Rerum, Deus, tenax vigor,
immotus in te permanens,
lucis diurnae tempora
successibus determinans,
largire clarum vespere, | largire lumen vespere,
quo vita nusquam decidat,
sed praemium mortis sacrae
perennis instet gloria.
Trans. J. M. Neale:
O God, creation's secret force,
yourself unmoved, all motion's source,
who from the morn till evening ray
through all its changes guide the day:
Grant us, when this short life is past,
the glorious evening that shall last;
that, by a holy death attained,
eternal glory may be gained.
Trans. Ellerton & Hort:
O Strength and Stay upholding all creation,
Who ever dost Thyself umoved abide,
Yet day by day the light in due gradation
From hour to hour through all its changes guide;
Grant to life’s day a calm unclouded ending,
An eve untouched by shadows of decay,
The brightness of a holy death-bed blending
With dawning glories of the Eternal Day.
Usually attributed to St. Ambrose (Connelly, Hymns of the Roman liturgy no. 21), this does not appear in Ambroise de Milan: hymnes, ed. Jacques Fontaine, Patrimoines Christianisme (Paris: Cerf, 2008). Canterbury Dictionary of Hymnology: "author unknown. This hymn is in the Ambrosian tradition, but is not thought to be by Ambrose himself."
