Words: Un­known au­thor, 4th or 5th Cen­tu­ry (Coe­li De­us sanc­tis­si­me); trans­lat­ed from La­tin to Eng­lish by in The Eng­lish Hymn­al (Lon­don: Ox­ford Un­i­ver­si­ty Press, 1906), num­ber 60.

Music: The Morn­ing Watch, , 1913.


Most holy Lord and God of Heaven,
Who to the glowing sky hast given
The fires that in the east are born
With gradual splendors of the morn;

Who, on the fourth day, didst reveal
The sun’s enkindled flaming wheel,
Didst set the moon her ordered ways,
And stars their ever winding maze;

That each in its appointed way
Might separate night from day,
And of the seasons through the year
The well remembered signs declare;

Illuminate our hearts within,
And cleanse our minds from stain of sin;
Unburdened of our guilty load
May we unfettered serve our God.

O Father, that we ask be done,
Through Jesus Christ, Thine only Son;
Who, with the Holy Ghost and Thee,
Doth live and reign eternally.