nostra Redemptio 61
Dei canamus gloriam 63
Deus-Homo, Rex cœlorum 65
Passion Week—
Vexilla Regis prodeunt 69
Pange, lingua, gloriosi, prœlium 72
Lustra sex qui jam peregit 75
Crux ave benedicta 78
Horæ de Passione d. n. Jesu Christi 80
Tu qui velatus facie 80
Hora qui ductus tertia 81
Crucem pro nobis subiit 82
Beata Christi passio 82
Qui jacuisti mortuus 83
Easter—
Finita jam sunt prælia 87
Plaudite, cœli 89
Mortis portis fractis 91
Alleluia, dulce carmen 93
Ascension—
Æterne Rex altissime 97
Postquam hostem et inferna 100
Cœlos ascendit hodie 102
O Christe, qui noster poli 104
Whitsuntide—
Veni, Creator Spiritus 109
Veni, Sancte Spiritus 111
O fons amoris, Spiritus 114
Trinity—
Tu Trinitatis unitas 117
O Pater Sancte, mitis atque pie 118
Adesto, Sancta Trinitas 119
All Saints—
Pugnate, Christe milites 123
Audi nos, Rex Christe 125
Communion—
Eja O dulcis anima 129
O Esca viatorum 131
Jesu, dulcedo cordium 133
Verbum supernum prodiens 135
Death and Judgment—
Gravi me terrore pulsas 139
Appropinquat enim dies 143
Heaven—
Jerusalem luminosa 149
Urbs beata Hierusalem (Part I.) 153
Urbs beata Hierusalem (Part II.) 154
HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION
The Latin poetry of the Christian Church presents a tempting field for
the exercise of scholarship and research. The relation in which it
stands on the one hand to the classic poetry of Greece and Italy, and
on the other to the Liturgies of the Eastern Church, the placing of
accent in the room of quantity, and the rise and growth of rhyme—these
and such-like matters will always prove attractive to experts and
specialists. They are, however, quite beyond the scope of this brief
paper. Those who wish to make an exhaustive study of a subject which
has many sides and a copious literature, would do well to betake
themselves to such standard works as are noted below.[1] The general
reader may find something to profit and to interest him in the
following general survey.
The title placed on our Saviour’s cross, setting forth His
accusation—“Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews,” was written in
three languages—in Hebrew and in Greek and in Latin. That collocation
of languages gives the order in which the hymnody of the Church
developed.
Hebrew hymnody is contained for the most part in the Hebrew Psalter;
for the distinction between psalms and hymns is not one that admits of
being applied to all Hebrew poetry. Our Lord and His disciples, as they
went out to the Mount of Olives after the institution and first
observance of the Supper Sacrament, sang a portion of the Great Hallel,
which consists of Psalms cxiii. to cxviii. inclusive. Their doing so is
described in the New Testament as singing “an hymn,” just as the
singing of Paul and Silas in the Philippian prison is said to be
singing hymns unto God.[2]
In the Eastern or Greek Church hymnody was in both private and public
use from earliest times. The oft-quoted letter of the younger Pliny,
written soon after his arrival as Proconsul in the provinces of
Bithynia and Pontus, which took place in A.D. 110, informs the Emperor
that it was the practice of the Christians to meet together on a
certain day and sing antiphonally (_secum invicem_) a hymn to Christ as
their God; while the “Apostolical Constitutions,” which take us back to
the life of the Church in the second or third centuries, enjoin the use
of morning and evening hymns of praise for God’s beneficence by Christ.
From the ample stores of Oriental hymnology there have come into modern
collections many of their gems, thanks to the scholarship and
versifying skill of Dr. Neale, Keble, and Canon Bright. To the first
named we are indebted for such well-known renderings of Greek sacred
pieces as “Fierce was the wild billow,” and, “The day is past and
over,” as also for “Art thou weary, art thou languid?” From the author
of the “Christian Year” we have a beautiful English rendering of a
first or second century Greek hymn, preserved by Basil, “Hail,
gladdening Light, of His pure glory poured;” and from Canon Bright we
have the vesper or “lamplighting hymn,” with its opening invocation,
“Light of gladness, Beam Divine.”
The Western Church came under Eastern influence in the matter of hymn
composition in the fourth century. The first to compose hymns in Latin
verse was Hilary of Poitiers. This theologian was banished to Phrygia
by the Emperor Constantius, because of his defence of the Nicene Creed
from the attacks of the Arian party. During the bishop’s exile, his
daughter, Abra, wrote to inform him that she had been sought in
marriage, although only in her thirteenth year. This drew forth a reply
in which the father left the decision to her own choice, indicating at
the same time a personal preference for continued virginity. Enclosed
in the communication were a _hymnus matutinus_ and a _hymnus
vesperinus_. The morning hymn, beginning _Lucis largitor splendida_, is
still extant, and has been styled “the oldest authentic original Latin
song of praise to Christ as God.” It is, however, more than doubtful if
the one for evening use survives; for the hymn, _Ad cœli clara non sum
dignus sidera_, given in the Benedictine edition of Hilary’s works,
belongs to the sixth or seventh century, and is probably of Irish
authorship.
Another name associated with the rise of sacred Latin poetry is that of
Ambrose, Bishop of Milan. It will ever be to the glory of this
fourth-century Father that Augustine ascribed to him his conversion,
and sought baptism at his hands. His illustrious convert tells, in the
ninth book of his “Confessions,” how the bishop defended the churches
of Milan against the intrusion of Arian modes of worship, in spite of
the efforts put forth by Justina, mother of the Emperor Valentinian, to
obtain one of the basilicas for the use of the party she favoured.
Alarmed by a report that he might be removed by force, the devout
people of the city surrounded the bishop day and night, ready to die
with him rather than allow him to be apprehended.
He, on his part, to stimulate their zeal and sustain their courage,
supplied them with hymns to sing in honour of the Trinity. “Then,”
writes Augustine, “it was first instituted that, after the manner of
the Eastern churches, hymns and psalms should be sung, lest the people
should wax faint through the tediousness of sorrow; and from that day
to this the custom is retained, divers (yea, almost all Thy)
congregations throughout other parts of the world following herein.”
Well nigh a hundred hymns have at one time or another passed under the
title Ambrosian, but the number of authenticated pieces is pitiably
small, not exceeding four. In that small group the _Te Deum laudamus_,
at one time ascribed to the Bishop of Milan, does not find a place.
For, as in the case of the _Gloria in Excelsis Deo_, the _Dies Iræ_,
and the _Veni, Sancte Spiritus_, the question who wrote the _Te Deum_
has not received a final answer, if, indeed, it ever will. Of this,
however, we may be well assured, that in the time of Jerome of the
fifth century, hymns were in general use throughout the Western as in
the Eastern Church. Writing to Marcellus, that most scholarly and
erudite among the Fathers of the Latin Church assured his correspondent
“You could not go into the field but you might hear the ploughman at
his _Hallelujah_, the mower at his hymns, and the vine-dresser singing
David’s Psalms.”
From the days of Hilary and of Ambrose, of Augustine and of Jerome,
onwards through the patristic period of Church history, and all down
the medieval centuries, there never failed to be a goodly succession of
hymn-writers. To mention these, however briefly, would necessitate a
violation of the limits of this essay. We refrain from attempting even
an enumeration all the more readily, because an opportunity of giving
brief biographical notices of the more outstanding contributors to the
treasures of sacred Latin poetry will occur in the following pages when
specimens of their masterpieces are submitted to the reader.
A few sentences may be added bearing upon the hymns contained in the
service-books of the Church of Rome, and upon the relation of Latin
hymnody to the Churches of the Reformation.
The use of hymns for purposes of private devotion preceded their
insertion in the liturgical books of the pre-Reformation Church. Up to
the seventh century the Breviaries which contained the prayers to be
offered at the canonical hours had as matter to be sung only the words
of Scripture. But the Spanish Council which met at Toledo in A.D. 633,
laid down the general principle, that if in the worship of the
sanctuary prayers may be offered in the words of uninspired men, so
also may praise be sung. From that time the Churches of Western
Christendom inserted hymns in their service-books, some of these
compositions being of earlier date, but the larger number being of more
recent times and of purely local interest. As every diocese and
religious order claimed and exercised the right to construct its own
ritual, Missal, and Breviary, there was endless variety of contents,
considerable alterations of old compositions, and a general
deterioration of quality. By the time Leo X. reached St. Peter’s chair
the need for revision had become clamant. Under the direction of that
Medicean Pope, the collection of hymns in use at Rome was recast; and
ultimately the entire Breviary appeared in revised form, when Urban
VIII. was Pope, in 1631. In this revised Roman Breviary, which is now
in general use throughout the Papal communion, the hymns of earliest
composers—say from Hilary to Gregory—are for the most part allowed to
remain, although in some cases altered without real amendment; but in
the case of those pieces which could not be conformed to the laws of
correct Latinity there was an entire recasting. According to one
authority, himself a revisionist, upwards of nine hundred alterations
were made in the interests of metre, and the first lines of more than
thirty hymns were altered. The Marquis of Bute executed a translation
of the Roman Breviary in 1879, and then gave it as his deliberate
judgment that the revisers, “with deplorable taste made a series of
changes in the texts of the hymns which has been disastrous both to the
literary merit and the historical interest of the poems.”
The Breviary of Paris has been subjected to revisions in the sixteenth,
seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries. The third and latest revision
was intrusted to a commission of three ecclesiastics, one of whom
belonged to the Jansenist party, while another was Charles Coffin, then
Rector of the University of Paris, who did the greater part of the work
of editing, altering, and tinkering. Under Coffin’s manipulation only
twenty-one hymns of the earlier period were retained, and the number of
those from the pens of comparatively modern French writers was largely
increased.
While all conversant with the subject will readily admit that both the
Roman and the Parisian Breviary contain some noble verses, English
versions of which are to be found in the writings of Williams,
Chandler, Mant, Caswall, and Newman, as also in “Hymns Ancient and
Modern,” the conviction is both general and well-founded that the
principles and practice of liturgical revisionists have not been
favourable to the interests of purity and simplicity in the case of
ancient Latin hymnody.
Coming now to the relation in which Latin hymnology stands to the
movement and Churches of the Reformation, it is to be noted that Luther
showed his appreciation of what was good in the Church of his childhood
when he rendered into the language of the Fatherland sixteen old hymns,
twelve of these being taken from the Latin and the remaining four from
the Old German of the Middle Ages. In his _Colloquia Mensalia_, the
sturdy Protestant is to be heard censuring Ambrose as a wordy poet, but
extolling the _Rex Christe Factor omnium_ of Pope Gregory as the best
hymn ever written. As with Luther, so with Melancthon and Zwingli and
their immediate followers. They published collections and translations
of the old Latin hymns, and they continued the use of such compositions
in their public worship to a limited extent, even after they had ceased
to employ the Latin tongue in Church services.
It is well known, at least to Anglican clergymen, that the Church of
England Book of Common Prayer contains certain “Canticles,” to be used
on Sundays and week days. Thus, after the Old Testament lesson has been
read, the rubric provides that “there shall be said or sung in English
the hymn called _Te Deum laudamus_ daily throughout the year.” As an
alternative to this great Creed hymn of Western Christendom there may
be said or sung “this canticle, _Benedicite, omnia opera_,” that is,
the Song of the Three Children, a part of the Greek addition to the
third chapter of Daniel, and a paraphrase or expansion of the 148th
Psalm. Then in the Ordinal of the Church of England, which provides for
“the ordering of Priests” and “the consecration of Bishops,” there is a
stage at which there is to be sung or said, _Veni, Creator Spiritus_.
Of this hymn two English metrical versions are given in the Prayer Book
of 1662—that presently in use, an older and more diffuse rendering, and
one more terse and spirited, the product of Bishop Cosin.
But it may not be generally known that many of the earliest
service-books of the Continental and Scottish Churches had hymns
appended to the Psalms in metre, some of which were versions in the
vernacular of old Latin compositions. The French Psalter, edited by
Marot in 1543, had the _Ave Maria_ along with the Decalogue, the
Belief, and the Lord’s Prayer. The Dutch Psalter of 1640 had the _Te
Deum_, as well as metrical renderings of the Decalogue, the Song of
Zacharias, of Mary, of Simeon, and of Elizabeth.
In the case of the Church of Scotland, the first edition of the Book of
Common Order, published in 1564, gave only the Psalms; but the
Bassandyne edition of the same book, published eleven years afterwards,
contained five “Spiritual Songs;” that of 1587 gave ten, while some
subsequent reprints have no fewer than fourteen. Among these, “commonly
used in the Kirke and private houses,” will be found “The Song of
Simeon, called _Nunc Dimittis_,” “The Song of Blessed Marie, called
_Magnificat_,” and _Veni, Creator_. The English of the last named is
taken from the First Prayer Book of Edward VI., published in 1549, and
is the version of this old hymn which occurs in “The Fourme of Ordering
Priestes,” the longer and older of the two renderings already referred
to.
How it has fared with Latin hymns in Protestant service-books from
Reformation times to the present day is too wide a field of inquiry to
enter upon at the close of this brief introduction. This it is safe to
affirm, that no hymnal with any claim to completeness will be found to
omit such sacred and classic pieces as, “Brief life is here our
portion,” “Come, Holy Ghost, our souls inspire,” “Jerusalem the
golden,” “Jesus! the very thought of Thee,” “Jesus, Thou joy of loving
hearts,” “O come, all ye faithful,” “O Jesus, King most wonderful;” and
all these are translations or paraphrases of early Latin hymns.
With the increase of interest in all that concerns the praise of God’s
children, which is so marked a feature of recent times, there has come
an ever-growing appreciation of the grandeur and beauty, the spiritual
depth and longing wistfulness that characterise the great body of Latin
hymnology; and, as the result of this appreciation, the finest and
sweetest products are finding a larger place in quarters from which, at
no very far back point of time, they were altogether excluded. Of this
we have a striking illustration in the contents of the most recent
attempt to construct a hymnal for use in Presbyterian Churches. In the
“Draft Hymnal,” prepared by a joint-committee of the three leading
denominations in Scotland, there are 557 hymns. Of these, five are
confessedly translations from the Greek, and twenty-six from the Latin.
With the Latin renderings the names of Bishop Cosin, Dryden, Sir Walter
Scott, Caswall, Chandler, Neale, and Ray Palmer stand honourably
associated.
Ayr, _October_ 12, 1895.
[1]Mone’s _Lateinische Hymnen des Mittelalters_; Daniel’s _Thesaurus
Hymnologicus_; Tischer’s _Kirchenlieder-Lexicon_; Trench’s “Sacred
Latin Poetry;” Neale’s “Latin Hymns and Sequences,” and “Essays on
Liturgiology and Church History;” Duffield’s “Latin Hymn-Writers and
their Hymns;” Roundell Palmer’s “Hymns: their History and
Development in the Greek and Latin Churches, Germany, and Great
Britain;” Julian’s “Dictionary of Hymnology.”
[2]Matt. xxvi. 30, ὑµνήσαντες; Acts xvi. 25, ὕµνουν, A. V.—“Sang
praises unto God;” R. V.—“Were ... singing hymns unto God.”
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.
_Advent_
CHRISTE, PRECAMUR ANNUE
By Ennodius, Bishop of Pavia. _(_See p. 32._)_
I
To Thee, O Christ, our prayers shall rise,
With tears of sorrow blending;
Come for our help Thou Holy One,
On our dark night descending.
II
Our hearts shall find their rest in Thee,
And e’en in dreams shall praise Thee;
And with each rising of the sun,
Anew their songs shall raise Thee.
III
Impart a noble life, and may
Our spirit’s warmth be heightened.
Bid night depart, and with Thy love,
O may our lives be brightened.
IV
In hymns we pay our vows to Thee:
At vesper-hour we pray,
Erase the writing we have made,
Thine own let stand for aye.
IN NOCTIS UMBRA DESIDES
By Charles Coffin. _(_See p. 3._)_
I
When evening shades around us close,
And bound in sleep our limbs repose,
The watchful soul, from slumber free,
Shall breathe its earnest prayer to Thee.
II
Desire of Nations, Word of God,
Thou Saviour of the World abroad,
Hear Thou our mournful prayer at length,
And raise the fallen by Thy strength.
III
Be near, Redeemer; by Thy grace
Forgive our erring sinful race,
Bound in the prison-house of sin—
O, open heaven and lead us in.
IV
O Thou who cam’st to set us free,
To Thee, the Son, all praises be;
To Father, Spirit, Three in One,
While the eternal ages run.
VENI, VENI, EMMANUEL!
An antiphon. The term denotes a short versicle said at the beginning
and close of a psalm or psalms in the Breviary Offices. This antiphon
is by an unknown author. Dr. Neale, who supposes it to be of
twelfth-century date, published a translation of it in 1851, beginning,
“Draw nigh, draw nigh, Emmanuel,” an altered version of which occurs in
“Hymns Ancient and Modern” as an Advent hymn, with first line altered
to, “O come, O come, Emmanuel” (No. 36).
I
Emmanuel, come! we call for Thee;
Come, set Thy captive Israel free,
Who, sore at heart, in exile wait
Their absent Lord, who tarries late.
Joy, joy, Emmanuel shall be born
For thee, O Israel, forlorn.
II
Come, Root of Jesse! for our foes
In cruel snare our souls enclose;
Bring us, we pray, from hell’s dark cave,
From gulf profound Thy people save.
Joy, joy, &c.
III
Come, come, O Harbinger of day!
Cheer Thou our hearts with heavenly ray,
Dispel the clouds of night that roll,
The dark of death that fills the soul.
Joy, joy, &c.
IV
Come, Key of David! in Thy might
Unlock for us the realms of light;
Make safe the path that upward tends,
Close Thou the way that downward wends.
Joy, joy, &c.
V
Come, come, O Thou Almighty Lord!
From Sinai once went forth Thy word,
When in the midst of eddying flame,
Thou didst Thy law in might proclaim.
Joy, joy, &c.
_Christmas_
NATO NOBIS SALVATORE
By Adam of St. Victor. A native of either Britain or Brittany, probably
the latter; educated at Paris; became, about 1130, a monk in the Abbey
of St. Victor, then in the suburbs, afterwards absorbed in the city of
Paris; there he passed the remainder of his life, and died somewhere
between the years 1172 and 1192. In liturgical services the Gradual or
Antiphon, sung between the Epistle and Gospel, ended on festival days
with the word _Alleluia_. The final syllable of this vocable was
prolonged in a number of musical notes called sequentia, and by the
ninth century it became common to adapt words to these notes, which
words are now called “sequences.” Adam of St. Victor was one of the
most voluminous composers of this kind of sacred Latin verse.
I
Let us tune our hearts and voices—
All creation wide rejoices,
For a Saviour has been born;
Given to man, his weakness wearing,
Dwelling with the sad despairing,
Light and health our life adorn.
II
From the midst of Eden’s gladness
Came the dower of death and sadness,
But the Saviour’s life is ours.
Banished now are death and sorrow;
Life and joy from Christ we borrow,
More dwelt in Eden’s bowers.
III
From the height of heaven above us,
God looked down on earth to love us,
And He sent His only Son.
Now no more His face concealing,
Bridegroom like, His grace revealing,
Came He forth His work begun.
IV
Swift and strong, a giant glorious,
O’er our death He came victorious,
Girt with power His course to run.
Came he forth salvation willing,
Law and prophecy fulfilling,
Till the task assayed is done.
V
Jesus, who hast brought salvation,
Healing balm for every nation,
Thou our glory art and peace.
Praise Thy glorious deeds shall mention,
Who in humble condescension,
Cam’st Thy servants to release.
PUER NATUS IN BETHLEHEM
The oldest form of this Christmas carol is found in a Benedictine
Processional belonging to the beginning of the fourteenth century.
I
Zion is glad this glorious morn:
A babe in Bethlehem is born.
II
See where He lies in manger low,
Whose kingly reign no end shall know.
III
The ox and ass that filled the stall,
Knew that the babe was Lord of all.
IV
Out from the east the sages bring
Their treasures for an offering.
V
They humbly seek the lowly place,
And worship there the King of grace:
VI
The Son of God, who made the earth,
A virgin mother gave Him birth.
VII
No poison from the serpent stains
The human blood that fills His veins;
VIII
And though our flesh He meekly wears,
No mark of sin His nature bears;
IX
That He might man to God restore,
And give the grace that once He wore.
X
Come while our hearts are full of mirth
And bless the Lord of lowly birth.
XI
The Holy Trinity we’ll praise,
And give our thanks to God always.
HEU! QUID JACES STABULO, OMNIUM CREATOR?
By Jean Momboir, with Johannes Mauburnus for the Latin, and John
Mauburn for the English form of his name. Born in 1460 at Brussels; a
Canon Regular of the Brethren of the Common Life in the Low Countries;
died Abbot of the Cloister of Livry, not far from Paris, in 1502 or
1503. In his large work, the “Spiritual Rose-garden,” there is a rosary
on the birth of Christ, consisting of thirteen stanzas, which commence,
_Eja, mea anima, Bethlehem eamus_. The hymn beginning as above consists
of three stanzas taken from that poem. The detached stanzas passed into
many of the older German hymn-books, met with great favour in the early
Reformed Churches, so long as the practice of singing Latin
compositions survived among them, and still retain a place in some
German hymnals in an old translation, with for opening line, _Warum
liegt im Krippelein_.
I
(_Loquitur peccator_)
Wherefore in the lowly stall,
O Thou great Creator,
Dost Thou raise Thine infant call,
Glorious Renovator?
Where Thy purple if a King?
Where the shouts Thy subjects bring?
Where Thy royal castle?
Here is want with all her train,
Poverty proclaims her reign—
These Thy court and vassal.
II
(_Jesus respondit_)
Hither, by My love impelled,
Have I come to save thee;
Sin has long thy nature held,
Powerful to enslave thee.
By My emptiness and woe,
By the grace that I bestow,
Do I seek to fill thee.
By My humble, lowly birth,
By this sacrifice on earth,
Blessing great I will thee.
III
(_Laudant fideles_)
Songs of praise, ten thousand songs,
Sing I will and laud Thee;
For such grace my spirit longs,
Ever to applaud Thee.
Glory, glory let there be,
Lover of mankind to Thee,
In the heaven supernal.
Let this testimony fly
Over earth, and sea, and sky,
Borne by songs eternal.
QUICUMQUE CHRISTUM QUÆRITIS
This hymn for the Epiphany forms part of a larger one of very complex
authorship, known as _A solis ortûs cardine, Et usque terræ limitem_.
This portion of that Christmas hymn has by some been assigned to St.
Ambrose, but by a majority of judges to Prudentius, “the Horace and
Virgil of the Christians,” in the estimate of the scholarly Bentley.
Aurelius Prudentius, Clemens, or the Merciful, was born in 348,
somewhere in the north of Spain. After filling various secular offices
he retired, in his fifty-seventh year, into private life, and devoted
himself to the composition of sacred verse. He died circa 413, but
where we are not told.
I
O ye who seek the Lord, come nigh,
To heaven uplift your reverent eyes,
The Royal Banner of our God
Is blazoned on the midnight skies.
II
Brighter than when the sun at noon
Pours forth its radiance on the earth,
See yonder star its glory sheds,
And tells to man the Saviour’s birth.
III
O wisdom seeks the lowly stall,
And takes the guidance of the star,
To worship where the Incarnate lies,
And offer gifts from lands afar:
IV
With incense, worships the Divine,
With gold, a kingly tribute pays,
And at the feet of God made Man,
The myrrh in sweet profusion lays.
V
O Bethlehem, city ever blest!
What honour more could come to thee?
The cradle of the Incarnate God,
Who came to set His Israel free!
VI
O Jesus, to the world revealed!
To Thee let glory ever be,
To Father and to Holy Ghost,
From age to age eternally.
_Epiphany_
JESU, NOSTRA REDEMPTIO