A most appropriate communion hymn

Today we sang one of my favorite communion hymns “Humbly I adore thee” — a timeless hymn (#204) from my favorite hymnal:

Humbly I adore thee, Verity unseen,
Who thy glory hidest 'neath these shadows mean;
Lo, to thee surrendered, my whole heart is bowed,
Tranced as it beholds thee, shrined within the cloud.

Taste, and touch, and vision, to discern thee fail;
Faith, that comes by hearing, pierces through the veil.
I believe whate'er the Son of God hath told;
What the Truth hath spoken, that for truth I hold.

O memorial wondrous of the Lord's own death;
Living Bread, that givest all thy creatures breath,
Grant my spirit ever by thy life may live,
To my taste thy sweetness never failing give.

Jesus, whom now veiled, I by faith descry,
What my soul doth thirst for, do not, Lord, deny,
That thy face unveiled, I at last may see,
With the blissful vision blest, my God, of thee. Amen.

Anglican Versions of Adoro Devote

As I summarized back in 2007, the words in Hymnal 1940 were translated from the 13th century Latin text is attributed to St. Thomas Aquinas (“Adoro devote, latens veritas”). It uses a tune that first appeared in Hymns Ancient & Modern in 1869; however, A&M had its own translation by Bishop J.R. Woodford — a translation (“Thee we adore”) later used in The English Hymnal (1906) and New English Hymnal† (1986).

All the American hymnas keep the A&M tune, termed Adoro Devote in the U.S. hymnals — even if (as noted earlier) there are differences in the rhythms. Here is the H40 version:

US Anglicans — Hymnal 1940, Hymnal 1982 and Magnify the Lord† — all use the ”1939” translation of Hymnal 1940. Among Lutherans, Lutheran Book of Worship (1978)†, Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006)† and the Lutheran Service Book (2006)† all use versions of the A&M translation, while Lutheran Worship (1982) uses its own translation. All use the same tune.

† These are newer observations since the 2007 posting.

The Hymnal 1940 Companion actually credits its translation to an earlier source

The translation is that of the Monastic Diurnal, 1932, save for the first line which there read “Deity unseen,” following the Latin text commonly used prior to the research of Dom Wilmart [Recherches de théologie ancienne et médiévale, I (1929)], ”Deity” missed the full subtlety of St. Thomas’ thought which uses “Verity” much as St. Ambroses earlier used “O God of truth.” … The Diurnal translation is but another stage in over a century of versions, all duly traced by [John] Julian [in his Dictionary of Hymnology].

Not surprisingly, Magnify the Lord (aka Book of Common Praise 2017) follows The Hymnal 1940, while Hymnal 1982 modifies verse 4.

One of the earlier translations mentioned by Julian is Hymnal Noted. Although originally by John Mason Neale (1818-1866), the only edition I found with this hymn is the posthumous 10th edition of 1889. Still, the passages comparable to the 1940 text look very familiar:

PROSTRATE I adore Thee, Deity unseen,
Who Thy Glory hidest, 'neath these shadows mean;
Lo, to Thee surrendered, my whole heart is bowed,
Tranced as it beholds Thee, shrined within the cloud.

Taste, and touch, and vision in Thee are deceived,
But the hearing only, well may be believed,
I believe what e’er the Son of God hath told,
What the Truth hath spoken, that for truth I hold.

Oh, Memorial wondrous of the Lord's Own Death,
Living Bread, that givest all His creatures breath;
Grant my spirit ever by Thy Life may live,
To my taste Thy sweetness never-failing give.

Jesu, Whom now veiled, I by faith, descry,
What my soul doth thirst for, do not, Lord, deny;
That Thy Face unveiled, I at last may see,
With the blissful vision blest, my God, of Thee. Amen.

Today's Significance

This text was particularly moving under today’s circumstances. It was our family’s first Sunday back at church since our last visit together on March 15. On March 13 we got a confident message that “St. X is staying open” — but eight days later were told “Until further notice, St. X will be closed for Sunday services.” A week ago, the church resumed — though none of us could make it — and today continued under extreme social distancing regulations imposed by the state of California.

For more than two months, our family sang together in our TV room: on Palm Sunday, Easter and throughout Eastertide. Today was the first time we were singing together at church, and could hear the others of our church (and the choir) singing as well.

There is also the fact that I like plainsong, I like hymns that predate the fracturing of the Western church, this hymn is strongly associated with Hymnal 1940, and one I know well.

But finally, there was the connection to Aquinas. While our hymnal (and 21st century Anglicans) have a few hymns by Ambrose and Fortnatus, the reality is that Aquinas is one of the oldest hymnwriters of the undivided Western church. I always appreciate the continuity and certainty of singing the same timeless hymn that’s been sung for centuries by other Christians. This Sunday, with all the discontinuity and uncertainty in the world this year, it was particularly appreciated.