05 March 2006

Lenten Hymn

From the incomparable Brotherhood Prayer Book published by Our Savior Lutheran Church of Grand Rapids, Michigan:

Audi benigne Conditor - a hymn of St. Gregory the Great - for Lauds during the first weeks of Great Lent

O Kind Creator, bow thine ear / to mark the cry, to know the tear / before thy throne of mercy spent / in this thy holy fast of Lent.

Our hearts are open, Lord, to thee: / thou knowest our infirmity; / pour out on all who seek thy face / abundance of thy pardoning grace.

Our sins are many, this we know; / spare us, good Lord, thy mercy show; / and for the honor of thy name / our fainting souls to life reclaim.

Give us the self-control that springs / from discipline of outward things, / that fasting inward secretly / the soul may purely dwell with thee.

We pray thee, Holy Trinity / one God, unchanging Unity / that we from this our abstinence / may reap the fruits of penitence. Amen.

2 comments:

Fr John W Fenton said...

Fr Weedon,

Yes, a most marvelous hymn indeed. As you know, it is the traditional Vespers hymn during Lent. You can find the original Latin with the traditional translation here:

http://breviary.net/ordinary/ordinvesp3.htm

The other Office hymns for Lent (again, both in original Latin and traditional English translation) are here:

http://breviary.net/propseason/lent/propseasonlent.htm

(In other words, I hope you didn't type all that in!)

Anonymous said...

We have had the pleasure to chant this hymn the last the last few years at University Lutheran Chapel here in Minneapolis.