Splendor Paternae Gloriae

(Saint Ambrose in His Study - found here)

Thou splendor of the Father’s glory,

Pouring upon us light drawn from Thy Light:

Thou art the Light of lights, the fount of brightness

And to our days the daylight-giving Day.

O Thou true Sun,

Shine down in everlasting glory,

And with the radiance of Thy Spirit

Flood our souls!

Cry we, then, in our prayers, to the Father,

Father of glory everlasting, and of mighty grace

To save us from the treachery of sin:

Confirm our souls in works of strength

And blunt the teeth that hate our life,

And contradict our evils into blessings

Giving us grace to do His will.

Govern our spirits, rule them Father!

Build in our chaste and unrebellious bodies

Fires of faith!

Nor let the poison of betrayal chill our blood.

And may Thy Christ our life-bread be,

His faith our drink:

Then slake we our glad spirits

Wisdom’s mighty wine.

So may this day go by in joy,

And may our cleanness be like its clean dawn

Our faith like the high noon:

But let no evening shroud our minds in dusk.

But now the dawn begins to show:

O may true Day soon shine full upon us:

The Day which is the Father in the Son,

The Son in Him, His Word, entire.

And so, to God the Father, glory,

And to His only Son,

Together with the Spirit, the Paraclete,

Now and forever and ever.

Amen.

~St. Ambrose (Translated from the Latin by Thomas Merton)