May Morning at Magdalen



An Oxford tradition on Mayday morning is for the choir of Magdalen College to sing the Hymnus Eucharisticus from the tower of the College. Many people gathering below have been celebrating at Balls all night and are hence somewhat inebriated. They used to hire punts and listen from the river but too many people fell in and too many punts were sank so that was stopped. Then undergraduates started jumping into the river from the bridge, not realising that the river is quite shallow at that point. So the bridge was closed for May morning. I'm sure people will think of something else to do in due course.


Here are the words of the hymn:
Te Deum Patrem colimus,
Te Laudibus prosequimus,
qui corpus cibo reficis,
coelesti mentem gratia.

Te adoramus, O Jesu,
Te, Fili unigenite,
Te, qui non dedignatus es
subire claustra Virginis.

Actus in crucem, factus est
irato Deo victima
per te, Salvator unice
vitae spes nobis rediit.

Tibi, aeterne Spiritus
cuius afflatu peperit
infantem Deum Maria,
aeternum benedicimus.

Triune Deus, hominum
salutis auctor optime,
immensum hoc mysterium
orante lingua canimus.
For translation, musical score, more information and pictures, see May Morning.

H/T Fr Michael Gollop SSC of Let nothing you dismay

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