Feast of the Crown of Thorns

The Hymn of First Vespers

Exite Sion filiæ,
Regis pudicæ virgines,
Christi Coronam cernite,
Quam mater ipsa texuit.

Horret revulsis crinibus
Spinis cruentatum caput:
Et vultus ille decolor
Mortem propinquam respicit.

Quæ terra fulcis invia,
Dumis rigens et sentibus,
Lugubre munus protulit.
Quæ sæva messuit manus?

Christi rubescens sanguine
Aculeos mutat rosis,
Palmamque vincens fructibus
Spina est triumphis aptior.

Culpis satæ mortalium
Te, Christe, spinæ vulnerant
Evelle nostras cordibus,
Tuasque nostris insere.

Virtus, honor, laus, gloria ,
Deo Patri cum Filio,
Sancto simul Paraclito,
In sæculorum sæcula. Amen.

Daughters of Sion! royal maids!
Come forth to see the crown,
Which Sion’s self, with cruel hands,
Hath woven for her Son.

See! how amid his gory locks
The jagged thorns appear;
See ! how his pallid countenance
Foretells that death is near.

Oh, savage was the earth that bore
Those thorns so sharp and long!
Savage the hand that gather’d them
To work this deadly wrong!

But now that Christ’s immortal Blood
Hath ting’d them with its dye,
Fairer than roses they appear,
Or palms of victory.

Jesu! the thorns which pierc’d thy brow
Sprang from the seed of sin;
Pluck ours, we pray thee, from our hearts,
And plant thine own therein.

Praise, honour, to the Father be,
Praise to his only Son;
Praise to the blessed Paraclete,
While endless ages run.

The Hymn after a long introduction of bell ringing!