Bethlehem, of Noblest Cities |
Bethlehem, of Noblest Cities |
This hymn is composed of four verses from the Hymn for the Epiphany from Prudentius' (384-413) Cathemerinon, which is 52 stanzas long. In 1568, four short hymns were assembled from selected stanzas from Prudentius' hymn and introduced into the Breviary by Pope Pius V. This hymn is one of them and is used in the Roman Breviary at Lauds on Epiphany. |
| O SOLA magnarum urbium maior Bethlehem, cui contigit ducem salutis caelitus incorporatum gignere. |
BETHLEHEM! of noblest cities none can once with thee compare; thou alone the Lord from heaven didst for us Incarnate bear. |
| Haec stella, quae solis rotam vincit decore ac lumine, venisse terris nuntiat cum carne terrestri Deum. |
Fairer than the sun at morning was the star that told His birth; to the lands their God announcing, hid beneath a form of earth. |
| Videre postquam illum Magi, eoa promunt munera: stratique votis offerunt thus, myrrham, et aurum regium. |
By its lambent beauty guided, see the eastern kings appear; see them bend, their gifts to offer- gifts of incense, gold, and myrrh. |
| Regem Deumque annuntiant thesaurus, et fragrans odor thuris Sabaei, ac myrrheus pulvis sepulchrum praedocet. |
Solem things of mystic meaning!- Incense doth the God disclose; Gold a royal Child proclaimeth; Myrrh a future tomb foreshows. |
| Iesu, tibi sit gloria, qui apparuisti gentibus, cum Patre, et almo Spiritu, in sempiterna saecula. |
Holy Jesu, in Thy brightness to the Gentile world displayed, with the Father and the Spirit, endless praise to Thee be paid. |
From the Roman Breviary. Translation by Fr. Edward Caswall (1814-1878).
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