Contents Rerum, Deus, tenax vigor
O God, Creation's Secret Force
TempusPerAnnum


Attributed to St. Ambrose, a hymn for None (mid-afternoon). None is the ninth hour (3:00 PM) of the Roman day and was the hour of Christ's death.

RERUM, Deus, tenax vigor,
immotus in te permanens, 1
lucis diurnae tempora
successibus determinans,
O STRENGTH and Stay upholding all creation
Who ever dost Thyself unmoved abide,
yet day by day the light in due gradation
from hour to hour though all its changes guide;
Largire clarum vespere,
quo vita numquam decidat,
sed praemium mortis sacrae
perennis instet gloria.
Grant to life's day a calm unclouded ending,
an eve untouched by shadows of decay,
the brightness of a holy deathbed blending
with dawning glories of the eternal day.
Praesta, Pater piissime,
Patrique compar Unice,
cum Spiritu Paraclito
regnans per omne saeculum. Amen.
Hear us, O Father, gracious and forgiving,
and Thou, O Christ, the coeternal Word,
Who, with the Holy Ghost by all things living,
now and to endless ages art adored. Amen.

From the Liturgia Horarum, Translation by Rev. J. Ellerton (1826-1893) and Rev. F. J. A. Hort (1828-1892).

1 Some MS, such as the Bosworth Psalter, show: permanet.


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