13 LUCIS CREATOR OPTIME
By Gregory, surnamed the Great, born at Rome about 540; succeeded Pelagius in the Papal Chair, 590; sent Augustine on a mission to Britain in 596; died in 614. He ranks among the Four Latin Doctors, and because of the services he rendered to the ritual of the Church, he was styled Magister Cæremoniarum. The Gregorian tones or chants are the fruit of his study of sacred music.
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| Thou, blest Creator of the light, From whom the day its splendour brings, Thy word the earth to beauty woke, When light came forth on glowing wings. | | The circle of the day is Thine, The morn, and night in one are bound;— O hear our earnest prayer as now The gloomy shades are gathering round; | | O free our souls from guilty stains, That we Thy favour still may know; And let no thought the mind possess, To bind the heart to earth below. | | That we may beat at heaven’s fair gate, Where safely stored our treasure lies, Purge us from every filthy stain, Teach us all evil to despise. | | Hear us, O Holy Father, hear, And Thou the Everlasting Son, Who with the Holy Spirit reign’st While the eternal ages run. | |