Scripture Verse

Thy Savior and thy Redeemer. Isaiah 60:16

Introduction

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Edward Caswall (1814–1878)
National Portrait Gallery

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Words: From the Ro­man Bre­vi­ary, 1632 (Je­su Re­demp­tor om­ni­um, Quem lu­cis ante orig­in­em). Trans­lat­ed from La­tin to Eng­lish by Ed­ward Cas­wall, Ly­ra Ca­tho­li­ca (Lon­don: James Burns, 1849), pag­es 48–49.

Music: Ger­ma­ny, Sac­red Me­lo­dies, by Will­iam Gar­di­ner, 1815 (🔊 pdf nwc).

Alternate Tunes:

  • Louvan Vir­gil C. Tay­lor, 1850 (🔊 pdf nwc)
  • Makati from The Ca­tho­lic Hym­nal, ed­it­ed by Al­fred Young (New York: Ca­tho­lic Pub­li­ca­tion So­cie­ty, 1885), num­ber 21 (🔊 pdf nwc)
  • Tulum ano­ny­mous, from The So­da­list’s Hym­nal, ed­it­ed by E. F. Mac­Go­ni­gle (Phi­la­del­phia Penn­syl­van­ia: 1887), pag­es 18–19 (🔊 pdf nwc) (uses ev­en num­ber of stan­zas)

Lyrics

Jesu, Re­deem­er of the world!
Who, ere the ear­li­est dawn of light,
Wast from eter­nal ag­es born,
Immense in glo­ry as in might.

Immortal hope of all man­kind!
In whom the Fa­ther’s face we see;
Hear Thou the pray­ers Thy peo­ple pour
This day through­out the world to Thee.

Remember, O Cre­at­or Lord!
That in the vir­gin’s sac­red womb
Thou wast con­ceived, and of her flesh
Didst our mor­ta­li­ty as­sume.

This ev­er blest re­cur­ring day
Its wit­ness bears, that all alone,
From Thy own Fa­ther’s bo­som forth,
To save the world Thou cam­est down.

O Day! to which the seas and sky,
And earth and Heav’n, glad wel­come sing;
O Day! which healed our mi­se­ry,
And brought on earth sal­va­tion’s king.

We too, O Lord, who have been cleansed
In Thy own fount of blood di­vine,
Offer the trib­ute of sweet song,
On this blest na­tal day of thine.

O Je­su! born of vir­gin bright,
Immortal glo­ry be to Thee;
Praise to the Fa­ther in­fi­nite,
And Ho­ly Ghost eter­nal­ly.