Till the blessing of His love
Rest on thee for ever.
O ESCA VIATORUM
Ascribed by some to Thomas Aquinas, but believed by latest and best authorities to have been composed by some unknown German Jesuit of the seventeenth century. It has not been traced further back than the Mainz Gesang-Buch of 1661, where it is styled “Hymn on the true Bread of Heaven.”
I
O Food for pilgrims pining!
O Bread for angels shining!
O Manna fresh from heaven!
In bountiful completeness,
O may Thy heavenly sweetness