Vox clara ecce intonat

For Advent

Words and Music: Ambrosian, 5^th or 6^th Century

1. Vox clara ecce intonat,
obscura quaeque increpat:
procul fugentur somnia;
ab aethre Christus promicat.

2. Mens iam resurgat torpida
quae sorde exstat saucia;
sidus refulget iam novum,
ut tollat omne noxium.

3. E sursum Agnus mittitur
laxare gratis debitum;
omnes pro indulgentia
vocem demus cum lacrimis.

4. Secundo ut cum fulserit
mundumque horror cinxerit,
non pro reatu puniat,
sed nos pius tunc protegat.

5. Summo Parenti gloria
Natoque sit victoria,
et Flamini laus debita
per saeculorum saecula. Amen.

Alternate fifth verse:

5. Laus, honor, virtus, gloria,
Deo, Patri, et Filio,
Sancto simul Paraclito,
In sempiterna sæcula.

Sheet Music from J. H. Hopkins, ed., Great Hymns of the Church Compiled by the Late Right Reverend John Freeman Young (New York: James Pott & Company, 1887), #46, p. 74.

Translations include:

• Hark! A Gladsome Voice Is Thrilling

• Hark! A Mystic Voice Is Sounding

• Hark, A Thrilling Voice is Sounding

• Lo! Now A Thrilling Voice Sounds Forth

• Hark, An Awful Voice is Sounding

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