Forgive our erring sinful race,
Bound in the prison-house of sin—
O, open heaven and lead us in.
IV
O Thou who cam’st to set us free,
To Thee, the Son, all praises be;
To Father, Spirit, Three in One,
While the eternal ages run.
VENI, VENI, EMMANUEL!
An antiphon. The term denotes a short versicle said at the beginning and close of a psalm or psalms in the Breviary Offices. This antiphon is by an unknown author. Dr. Neale, who supposes it to be of twelfth-century date, published a translation of it in 1851, beginning, “Draw nigh, draw nigh, Emmanuel,” an altered version of which occurs in “Hymns Ancient and Modern” as an Advent hymn, with first line altered to, “O come, O come, Emmanuel” (No. 36).