Tuesday Evening

O DEUS, EGO AMO TE, NAM PRIOR TU AMASTI ME

Credited by many to the composer of the hymn which opens with identically the same line, but proceeds quite differently. It is, however, doubtful if this is the composition of Xavier; more probably it is the breathing of desire on the part of some now unknown German Jesuit of the seventeenth century.

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My heart goes forth in love to Thee,
O God, who first hast lovèd me;
My freedom, lo, I lay aside,
Thy willing slave whate'er betide.
May memory ne'er a thought suggest,
That comes not forth at Thy behest;
And may the mind no wisdom know,
That God all wise doth not bestow.
May nothing be desired by me,
Save what I know is willed by Thee;
And what of Thine I e'er attain,
I render back to Thee again.
Take what Thou gavest--all is Thine;
Dispose as suits Thy will divine;
Rule, Lover of my soul; I rest
In Thy blest will who knowest best.
That I may love Thee as I will,
O let Thy love my bosom fill;
This gift alone endureth aye--
All else are dreams that flit away.
TE LUCIS ANTE TERMINUM

Sometimes ascribed to St. Ambrose. It is found in eleventh-century Hymnaria of the English Church, and in the Breviaries of Rome, Paris, Sarum, York, and Aberdeen, generally as a hymn at Compline.

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Maker of the world, we pray,
Ere the dark of night surround us,
Let Thy love beside us stay,
Throw protecting arms around us.
Phantoms of the night away!
Let no evil dream affect us;
Pure as falls the light of day,
From the taint of sin protect us.
Hear us, Father, when we cry;
Hear us, Christ, Thy grace extending;
Hear us, Spirit, throned on high,
Three in one, through years unending.