Liturgical
Rerum, Deus, tenax vigor (O Strength and Stay upholding all creation)
Catholic prayer · Latin text
The hymn of None, mid-afternoon prayer, attributed to Saint Ambrose and prayed at the ninth hour, the hour of Christ's death. The English is the translation of John Ellerton (1826-1893) and Fenton John Anthony Hort (1828-1892).
O Strength and Stay upholding all creation Who ever dost Thyself unmoved abide, yet day by day the light in due gradation from hour to hour though all its changes guide; Grant to life's day a calm unclouded ending, an eve untouched by shadows of decay, the brightness of a holy deathbed blending with dawning glories of the eternal day. Hear us, O Father, gracious and forgiving, and Thou, O Christ, the coeternal Word, Who, with the Holy Ghost by all things living, now and to endless ages art adored. Amen.
When it is prayed
- none
- mid-afternoon-prayer
- three-oclock-hour