The hymn can be traced back to the seventh century, which makes it perhaps the oldest known Eucharistic hymn. It appears in the Bangor Antiphoner, a seventh century Irish manuscript. The Bangor Antiphoner was written in Ireland sometime between 680 and 691. From Bangor it was carried to Bobbio, a famous monastery founded in Italy by the Irish missionary St. Columbanus. St. Columbanus was a disciple of St. Comgall, who founded the monastery at Bangor sometime around 552. St. Columbanus himself went on to found the monastery at Bobbio in 614. Exactly when the Bangor Antiphoner was carried to Bobbio is not certain. However, since it contains a list of the first fifteen abbots of Bangor, beginning with Comgall and ending with Cronanus who died in 691, it would appear that it must have been sometime afterwards. There is also some speculation that the manuscript we have today is actually a copy of the original from Bangor. The hymn itself does not appear in any ancient manuscript outside the Bangor Antiphoner. Muratori was the first to publish the text of the hymn in his Anecdota (1697-98). He first ran across the hymn in the Ambrosian Library in Milan. The Antiphoner was brought to Milan from Bobbio by Cardinal Federigo Borromeo when he founded the Ambrosian Library in 1609.

As to the hymn's authorship by St. Sechnall, while the historical documentation can only be traced to the seventh century, it is quite possible that he is the author. The style of the hymn somewhat resembles that of an older style than what is usually found in a late seventh century hymn.

A popular English translation "Draw Nigh and Take the Body of the Lord", which appears in many modern hymnals even today, was done by J. M. Neale (1818-1866). It first appeared in his Medieval Hymns in 1851. The one below is less well known, but perhaps a bit more literal. It was done by Fr. Adrian Fortescue (1874-1924) and appears in his book "Latin Hymns", 1913.