O Jesus, Thou the Beauty Art

Hymn for Lauds on the Second Sunday After Epiphany

Words: Jesu, decus angelicum; Selected from a hymn by St Bernard ; translation by the Rev. E. Caswall.

Source: John, Marquess of Bute, Trans., The Roman Breviary. Vol. 1-Winter. In Four Volumes. (Edinburgh and London: William Blackwood and Sons, 1908), p. 372.

O JESUS, Thou the Beauty art
Oi angel worlds above !
Thy Name is music to the heart,
Enchanting it with love

Celestial sweetness unalloyed !
Who eat Thee hunger still,
Who drink of Thee still feel a void
Which nought but Thou canst fill !

O my sweet JESUS ! hear the sighs
Which unto Thee I send!
To Thee my inmost spirit cries,
My being s hope and end !

Stay with us, Lord, and with Thy light
Illume the soul s abyss ;
Scatter the darkness of our night
And fill the world with bliss.

O JESU ! Spotless Virgin flower !
Our life and joy ! to Thee
Be praise, beatitude, and power,
Through all eternity ! Amen.

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