Of the Father’s Love Begotten

Of the Father’s love begotten,
Ere the worlds began to be,
He is Alpha and Omega;
He the source, the ending He,
Of the things that are,
that have been,
And that future years shall see,
Evermore and evermore.

Oh, that birth forever blessed
When the virgin, full of grace,
By the Holy Ghost conceiving,
Bore the Savior of our race,
And the babe,
the world’s Redeemer,
First revealed His sacred face,
Evermore and evermore.

This is He whom seers in old time
Chanted of with one accord,
Whom the voices of the prophets
Promised in their faithful word.
New He shines,
The long-expected.
Let creation praise its Lord,
Evermore and evermore.

Aurelius Prudentius Clemens, 348-410
Translated by John Mason Neale, 1818-1866