Saturday Evening

JAM LUCIS ORTO SIDERE

Frequently ascribed to Ambrose, but not by his Benedictine editors. A rendering of it by Dr. Neale is one of the morning hymns in "Hymns Ancient and Modern," "Now that the daylight fills the sky" (No. 4); but the rendering has been considerably altered by the editors.

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See in the east the morn arise;
Seek, wingèd prayer, the glowing skies;
Bring help from Heaven, that all our way
Be pleasing to our God this day.
May He restrain from words of sin;
For bitter strife give calm within;
Veil from our eyes the garish light,
That lures the soul to darkest night.
Pure may our inmost heart remain
From evil thoughts and fancies vain;
And may the curb our flesh control,
That drags to earth the aspiring soul.
So, when the last stray beams of light
Shall fade before the return of night,
Kept in the path our feet have trod,
We shall give glory to our God.
To God the Father, throned in heaven,
To Christ, the one begotten Son,
And to the Holy Ghost be praise,
Now, and while endless ages run.
JAM SOL RECEDIT IGNEUS

A recast of O Lux beata Trinitas, one of twelve hymns the Benedictine editors regard as undoubtedly the work of St. Ambrose, and which, in the older Breviaries, was used at Vespers on Saturday.

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Now sinks the fiery orb of day--
O One in Three, Eternal Light,
O Three in One, for ever bright,
Shine in our darkened minds, we pray.
When morning breaks, our songs we raise;
When evening falls, we still adore;
When morn and eve shall come no more,
In mercy grant us still to praise.
All praises to the Father be,
All praise to the Eternal Son,
And to the Spirit, Three in One,
From age to age eternally.