COELESTIS URBS JERUSALEM.
O heavenly town, Jerusalem,
Thou blessed dawn of peace,
How lofty from the living rock
Thy starry walls increase,
Where thousand, thousand angels stand,
And praises never cease.
O bride, whose lot is aye serene,
The Father’s state is thine;
Thou art the ever-fairest queen
Adorned with grace divine;
United unto Christ, thy Head,
Thy heavenly form doth shine.
How softly gleam thy pearly gates
Which open wide to all,
Here virtue entered long ago,
And unto men doth call,
Who loved the Lord through mortal pain,
And fought and did not fall.
Thy beauty came by chisel stroke
And many a hammer-blow;
The workman’s hammer wrought the stone
Which buildeth thee below;
And joined with bonds of aptest skill
Thy splendid turrets glow.
Then honor unto God most high
As it was due of yore;
And thus the Father’s only Son
And Spirit we adore,
To whom be glory, power, and praise
Through ages evermore.
To these Dr. A. R. Thompson permits us to add, as a specimen of the later hymns of the Latin Church, his translation of