Hominis superne Conditor

Maker of man, who from Thy throne

The Hymns of the Breviary and Missal

Hominis superne Conditor,
Qui cuncta solus ordinans,
Humum jubes producer
Reptantis et feræ genus:
Et magna rerum corpora,
Dictu jubentis vivida,
Per temporum certas vices
Obtemperare servulis:
Repelle, quod cupidinis
Ciente vi nos impetit,
Aut moribus se suggerit,
Aut actibus se interserit.
Da gaudiorum præmia,
Da gratiarum munera:
Dissolve litis vincula:
Adstring pacis fœdera.
Præsta, Pater piissime,
Patrique compar Unice,
Cum Spiritu Paraclito
Regnans per omne sæculum.

Maker of man, who from Thy throne
Dost order all things, God alone;
By whose decree the teeming earth
To reptile and to beast gave birth:
The might forms that fill the land,
Instinct with life at Thy command,
Are given subdued to humankind
For service in their rank assigned.
From all Thy servants drive away
Whate’er of thought impure to-day
Hath been with open action blent,
Or mingled with the heart’s intent.
In heaven Thine endless joys bestow,
And grant Thy gifts of grace below:
From chains of strife our souls release,
Bind fast the gentle hands of peace.
Grant this, O Father, ever One
With Christ, Thy sole-begotten Son,
Whom, with the Spirit we adore,
One God, both now and evermore.

Author: Probably by Pope St. Gregory the Great (540-604). Meter: Iambic dimeter. Translation by J. D. Chambers, as altered in the English Hymnal. There are sixteen translations. First line of Original Text: Plasmator hominis Deus. Theme: The work of the sixth day— the creation of brute animals and of man (Gen. 1, 24-31). The following is verses 25 and 27 only: Et fecit Deus bestias terræ juxta species suas, et jumenta et omne reptile terræ in genere suo. Et vidit Deus quod esset bonum. . . . Et creavit Deus hominem ad imaginem suam: ad imaginem Dei creavit ilium; masculum et feminam creavit eos.

“O august Creator of man, who alone dost dispose all things, Thou didst command that the earth bring forth reptiles and beasts.” Genus reptantis=reptilia: genus feræ=bestiæ terræ.
“And at the word of the Creator, the huge bodies of created beings became instinct with life, to obey Thy servants through determined changes of time.” Per certas vices temporum, i. e., while fixed periods of time shall last, man is to rule over “the fishes of the sea, the fowls of the air, and the beasts, and the whole earth” (Gen. 1, 26).
“Drive from us whatever evil desire may assail us with roused up violence, whether it attaches itself to our morals or intertwines itself with our actions.” Se interserit, or sows itself among. Abp. Bagshawe translates the last two lines: Or mingles with our inward lives,
Or in our actions plays its part.
“Grant us the reward of heavenly joys; bestow upon us gifts of grace; rend asunder the chains of strife; draw closer the bonds of peace.”