Latinised Hymns

Sun of my soul, thou Saviour dear

Sun of my soul, thou Saviour dear,
it is not night if thou be near;
O may no earthborn cloud arise
to hide thee from thy servant's eyes.

When the soft dews of kindly sleep
my wearied eyelids gently steep,
be my last thought, how sweet to rest
forever on my Saviour's breast.

Abide with me from morn till eve,
for without thee I cannot live;
abide with me when night is nigh,
for without thee I dare not die.

If some poor wandering child of thine
has spurned today the voice divine,
now, Lord, the gracious work begin;
let him no more lie down in sin.

Watch by the sick, enrich the poor
with blessings from thy boundless store;
be every mourner's sleep tonight,
like infants' slumbers, pure and light.

Come near and bless us when we wake,
ere through the world our way we take,
till in the ocean of thy love
we lose ourselves in heaven above.

J. Keble

Tu sol, Salvator, animae,
quo dissipantur tenebrae.
Te nulla nubes a meis
terrestris abdat oculis.

Cum me mulcebit somnus et
palpebras leniter premet,
aeternam fac desiderem
cum Salvatore requiem.

Diurnus adsis, quippe te
remotus nolo vivere,
et nocte, nullo nam modo
mori te cassus audeo.

Si quis vocantem filius
tuus te spreverit vagus
hac nocte, da paeniteat
ut absolutus dormiat.

Aegros tuere, de tua
beans egenos copia,
sopitis nocte qui gemunt
quo more infantes dormiunt.

Surgentes nos iuva prius
quam mane peregrabimus,
amore tandem ut tuo
mergamur caelesti freto.

MM 3–6.6.97