Latinised Hymns

Hark! hark, my soul! angelic songs are swelling

Hark! hark, my soul! angelic songs are swelling
O'er earth's green fields and ocean s wave-beat shore
How sweet the truth those blessed strains are telling
Of that new life when sin shall be no more!
Angels of Jesus, angels of light,
Singing to welcome the pilgrims of the night!

Onward we go, for still we hear them singing,
'Come, weary souls, for Jesus bids you come;'
And through the dark, its echoes sweetly ringing,
The music of the Gospel leads us home.

Far, far away, like bells at evening pealing,
The voice of Jesus sounds o'er land and sea,
And laden souls, by thousands meekly stealing,
Kind Shepherd, turn their weary steps to thee.

Rest comes at length: though life be long and dreary,
The day must dawn, and darksome night be past;
Faith's journey ends in welcome to the weary,
And heaven, the heart's true home, will come at last

Angels, sing on, your faithful watches keeping,
Sing us sweet fragments of the songs above;
Till morning's joy shall end the night of weeping,
And life's long shadows break in cloudless love.
Angels of Jesus, angels of light,
Singing to welcome the pilgrims of the night!

F.W. Faber

Heus! Angelorum carmen audiatur
per terrac prata perque litora.
Quam suaviter, quam vere nuncupatur
aetas fugato crimine nova.
Canendo Iesu nos lucidi
salutant nocte euntes angeli.

Prodimus illum ad chorum sonantem,
qui fessos Christum versus attrahat,
et, per tenebras dulce reboantem,
qui Bonus Nuntius domum vocat.

En! Procul hinc, ut tubae vespertinae,
terra marique Iesu vox canit,
cohors onusta dum sine ullo fine
se fessam ad Pastorem dirigit.

Quies erit, cum diu nos gravemur,
noctisque lux tenebras abiget;
perseveremus, mox accipiemur,
sponsumque nobis caelum veniet.

Pervigilantes, angeli, canatis,
noscamus ut qui superus canor,
dum, sole noctis fletibus fugatis,
serenus iste luceat amor.
Canendo Iesu nos lucidi
salutant nocte euntes angeli.

MM 25.11–8.12.00