Adoro Te Devote

From St. Thomas Aquinas 

 

Prostrate I adore Thee, Deity unseen,

Who Thy glory hidest 'neath these shadows mean;

Lo, to Thee surrendered, my whole heart is bowed,

Tranced as it beholds Thee, shrined within the cloud.

Taste, and touch, and vision, to discern Thee fail;

Faith, that comes by hearing, pierces through the veil.

I believe whate'er the Son of God hath told;

What the Truth hath spoken, that for truth I hold.

On the Cross lay hidden but thy Deity,

Here is hidden also Thy Humanity:

But in both believing and confessing, Lord,

Ask I what the dying thief of Thee implored.

Thy dread wounds, like Thomas, though I cannot see,

His be my confession, Lord and God, of Thee,

Make my faith unfeigned ever-more increase,

Give me hope unfading, love that cannot cease.

O memorial wondrous of the Lord's own death;

Living Bread, that giveth all Thy creatures breath,

Grant my spirit ever by Thy life may live,

To my taste Thy sweetness never-failing give.

Pelican of mercy, Jesu, Lord and God,

Cleanse me, wretched sinner, in Thy Precious Blood:

Blood where one drop for human-kind outpoured

Might from all transgression have the world restored.

Jesu, whom now veiled, I by faith descry,

What my soul doth thirst for, do not, Lord, deny,

That thy face unveiled, I at last may see,

With the blissful vision blest, my God, of Thee. Amen

(Translation by Gerard Manley Hopkins)

Youtube link to the hymn: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Dpy0SUh0H4