LUCIS CREATOR OPTIME

Attributed to Francis Xavier. Born at the Castle Xavier, near Pampeluna, Spain, in 1506; graduated at the Paris University, where he became acquainted with Ignatius Loyola; as a Jesuit missionary visited India, Travancore, Ceylon, Malacca, and Japan; died, when near Canton, in 1552. The original of this hymn is supposed to be a Spanish sonnet. All that can be said of the Latin version is that it is probably by Xavier, or by some German Jesuit, and is at least as early as 1668.

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O God, I love Thee, not alone
Because Thou savest me,
And those who love not in return
Are lost eternally.
Thou art mine own, O Christ; Thine arms
Embraced me on the Cross;
Thou didst endure the nails, the spear,
The bitter shame and loss.
O sorrows numberless were Thine,
And all were borne for me--
The bloody sweat, the cruel death
Of bitter agony.
Why, therefore, should I love Thee now,
O Jesus, ever blest?
Not lest in hell my soul be cast,
Not that in heaven it rest.
No other hope my love inspires,
And wins my heart for Thee--
I only love Thee, Christ, my King,
Because Thou lovest me.

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.