Catholic CornucopiadCheney

Splendor paternæ gloriæ

O Spendor of God’s glory bright

The Hymns of the Breviary and Missal

  1. Splendor paternæ gloriæ,
    De luce lucem proferens,
    Lux lucis, et fons luminis,
    Diem dies illuminans:
  2. Verusque sol illabere,
    Micans nitore perpeti:
    Jubarque sancti Spiritus
    Infunde nostris sensibus.
  3. Votis vocemus et Patrem,
    Patrem potentis gratiæ,
    Patrem perennis gloryæ:
    Culpam releget lubricam.
  4. Confirmet actus strenuos:
    Dentes retundat invidi:
    Casus secundet asperos:
    Agenda recte dirigat.
  5. Mentem gubernet et regat:
    Sit pura nobis castitas:
    Fides calore ferveat,
    Fraudis venena nesciat.
  6. Christusque nobis sit cibus,
    Potusque noster sit fides:
    Læti bibamus sobriam
    Profusionem Spiritus.
  7. Lætus dies hic transeat:
    Pudor sit ut diluculum:
    Fides velut meridies:
    Crepusculum mens nesciat.
  8. Aurora lucem provehit,
    Cum luce nobis prodeat
    In Patre totus Filius,
    Et totus in Verbo Pater.
  9. Deo Patri sit Gloria,
    Ejusque soli Filio,
    Cum Spiritu Paraclito
    Nunc et per omne sæculum.
  1. O Spendor of God’s glory bright,
    O Thou that bringest light from light,
    O Light of Light, light’s Living Spring,
    O Day, all days illumining.
  2. O Thou true Sun, on us Thy glance
    Let fall in royal radiance,
    The Spirit’s sanctifying beam
    Upon our earthly senses stream.
  3. The Father too our prayers implore,
    Father of glory evermore,
    The Father of all grace and might,
    To banish sin from our delight:
  4. To guide whatev’r we nobly do,
    With love all envy to subdue,
    To make ill-fortune turn to fair,
    And give us grace our wrongs to bear.
  5. Our mind be in His keeping placed,
    Our body true to Him and chaste,
    Where only faith her fire shall feed,
    And burn the tares of Satan’s seed.
  6. And Christ to us for food shall be,
    From Him our drink that welleth free,
    The Spirit’s wine, that maketh whole,
    And mocking not, exalts the soul.
  7. Rejoicing may this day go hence,
    Like virgin dawn our innocence,
    Like fiery noon our faith appear,
    Nor know the gloom of twilight drear.
  8. Morn in her rosy car is borne;
    Let Him come forth our Perfect Morn,
    The Word in God the Father One,
    The Father perfect in the Son.
  9. All laud to God the Father be;
    All praise, Eternal Son, to Thee;
    All glory, as is ever meet,
    To God the Holy Paraclete.
Author: St. Ambrose (340-397). Meter: Iambic dimeter. Translation from The Yattendon Hymnal—a spirited translation. There are about thirty translations. The Splendor paternæ gloryæ has been rightly styled, “A beautiful morning hymn to the Holy Trinity, but especially to Christ as the Light of the World, and a prayer for help and guidance throughout the day. It is a companion and sequel to the Æterne rerum Conditor” (Julian’s Dict. of Hymnology).
  1. “O Splendor of the Father’s glory, bringing forth light from light, O Light of Light, and Source of light, Day illuminating day!” Splendor gloryæ: St. Paul styles Christ: Splendor gloryæ et figura substantiæ ejus (Patris) (Heb. 1, 3). Christ is the brightness, or effulgence, of the Father’s glory, and the figure, or image, of His substance. The similitude by which the Word is styled the “Splendor of the Father’s glory” is based on the sun of our solar system and the rays emanating unceasingly therefrom. The sun represents the Father; the rays, the Son. The figure must not be understood as implying any inequality. Lux: Of Himself, Christ says: Ego sum lux mundi (John 8,12); He is the “True Light” (John 1, 9); “the Orient from on High” (Luke 1, 78), who illuminates by His grace and by the light of faith “every man that cometh into this world” (John 1, 1-9).
  2. “O Thou, true Sun, descend, shining with everlasting brightness, and infuse into our hearts the radiance of the Holy Spirit.” Illabere, imper. of illabor.
  3. “In our prayers, let us also implore the Father, the Father of eternal glory, the Father of mighty grace, that He may remove every dangerous inclination to sin.” By culpa is here meant, the inclination to sin, rather than sin itself.
  4. “May He give us strength for manly deeds, blunt the teeth of the envious one, bring adverse events to a favor- able issue, and give us the grace to act wisely.” Dentes, teeth: fig., envy, ill-will, rage; invidi, the envious one, the devil. Invidia autem diaboli mors introivit in orbem terrarum (Wisd. 2, 24).
  5. “May He rule and direct our mind that our chastity remain unsullied; may our faith glow with fervor, and may it know not the poison of error.” Nobis, dat. of possession.
  6. “May Christ be our food, and faith our drink; joyfully let us drink of the sober affluence of the Spirit.” Cibus: In the literal sense, Christ is our food in the Holy Eucharist. Read the words of promise (John 6, 48-59). Profusionem: the outpouring, “sober affluence” “temperate excess.” The Original Text has ebrietatem, inebriation. The poet had in mind the outpouring of the Holy Ghost upon the Apostles (Acts 2, esp. 12-17).
  7. “Joyfully may this day pass by; may our modesty be as the dawn, our faith as the noonday sun, and may our souls know no twilight.”
  8. “The aurora leads on the light; with the light may there appear to us the whole Son in the Father, and the whole Father in the Word.”
Copyright Benziger Brothers, 1922. Online Edition Copyright David M. Cheney, 2019.