Rerum Creator optime

Creator, blest, thy servant’s guide,
Hear us, who in thy help confide
To set us free from sinful rest,
And slumber which thou has not blest.

To thee, All-Holy Christ, we pray
That thou wouldst turn thine eyes away
From all the sins we meekly own
By these our vigils at thy throne.

We lift our hearts, we lift our hands;
Such are the Psalmist’s sage commands:
By word they taught; but blessed Paul
By very deed exhorts us all.

Our former sins before thee lie,
Our secrets are beneath thine eye;
We pour our earnest, tearful prayer,
That thou wouldst yet forgive, and spare.

O Father, that we ask be done
Through Jesus Christ, thine only Son,
Who, with the Holy Ghost and thee,
Shall live and reign eternally. Amen

Attributed to Pope St. Gregory the Great (540-604)