Word of God, Eternal Son

For The Weeks After Epiphany

Words: Word of God, Eternal Son, from the Paris Breviary

Translation:  Robert Campbell, of Sherrington

Source: Orby Shipley, Annus Sanctus: Hymns of the Church for the Ecclesiastical Year. Vol. 1. (London and New York: Burns and Oates, 1884), p. 53.

Word of God, eternal Son, 
From thy throne by pity won, 
Let us at thy cradle kneel, 
And thine infant sorrows feel. 
Holy Babe, the sinner's woe 
Guiltless thou art doomed to know ; 
Sobs that from thy cradle rise 
Tell before of dying cries. 

Poor art thou, that we may be 
Blest by thy hard poverty; 
Thou art weeping, and thy grief 
Flows that we may find relief. 
Thou art clothed in raiment mean, 
Dwelling in a cave unclean ; 
Man is proud — the only great 
Scorneth not the lowliest state. 

Jesu, thee the Father gave, 
Such his love, the earth to save ; 
Ransomed at so vast a cost, 
Let us not, good Lord, be lost 
Offspring of the holy Maid, 
Endless praise to thee be paid ; 
Equal praise, O Father, be 
With the Spirit paid to thee. 

Note from Shipley:

58. Verbum quod ante ssecula. Vespers Hymn from the Paris Breviary. Word of God, eternal Son. Robert Campbell. 53

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