Adeste, Fideles
"Hymn on the Prose for Christmas Day"
Also known as Prosa In Nativitáte Dómini,
the Portuguese Hymn, and Adeste, Fidelis
Words and Music: John Francis Wade (c. 1711-1786), circa 1743 / 4
(and possibly as early as 1740)
MIDI / Noteworthy Composer / PDF
See: Notes on Adeste Fideles.
1. Adeste Fideles laeti triumphantes,
Veníte, veníte in Bethlehem.
Natum vidéte, Regem Angelorum:
Veníte adoremus,
Veníte adoremus
Veníte adoremus Dóminum
2. Deum de Deo, lumen de lúmine,
gestant puellae viscera
Deum verum, genitum non factum:
Veníte adoremus,
Veníte adoremus
Veníte adoremus Dóminum
3. Cantet nunc io chorus Angelórum
cantet nunc aula caelestium:
Gloria in excelsis Deo:
Veníte adoremus,
Veníte adoremus
Veníte adoremus Dóminum
4. Ergo qui natus, die hodierna
Jesu, tibi sit glória
Patris aeterni Verbum caro factum:
Veníte adoremus,
Veníte adoremus
Veníte adoremus Dóminum
These are the original four verses created by Wade (language, capitalization and punctuation as per Dom John Stéphan, both for these verses and for the verses which follow).
Three additional verses were subsequently created by Abbé Étienne Jean François Borderies (1764-1832), and printed in the Office de St. Omer (1822). According to Dom Stéphan, Borderies composed these verses, which he coupled with the first stanza by Wade:
5. En grege relicto, Humiles ad cunas
Vocati pastores approperant;
Et nos ovanti gradu festinemus.6. Aeterni Parentis splendorem aeternum
Velatum sub carne videbimus,
Deum infantem, pannis involutum7. Pro nobis egenum Et foeno cubantem,
Piis foveamus amplexibus;
Sic nos anamtem quis non redamaret?
A eighth verse was added in the mid 19th century to celebrate the Feast of the Epiphany; it's authorship is unknown:
8. Stella duce, Magi, Christum adorantes,
Aurum, thus, et myrrham dant munera;
Jesu infanti corda praebeamus.
See Hugh Keyte and Andrew Parrott, eds., The New Oxford Book of Carols (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1992), #70.
Erik Routley gives the following literal translation of verse six: "We shall see the Eternal Splendour of the Eternal Father veiled in flesh. God as a child wrapped in Swaddling-clothes." (The English Carol. New York: Oxford University Press, 1959).
Instrumental Sheet Music by Aptommas (New York: J. F. Browne, 1885)
Source: Library of Congress, Rare Book and Special Collections Division, America Singing: Nineteenth-Century Song Sheets.
(American Memory, Performing Arts-Music)
Instrumental Sheet Music "Adeste Fideles With Variations, Op. 403" by Charles Grobe (Philadelphia: Lee & Walker, 1854)
The English translations on this site do not follow the usual order of verses. The English Hymnal, 1906, #614, The New English Hymnal, 1986, #30, The New Oxford Book of Carols, 1992, #70, all of which give this order: 1, 2, 5, 7, 8, 3, 4. See: O Come All Ye Faithful - Version 3 for this order. Note that Hymns Ancient and Modern (Old Edition, 1889) and The Book of Common Praise (1909) give only verses 1-4, as found above (and as reproduced in Version 1: O Come, All Ye Faithful).
Paul Hodges, a friend of this site, gives the following order, which he obtained from a companion to one of the major English or Scottish hymnals: 1, 2, 5, 8, 6, 7, 3, 4.
The order of verses given here are those as reproduced by Dom John Stéphan, The Adeste Fideles: A Study On Its Origin and Development (Devon, England: Buckfast Abbey Publications, 1947). Of course, you should feel free to re-order them in any way that is meaningful to you.
Translations on this site include:
- Be Present, Ye Faithful (Richard R. Chope, Carols For Use In Church, Carol #25)
- Come Hither, Ye Faithful (From Schaff’s Christ in Song, 1870)
- O Come, All Ye Faithful (translation by Frederick Oakeley and William Thomas Brooke)
- O Come, All Ye Faithful (translation by Edward Caswall and Philip Schaff)
- O Come All Ye Faithful - Version 3 (The Customary Order of Verses)
- With Hearts Truly Grateful (St. Basil's Hymnal, 12th Edition)
- Ye Faithful, Approach Ye (translation by William Thomas Brooke, The Alter Hymnal, 1885)
See also: Adeste Fideles - Dom Samuel Ould (Latin, 1901)
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