Down in adoration falling,
Lo! the sacred Host we hail,
Lo! o'er ancient forms departing
Newer rites of grace prevail;
Faith for all defects supplying,
Where the feeble senses fail.
To the Everlasting Father,
And the Son Who reigns on high
With the Holy Ghost proceeding
Forth from Each eternally,
Be salvation, honour, blessing,
Might, and endless majesty.
Amen.
-Thomas Aquinas (1225-74)
"Tantum Ergo" is the incipit of
the last two verses of Pange Lingua, a Medieval Latin hymn written by St Thomas
Aquinas c. 1264.
Latin
Tantum ergo Sacramentum veneremur cernui:
Et antiquum documentum novo cedat ritui: Praestet fides supplementum sensuum
defectui. Genitori, Genitoque Laus et jubilatio, Salus, honor, virtus quoque
sit et benedictio: Procedenti abutroque compar sit laudatio. Amen
