Contents Christe, Redemptor omnium
Christ, Redeemer of All		 Nativitatis


This 6th century hymn is the traditional hymn for Vespers during the Christmas season. In Pope Urban VIII's 1629 revision of the Breviary hymns to make them fit classical forms, the hymn was altered and known as Iesu, Redemptor Omnium. The original text of the hymn has been restored in the current liturgy and appears below.

CHRISTE, Redemptor omnium,
ex Patre, Patris unice,
solus ante principium
natus ineffabiliter,1 		JESU, the Father's only Son,
whose death for all redemption won,
before the worlds, of God most high,
begotten all ineffably.
Tu lumen, tu splendor Patris,
tu spes perennis omnium,
intende quas fundunt preces
tui per orbem servuli. 		The Father's Light and Splendor Thou
their endless Hope to Thee that bow:
accept the prayers and praise today
that through the world Thy servants pay.
Salutis auctor, recole
quod nostri quondam corporis,
ex illibata Virgine
nascendo, formam sumpseris.2 		Salvation's author, call to mind
how, taking the form of humankind,
born of a Virgin undefiled,
Thou in man's flesh becamest a Child.
Hic praesens testatur dies,
currens per anni circulum,
quod a solus sede Patris
mundi salus adveneris;3 		Thus testifies the present day
Through every year in long array,
that Thou, salvation's source alone
proceedest from the Father's Throne.
Hunc caelum, terra, hunc mare,
hunc omne quod in eis est,
auctorem adventus tui
laudat exsultans cantico.4 		Whence sky, and stars, and sea's abyss,
and earth, and all that therein is,
shall still, with laud and carol meet,
the Author of thine Advent greet.
Nos quoque, qui sancto tuo
redempti sumus sanguine,
ob diem natalis tui
hymnum novum concinimus.5 		And we who, by Thy precious Blood
from sin redeemed, are marked for God,
on this, the day that saw Thy Birth,
sing the new song of ransomed earth.
Iesu, tibi sit gloria,
qui natus es de Virgine,
cum Patre et almo Spiritu,
in sempiterna saecula. Amen. 		All honor, laud, and glory be,
O Iesu, Virgin-born, to Thee;
whom with the Father we adore,
and Holy Ghost forevermore. Amen.
Latin from the Liturgia Horarum, Tr cento from J. M. Neale (1818-1866).

Changes made by Pope Urban VIII in 1632 to the Roman Breviary:
Iesu, Redemptor omnium:
1 Iesu, Redemptor omnium/quem lucis ante originem/ parem Paternae gloriae/ Pater supremus edidit.
2 Memento, rerum Conditor/ nostri quod olim corporis/ sacrata ab alvo Virginis/ nascendo, formam sumpseris.
3 Testatur hoc praesens dies/ currens per anni circulum/ quod solus e sinu Patris/ Mundi salus adveneris.
4 Hunc astra, tellus, aequora,/ hunc omne, quod caelo subest,/ salutis Auctorem novae/ novo salutat cantico.
5 Et nos, beata quos sacri/ rigavit unda sanguinis/ natalis ob diem tui/ hymni tributum solvimus


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