doro Te Devote
Attributed to St Thomas Aquinas (c. 1225-1274)



Hidden here before me, Lord, I worship you,
Hidden in these symbols, yet completely true.
Lord, my soul surrenders, I longing to obey,
And in contemplation wholly faints away.

Seeing, touching, tasting; these are all deceived;
Only through the hearing can it be believed.
Nothing is more certain; Christ has told me so;
What the Truth has uttered, I believe and know.

Only God was hidden when you came to die;
Human nature also here escapes the eye.
Both are my profession, both are my belief;
Bring me to your Kingdom like the dying thief.

I am not like Thomas, who could see and touch;
Though your wounds are hidden, I believe as much.
Let me say so boldly, meaning what I say.
Loving you and trusting, now and every day.

Record of the Passion when the Lamb was slain,
Living bread that brings us back to life again;
Feed me with your presence, make me live on you;
Let that lovely fragrance fill me through and through.

Once a nesting pelican gashed herself to blood
For the preservation of her starving brood;
Now heal me with your blood, take away my guilt;
All the world is ransomed if one drop is spilt.

Jesus, for the present seen as through a mask,
Give me what I thirst for, give me what I ask;
Let me see your glory in a blaze of light,
And instead of blindness give me, Lord, my sight.

Amen.