Lucis Creator optime
"Blest creator of the light"
Creation, light, vespers
The timeless hymn Lucis Creator optime is appropriate for any celebration of light or creation, salvation and grace. It is traditionally sung at vespers and during ordinary time after Epiphany and Pentecost. The hymn is as relevant today as it was 1500 years ago. We hope this new setting and translation will revive its ecumenical use.
LUCIS CREATOR OPTIME,
lucem dierum proferens,
primordiis lucis novae
mundi parans originem;
Qui mane iunctum vesperi
diem vocari praecipis:
tetrum chaos illabitur,
audi preces cum fletibus.
Ne mens gravata crimine,
vitae sit exsul munere,
dum nil perenne cogitat
seseque culpis illigat.
Caeleste pulset ostium,
vitale tollat praemium;
vitemus omne noxium,
purgemus omne pessimum.
Praesta, Pater piissime,
Patrique compar Unice,
cum Spiritu Paraclito
regnans per omne saeculum.
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BLEST CREATOR OF THE LIGHT
That brings the dawn each day,
Shone anew through formless night
When first the world was made;
Who the morn and eve unite,
Whose word creates the day,
Where foul chaos spreads its blight
Give heed where weeping pray.
Minding not our weight of crime
We forfeit gifts sublime,
Giving not our soul a care
Our guilt and blame we bear;
On Your grace we need depend
The better life to spend,
From our sinful thoughts defend,
Our sinful past to mend.
Father, Lord, Most Holy One,
With Christ, Your only Son,
With Your Spirit Sanctified,
For endless ages reign.
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Thoughts behind the hymn:
This new translation is by line (rather than by verse) and largely retains the original irregular rhyme scheme. The small deviation to the rhyme scheme is in the second verse where a rhyme is applied to the 2nd and 4th lines while the original Latin has no rhymes.
In referring to our sins I was a little reluctant to use the word "crime" (Latin crimine) as being heavy-handed for modern sensibilities, but clergy who reviewed this hymn were unanimous in encouraging me to keep the third verse as it is.
Some of the lines are thought rather than literal translations. For example, in the first line of the fourth verse the image given in Latin of knocking on Heaven's gate is translated as our relying on God's grace to help us achieve the objectives stated in the remainder of the verse.