Hymnus Omnis Horae

including
Corde natus ex parentis

translated as
Of the Father sole begotten
Of the Father’s love begotten
Of the Father’s heart begotten

with
CORDE NATUS EX PARENTIS
DIVINUM MYSTERIUM

I. Latin: Authorship & Sources

This ancient Latin hymn is by Aurelius Clemens Prudentius (c. 348–413). Digby S. Wrangham, writing for Julian’s Dictionary of Hymnology (1892), described Prudentius as “the most prominent and most prolific author of sacred Latin poetry in its earliest days.”[1] He was born in northern Spain, possibly Zaragoza, and held positions in law and government before devoting himself to a life of poverty and privacy. During those latter years he wrote the Liber Cathemerinon, which included this long poem, no. IX, “Hymnus omnis horae” (“Hymn for all hours”). The oldest surviving manuscript is a 6th century codex held at the Bibliothèque Nationale de France (Latin 8084, fols. 29v–32v). The full hymn is in 38 stanzas of 3 lines, 15 trochaic syllables per line.

Fig. 1. Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Latin 8084 (6th century), fols. 29v–32v.

A notable printed edition of the full text appeared in Aurelii Prudenti Clementis quae exstant carmina (Lipsiae: Hermann Mendelssohn, 1860 | Fig. 2), edited by Albert Dressel. Dressel’s edition was used as the basis for some English translations, especially the one by Roby Furley Davis (1866–1937), as in The Hymns of Prudentius (London: J.M. Dent, 1905 | Fig. 3). At one time, it was considered the best edition available (Wrangham, 1892, p. 915). Davis’s translation was given in English rhyme, matching the meter of the original, set in parallel to the Latin for easy reference.

For a more recent critical edition of the full Latin text, see Maurice Cunningham (1966). For additional metrical translations of the full text into English, see The Cathemerinon (1845, rendered in a different meter), Frances St. John Thackeray (1890), or M. Clement Eagan (1962, metrical but unrhymed), listed in the bibliography below. For a prose translation, see Thomson (1949).

II. Latin: Textual Assessment

The hymn in its complete form paints a wide swath of Christ’s nature and work, from his role in creation to his work on earth to his eternal reign. Prudentius included several of Christ’s earthly miracles, beginning with line 28 and continuing through line 60, followed by a more generalized application to the church at large. The appropriate response to the wonders of Christ is praise, and this hymn includes a call for all creation to worship, reminiscent of Psalm 98.

The hymn is also a study of early Christian theology, coming not long after the development of the Nicene Creed (325/381), which was revised in Prudentius’ lifetime. The hymn affirms the dual divinity and humanity of Christ, his eternal nature, his involvement in creation, his virgin birth, his role as the messiah foretold by prophets, his performance of miracles, his descent into hell to break the chains of death, his crucifixion, his crushing of the serpent and reversal/fulfillment of the curse, his resurrection, the resurrection of dead saints, his ascension to the throne, and his position as judge. Lutheran scholar Carl P.E. Springer described it this way:

In its entirety (114 lines), the ninth poem tells the whole story of the life of Christ from birth to death and resurrection, with a focus on the miraculous character of the Savior’s life. Prudentius was keenly aware of the theological controversies of his time, such as those that centered around the ideas of Arius in the fourth century. A strong, even polemical emphasis on the equality of Christ the Son with the eternal Father may be detected in the [fourth] stanza of the hymn.[2]

Lutheran scholar Paul Westermeyer has noted how the hymn has transcended its original context:

Though probably conceived as a devotional apology for the Christian faith, the hymn transcends controversy as one of the church’s timeless texts. The whole creation from beginning to end, within a trinitarian orbit, sings to Christ the babe as Alpha and Omega.[3]

Rev. Frances Thackeray saw the meter of the hymn as an adaptation of the ancient trochaic tetrameter (four trochees per line), except Prudentius had doubled the line length and grouped the lines in threes—an innovation:

The adaptation of the metre to the sense is again most conspicuous in the Tetrameter Trochaic, a metre which had been employed in early times, but had fallen into disuse. It was revived and improved by Prudentius, and the effect of it, when read as it should be, as one unbroken line, can escape no one. In Prudentius it is used is strophes of three lines, the earliest instance of the employment of such strophes. The impressiveness of many of the later church hymns is owing largely to the trochaic rhythm, which suited admirably the unquantitative accentual Latin, and with the occasional adjunct of rhyme, became a powerful instrument in hymnology. . . .

The Tetrameter Trochaic is a metre well adapted for this triumphal ode. It serves to express the instantaneous effect of Christ’s words. Prudentius wrote it in strophes of three lines each. It is constructed of trochees and spondees; in one place only has he admitted an anapest (“Post ut occasum resolvit vitae et hominem reddidit”).[4]

In some places, in order for the meter to work, vowels are sometimes elided or voiced as a dipthong.

III. Latin: Abbreviated Form

The Latin text is frequently abbreviated, especially beginning with the line “Corde natus ex parentis” and typically borrowing from lines 10–12, 19–27, and 109–11 (sts. 4, 7–9, 37). Manuscripts in this shortened form can be found as early as the 11th century, and this is how it has come into use as an English hymn. Among the earliest examples of the shortened hymn are manuscripts at the British Library, Harley MS 2961 (“The Leofric Collectar,” ca. 1050–1072), fols. 228r–228v, and at St. Gallen, Codex 413 (ca. 1034–47), pp. 114–115.

The British Library manuscript includes the usual stanzas (4, 7–9, 37) plus an additional doxology beginning “Tibi Christe sit cum patre hagioque spiritus.” Each stanza ends with the brief refrain “saeculorum saeculi” (roughly “for ages of ages” or “forever and ever”), which are the last two words of the full Latin text.

In the Stiftsbibliothek St. Gallen Codex 413 (Fig. 5), which is a breviary for the first part of the liturgical calendar (first Sunday in Advent to Holy Saturday), this hymn appears text-only in seven stanzas. In contrast to the British Library manuscript, this example includes lines 16–18 (st. 6). It likewise contains the additional doxology beginning “Tibi Christe sit cum patre hagioque pneumate,” and the refrain “saeculorum saeculi.”

Although these early manuscripts do not contain musical notation, this hymn was sung in many traditions. A fourteenth century example (ca. 1300–1330) survives from the rite at St George’s Convent in Prague, in a codex now housed at the Národní knihovna České republiky (National Library of the Czech Republic), Prague, XII E 15c, fols. 15r–16v (Fig. 6). This Prague manuscript uses the same six stanzas (4, 7–9, 37) as the Harley text (Fig. 4).

Fig. 6. Národní knihovna České republiky, Prague, XII E 15c (ca. 1300–1330), fols. 15r–16v. Images from Manuscriptorium.

Three other known sources have very similar melodies:

1. Universiteitsbibliotheek Utrecht, MS 406 (3 J 7), fol. 42v, an antiphoner from Mariakerk (St. Mary’s Church), Utrecht, created in the 12th century with additions from the 13th through 15th centuries.

2. Det kongelige Bibliotek Slotsholmen, København (Copenhagen), Gl. Kgl. S. 3449, 8o [02] II (“Breviarium per totum annum”), fol. 135r, incipit (only the first five words), in the second volume of an extensive set of codices made for Augsburg Cathedral in the 16th century.

3. Hymni canori cum iubilo secundum morem vsumq[ue] presta[n]tissime ac nominatissime ecclesie Eborace[n]sis (Rouen, 1517), a collection of hymns with their melodies, intended for use in York (Latin = Eboracensis), England (Fig. 7). This source uses the same stanzas as in Figs. 4 and 6.

Fig. 7. Hymni canori cum iubilo secundum morem vsumq[ue] presta[n]tissime ac nominatissime ecclesie Eborace[n]sis (Rouen, 1517).

A different melody can be found in the Archiv Pražského hradu (Archives of Prague Castle), MS Cim 7 (“Roudnice Psalter,” 14th century), fol. 114r.

Liturgically, given its focus on the incarnation, the abbreviated hymn has been generally associated with Christmastide. Emmy Hornby, writing for the Canterbury Dictionary of Hymnology and citing the Cantus Index, noted how the Latin hymn was frequently used in compline services for Christmas Day (Dec. 25), the Feast of St. Stephen (Dec. 26), and the Purification (Feb. 2). The New Oxford Book of Carols (1992) describes its use in the Mozarabic (Spanish) and other European rites at the Circumcision (Jan. 1); in Hereford it was used at various hours (prime, terce, sext, none) with varying sets of stanzas; and at York used at compline throughout Christmastide.

For other editions of the abbreviated text and lists of manuscript sources, see H.A. Daniel (1855), G.M. Dreves (1907), A.S. Walpole (1922), and I.B. Milfull (1996).

IV. English Metrical Translation: J.M. Neale

The abbreviated form of the hymn (“Corde natus ex parentis,” etc.) entered English hymnody through the translation by John Mason Neale (1818–1866), first printed in The Words of the Hymnal Noted Complete (London: J.A. Novello, 1855 | Fig. 8). This text-only edition included line-by-line Scripture annotations.

Fig. 8. The Words of the Hymnal Noted Complete (London: J.A. Novello, 1855).

“Of the Father sole begotten” follows the most common gathering of stanzas out of the Latin (4, 7–9, 37), plus the doxology and the refrain. Neale’s doxology is not a translation of the Latin, it is mostly his own work. In the first line, notice Neale’s omission of the word “Corde” (“heart”). In the same line, Prudentius had used the word “parentis” (“parent”), whereas Neale and his successors have consistently given it as “Father.” Hymnologist Carl Daw has made some other observations about the first stanza:

Alpha and Omega in 1.3 are described as Christ’s “cognomens”, i.e., his distinguishing names (originally the term meant a nickname, but it came to be used for an added honorific such as “the Great”). “Source and ending” in 1.4 are legitimate translations of fons et clausula, but readers of English are not likely to perceive the sense of “spring or fountain” in the first or of “closing down or shutting up” in the second. Such are the subtleties that must be sacrificed for the sake of conveying essential meanings.[5]

Neale’s text was then set to music by Thomas Helmore (1811–1890) in the Hymnal Noted Parts I & II (1856 | Fig. 9). Rather than using a plainchant tune associated with this text, such as from the York and Hereford traditions, he instead adapted the melody from a different Latin hymn, “Divinum mysterium semper declaratur,” credited here to a 13th century manuscript at Wolfenbüttel.

While this editorial pairing of text and tune has proven to be inseparable, Helmore’s execution of it was troublesome. His ascription to the MS at Wolfenbüttel is a mystery (see the discussion in the article for “Divinum mysterium”); most likely, he listed this as the earliest source known to him, but in practice he had taken the melody from Piae Cantiones (1582), which was in his possession. This connection is more clear in the Accompanying Harmonies to the Hymnal Noted (London: Novello, Ewer & Co., 1858 | Fig. 10), where Helmore had presented the tune in a rhythmic fashion. Whereas the Piae Cantiones melody is clearly in a triple meter, Helmore converted it to an awkward duple.

This musical setting has been roundly criticized by other scholars. Hymnologist Erik Routley, in his characteristic acerbic style, explained the problem:

Helmore’s original arrangement of [DIVINUM MYSTERIUM] happens to be an excellent example of the limitations of knowledge that attended his zeal for antiquity. When he looked at the diamond-shaped neumes in which the tune was originally noted, some instinct within him prompted him to translate them into a hymn-like duple rhythm which made the tune, at its opening, look reasonably like a possible English hymn tune, but which broke down as the tune progressed, leaving a melody in irregular and somewhat unmanageable bars.[6]

And yet, to give credit where credit is due, Helmore’s pairing of text and tune has been successful, if only through other arrangements of it. A similar decision of Helmore’s, to pair Neale’s “Draw nigh, draw nigh, Emmanuel” with the Latin tune from “Bone Jesu dulcis cuntis,” has had great success as well. Also, in order to get “Of the Father sole begotten,” which is 8.7.8.7.8.7.7, to fit the tune from “Divinum mysterium semper declaratur,” which is 7.6.7.6.7.6, Helmore had to make some changes, such as extending the first phrase and incorporating the “Evermore and evermore” refrain into the final melisma of the original tune. These changes have been widely accepted into English hymnody.

V. Revision by Henry Baker

Neale’s text was adopted into Hymns Ancient & Modern, although with extensive revision and rewriting from the hymnal’s editor, Henry W. Baker (1821–1877). Baker’s version first circulated in the trial edition of the hymnal, Hymns, in November 1859 (Fig. 11). Here, the first line read “Of the Father’s will begotten,” and the text extended to nine stanzas, representing 4–7, 9, 8, 36–37 of the Latin, plus the doxology. Stanza 1 was altered from Neale, 2–3 were by Baker, 4 altered from Neale, 5 by Baker, 6 altered from Neale, 7 by Baker, 8 altered from Neale, and the doxology is by Baker (much closer to the Latin than Neale’s).

Fig. 11. Hymns [Trial ed., 1859].

This was adopted into the first full edition of Hymns Ancient & Modern (1861 | Fig. 12). Baker made some more adjustments, including the change from “will” to “love” in the first line, a new approach to stanza 6, and some other minor tweaks.

The musical arrangement by William Henry Monk (1823–1889) repeated Helmore’s error of attempting to shape the melody into a duple pattern. This arrangement was carried over into subsequent editions through 1889, then it was replaced by two better arrangements in the 1904 edition (Fig. 13). In this example, the editors offered both a plainchant version of CORDE NATUS (credited in the index as the “Proper York Melody”) and a triple-time version of DIVINUM MYSTERIUM based on Piae Cantiones (1582).

Owing to a general rejection of the 1904 edition, the 1906 edition restored the duple version by Monk. In 1922, the triple version was added back as an alternate arrangement. Monk’s duple monstrosity was finally dropped in the 1950 edition. The most recent edition (2013) used a triple-time arrangement from the New English Hymnal (1986) and replaced Baker’s text with the translation by Roby Furley Davis.

For another harmonization of the CORDE NATUS EX PARENTIS plainchant tune, see The Altar Hymnal (1885), no. 10 (Archive.org). For a fuller scriptural/historical analysis of the Neale/Baker text, see Albert Edward Bailey (1950).

VI. Translation by Roby Furley Davis

The translation by Roby Furley Davis (1866–1937), as in Fig. 3 above, was adopted into The English Hymnal (1906), using his stanzas 4–7, 9, 8, and 36–38, without a doxology. The text included some slight editorial changes for the better (as in the end of the stanza “O how blest,” etc.).

The musical arrangement, most likely by the hymnal’s music editor, Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872–1958), uses a triple version of the tune as modeled after Piae Cantiones (1582), but with the triplets in phrases 2, 4, and 5 drawn out longer. This misinterpretation was corrected in the 1933 edition (Fig. 15).

VII. Arrangement by C. Winfred Douglas

Many hymnals, especially in the United States, have made use of the arrangement by C. Winfred Douglas (1867–1944), made for the Episcopal Hymnal (1916 | Fig. 16). Douglas’ arrangement was styled after rhythmless plainchant, but it can also be adapted to follow the triple form of the melody.

by CHRIS FENNER
for Hymnology Archive
20 November 2020

Footnotes:

1. Digby S. Wrangham, “Aurelius Clemens Prudentius,” A Dictionary of Hymnology, ed. John Julian (1892), p. 914: HathiTrust

2. Carl P.E. Springer, “Of the Father’s love begotten,” Lutheran Service Book Companion to the Hymns, vol. 1 (2019), p. 148.

3. Paul Westermeyer, “Of the Father’s love begotten,” Hymnal Companion to Evangelical Lutheran Worship (Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress, 2010), p. 76.

4. Frances St. John Thackeray, Translations from Prudentius (1890), pp. lxv, 202.

5. Carl P. Daw Jr., “Of the Father’s love begotten,” Glory to God: A Companion (2016), p. 109.

6. Erik Routley, The English Carol (London: Herbert Jenkins, 1958), p. 193.

Related Resources:

Manuscripts

Bibliothèque Nationale de France, MS Latin 8084 (6th century): https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b52508669w

British Library, Harley MS 2961: http://www.bl.uk/manuscripts/FullDisplay.aspx?ref=Harley_MS_2961

Stiftsbibliothek St. Gallen, Codex 413: https://www.e-codices.unifr.ch/en/list/one/csg/0413

Národní knihovna České republiky, Prague, XII E 15c: http://www.manuscriptorium.com/apps/index.php?direct=record&pid=AIPDIG-NKCR__XII_E_15C___0XHU8F4-cs

Editions in Latin and English

The Cathemerinon and Other Poems (London: J.G.F. & J. Rivington, 1845), pp. 50–56: Google Books

H.A. Daniel, “De Nativitate Domini,” Thesaurus Hymnologicus, vol. 1 (1855), pp. 122–124: HathiTrust

Frances St. John Thackeray, “Hymn for Every Hour,” Translations from Prudentius (London: George Bell & Sons, 1890), pp. 66–83: Google Books

Guido M. Dreves, “In Nativitate Domini,” Analecta Hymnica, vol. 50 (Leipzig: O.R. Reisland, 1907), pp. 25–26: HathiTrust

Arthur S. Walpole, “Hymn 23,” Early Latin Hymns (Cambridge: University Press, 1922), pp. 123–126: HathiTrust

H.J. Thomson, “Hymnus Omnis Horae,” Prudentius, vol. 1 (Cambridge, MA: Harvard, 1949), pp. 76–85.

“Of the Father’s love begotten,” The Hymnal 1940 Companion, 3rd rev. ed. (NY: Church Pension Fund, 1956), pp. 16–17.

M. Clement Eagan, “A Hymn for Every Hour,” Poems of Prudentius (Washington, D.C.: Catholic University, 1962), pp. 59–69.

Maurice Cunningham, “IX: Hymnvs Omnis Horae,” Aurelii Prudentii Clementis Carmina, Corpus Christianorum, vol. 126 (Turnholti: Typographi Brepols, 1966), pp. 47–52.

Inge B. Milfull, Hymns of the Anglo-Saxon Church (Cambridge: University Press, 1996), p. 430.

Cantus Index: http://cantusindex.org/id/008289

Hymnological Sources

W.A. Shoults, “Da puer plectrum,” A Dictionary of Hymnology (London: J. Murray, 1892), p. 276: HathiTrust

Digby S. Wrangham, “Aurelius Clemens Prudentius,” A Dictionary of Hymnology, ed. John Julian (London: J. Murray, 1892), pp. 914–915: HathiTrust

Percy Dearmer, “Of the Father’s heart begotten,” Songs of Praise Discussed (Oxford: University Press, 1933), p. 210.

Albert Edward Bailey, “Of the Father’s love begotten,” The Gospel in Hymns (NY: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1950), pp. 223–224.

K.L. Parry & Erik Routley, “Of the Father’s love begotten,” Companion to Congregational Praise (London: Independent Press, 1953), p. 52.

Richard Watson & Kenneth Trickett, “Of the Father’s love begotten,” Companion to Hymns & Psalms (Peterborough: Methodist Publishing, 1988), pp. 79–80.

Hugh Keyte & Andrew Parrott, “Corde natus ex parentis,” New Oxford Book of Carols (Oxford: University Press, 1992), pp. 53–59.

Carlton R. Young, “Of the Father’s love begotten,” Companion to the United Methodist Hymnal (Nashville: Abingdon, 1993), pp. 540–541.

Louis Weil & David W. Music, “Of the Father’s love begotten,” The Hymnal 1982 Companion, vol. 3A (NY: Church Hymnal Corp., 1994), pp. 155–159.

J.R. Watson, “Of the Father’s love begotten,” An Annotated Anthology of Hymns (Oxford: University Press, 2002), pp. 18–19.

Vincent A. Lenti, “Of the Father’s love begotten: A hymn by Aurelius Prudentius Clemens,” The Hymn, vol. 60, no. 3 (Summer 2009), pp. 7–14: HathiTrust

Paul Westermeyer, “Of the Father’s love begotten,” Hymnal Companion to Evangelical Lutheran Worship (Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress, 2010), pp. 76–77.

Anthony Esolen, Real Music: A Guide to the Timeless Hymns of the Church (Charlotte, NC: TAN Books, 2016), pp. 81–85.

Carl P. Daw Jr., “Of the Father’s love begotten,” Glory to God: A Companion (Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2016), pp. 108–110.

Carl P.E. Springer & Joseph Herl, “Of the Father’s love begotten,” Lutheran Service Book Companion to the Hymns, vol. 1 (St. Louis: Concordia, 2019), pp. 148–151.

Beverly Howard, “My shepherd will supply my need,” Sing with Understanding, 3rd ed., edited by C. Michael Hawn (Chicago: GIA, 2022), pp. 168–170.

Emma Hornby & J.R. Watson, “Corde natus ex Parentis,” The Canterbury Dictionary of Hymnology: http://www.hymnology.co.uk/c/corde-natus-ex-parentis

R.F. Davis, “Of the Father’s heart begotten,” Hymnary.org: https://hymnary.org/text/of_the_fathers_heart_begotten

J.M. Neale & H. Baker, “Of the Father’s love begotten,” Hymnary.org: https://hymnary.org/text/of_the_fathers_love_begotten

J.M. Neale & H. Baker, “Of the Father’s love begotten,” Hymns and Carols of Christmas: https://www.hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com/Hymns_and_Carols/of_the_fathers_love_begotten-1.htm