Hymns of the Early Church / being translations from the poetry of the Latin church, arranged in the order of the Christian year

by John Brownlie

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.

I

Maker of the world, we pray,

Ere the dark of night surround us,

Let Thy love beside us stay,

Throw protecting arms around us.

II

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.

III

Hear us, Father, when we cry;

Hear us, Christ, Thy grace extending;

Hear us, Spirit, throned on high,

Three in one, through years unending.

Wednesday Morning