Hymn for Good Friday
by Unknown
| Today, is poised upon a cross he that poised the earth upon the waters. He that is the King of angels, is wreathed with a crown of thorns. He that covereth the heaven with clouds, is covered with a mock scarlet robe, He that, in the Jordan, set Adam free, is buffeted. The Spouse of the Church is pierced with nails. The Son of the Virgin is wounded with a spear. O Jesus! we adore thy sufferings. Show unto us, also, thy glorious Resurrection. | Hodie in cruce appenditur, qui super aquas terram appendit: corona spinea circumdatur Rex angelorum: false purpura operitur, qui operit coelum nubilous: alapam suscipit, qui in Jordane libertati dedit Adamum: clavis confixus est Sponsus Ecclesiae: lancea punetus est filius Virginis. Adoramus passiones tuas, Christe. Et ostende nobis etiam gloriosam resurrectionem tuam. |
| Mary, the Mother, saw her Lamb dragged to the slaughter, and, in company with other women, followed him, saying: 'Whither goest thou, my Son? Wherefore this hurried step? Is it to a second marriagefeast at Cana that thou thus hastenest, there to turn water into wine? Must I come with thee, my Son? or must I wait thy return? O Word of the Father! speak one word to me. Pass me not by in silence, O thou, my Child and my God I who didst make me thy VirginMother!' | Intuens agna agnum suum trahi ad occisionem: sequebatur Maria afflicta una cum aliis mulieribus, trace clamans: Quo progrederis, nate? Cujus rei gratia velocem cursum perficis? Num aliae nuptiae rursus fiunt in Cana; et eo tu nunc festinas, ut eis ex aqua vinum facias? Tecum veniam, nate; an te potius exspectabo? Da mihi verbum, O Verbum: ne sirens me praetereas, qui me castam servasti filius et Deus meus. |
| For our sake, O Jesus! thou didst permit thy whole sacred Body to be ignominiously tortured: thy head with thorns; thy face with spittle; thy cheeks with blows: thy mouth with vinegar and gall; thine ears with impious blasphemies; thy back with scourges; thy hand with a reed; thy whole body, with the cross; thy hands and feet with nails; thy side with a spear. O almighty Saviour! who didst suffer for us, and by thy sufferings, didst make us free! O thou, that out of love for man didst humble thyself with us, that thus thou mightest exalt us! have mercy on us! | Singula sanctae carnis tuae membra ignominiam propter nos sustinuerunt; spinas caput; facies sputa; maxilla alapas; os aceto mistum fel in gustu; impias blasphemias aures; dorsum flagellationem; et menus arundinem; totiusque corporia extensiones in Bruce; artus clavos; et latus lanceam. Qui passus es pro nobis, et patiens liberos nos fecisti; quique amore erga homines una nobiscum te demisisti, nosque sublimasti, omnipotens Salvator, miserere nostri. |
| Today, the sinless Virgin saw thee, O Word! hanging on the cross: she wept over thee with a mother's love: her heart was cruelly wounded: and thus, with doleful sobs and tears, she spake from her inmost soul: 'Alas! my divine Son! Alas! thou light of the world! why hast thou departed from my sight, O Lamb of God?' The angel host was seized with trembling, and said: 'Glory be to thee, O incomprehensible Lord!' | Hodie in cruce te suspensum, O Verbum, inculpate Virgo spectans, maternis visceribus moerens, corde vulnerabatur amare, et gemens dolenter ex animae profundo flebilitor exclamabat: Hen me, divine Nate! heu me, O lux mundi! cur ex oculis meis abscessisti, Ague Dei? Inde incorporeorum spirituum exercitus tremore corripiebantur, dicentes: Incomprehensibilis Domine, gloria tibi. |
| Fear and trembling fell upon thy creatures, O Lord, when thou didst ascend thy cross. Yet wouldst thou not permit the earth to swallow up them that crucified thee; nay, thou gavest leave to death to set its captives free. Thou camest into the world, O Judge of the living and the dead! that thou mightest bring, not death, but life. Glory be to thee, O Lover of mankind! | Domine, ascendente te in crucem, timor et tremor cecidit in creaturam: et terram quidem prohibebas absorbere eos, qui te crucifigebant: inferno autem permittebas remittere vinctos. Judex vivorum et mortuorum, venisti ut vitam praestares et non mortem: amens hominum, gloria tibi. |
This item 123 digitally provided courtesy of CatholicCulture.org
