Tu natale solum

Be thou the guardian

Tu natale solum protege, tu bonæ
Da pacis requiem Christiadum plagis;
Armorum strepitus, et fera prœlia
In fines age Thracios.
Et regum socians agmina sub crucis
Vexillo, Solymas nexibus exime,
Vindexque innocui sanguinis hosticum
Robur funditus erue.
Tu nostrum columen, tu decus inclytum,
Nostrarum obsequium respice mentium;
Romæ vota libens excipe, quæ pio
Te ritu canit, et colit.
A nobis abigas lubrica gaudia
Tu, qui Martyribus dexter ades, Deus
Une et trine: tuis da famulis jubar,
Quo clemens animos beas.

Be thou the guardian of thy native land,
And to all Christian nations grant repose
From din of arms, and every hostile band—
From all our borders drive away our foes.
Bid Christian princes marshal all their force
Beneath the sacred standard of the Rood,
To avenge sweet Salem’s sacrilegious loss,
And crush the Paynim red with guiltless blood.
On thee our hopes are built, as on a tower;
Receive the homage we now humbly pay,
The vows which Rome accomplishes this hour,
With pious rites, and canticles’ sweet lay.
Keep far from us all dangerous delight,
O God, who comfortest Thy Martyrs’ pain;
One Good in Persons Three, bestow Thy light
Wherewith Thou makest strong Thy Martyrs slain.

This is a continuation of the preceding hymn. Translation by Father Wallace, O.S.B.

“Protect thy native land and give to Christian nations the repose of holy peace: banish the din of arms and dreadful wars to Thracian fields.” Christiadum = Christianoram, Christians. In fines Thracios: afar, to the remotest regions.
“And uniting the armies of kings under the banner of the Cross, deliver Jerusalem from bondage, and as an avenger of innocent blood, utterly destroy the hostile power (of the Turks).” Solymæ, poetical form of Hierosolyma, orum, Jerusalem.
“Thou, our pillar of strength, our illustrious ornament, behold the benevolent disposition of our hearts; graciously accept the prayers of Rome, who in a loving manner sings thy praises and honors thee.”