Latinised Hymns

The day thou gavest, Lord, is ended

The day thou gavest, Lord, is ended,
the darkness falls at thy behest;
to thee our morning hymns ascended,
thy praise shall sanctify our rest.

We thank thee that thy Church, unsleeping
while earth rolls onward into light,
through all the world her watch is keeping
and rests not now by day nor night.

As o'er each continent and island
the dawn leads on another day,
the voice of prayer is never silent,
nor dies the strain of praise away.

The sun that bids us rest is waking
our brethren 'neath the western sky,
and hour by hour fresh lips are making
thy wondrous doings heard on high.

So be it, Lord; thy throne shall never,
like earth's proud empires, pass away;
thy kingdom stands, and grows for ever,
till all thy creatures own thy sway.

J. Ellerton

Dies finitur quem dedisti
te postulante tenebras.
Tu mane carmen accepisti;
tu dormituros audias.

Lucem sequens se terra volvit:
laudamus quod numquam tua
die seu nocte se resolvit
pervigilans ecclesia.

Per insulas et continentes
aurora lumen integrat,
nec dest locus qui te petentes
votis et laude praebeat.

Quo sole sumus dormituri
cientur hoc occidui,
nec minuuntur ascensuri
de factis tuis nuntii.

Nec tuum, Deus, obsolescet
ut regna temporalium,
sed stabit semper, immo crescet
cunctisque fiet agnitum.

MM 13–15.11.96