The great forerunner of the morn

John the Baptist in BL Stowe 12 f.257

Yesterday I almost posted Bede's hymn for St Æthelthryth, but decided against it; so today I'll make it up to him by posting his hymn for St John the Baptist. 'Praecursor altus luminis' was rendered into English by J. M. Neale, and if you look at Bede's lengthy hymn below (I got the Latin text from here) you'll see what a sterling job Neale did in making it singable. In my experience only the first four verses are usually sung, which is a shame: 5-6, envisaging a conversation between Christ and God the Father, are in some ways the most interesting. I've mentioned before that I love hymns which contain rhetorical questions, but more importantly, it's a shame to lose the phrase "the day-star's gleam"...

For another under-appreciated John the Baptist hymn, see this post.

1. The great forerunner of the morn,
The herald of the Word, is born:
And faithful hearts shall never fail
With thanks and praise his light to hail.

2. With heavenly message Gabriel came,
That John should be that herald’s name,
And with prophetic utterance told
His actions great and manifold.

3. John, still unborn, yet gave aright
His witness to the coming Light;
And Christ, the Sun of all the earth,
Fulfilled that witness at His birth.

4. Of woman born shall never be
A greater prophet than was he,
Whose mighty deeds exalt his fame
To greater than a prophet’s name.

5. But why should mortal accents raise
The hymn of John the Baptist’s praise?
Of whom, or e’er his course was run,
Thus spake the Father to the Son?

6. "Behold, My herald, who shall go
Before Thy face Thy way to show,
And shine, as with the day-star’s gleam,
Before Thine own eternal beam."

7. All praise to God the Father be,
All praise, eternal Son, to Thee,
Whom with the Spirit we adore
Forever and forevermore.

Elham, Kent

Praecursor altus luminis
Et praeco verbi nascitur;
Laetare, cor fidelium,
Lucemque gaudens accipe.
Miranda cuius saeculi
Natiuitas per angelum
Innotuit parentibus.
Pia fide iam praeditis.
Sublime cui uocabulum
Iohannes ipse Gabriel
Imponit, et clarissima
Ipsius acta praecinit.
Qui matris adhuc paruulus
Vulua retentus, spiritum
Percepit almus gratiae,
Testis futurus gratiae.
Necdumque natus iam dedit
De luce testimonium,
Quod natus admirabili
Compleuit ipse in gloria.
Hic plurimos ex Israel
Christi fidei subdidit
Et corda patrum in filios,
Docens superna, transtulit.
In Eliae qui spiritu
Venit prophetae, semitam
Parare Christo ac plebibus
Iter salutis pandere
Quo feminarum in filiis
Propheta maior nullus est,
Quin ipse miris actibus
Plus quam propheta claruit.
Baptisma poenitentiae
Qui praedicabat ac dedit,
Turbasque Jesu gratiae,
Illuminandas obtulit.
Ipsumque Jesum qui omnia
Sancto lauans in spiritu
Emundat, in Jordanici
Tinxit fluento gurgitis.
Et baptizato protinus
Aperta uidit aethera.
Nobis suo baptismate
Pandit polique regiam.
Atque in columba Spiritum
Illum super descendere
Vidit, doli qui nescius
Mentes requirit simplices.
Audiuit et uocem Patris:
Dilectus hic est Filius
A saeculo, dixit, meus,
In quo mihi complacui.
Edoctus his oraculis
Baptista Jesum praedicat
Natum Dei, qui in Spiritu
Sancto fideles abluat.
Quid sermo noster amplius
Huius canat praeconia?
De quo Patris uox Filio
Olim locuta praecinit:
En, mitto, dixit, angelum,
Tuam paret qui semitam
Vultuque praecurrat tuum
Solem rubens ut Lucifer.

Yarnton, Oxfordshire