Early Christian Hymns
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TRANSLA TIONS OF TH E V ERSES OF TH E MOST NO TAB LE LA TIN WRI TERS OF TH E EARL T AND MIDDLE A GES BY DANI EL JOSEPH DONAHOE ’ ” u thor of Id ls o Israel A T ent b the Lake In Sheltered Wa s A y f , y , y , ” The R cu o the P ri c s e t . es e f n e s , c T H E G R A F T O N P R E S S PU B LI SH E R S NEW YO R K OPYR IGHT 1 08 B C , 9 Y T HE GRAFTON PRESS IN T H E UNITED STATES AND GREAT BRITAIN PR EFAC E THI S vol u m e may fai rly be said to c ont ain the best L t C hu religiou s songs of all the ages of the a in rc h. The name of the work w ould indicate that only the earlier c in hymns were in l uded ; and that , indeed , was the tention of the a uthor when the p u b li c a t ion of the b ook was c o m m en c ed . But as some of the hymns inserted - s r t R m in that treasure house of p i i ual song , the o an o i c nt fi at e I I I . Breviary , since the p of Urban V are ex u isit e l b t f q y ea u i ul , both in poetry and religious feeling , it has been deemed best to make the work suffi ciently complete to inc l ude practically all the hymns there f . o und , both ancient and modern Many of the hymns here translated were gleaned from D the pages of the great works of aniel , Mone an d V A v m V ac k e rnage l . ol u e of Latin hymns p ublished by f Professor March of La Fayette College , will be o und to contain a number of the most bea utiful ; b ut the chief v source has been the R o m an B re iafy . And as that e work is mor easily obtained by the ordina ry student , than the great collections above named , it has been thought a dvisable to note all hymns drawn from that so source , that the reader , who may desire to compare diffi the translation with the original , will have little culty in doing so . P RE FACE The attempt to turn these glorious songs of the Church into something fairly representative of the thought and feeling of the original has been a labor of love during h the past four years . The translator as always been an ardent lover of the Latin hymns , but the idea of making English versions of them came about as if by V r accident . While reading the eni Sanc e Spiritus , “ 3 , as has Sun the golden sequence , it been called , one in 1 0 day afternoon April , 9 4 , the words and melody of as the hymn shaped themselves , it were , into an Eng f lish form , without any apparent e fort , a form which seemed to give an adequate representation of the orig inal both in thought an d feeling . I mmediately upon the appearance of that poem in b print , the author was urged by scholarly friends , oth clerical and lay , lovers , like himself, of the fine ol d church songs , to try his hand at others , especially those used for liturgical purposes an d found in the Breviary and Missal . The more of these translations that — appeared , the more popular they seemed to become . ‘ The very act of translating afi orde d a singular pleas ure and exhilaration of spirit . I n a short time the number of English renderings on the author ’ s hands became so great , and the requests of friends to collect so them in a volume , urgent , that the present work is the result . CO NT ENTS ST . HILARY A HYMN FOR TH E P E Nx T E NT (A d C oe li Clara) A HYMN FOR PENTECOST (B eata Nobi: Gau dia) A MORNING HYMN (D e u : Pater I nge nite ) ’ M R N N r ST . HILARY S O x G HYMN (L u ci: Largito Sple adide ) A SONG OF DAW N (jam Al eta N octi: Transiit) A SONG OF DAW N (Anothe r V e rsion) D WASUS ST . AI HYMN To ST . AGATHA (Martyr i: ecce die: A gar/m e ) ST . AMBROS E EASTER HYMN (A u r ora C oe lu m P u rpu rat) T H E TRUTH OF TRUTH S (Tr iste: E ran"A postoli) ‘ T H E RESURRECTION (Pa: chol e Al u ndo Gau diu m) A PASCHAL RIO R NING HYMN (R ex Se mpiter ne Coe litu m) TH E A M D e u : T u ar a m Milita m VESPER HYMN , FOR FEAST OF ARTYR ( ) HYMN FOR LAUDS FOR TH E FEAST OF A MARTYR (I nv icte IIIar tyr Unicu m) A N EARLY M o m m aHm n (7am L u ci: Orto Siam ) A HYMN FOR ADVENT (Creator A lme Sider u m) HYMN FOR MA T rNs (Somno Refecti: A rtu bu s) A HYMN FOR ADVENT (E n Clar a V ox ) HYMN FOR TH E NATIVITY OF OUR LORD (jesu R ede mptor O m niu m) \ A HYMN FOR T R E NIGHT SEASON (N ax A tra R eru m) PASCHAL TIDE (A d R egia: A g ni D u pes) MO R NTNG HYMN FOR ASCENSION D A Y (A crer ne R ex A lti: : ime) VESPER HYMN FOR A SC E NSt O N D A Y (ff e su No: tra Rede mptio) PENTECOST (jam Chr istu : A : tra A sce nderat) ’ O SPLENDOU R OF TH E FATHER S FACE (Sple ndor Pater nae Gloriae) A M O R NrNG HYMN (A eterna C oeli Glor ia) ’ T H E MORNING S GOLDEN RADIANCE (A u rora jam Spargit) EV E NrNG HYMN ( Te L u ci: A nte T er m inu m) vfii CONTENTS TH E OF A G e su orona V ir inu m HYMN FOR FEAST VIR IN (ff , C g ) A NIGHT SONG (R eru m D e u : T e nax V ig or) HYMN BEFORE DAYLIGHT (C onsor: Paterni L u minis) HYMN FO R EARLY MO RNING(Su m mae Par en: Clementiae ) A HYMN FO R EVENTIDE (D eu s Creator O m niu m) A MORNING PRAYER (R ector Poten: V erax D e u s) A T o TH E H G N u nc Sancte N o i: S ir t HYMN OLY HOST ( b p i u s) . A VESPER SONG (jam Sol R ecedit Ig ne u s) O WORD OF MIGHT ( V erb u m Su pernu rn P r odiens) HYMN FO R TH E FEAST OF A MARTYR (R ex Glor iose Martyr u m ) ' ‘ A HYMN FO R TH E FEAST O F A N A P O SI L E (A eter no Christi M u nera) A HYMN FO R SUNDAY (A eterne R er u m C onditor) PRUDENTIUS A HYMN FO R EPIPHANY ( 0 Solo Mag nar u m Ur biu m) HYMN FO R TH E HOLY INNOCENTS (A u dit Tyrannu s A nx iu s) FO R TH E H IN Sal oete Fl or es Mart r m HYMN OLY NOCENTS ( , y u ) A MORNING HYMN (A le: D iei N u ntiu s) T H E GLORY OF C HRIST (Qu icu mqu e Ckr istu m Qu aeritis) MORNING HYMN (N ox ci Te nebrae et N u bilae) BEHOLD TH E GOLDEN LIGHT (L ux E cce Surgit A urea) SED ULIUS A CHRISTMAS HYMN (d Solis Ortu : Caroline) HYMN FO R EPIPHANY (C ru de li: H eracl es D eu m) ELPIS S A ecora L u x A eternitatis T O . A ND TS PETER PAUL, POSTLES (D ) FORTUNATUS O N TH E HOLY CROSS (Cru x B enedicta Niiez) VESPER HYMN T o TH E VIRGIN (A ve M ar is Ste lla) ’ A FO R M u e m T erra ontu s Sid era HYMN ATINS (Q , P , ) A HYMN TO TH E VIRGIN (0 Gloriosa V irginu m) T H E HOLY CROSS (V e xilla R egis) T H E CRUCIFI "ION (Pang e Ling ua) ST GREG RY T HE GREAT . O T H E WORKS OF TH E DAYS (L uc i: Creat or Optim e) T H E WORKS OF TH E DAYS (I m m e nse C oeli C onditor) CONTENTS T H E WORK S OF THE DAYS ( Tellu ri: A lme C onditor ) T H E WORKS OF THE DAYS (C oeli D e u s Sanctissim e ) T H E WORKS OF TH E DAYS (Mag nae D c u : P ote ntiae ) T H E WORKS OF THE DAYS (H om inis Su pe r ne C onditor ) T H E WORKS OF THE DAYS (D ox ology) A MORNING HYMN ( 0 Sol Sal u tis I ntim is) A H A u di B e ni ne C onditor LENTEN YMN ( , g ) HYMN T o TH E SAVIOU R (Sal vator Mu ndi D om ine ) EARLY MORNING HYMN (R er u m C r eat or Optim a) A HYMN FOR LENT (Ex More D octi Mystico) A HYMN FOR MATINS ( T u Tr initat is Unitas) SUNDAY MORNING HYMN (Pr im o Die Qu a Trinita: ) AT MATINS (Nocta Su rg entes) AT MATINS (A nothe r V e rsion) AT DAYBREAK (Ecce jam N octis) AT DAYB REAK (An othe r V e rsion) V n r r r A HYMN FOR PENTECOST ( e i C eato Spi itu s) .