Lætabundus
Exsultet fidelis chorus.
          Alleluia.

Come rejoicing,
Faithful men, with rapture singing
Alleluia!

     Regem regum
Intactae profudit torus:
          Res miranda!

Monarch’s Monarch,
From a holy maiden springing,
Mighty wonder!

     Angelus Consilii
Natus est de Virgine,
          Sol de Stella.

Angel of the Counsel here,
Sun from star, He doth appear,
Born of maiden:

     Sol occasum nesciens,
Stella semper rutilans,
          Semper clara.

He a sun Who knows no night,
She a star whose paler light
Fadeth never.

     Sicut sidus radium,
Profert Virgo Filium
          Pari forma.

As a star its kindred ray,
Mary doth her Child display,
Like in nature;

     Neque sidus radio,
Neque Virgo Filium
          Fit corrupta.

Still undimmed the star shines on,
And the maiden bears a Son,
Pure as ever.

     Cedrus alta Libani
Conformatur hyssopo
          Valle nostra.

Lebanon His cedar stall
To the hyssop on the wall
Lowly bendeth;

     Verbum ens Altissimi
Corporari passum est,
          Carne sumpta.

From the highest, Him we name
Word of God, to human frame
Now descendeth.

     Esaias cecinit,
Synagoga meminit;
Numquam tamen desinit
     Esse caeca.

Yet the synagogue denied
What Esaias had descried:
Blindness fell upon the guide,
Proud, unheeding.

     Si non suis vatibus,
Credat vel gentilibus,
Sibyllinis versibus
          Haec praedicta:

If her prophets speak in vain,
Let her heed a Gentile strain,
And, from mystic Sybil, gain
Light and leading.

     Infelix, propera,
Crede vel vetera:
Cur damnaberis, gens misera?

No longer than delay,
Hear what the Scriptures say,
Why be cast away
A race forlorn?

     Quem docet littera
Natum considera:
Ipsum genuit puerpera.

Amen.

Turn and this Child behold,
That very Son, of old
In God’s writ foretold,
A maid hath borne. Amen.