Saints LightAdoro Te Devote (Godhead Here in Hiding)
A Eucharistic hymn traditionally credited to St Thomas Aquinas, in the English of the poet Gerard Manley Hopkins (died 1889); these are the first three of its seven verses. Pray it before the tabernacle, at adoration, or after Communion.
The prayer
Godhead here in hiding, whom I do adore,
Masked by these bare shadows, shape and nothing more,
See, Lord, at Thy service low lies here a heart
Lost, all lost in wonder at the God Thou art.
Seeing, touching, tasting are in Thee deceived:
How says trusty hearing? that shall be believed;
What God's Son has told me, take for truth I do;
Truth Himself speaks truly or there's nothing true.
On the cross Thy godhead made no sign to men,
Here Thy very manhood steals from human ken:
Both are my confession, both are my belief,
And I pray the prayer of the dying thief.
In Latin
Adoro te devote, latens Deitas, quae sub his figuris vere latitas: tibi se cor meum totum subicit, quia te contemplans totum deficit.
Pray it this week
After Communion this Sunday, pray the second verse and tell Jesus plainly that you believe Him even where your senses see only bread.
More in Hymns and Canticles
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