O eternal Founder of things, who rulest night and day, and givest the seasons their times, that Thou mightest relieve our weariness: the herald of the day now sounds, the ever-watchful one of the deep night, the nightly light for travelers, separating night from night. Roused by this, the Morning Star releases the heavens from darkness; by this all the band of errors deserts the way of harming. By this the sailor gathers his strength, and the straits of the deep grow calm; by this the very rock of the Church, at its crowing, washes away guilt. Let us rise, then, with vigor: the cock rouses those lying down, and chides the drowsy; the cock convicts the deniers. At the cock's crowing, hope returns, health is poured back to the sick, the robber's blade is sheathed, faith returns to the fallen. O Jesus, look upon those who waver, and by Thy looking correct us; if Thou lookest, our lapses fall away, and guilt is dissolved in weeping.
Do Thou, O Light, shine again upon our senses, and dispel the slumber of the mind: let our voice sound Thee first, and let us pay our vows to Thee. O God, Creator of all, and Ruler of the heavens, clothing the day with comely light, the night with the grace of sleep, that rest may restore loosened limbs to the use of labor, and lighten weary minds, and dissolve anxious griefs. With the day now ended, and at the rising of the night, with prayers we, the guilty, that Thou mayest help us, singing a hymn, pay our vows. Let the depths of the heart sing Thee in harmony, let the tuneful voice resound Thee, let chaste love delight in Thee, let the sober mind adore Thee. So that when the deep gloom of the nights has closed the day, faith may know no darkness, and the night may shine again with faith. Let Thou not the mind sleep; let guilt know how to sleep; let faith, the refreshing guardian, temper the vapor of slumber.
Stripped of slippery sense, let the depths of the heart dream of Thee; nor by the guile of the envious foe let dread rouse the quiet. Let us entreat Christ and the Father, and the Spirit of Christ and the Father: One mighty through all, cherish those who pray, O Trinity. Now rises the third hour, in which Christ ascended the cross: let the mind think nothing insolent, let it bend the affection toward prayer. He who receives Christ in his heart bears an innocent sense, and by zealous vows makes himself fit to merit the Holy Spirit. This is the hour which put an end to the lethargy of dire crime, and washed away the reign of death, and lifted guilt away from of old. Hence now blessed times have begun by the grace of Christ: truth has filled the Churches throughout the whole world with faith. From the lofty summit of His triumph, He spoke to His mother: 'Behold, mother, thy son; O Apostle, behold thy mother.'
Teaching, with deep mystery, the prefigured covenant of a wedded woman, lest the holy birth of the Virgin should wound the modesty of His mother. To her Jesus gave assurance by heavenly miracles: yet the impious people did not believe; he who believed shall be saved. We believe that God was born, and the offspring of the holy Virgin, who bore the sins of the world, sitting at the right hand of the Father. Come, Redeemer of the nations, show forth the Virgin's childbearing; let every age marvel: such a birth befits God. Not from human seed, but by a mystical breathing, the Word of God was made flesh, and the fruit of the womb blossomed. The womb of the Virgin swells, the enclosure of modesty remains, the banners of virtues flash, God dwells in the temple. Coming forth from His chamber, the royal hall of modesty, the Giant of twofold substance, eager to run His course.
His going forth is from the Father, His return is to the Father; His descent even to the depths below, His return to the seat of God. Equal to the eternal Father, gird Thyself with the trophy of the flesh, strengthening the weakness of our body with enduring power. Now Thy manger shines forth, and the night breathes a new light, which no night shall interrupt, and which shall shine with unbroken faith. O Most High, who dost illumine the globes of glittering stars, Peace, Life, Light, Truth—Jesus, favor those who pray. Whether by the mystical baptism Thou dost hallow the streams of Jordan, once turned back a third time, with the day present; or whether with the star shining in heaven Thou didst mark the Virgin's childbearing, and on this day didst lead the Magi to the manger to adore; or whether in jars full of water Thou didst pour the flavor of wine: the steward, in the know, drew out what he himself had not poured in.
Seeing the waters take on color, the rivers be made to intoxicate; the changed elements are amazed to pass into other uses. Thus when Thou dost divide five loaves among five thousand men, beneath the teeth of those eating the food grew in the mouth. The bread was multiplied the more by its own expending: who, seeing this, will marvel at the continual flowings of springs? Among the hands of those breaking it, the flowing bread is poured out: the fragments which they had not broken, untouched, creep up to the men. I will pray to the Lord with the mind, I will pray at the same time with the spirit; lest the voice alone sing to God, while our sense, led elsewhere, wanders adrift, forestalled by empty chances. O Splendor of the Father's glory, bringing forth light from light, in the first beginnings of the new light, Day illumining the day.
And do Thou, the true Sun, glide in, glittering with perpetual brightness, and pour the radiance of the Holy Spirit into our senses. With vows let us call upon the Father also, the Father of everlasting glory, the Father of mighty grace: let Him banish slippery guilt. Let Him shape our vigorous deeds, blunt the teeth of the envious one, prosper our harsh fortunes, grant the grace of right doing. Let Him govern and rule the mind, with chaste and faithful body; let faith glow with warmth, let it know no poison of deceit. And let Christ be our food, and let our drink be faith: joyful, let us drink the sober intoxication of the Spirit. Let this day pass joyfully, let modesty be as the dawn, faith as the noonday, let the mind know no twilight. The dawn advances its course, let the whole dawn come forth: the whole Son in the Father, and the whole Father in the Word.
The eternal gifts of Christ, and the victories of the martyrs, bringing due praises, let us sing with joyful minds. The princes of the Churches, the triumphant leaders of the war, the soldiers of the heavenly court, and the true lights of the world. The terror of the age being conquered, and the punishments of the body despised, by the brief reckoning of holy death they possess the blessed life. The martyrs are handed over to fire, and to the teeth of beasts; the hand of the mad torturer rages, armed with claws; their bared entrails hang, the consecrated blood is poured out, but they remain unmoved by the grace of life everlasting. The devoted faith of the saints, the unconquered hope of believers, the perfect love of Christ, triumphs over the prince of the world. In these is the Father's glory, in these the Son's will, in these the Spirit exults, heaven is filled with joys.
Thee now, O Redeemer, we beseech, that Thou wouldst join us, Thy praying servants, to their fellowship, unto everlasting ages. Amen. Our limbs refreshed by sleep, we rise, our couch forsaken; we beseech Thee, O Father, to be present to us as we sing. Let the tongue first sing Thee in harmony, let the ardor of the mind encompass Thee; that of the actions which follow Thou, O Holy One, mayest be the beginning. Let the darkness yield to the light, and the night to the daily star; that the guilt which the night brought in may totter by the gift of light. We, the same suppliants, pray that Thou wouldst prune away all our offenses; that Thou mayest be praised forever by the mouth of those who sing to Thee. Grant this, O most loving Father, and Thou, the only Son, equal to the Father, with the Spirit the Paraclete, reigning through every age. O Sharer of the Father's light, Light Thyself of light, and day, we break the night by singing: stand by us as we beseech.
Take away the darkness of minds, put to flight the throngs of demons: expel drowsiness, lest it overwhelm the slothful. So, O Christ, mayest Thou be gracious to us all who believe; that what we who sing beforehand chant in psalms may profit those who pray. O blessed Trinity of Light, and Unity supreme, now the fiery sun withdraws: pour light into our hearts. Thee in the morning with a song of praises, Thee at evening we entreat: let our suppliant glory praise Thee through all ages. The gate of Christ is made passable, filled and full of grace; the King passes through and remains, closed, as it was, through the ages. Offspring of the supernal light, He came forth from the Virgin's hall, the Bridegroom, Redeemer, Founder, the Giant of His own Church. The honor of His mother and her joy, the immense hope of believers, through the dark cups of death He loosed our crimes.