| Contents | Conditor alme siderum Creator of the Stars of Night |
Hymni |
Anonymous text from the 7th century used at Vespers during Advent. In Pope Urban VIII's revision of the hymns of the Roman Breviary in 1632, the Advent hymns were greatly altered and this hymn was no exception. Only one line of the original remained and thus the revised hymn, titled Creator alme siderum, is really a separate hymn in and of itself. The original text of the hymn has since been restored to the liturgy and is given below.
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| CONDITOR alme siderum, aeterna lux credentium, Christe, redemptor omnium, exaudi preces supplicum. |
CREATOR of the stars of night, Thy people's everlasting light, Jesu, Redeemer, save us all, and hear Thy servants when they call. |
| Qui condolens interitu mortis perire saeculum, salvasti mundum languidum, donans reis remedium, |
Thou, grieving that the ancient curse should doom to death a universe, hast found the medicine, full of grace, to save and heal a ruined race. |
| Vergente mundi vespere, uti sponsus de thalamo, egressus honestissima Virginis matris clausula. |
Thou camest, the Bridegroom of the Bride, as drew the world to evening tide, proceeding from a virgin shrine, the spotless Victim all divine. |
| Cuius forti potentiae genu curvantur omnia; caelestia, terrestria nutu fatentur subdita. |
At whose dread Name, majestic now, all knees must bend, all hearts must bow; and things celestial Thee shall own, and things terrestrial Lord alone. |
| Te, Sancte, fide quaesumus, venture iudex saeculi, conserva nos in tempore hostis a telo perfidi. |
O Thou whose coming is with dread, to judge and doom the quick and dead, preserve us, while we dwell below, from every insult of the foe. |
| Sit, Christe, rex piissime, tibi Patrique gloria cum Spiritu Paraclito, in sempiterna saecula. Amen. |
To God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit, Three in One, laud, honor, might, and glory be from age to age eternally. Amen. |
| From the Liturgia Horarum. English tr. 19th century. |
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