I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of Heaven.
Matthew 16:19
Words: From an 11th Century manuscript in the British Museum (Exultet coelum laudibus). Translated from Latin to English by Richard Mant, Ancient Hymns from the Roman Breviary, 1837, alt.
Music: Auctoritate Saeculi Angers church tune (🔊 pdf nwc).
Let the round world with songs rejoice;
Let Heaven return the joyful voice;
All mindful of th’Apostles’ fame,
Let Heav’n and earth their praise proclaim.
Ye servants who once bore the light
Of Gospel truth o’er heathen night,
Still may your work that light impart,
To glad our eyes and cheer our heart.
O God, by whom to them was giv’n
The key that shuts and opens Heav’n,
Our chains unbind, our loss repair,
And grant us grace to enter there.
For at Thy will they preached the Word
Which cured disease, which health conferred:
O may that healing power once more
Our souls to grace and health restore.
That when Thy Son again shall come,
And speak the world’s unerring doom,
He may with them pronounce us blest,
And place us in Thy endless rest.
To Thee, O Father; Son, to Thee;
To Thee, blest Spirit, glory be!
So was it ay for ages past,
So shall through endless ages last.