Venice masks

Sunday 11 September 2016

Alpha et Omega, Magne Deus - Hildebert of Lavardin

First and last, great God, before thee
Come we humbly to adore thee,
Thou, whose power is all sufficient,
Lord omnipotent, omniscient,
In thy being all perfection,
In thy work, all circumspection.
Thou art over all and under,
Interfusing all with wonder;
Inside all, but not included,
Outside all, but not excluded,
Over all, but not uplifted,
Under all, but not sub-drifted,
Over all, forever reigning,
Under all and all sustaining,
All enclosing and embracing,
Filling all and interplacing,
Inside all, but ne'er surrounded,
Through all bounds, and never bounded.
From above no force procuring,
Weariless all weight enduring,
All the heavens thou unfoldest;
Nowhere held, but all thou holdest;
Changing times, thou never changest,
Guiding stars, thou never rangest;
Never power or need can alter
Thy decrees, that never falter;
Past and future happen never,
All is now with thee forever, —
Thy today, O God Supernal,
Undivided and eternal.
With unsleeping eye inspecting
All, and all with power perfecting,
Ravished with thy rule and glory,
Heaven and earth bow down before thee.

Hildebert of Lavardin (1055 - 1133) France
Translated by Daniel Joseph Donahoe
Source: Early Christian hymns, Series II: translations of the verses of the early and middle ages
by Daniel Joseph Donahoe, The Donahoe Publishing Company, 1911

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