This is my translation of the Latin office hymn Excelsam Pauli Gloriam. It can be sung to many Long Meter (LM, or 8888) hymn tunes, such as Eisenach or Jesu Dulcis Memoria.
Let all the Church acclaim St. Paul
The Lord made an apostle be
From one who was his enemy
The name of Christ set Paul afire
Enkindling him with great desire;
And higher these same blazes reached
When of the love of Christ he preached.
His merits are forever praised
For to the heavens he was raised,
And there, the all-mysterious word,
That none dare speak, by Paul was heard.
The Word, like seed sown in a field
Producing an abundant yield
Fills heav’nly barns whose stores of grain
Are tilled and grown on earthly plains.
The shining of the lamplight gleams
And drenches earth with heaven's beams.
The dark of error's night is past;
The reign of truth has come at last.
To Christ all glory, and all praise
To Father and the Spirit raise,
Who for the nations’ saving call
Gave us the splendor of Saint Paul.
Translation © 2008 Kathleen Pluth. Permission was given for parish use June 28-29 2008 and January 24-25, 2009. All other rights reserved.
3 comments:
Many thanks for your talent and generosity; this is beautiful and will come in handy.
Here's a Sts. P&P hymn I found from a translation of the breviary that we'll be singing to an arrangement of "God of Our Fathers".
DECORA LUX AETERNITATIS
ETERNAL glory, with the streaming ray
Of holy fire, has filled the golden day,
Crowning with light the apostolic chiefs,
And opening through the stars their luminous way.
Kind Shepherd, Peter, unto thee was given
The keys to close and ope the gates of heaven;
Strike from our souls the galling chain of crime,
And gain the grace for which our hearts have striven
O learned Paul, inspire us from above
With all the graces of the Heavenly Dove;
Bring us the faith to see the truth of God,
And brighten earth with the sweet reign of love.
O happy Rome, that by their martyr blood
Art glorified and consecrate; the flood
Thy gates emblazon; through the flying years
Fairest of earthly cities hast thou stood.
Unto the everlasting Trinity
All power and praise and jubilation be;
One God eternal ruling heaven and earth;
Thy name is holy; Lord we worship thee.
A colloquy ( in its first quick draft):
Saint Peter now we all acclaim
Who the Lord called by a new name.
Though thrice denying that same Lord,
In penitence was grace restored.
Let too the Church acclaim Saint Paul
And sing the glories of his call
The Lord made an apostle be
From one who was His enemy.
So also may our pasts may become
Like seeds to grow the Kingdom come.
If we but die to our past fames,
And rise when called to our new names.
The shining of the lamplight gleams
And drenches earth with heaven's beams.
The dark of error's night is past;
The reign of truth has come at last.
To Christ all glory, and all praise
To Father and the Spirit raise,
Who for the nations’ saving call
Gave us Saint Peter and Saint Paul.
There is a modern music to this hymn, which has been composed in the Abbey of St. Paul Outside The Walls, Rome: http://www.abbaziasanpaolo.net
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