Bread of Angels

From Aquinas’ Corpus Christi office, and every wedding since.

Two verses from Aquinas’ hymn <em>Sacris Solemniis</em>, written for Corpus Christi in 1264. César Franck’s setting made it one of the most sung pieces of Catholic music in the world.

In Latin

Panis angelicus fit panis hominum;
dat panis caelicus figuris terminum;
O res mirabilis: manducat Dominum
pauper, servus et humilis.

Te trina Deitas unaque poscimus:
sic nos tu visita, sicut te colimus;
per tuas semitas duc nos quo tendimus,
ad lucem quam inhabitas. Amen.

In English

The bread of angels becomes the bread of men;
the bread of heaven puts an end to all figures;
O wondrous thing: the poor, the servant and the humble
feed upon their Lord.

We beseech You, Godhead three and one,
that You visit us as we worship You;
lead us by Your paths to where we are going,
to the light in which You dwell. Amen.

About This Hymn

The third line is the argument of the whole hymn: manducat Dominum pauper, servus et humilis — the poor man, the servant and the lowly eat their Lord. Aquinas is pointing at who gets to receive: not the great, but anyone.