Scripture Verse

I am the living Bread which came down from Heaven: if any man eat of this Bread, he shall live forever: and the Bread that I will give is My flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. John 6:51

Introduction

portrait
James Woodford
(1820–1885)

Words: Tho­mas Aqui­nas (1226–1274) (Ado­ro Te de­vo­te, la­tens Dei­tas). Trans­lat­ed from La­tin to Eng­lish by James R. Wood­ford, 1850, & the com­pil­ers of Hymns An­cient and Mo­dern.

Music: Ado­ro Te De­vo­te, tra­di­tion­al tune (🔊 pdf nwc).

Alternate Tune:

portrait
Thomas Aquinas (1226–1274)

Lyrics

Thee we adore, O hid­den Sav­ior, Thee,
Who in Thy sac­ra­ment dost deign to be;
Both flesh and spir­it at Thy pre­sence fail,
Yet here Thy pre­sence we de­vout­ly hail.

O blest me­mo­ri­al of our dy­ing Lord,
Who liv­ing Bread to men doth here af­ford!
O may our souls for­ev­er feed on Thee,
And Thou, O Christ, for­ev­er pre­cious be.

Fountain of glad­ness, Je­su, Lord and God,
Cleanse us, un­clean, with Thy most cleans­ing blood;
Increase our faith and love, that we may know
The hope and peace which from Thy pre­sence flow.

O Christ, whom now be­neath a veil we see,
May what we thirst for soon our por­tion be,
To gaze on Thee un­veiled, and see Thy face,
The vi­sion of Thy glo­ry and Thy grace.